APPENDIX A XXXI 



— all filled the ranks of that emigration. Christian men of all the 

 Churches were there, but not one infidel of the type of that arch traitor 

 Tom Paine ! He belonged emphatically to the rebellion. The Loyalists 

 came with their Penates, their household gods, their bibles, the sacred 

 <;ommunion vessels of their altars, the tables of the ten commandments 

 from the chancels of their churches, these sacred objects they brought 

 with them out of their abandoned temples. ***** ^j-,^^ 

 these ten commandments they set up anew in the rude churches which 

 they built to the worships of God in Canada." 



Let us consider the influence which these Loyalists exerted, first 

 upon the social life of the people in the British provinces where they 

 settled, and secondly upon the political history of this continent. 



The Loyalists held as their great doctrine, as the foremost article 

 of their creed, the scriptural injunction, "Fear God ! Honour the King !" 

 This was their simple faith, to fear God, or in other words to obey 

 His commands, and live righteously; to honour the King, that is, to 

 obey the laws and support the constitution of the country, and to stand 

 true to their allegiance to their Sovereign. The result of this spirit 

 is shown in the remarkable freedom from crime of this country in its 

 early years. The pious. God-fearing men who had made such sacrifices 

 for their principles, were a community almost free from crime. Mur- 

 ders and theft were practically unknown, and for many years the country 

 increased in strength and population, almost without need of legal 

 restrictions or regulations. This tendency to avoid crime has always 

 been more marked in Canada than in almost any other country, and 

 lias been a peculiarity of our new settlements in the Northwest Terri- 

 tories. 



This has been in marked contrast to the state of affairs for the 

 la&t hundred years in the western borders of civilization in the United 

 States. This may be attributed to a great extent to the habits and tra- 

 ditions of the choice, picked men who came here and founded our 

 country so well. 



On the other side of the line the lawless elements had got control. 

 They had set law and order and government and constitution at defi- 

 ance. The rights of property were set at naught. As one of their 

 writers has well said : " The Loyalists had position and property, the 

 Indians had fertile lands; both were coveted, and both were wrenched 

 from their rightful possessors." ]\Iany of the Loyalists were put to 

 death, the others exiled, and the property of all confiscated. This spirit 

 has affected the nation ever since. The murders per annum in propor- 

 tion to the population, being many times more than in the other 

 countries of the world. The number of lynchings are about equal to 



