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THE GRAND RIVER.

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Happily all unfortunate consequences were avoided. The Mohawks, under Brant, obtained a grant of land at the Grand river, lake Erie; another body was established on the bay of Quinté, where they remain to this day.

Haldimand's grant is dated the 25th of October, 1784. It embraced a tract of land, six miles in width, on each side of the Grand river, extending to its source. The ownership had lately been obtained by purchase from the Chippewas. The grant was confirmed by general Simcoe on the 14th of June, 1793, when the official patent was issued.

The original extent was 694,910 acres. A great portion of it, however, has been alienated. Nearly 700,000 acres have been surrendered to the crown in trust, to be sold for the benefit of the tribes. Some portion of the land was sold, or let on lease, by arrangement made directly with the Indians, a proceeding in itself illegal, but it has not been disturbed. The reserve owned by the Indians is still held by the descendants of the tribe, which at the time of the revolution left the province of New York. They still adhere to their old mode of life. Generally they are members of the church of England, but with the century of change, which has worked its influence around, they remain Indians. The remark has often been made, that it is no difficult matter to turn a white man into an Indian, but hitherto the problem of transforming the Indian into the white man has defied civilization.

The Mohawk settlement in the bay of Quinté, in the township of Tyendenaga, was also commenced in 1784. In 1793 they received a grant from the crown of about 92,700 acres. Upwards of two-thirds of this land was ceded back to the government in 1820 and 1825, in consideration of an annual payment to be devoted to their support.

1784]

RELIGIOUS CENSUS.

205

The following was the condition of the Ecclesiastics of the Roman Catholic

There were but few Protestant clergy in Canada at this date, even on the arrival of the first bishop Mountain, in 1793, there were but nine in Canada.* For the first years after the conquest the duty was performed by the military and naval chaplains. In 1766 Mr. Delisle was appointed rector of Montreal. He informs us that previous to this date Mr. Doty and Mr. Stewart had officiated. A minister was appointed to Three Rivers† in 1768 and at Sorel in 1783. Service was also held at St. John's by the loyalist clergyman, who sought refuge in Canada. As the loyalists were established in the north of the Saint Lawrence in 1784, chaplains were appointed at Prescott, Cornwall and Kingston, then known as New Oswegatchie, New Johnston, and Cataraqui. The Rev. Mr. Bethune, the first Presbyterian minister of Montreal, was established in the city only in 1782, on the disbandment of the "Highland Emigrants," afterwards the 34th regiment, of which he had been the chaplain.

[Memoir Rev. Bishop Mountain.]

+ The condition of the clergy at this early date is carefully described in the "Church of England in Canada, 1759-1793, from the conquest to the establishment of the See of Quebec," by the Rev. H. C. Stewart, rector of Three Rivers.

CHAPTER V.

Not the least important duty in the closing years of the government of Haldimand was the establishment upon Canadian territory of the loyalists who sought a refuge on British soil: the founders of the province of Ontario. It is not possible in a work professing to be the history of Canada to pass over this event by a merely superficial allusion. It is equally a duty to avoid all appeals to past bitterness of feeling and in no way to awaken ancient antipathies. Nevertheless, the facts under which this expatriation took place cannot be suppressed. The large number embraced within it had either fought in the field for the cause of the mother country, or had been forced to abandon their possessions and property by positive persecution or the certainty of being subjected to it. To such as these the new nationality of the United States offered neither home, protection, nor asylum. In speaking of the sufferings and hardships undergone by these families, for they included women and children, the tone of a Canadian writer must be the opposite to that in which the narrative has often been written. Even the most moderate of modern writers of the United States mention the existence of an American loyalist in the tone of apology, even of wonder that any such class should exist; and with some exceptions they entirely set out of view that much of this emigration took the form it assumed owing to the persecution and wrong practised against all who were believed to hold such opinions.

After the conclusion of the peace there was little safety for any who were held to have loyalist feelings, and dread of the future, as much as sorrow for the past, was the prompting motive of thousands who continued to cling to British protection. A very large class had borne arms during the

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1784]

EVACUATION OF NEW YORK.

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war, and as we recognize this fact that 25,000 loyalists were under arms in defence of the connection with the mother country, the wonder is that, with the power Great Britain could bring into the field, the revolution was successful. We now know how often the cause of congress was in danger of collapse, and that its success was not so much won by the armies of congress as lost by the incapacity of lords North and Germain at home, and the incompetency of the generals sent to command armies, and the admirals to conduct the operations of the fleet. It is difficult to find in military history generals more incompetent than Gage, Howe, and Burgoyne, or admirals less fitted for their duty than Graves or Arbuthnot. With the brilliant qualities of Cornwallis, the close of his campaign at Yorktown proves his want of judgment and forethought; and whatever the noble service rendered in 1782 by Rodney, he must be held responsible that de Grasse obtained the superiority of the seas and made impossible Cornwallis' extrication from the position in which his own imprudence had placed him.

The articles of peace arrived in New York in March, 1783. Even on the 26th of May following, the provisional articles had not been ratified by congress. Carleton evacuated New York on the 25th of November, but he did not leave Staten island, or Long island, or the harbour, until the 4th of December. Carleton embarked for England all the stores belonging to the crown, all the baggage and artillery, with the household effects of a numerous train of royalists, likewise about 40,000 souls, of whom the army, with their wives, children, and attendants, consisted.

Carleton behaved with all the determination of character and strength of principle by which he was distinguished. Easy of access to all who appealed to him, he resolved that he would not leave the city until he had provided for all who desired to accompany the force. The article of the treaty set forth that the places in possession should be “given over with all convenient speed." Congress expressed great dissatisfaction at the delay. Carleton, however, contended