"Such were the sentiments of the most intelligent andpatriotic American citizens in regard to the war of 1812-15; they had no more sympathy with the Madison-Napoleon war than with the recent Fenian invasion of our shores. And when the war was declared, our fathers knew their duty, and knew the worthlessness of the pompous proclamations and promises of President Madison's generals and agents. The blood of our United Empire Loyalist forefathers warmed again in their own bosoms, and pulsated in the hearts of their sons and grandsons, and in the hearts of hundreds of others who had adopted Canada, under the flag of British law and liberty, as their home. Our Legislative Assembly—specially called together by General Brock, on the declaration of war—struck the keynote for Canadian loyalty, sacrifice and action, in a calm, expository and earnest address to the people of Upper Canada, and truly represented the already roused spirit of the country. Some of the words of that noble address are as follows:
"'This war, on the part of the United States, includes an alliance with the French usurper, whose dreadful policy has destroyed all that is great and grand, venerable and holy, on the continent of Europe. The government of this bloody tyrant penetrates into everything—it crushes individuals as well as nations, fetters thoughts as well as motives, and delights in destroying forever all that is fair and just in opinion and sentiment. It is evidently this tyrant who now directs the rulers of America, and they show themselves worthy disciples of such a master.'
"After noting the juncture selected for declaring war, the address proceeds: 'It is certainly not the least wonderful among the occurrences of this astonishing age, that we should find a nation descended from Englishmen, connected still by the same language and laws, by consanguinity and many similar habits, not merely eulogizing the implacable enemy of their parent state, but joining him in the war; while pretending to nourish the purest principles of liberty, bowing the knee before the foe of all just and rational freedom, and supplicating his acceptance of tribute and adulation.' After sketching the origin and sustained loyalty of the first inhabitants of the country, the Assembly said: 'Already have we the joy to remark, that the spirit of loyalty has burst forth in all its ancient splendour. The militia in all parts of the Province have volunteered their services with acclamation, and displayed a degree of energy worthy of the British name. When men are called upon to defend everything they hold precious, their wives and children, their friends and possessions, they ought to be inspired with the noblest resolutions, and they will not be easily frightened by menaces, or conquered by force. And beholding, as we do, the flame of patriotism burning from end to end of the Canadas, we cannot but entertain the most pleasing anticipations. Our enemies have indeed said, that they can subdue this country by a proclamation; but it is our part to prove that they are sadly mistaken.' 'If the real foundations of true liberty, and consequently of solid happiness, consist in being amenable only to such laws as we or our representatives ordain, then are we in possession of that liberty and that happiness, for this principle was fully recognized in our excellent constitution.' 'It is not necessary for us to examine the causes alleged by our enemies for this unjust and unnatural war, because an address from the House of Representatives of Massachusetts, the most respectable in the Union, proves in the most satisfactory manner, that it is wanton and unprovoked, and is the climax of the various outrages previously committed against Great Britain. In this statement they have been joined by the minority in Congress, whose expositions of the secret reasons of the war, and the falsehood of those alleged by the President and his friends, is unanswerable, and must hand down the promoters of this diabolical measure to the execration of posterity.' 'Your representatives finished their labours with placing in the hands of His Honour the President (Sir Isaac Brock), all the public money they could collect, in order to contribute as much as possible to the extraordinary expenses which the war renders necessary, and they have the fullest confidence that it will be most faithfully applied. Having thus endeavoured, to the best of their abilities, to provide for the welfare and safety of the Province, your representatives take the liberty of reminding you that the best laws are useless without the zealous co-operation of the people. Unless you are prepared to endure the greatest privations and to make the severest sacrifices, all that your representatives have done will be of no avail. Be ready, then, at all times to rally round the Royal Standard, and let those who are notcalled into the service assist the families of those who are called into the field.' 'Remember, when you go forth to the combat, that you fight not for yourselves alone, but for the whole world. You are defeating the most formidable conspiracy against the civilization of man that ever was contrived; a conspiracy threatening a greater barbarism and misery than followed the downfall of the Roman Empire—that now you have an opportunity of proving your attachment to the parent State which contends for the relief of the oppressed nations—the last pillar of true liberty, and the last refuge of oppressed humanity.'
"Such were the views and spirit with which the 70,000 people of Upper Canada, and their score of parliamentary representatives, engaged in the unequal struggle against myriads of invaders—relying simply upon their principles, their duty, and their God; and, in three months after the declaration of war, they had, with the aid of a few hundred regular soldiers and noble officers, driven back three invading armies, capturing Hull and the territory of Michigan, driving the invaders commanded by General Van Rensellaer down Queenston Heights, taking hundreds of prisoners, driving 'proclamation' General Smyth, with his 8,000, from the Canadian side of the Niagara river, near Fort Erie, so that he had to run away and retire from the army to escape popular indignation and disgrace. It is not for me to dwell upon the incidents and progress of the war; raids were made into our country, many battles were fought, and much property destroyed and much suffering inflicted; but those raids were severely retaliated, and at the end of three years not a foot of Canadian territory was in possession of the invader, while the key of the North-west, Fort Mackinaw, was in the hands of the British.
"Of all the battles fought during the war, the most sanguinary and obstinate was that of Lundy's Lane—the battle, the anniversary of which we are this day assembled to commemorate—the battle fought the last few months of the war, the 25th of July, 1814. It was the most formidable and final effort of the American General Brown to get permanent footing in Canada. The smallest number of American soldiers engaged in the battle, according to General Brown's report, was upwards of 5,000; and the largest number of British soldiers and Canadian militia engaged, according to the British GeneralDrummond's report, was 2,800, although the greater part of the battle was fought with a force not exceeding 1,600. I shall not attempt to describe the order, or narrate the incidents of the battle; I will only say, that the high ground, near the east end of Lundy's Lane, was the centre of interest, and the position contended for by both parties in deadly strife for several hours. In no battle during the war did the Americans fight with such heroism and obstinacy; and in no battle was the courage, steadiness and perseverance of the British soldiers and Canadian volunteers put to so severe a test. The enemy was drawn up in order of battle within 600 yards of the coveted eminence, when General Drummond arrived on the ground, and he had barely time to plant his artillery on the brow of the hill, when the enemy concentrated all his power and efforts to obtain the key of the battle-field. An eye-witness says: 'Columns of the enemy, not unlike the surge of the adjacent cataract, rushed to the charge in close and impetuous succession.' The curtain of night soon enveloped the scene, now drenched with blood; but the darkness seemed to intensify the fury of the combatants, and the rage of the battle increased as the night advanced. An eye-witness truly observes, that 'nothing could have been more awful than this midnight contest. The desperate charges of the enemy were succeeded by a dead silence, interrupted only by the groans of the dying, and the dull sounds of the stupendous Falls of Niagara, while the adverse lines were now and then dimly discerned through the moonlight, by the dismal gleam of their arms. These anxious pauses were succeeded by a blaze of musketry along the lines, and by a repetition of the most desperate charges from the enemy, which the British received with the most unshaken firmness.' General Drummond, in his official report of the battle, says:—'In so determined a manner were these attacks directed against our guns, that our artillerymen were bayoneted by the enemy in the act of loading, and the muzzles of the enemy's guns were advanced within a few yards of ours. The darkness of the night, during this extraordinary conflict, occasioned several uncommon incidents; our troops having, for a moment, been pushed back, some of our guns remained for a few minutes in the enemy's hands; they were, however, not only quickly recovered, but the two pieces, a six-pounder and afive-and-a-half-inch howitzer, which the enemy had brought up, were captured by us, together with several tumbrils. About nine o'clock (the action having commenced at six) there was a short intermission of firing, during which it appears the enemy was employed in bringing up the whole of his remaining force; and he shortly afterwards renewed the attack with fresh troops, but was everywhere repelled with equal gallantry and success. The enemy's efforts to carry the hill were continued until about midnight, when he had suffered so severely from the superior steadiness and discipline of his Majesty's troops, that he gave up the contest, and retreated with great precipitation to his camp beyond the Chippewa. On the following day he abandoned his camp, threw the greatest part of his baggage, camp equipage and provisions into the Rapids; and having set fire to Street's Mills, and destroyed the bridge at Chippewa, he continued his retreat in great disorder towards Fort Erie.'
"In this bloody battle, the Canadian militia fought side by side with the regular soldiers; and General Drummond said, 'the bravery of the militia on this occasion could not have been excelled by the most resolute veterans.'
"Such was the loyalty of our grandfathers and fathers, and such their self-devotion and courage in the darkest hour of our country's dangers and sufferings, and though few in number in comparison of their invaders, they had
"'Hearts resolved and hands preparedThe blessings they enjoyed to guard.'
"There was doubtless as much true courage among the descendants of Great Britain and Ireland in the United States as in Canada; but the former fought for the oppressor of Europe, the latter fought for the freedom of Europe; the former fought to prostrate Great Britain in her death struggle for the liberties of mankind, and to build up the United States upon her ruin, the latter fought in the glorious cause of the mother country, and to maintain our own unity with her; the former fought for the conquest of Canada, the latter fought in her defence; the fire that kindled the military ardour of the former was the blown-up embers of old enmities against Great Britain, the gross misrepresentations of President Madison, the ambition of adventure, and the lust of booty—the fire thatburned in the hearts of the latter, and animated them to deeds of death or freedom, was the sacred love of hearth and home, the patriotic love of liberty, and that hallowed principle of loyalty to truth, and law, and liberty combined, which have constituted the life, and development, and traditions, and strength, and unity, and glory of British institutions, and of the British nation, from the resurrection morn of the Protestant Reformation to the present day. A great writer has truly observed: 'The most inviolable attachment to the laws of our country is everywhere acknowledged a capital virtue;' and that virtue has been nobly illustrated in the history of our United Empire Loyalist forefathers, and of their descendants in Canada, and it grows with the growth and increases with the strength of our country.
"I have said that loyalty, like Christianity itself, is an attachment to principles and duties emanating from them, irrespective of rulers or teachers; but if the qualities of our chief rulers were necessary to give intensity to Canadian loyalty, those qualities we have in the highest degree in our Sovereign and in her representative in Canada; for never was a British Sovereign more worthy of our highest respect and warmest affection than our glorious Queen Victoria—(loud cheers)—and never was a British Sovereign more nobly represented in Canada than by the patriotic, the learned, and the eloquent Lord Dufferin. (Loud cheers.) And at no period were we more free or prosperous than now. The feelings of his (the speaker's) heart went far beyond anything that his tongue could express, and the language of his heart that day was, might loyalty ever be the characteristic trait of the people of Canada, might freedom ever be our possession, and might we ever have cause and heart to say 'God save the Queen!'" (Loud cheering.)
Noteby the Author.—The Administration of President Madison, and his Declaration of War against Great Britain, are dark spots in the brilliant history of the United States of America, and the American narratives of the war are rather fiction than history—compiled largely from letters of officers and soldiers, who, in writing to their friends, sought to magnify their own heroism, even when suffering disgraceful defeats, and sometimes claiming victory when they were driven from the field. The usual tales on these occasions were that the Canadian forces were vastly superior in numbers and equipments, when it was known that the American armies were ten toone in numbers to those of Canada, and their invading forces were declared, by themselves, to be irresistible in strength and equipments.
The American account of the battle of Lundy's Lane is an example, and is repeated with exaggerations in the latest and most popular history of the war, namely, Lossing's Pictorial Field Book of the War of 1812, page 1084. Lossing says:
"The number of troops engaged in the battle of Niagara Falls was little over 7,000, the British having about 4,500, and the Americans a little less than 2,600." (p. 824.)
The very reverse of this was the fact, as quoted in the foregoing extract from the official report of General Drummond. When the American invading army consisted of 10,000 men, it is absurd to suppose that all but 2,600 would remain on the American side of the river, and the American historian states that every available soldier on the British side of the river was engaged in the battle.
Lossing likewise claims the battle for the Americans "because they drove the enemy from the field and captured his cannon" (p. 824). It is not true that the British were driven from the field at all; they were once pushed back for a few minutes, and their cannon were for a few moments in the hands of the Americans, who, however, were forthwith driven back, the cannon retaken, with two pieces left by the Americans. And how could there possibly be any American victory, when Lossing himself admits that the American army retired from the field during the night to Chippewa (p. 823), with the intention of returning next morning to bring off the cannon and other booty. Is it the characteristic of a victorious army to leave the conquered field and retire two miles from it? Lossing also admits that the Americans did not return to the battle-field next morning, but burnt the bridge which separated the British army from them, and retreated up the Niagara river. Is this the conduct of a conquering army, to flee from the enemy whom he pretends to have conquered? Mr. Lossing's admissions of details contradict the pretence of American victory at Lundy's Lane, and prove American defeat.
It is by such fictions of victories where there were defeats, interspersed with fictitious incidents of individual heroism, that American vanity is fed, and American children taught in the schools what is purely apocryphal for history in regard to Great Britain and Canada.
But it is gratifying to observe a greatly improved feeling in the educated American mind towards Great Britain, and even the causes of the American Revolution, which were magnified in the American Declaration of Independence, and which have been exaggerated in every possible way in American histories and Fourth of July orations, are very much modified in the productions of well-instructed and candid American writers and public speakers. We observe on a late occasion in England, at the Wesleyan Conference, Bishop Simpson, the Massillon of American pulpit orators, said, "The triumph of America was England's triumph. Their object was the same, and they were engaged in the same work. There were more Englishmen who would go to America, than Americans who would come to England(laughter), and while they in England had the wealth, the power, and the elements of usefulness, they were bound to use it in the interests of religion."
On the same occasion, the Rev. Dr. Curry, editor of the New YorkChristian Advocate, the most widely circulated religious paper in America, uttered the following noble sentiments:
"He was proud," he said, "of England (as the Fatherland of his), and, as he had now gone up and down through that island, and had witnessed its signs of substantial wealth, and of social order, he felt that both the public institutions of the Government and the private virtues of the people were of the most valuable. He did not wonder that Englishmen were warmly attached to their own country, and he would say that were he not an American he should wish to be an Englishman. He rejoiced, too, that there now exists the most cordial good feeling between the two countries, and trusted that this would never be interrupted. They had very many interests in common, and should stand together in support of them."
On the last Fourth of July, the Rev. Dr. Newman, pastor of President Grant, who has finished a tour of the world, having been appointed to examine and report upon all the American Consulships of the globe, delivered a remarkable discourse on the progress of the nation, and also of the enlightened ideas and liberal institutions in Europe. In an allusion to the American Revolution, Dr. Newman says:
"Our forefathers were not slaves; they were English subjects—English freemen, and we misrepresent them and the struggle through which they fought, if we look upon them as bound with manacles. They had an appreciation of what belonged to an English subject. And because the mother country refused representation where she imposed taxation, therefore those forefathers arose in their English manhood, protested against the abuse of governmental power, and asserted that where there is taxation, there should be representation; and had Patrick Henry been admitted into the British Parliament to represent her American colonies, the United States of America to-day would have been the grandest portion of the empire of Great Britain."
In the same discourse the orator said:
"Behold England of to-day, in her rule at home, as well as in her policy towards her colonies, pressing upon her colonial possessions practical independence. She demands that they shall be so far free as to legislate for themselves, and pay their own expenses. England is now gathering together her representatives from Africa, and proposes under her benign sway to form a republican government for long-despised and down-trodden Africa. Whatever may be said of the Old East India Company under British protection, let me say, from personal observation, that from the eternal snows of the Himalayas to the spicy groves of Ceylon, India of to-day has a wise and paternal government given her by Christian England."
FOOTNOTES:[221]Thompson's History of the War of 1812, Chap. xxx.[222]As in the storming of the fort at York, the explosion which took place was and is a matter of dispute, and as to whether the explosion was accidental, or caused by the British; so it is a matter of unsettled dispute as to whether the explosion of Fort Erie was caused by the Americans, or was accidental. General Pike was killed in the explosion which took place in the fort at York, and Colonels Drummond and Scott were killed at the explosion of Fort Erie: many of the British and Canadians were killed in the explosion in the fort at York, but none of the Americans were killed at the explosion in Fort Erie.[223]The greater part of the foregoing accounts of the campaign of 1814 are extracted and condensed from Thompson's and Christie's Histories of the War of 1812, compared with other histories of the same events.
[221]Thompson's History of the War of 1812, Chap. xxx.
[221]Thompson's History of the War of 1812, Chap. xxx.
[222]As in the storming of the fort at York, the explosion which took place was and is a matter of dispute, and as to whether the explosion was accidental, or caused by the British; so it is a matter of unsettled dispute as to whether the explosion of Fort Erie was caused by the Americans, or was accidental. General Pike was killed in the explosion which took place in the fort at York, and Colonels Drummond and Scott were killed at the explosion of Fort Erie: many of the British and Canadians were killed in the explosion in the fort at York, but none of the Americans were killed at the explosion in Fort Erie.
[222]As in the storming of the fort at York, the explosion which took place was and is a matter of dispute, and as to whether the explosion was accidental, or caused by the British; so it is a matter of unsettled dispute as to whether the explosion of Fort Erie was caused by the Americans, or was accidental. General Pike was killed in the explosion which took place in the fort at York, and Colonels Drummond and Scott were killed at the explosion of Fort Erie: many of the British and Canadians were killed in the explosion in the fort at York, but none of the Americans were killed at the explosion in Fort Erie.
[223]The greater part of the foregoing accounts of the campaign of 1814 are extracted and condensed from Thompson's and Christie's Histories of the War of 1812, compared with other histories of the same events.
[223]The greater part of the foregoing accounts of the campaign of 1814 are extracted and condensed from Thompson's and Christie's Histories of the War of 1812, compared with other histories of the same events.
Miscellaneous Documents and Papers, Extracted from Manuscripts Respecting the U.E. Loyalists in the Dominion Library at Ottawa.
"CHARACTER OF THE MILITIA." ETC., ETC.
I. "Amongst the first settlers on the frontier of Upper Canada were those faithful and loyal men, the United Empire Loyalists, with the Six Nations of Indians, who, at the sacrifice of their all, were steadfast to the British Crown during the revolutionary struggle of the old British colonies, now the United States, for independence, and other United States citizens who had adopted Canada as a home for themselves and their children. That struggle ended by the treaty of 1783.
"Those faithful men, the U.E. Loyalists and their associates, sought an asylum under Britain's Crown in this, the then wilderness of Canada, which now stands as one of the most flourishing provinces of our beloved Sovereign. In that then wilderness the flag of England was unfurled, and after the lapse of one century, and on the commencement of another, that flag floats triumphantly over this loyal Canadian land. Those first settlers were our first militiamen, under our first and venerated Governor, Sir John Graves Simcoe, in the year 1791.
"The descendants of those faithful men, with some soldiers and sailors and others, the sons of Britain who had adopted Canada, were our first militiamen in the war of 1812; and those who are left of them are therefore the veteran soldiers of 1812. The war was declared by the United States Government against Great Britain, June 18th, 1812—involving Imperial interests alone, and not those of the colonies.[224]This declaration of war against Britain was the signal for the loyal inhabitants of Canada to rushen masseto the frontier of their country to repel invasion. In this momentous crisis we met our beloved Governor and Commander-in-Chief, the late Major-General Sir Isaac Brock, on the Niagara frontier, whose monument stands on the battle ground of Queenston Heights. That monument stands in remembrance of him who sacrificed his valuable life in duty to his King and in defence of our Canadian homes; in memory of him who caused the youthful part of the Militia of Upper Canada to be embodied in the Militia Flank Companies, to be trained for actual service in their country's defence; in remembrance of him in whom their entire confidence was placed—for where he led they were sure to follow."
II. The invasions of Canada by the Americans during the war were as follows:
The foregoing is an aggregate of the United States forces employed in the attempt to invade and take Canada, when theydesired peace; and when peace was proclaimed, they did not find themselves in possession of an inch of Canadian territory.
"Thus it may be said as the opinion of all, that if the loyal inhabitants of Canada had not, in those days of trial and privation, stood to their arms under General Brock and other generals, Canada might not at this day be a continued appendage of the British Crown. In corroboration of this opinion, I here insert General Brock's answer to an address of the magistrates at Niagara after Hull's surrender of Detroit. General Brock said—
"That had not Western Canada rose in their might as one man, in defence of their rights, and in support of the constitution of Great Britain, his hands would have been as if tied, being without the aid of the regular British troops, who were all then engaged in the European war.
"Truly extracted from my book,
"John Clarke,
"Captain-Adjutant-General of Militia, 1812, '13, '14."
Colonel Clarke says of himself: "I was placed on duty by General Brock from the commencement of the war of 1812, as Lieutenant and Adjutant of the 4th Lincoln flank companies. In March I was promoted to the rank of Captain-Assistant-Adjutant-General of Militia by General Sir Roger H. Sheaffe, Administrator of the Government of Upper Canada; which place I retained until the peace of 1815."—"I served throughout the rebellion of 1837 and 1838—being invested with the command of an organized regiment of militia, the First Frontier Light Infantry."
Colonel Clarke's recollections and reminiscences are in every respect reliable, and are very valuable, extending to nearly 300 manuscript quarto pages, in the Parliamentary Library at Ottawa (entitled "U.E. Loyalists"). His own contributions are entitled, "Memoirs of Colonel John Clarke, of Port Dalhousie, C.W.; born in Canada in 1783: giving an account of the family's early arrival in the country in 1768; the progress of the settlers; the arrival of Governor Simcoe, his improvements and government; settlement of the Indians; the war of 1812—full particulars; the rebellion of 1837; the Welland Canal, and various other things connected with the progressive growth of Upper Canada."
TREATMENT OF CANADIANS BY THE AMERICANS WHO INVADED CANADA.
"In 1812 General Hull invaded the British province of Upper Canada, and took possession of the town of Sandwich. He threatened (by proclamation) to exterminate the inhabitants if they made any resistance. He plundered those with whom he had been on habits of intimacy for years before the war. Their plate and linen were found in his possession after his surrender to General Brock. He marked out the loyal subjects of the King as objects of his peculiar resentment, and consigned their property to pillage and conflagration.
"In the autumn of 1812, several houses and barns were burnt by the American forces near Fort Erie, Upper Canada.
"In 1813—April—the public buildings of York, the capital of Upper Canada, were burnt by the troops of the United States, contrary to the articles of capitulation. These public buildings consisted of two elegant halls, with convenient offices for the accommodation of the Legislature and the Courts of Justice. The library and all the papers and records belonging to these institutions were consumed at the same time. The Church was robbed, and the town library perfectly pillaged. Commodore Chauncey, who has generally behaved honourably, was so ashamed of this last transaction, that he endeavoured to collect the books belonging to the town and legislative library, and actually sent back two boxes filled with them; but hardly any were complete. Much private property was plundered, and several houses left in a state of ruin.
"In June, 1813, Newark, Niagara, came into possession of the army of the United States, and its inhabitants were repeatedly promised protection to themselves and property by Generals Dearborn and Boyd. In the midst of these professions, the most respectable of them, although non-combatants, were made prisoners and sent to the United States.
"Two churches were burnt to the ground. Detachments were sent under the direction of British traitors [of whom the traitor deserter Wilcox was the leader] to pillage the loyal inhabitants in the neighbourhood. Many farm-houses were burnt during the summer; and, at length, to fill up the measure of iniquity, the whole beautiful town of Newark, with a short previous intimation—so short as to amount to none, and in an intensecold day of the 10th of December—was consigned to the flames.
"The wretched inhabitants had scarcely time to save themselves, much less any of their property. More than 400 women and children were exposed without shelter, on the night of December the 10th, to the inclement cold of a Canadian winter. A great number must have perished, had not the flight of the American troops, after perpetrating their unfeeling act, enabled the inhabitants of the country to come to their relief.
"President Madison has attempted to justify this cruel act as necessary for the defence of Fort George. Nothing can be more false. The town was some distance from the fort; and instead of thinking to defend it, General McClure was actually retreating to his own shore when he caused Newark (Niagara) to be burnt. This officer says that he acted in conformity with the orders of his Government.
"The American Government, finding their defence useless, disavow the conduct of McClure, who appears to have been a fit agent for such a Government. He not only complied with his instructions; but he refined upon them, by choosing a day of intense severity, giving the inhabitants almost no warning until the fire began, and the conflagration in the night."
(The above facts relating to the burning, etc., are extracted from the proceedings of the Loyal Patriotic Society of Upper Canada, established at York for the relief of sufferers in the war; and of which Chief Justice Scott was President.)
The Royal and Patriotic Society of Upper Canadawas established at Toronto, extended its branches to different parts of the Province, existed from 1812 to 1815, and did a great deal for the relief of sufferers by the war. On the destruction of the town of Niagara, large subscriptions were obtained and distributed for the relief of the sufferers. The following are extracts from its recorded proceedings:
"The inhabitants came forward in the most noble manner, as well as the gallant officers of his Majesty's troops.
with a vast number of liberal subscriptions, according to themeans of the donors: so that in a short time upwards of £2,000 was raised to commence with.
"The amount raised in the first year was £10,000.
"Eight hundred and sixty-four (864) families were relieved from starvation by this timely aid.
"The following summer a large meeting was held in London (England), at which the Duke of Kent, who had visited Canada twenty years before, presided. By his influence a very large sum was subscribed. The Bank of England graced the list with £1,000. This effort produced another £10,000.
"Indeed, the liberality evinced in all quarters was of the greatest service to the sufferers, and gladdened many bowed down by sorrow and indigence."
The whole of these interesting particulars may be seen in the Transactions of the Society, published in Toronto, 1814.
It may be interesting to the reader if I subjoin the address of the President, explanatory of the origin, character, and objects of this noble Society, the former existence of which is now scarcely known:
"AN ADDRESS
"Copied from the Proceedings of the Loyal Patriotic Society of Upper Canada, who, by their funds, relieved much real distress to families in the war of 1812, '13, '14.
"Gentlemen,—In the unprovoked war waged against us by the American Government, Providence hath evidently smiled on the justice of our cause.
"But our exertions have been attended with many privations and sacrifices hard to be borne, and should hostilities continue many more will be required.
"In order to mitigate some of these, the inhabitants of York came forward to contribute toward the comforts of the flankcompanies; and a large sum of money was raised for that purpose, of which the greater part is expended.
"But, on reflection, it appeared that something more might be done of a permanent nature, and that portion of the inhabitants who are not liable to military duty, eager to prove that their zeal in the cause is not inferior to that of those in actual service, formed themselves into a Society, named 'The Loyal Patriotic Society of Upper Canada,' for the following distinct purposes:
"1st. To afford aid and relief to such families of the militia, in all parts of the Province, as shall be made to appear to experience particular distress, in consequence of the death or absence of some of their friends and relations.
"2nd. To afford like aid and relief to such militiamen as have been or shall be disabled from labour by their wounds or otherwise in course of the service aforesaid.
"3rd. To reward merit, excite and commemorate glorious events, by bestowing medals or other honorary marks of public approbation or distinction for extraordinary instances of personal courage or fidelity in defence of the Province by individuals, either of his Majesty's regular troops or militia forces.
"4th. Also the seamen on the lakes.
"This Society, so honourable in its nature, and which we hope will prove most important in its consequences, was first suggested by the Honourable Mr. Selby, and was received with acclamation.
"In a public meeting of the gentlemen of York and its vicinity, the Chief explained the great advantages likely to result from it, if generally supported; and, assisted by his most respectable colleagues, prepared views for its management. To these the meeting gave their cordial assent, and in a few minutes nearly $2,000 per annum was subscribed. There are some who have given during the continuance of the war one-tenth of their income.
"General Sheaffe, in a letter to the Chief Justice, our chairman, not only extols, in earnest language, the objects of the Society, but, far exceeding our expectations, presents us with £200. Colonel Bishop, a stranger [who was afterwards mortallywounded at Black Rock], and not an inhabitant of the Province, with a liberality above all praise, subscribes £100.
"Now, gentlemen, our object in addressing you is to procure your co-operation. Foremost in deeds of warlike glory, we desire that you should become sharers in the work of benevolence.
"Let your contributions be as small as you please—a halfpenny, a farthing per day—anything to show your good-will.
"It is not the value of what you give; it is your countenance that we mainly desire.
"We know that your means are narrow, but your example is inestimable; and we shall be proud of having you for our companions and supporters in mitigating the distress incident to the war.
"And when it is heard that the York Volunteers and their comrades, among the first in danger, have patronized this Society, the militia of other districts will be anxious to emulate the military glory of the conquerors of Detroit and Queenston, and will hasten to emulate you in contributing to the support of our benevolent design.
"Those that join will intimate to the captains what they are willing to give, while they are in active service, that it may be paid over monthly to the treasurer.
"And they will remember that they are soothing the sick and the wounded in war, protecting aged parents and helpless children, and doing all they can to comfort those whom they love and revere, who suffer during the horrors of war."
(Signed)Chief Justice Scott,President.
Alex. Wood,Secretary.
The above excellent address is understood to have been written by the late Dr. Strachan, first Bishop of the Church of England of Toronto, and who acted the part of a true, a bold, and generous patriot during the war of 1812-15.
FOOTNOTES:[224]Yet while the American Government professed to declare adefensivewar—a war in defence of their rights at sea—the first act wasthe invasion of Canada, for which they had been collecting men and arms for several months before the declaration of the war; and thus the first acts of the Canadians were to provide for the defence of their country and their homes against the American invasions. The facts show that the real object of the American Government was to take Canada, and their invaded rights at sea was a mere pretext.
[224]Yet while the American Government professed to declare adefensivewar—a war in defence of their rights at sea—the first act wasthe invasion of Canada, for which they had been collecting men and arms for several months before the declaration of the war; and thus the first acts of the Canadians were to provide for the defence of their country and their homes against the American invasions. The facts show that the real object of the American Government was to take Canada, and their invaded rights at sea was a mere pretext.
[224]Yet while the American Government professed to declare adefensivewar—a war in defence of their rights at sea—the first act wasthe invasion of Canada, for which they had been collecting men and arms for several months before the declaration of the war; and thus the first acts of the Canadians were to provide for the defence of their country and their homes against the American invasions. The facts show that the real object of the American Government was to take Canada, and their invaded rights at sea was a mere pretext.
Close of the War and of the History of the U.E. Loyalists—Defeat and Disgrace of the Democratic Invaders of Canada—Honour and Success of its Defenders—Comparative State of the United States and Canada at the Close of the War—Mutual Respect and Friendship between Americans and Canadians—Concluding Remarks.
Thus closed the war of the United States against Great Britain, in 1812-15—a war undertaken at the prompting of the scourge of Europe, Napoleon, but upon pretexts which were never so much as mentioned, much less reiterated, by the United States Commissioners when peace was proposed between Great Britain and America in 1815—a war in which the democratic rulers of the United States suffered both defeat and disgrace, while the loyal inhabitants of Canada maintained inviolate their honour and independence.
With the close of that war terminates the history of the United Empire Loyalists of Canada as a distinct and controlling class of the inhabitants; for their numbers had become so reduced by the ravages of time and war, and other classes of immigrants had become so numerous, between whom and the families of old Loyalists so many intermarriages had taken and were taking place, that the latter became merged in the mass of the population; and therefore my history of them as a distinct class comes to an end. All classes were Loyalists, and all had fought as one man in defence of their country during the recent war, although all had not fought for the life of the nation and the unity of the empire from 1776 to 1783, or been driven from their homes to Canada, to become the fathers of the inhabitants and founders of the institutions of our country. It would beout of place, and at variance with the title of my book, did I proceed to narrate and discuss the history of Upper Canada after the close of the war; but I may properly conclude my work by referring to a few facts leading to and arising out of the war, and the state of our country at its close.
The democratic party in the United States, which had confiscated the property of our forefathers, and exiled them from their homes, and compelled them to seek a home in the wilderness of Canada, had followed them with their enmities into their new place of refuge, and, by their emissaries, in conjunction with those of the French revolutionists, sought to insinuate a disturbing element into Canadian peace and safety from the commencement of the bloody French revolution to 1812, when it culminated, under the promptings of Napoleon and his obsequious tools, in the war of 1812-15, with a view to wrest Canada from Great Britain, and to divide the commerce of Europe between France and the United States. But how vain are the devices of men against the laws of God and of human society! The Gideon hundreds of loyal Canadians repelled and scattered, for more than two years, the Midian and Amalekite thousands of democratic invaders, until Great Britain, having chained the marauding tiger of Europe to the rock of St. Helena, despatched her thousands of soldiers to the aid of Canada, and sent her fleets across the Atlantic—sweeping the American coasts from Maine to Georgia—taking and burning their capital in retaliation for the American raid upon the capital of Upper Canada, and soon compelling the heretofore boasting Madison partizans to seek for peace without even the mention of their alleged causes of war with England. If the American armies were defeated and driven back in their repeated invasions of Canada, their commerce and commercial men suffered not less before the end of the war. Their annual exports declined, between 1811 and 1814, from £22,000,000 sterling to £1,500,000; their vessels to the number of 3,000 were captured; two-thirds of their commercial class were reduced to bankruptcy; an immense war tax was incurred; many thousands of lives had been sacrificed, and the Union itself imperilled by the threatened secession of the New England States.
On the other hand, Canada had felt deeply the calamities of war, it being the seat of the conflict, a large portion of itsrevenue and inhabitants having been diverted from their ordinary employments—having themselves chiefly to depend upon for their defence, while England was engaged in a twenty years' conflict for law and liberty in Europe. In the extremity of this contest, the democratic President of the United States combined with the tyrant despot of Europe to seduce and sever the Canadians from their British connection; but the Canadians nobly maintained their fidelity and triumphantly vindicated their honour and independence, though, in doing so, they suffered the desolation of many of their homes, shed many bitter tears for sires, and sons, and brothers, who had poured out their life's blood in defence of their country on the battle fields of both Upper and Lower Canada. Yet, upon the whole, the war did much good to Canada, apart from the success of its arms; it tended to cement the people together as one family; English, French, Scotch, Irish, and Americans had forgotten former distinctions and jealousies, and had all become Canadians, with increased devotion not only to the land of their nativity or adoption, but to the glorious mother country which had become the victorious champion of the liberties of Europe, and leader in the civilization of mankind.
Though, in the course of the war, Canada—especially Upper Canada, which had to bear the brunt of it—was greatly exhausted, emigration being checked, agriculture partially neglected, by the embodiments of militia and frequent mobilization of sedentary corps,—requiring some time after the war for the inhabitants to return to their old habits and resume their peaceful pursuits; yet Canada flourished financially during the war. Owing to England's supremacy on the ocean, Canadian trade and commerce were not seriously affected; taxes were light; not a few fortunes were made; money was plentiful, as the mother country paid most of the expenses of the war.
It is worthy of remark, as one of the notable features of the war, that no class of Canadians were more loyal, none more brave and devoted to the defence of the Government and institutions of the country, than were the Americans who had become settlers in Canada—not the United Empire Loyalists alone, but those who had from time to time emigrated from the United States of their own accord, and not on account of political persecution, as was the case with the old Loyalists.
The unfriendly feelings and even enmities which had been excited by the war between Canadians and Americans, soon changed into mutual respect and friendship; trade and commerce between the two countries were renewed and increased; intermarriages multiplied, with all the amenities and intimacies of social life. Though there has always been a democratic mob faction—latterly mostly Fenian—in the United States, which has seized every opportunity to invade and disturb the peace of Canada, yet it is well understood that this freebooting faction does not represent the sentiments or feelings of the industrious, business, commercial, intelligent, and Christian people of the United States, who, with few exceptions, are, as most of them were when Madison declared war against England in June, 1812, lovers of peace, law, and order, and friends of England and Canada, as well as of mankind; and we believe there are no more ardent well-wishers on the continent of America for the happiness and prosperity of the citizens of the American Republic than the loyal and patriotic inhabitants of Canada.
I may perhaps be expected to add a few words on the chief public occurrences which took place in Upper Canada after the war, but without discussing any of the questions which they involved.
From 1791 to the close of the war in 1815, and for some years afterwards, the Executive Government of the day commanded the votes of a majority of the House of Assembly. Public questions and measures were freely discussed; but no organized opposition appeared in the Assembly against the Administration. Shortly after the close of the war, however, the elements of discord began to be developed in the country. Many discharged officers of the British army, at the termination of the long European war, came to Canada with instructions from the Secretary of State for the Colonies to the Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada (himself an English officer), to provide for them; and they were appointed to all offices of emolument (with few exceptions), to the exclusion of the old Loyalists and their descendants and other inhabitants who had felled the wilderness, and made the country valuable, and had borne the burden and heat of the war in its defence. The administration of the Crown or Public Lands was sadly defective and partial, giving whole blocks to friends and speculators, while the applications of the legitimate settler were often rejected. It also began to be complained of that these large blocks of land given to individuals, and the one-seventh of the lands set apart as Clergy Reserves, greatly impeded the settlement and improvement of the country; that those who had occupied the Clergy Reserves onleaseswere required to pay higher rents on the renewal of their leases, or the purchase of the Reserves, on account of their increased value created by the labour of the tenants and their neighbours. A special Board of Management was appointed for these Reserves in the interest of the clerical claimants of them. The representatives of the Church of Scotland claimed to share in the proceeds of the Clergy Reserves, and a co-ordinate standing with the Church of England, as the endowed Church establishment of Upper Canada. The other religious persuasions had not the privilege of having matrimony solemnized by their own ministers, or the right of holding a bit of ground on which to worship God, or in which to bury their dead. It soon began to be claimed by the leaders of the Church of England that their Church had the sole right to the Clergy Reserves and to all the prerogatives oftheEstablished Church, whose supremacy and endowments, it was now pretended, were essential to the loyalty of the people; notwithstanding, no people could have been more loyal than the Canadian people during the then recent war in defence of British supremacy, and who were as brave as they were loyal, though there were not then three settled Episcopal clergymen in all Upper Canada.
These, with various co-ordinate and minor causes, lost to the Lieutenant-Governor and his Executive Council the control and confidence of the representatives of the people, and in less than ten years after the war, the Governor and Council fell into a hopeless minority in the House of Assembly, but in opposition to it actually governed the country for fifteen years, until the dissatisfaction of the people became so general and strong that Commissions of Inquiry were sent out from England, which resulted in placing all religious persuasions on an equal footing before the law, in applying the proceeds of the Clergy Reserves to the general purposes of the education and improvement of the country, in making the heads of public departments (who were to be Executive Councillors) responsible to the House of Assembly, and holding their offices no longer than they enjoyed its confidence. From that time forward the Government became strong, the people contented, and the country prosperous and rapidly increasing in wealth, education, and intelligence—rendering, at this day, the inhabitants of the vast Dominion of Canada the lightest-taxed and the freest people on the American continent.