30 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



to his lordship their great disappointment in not securing a town, and 

 ventured to remind him that he had commissioned their leader to fetch 

 them from New York to the province in which they now found them- 

 selves without lands or tools enough for farming, and without the oppor- 

 tunity of following their former occupations. Encouraged by the 

 kindly treatment they had received from Dorchester in the past, these 

 memorialists did not close their petition until they had revealed the 

 whole list of grievances; they told him of the departure from Sorel of 

 many good tradesmen; of the complete stoppage of their provisions since 

 September 1, 178G; of the favoritism shown, as the}^ alleged, in the dis- 

 tribution of clothing; of their lack of farming implements, live stock, and 

 tillable land ; of their inability to obtain things on credit any longer, since 

 that was gone; of the granting of lots to people who, they said, had no 

 right to them; and, finally, bringing up again their chief grievance, 

 they l^esought Dorchester to order that a town be laid out for them. 



During the preceding summer, these and other grievances of the 

 refugees at Sorel had been aired before a board of commissioners, which 

 Lieutenant Governor Hope had appointed to investigate disturbing 

 conditions in several loyalist settlements. These commissioners had 

 reported, among other things, that Governor Haldimand had held out 

 to such tradesmen as should settle at Sorel that a tow^n would be estab- 

 lished and a town lot granted to each, and that the "annual expectation" 

 of this town lot had induced many persons to remain loitering about with 

 nothing better to do than take up imaginary grievances and jealousies. 

 Doubtless this report became known to Lord Dorchester, and, 

 thereby seemed to call for another statement from those with whom 

 it dealt. At any rate, such a statement was forthcoming in December, 

 1786. It represented that the settlers had fully expected the town 

 to be laid out in 1784, and a supply of materials for building, utensils, 

 and other things to be furnished at the same time. It declared that 

 Haldimand's intention was to give such assistance as would make Sorel 

 "a city, or at least a trading town." It complained that the settlers 

 had not yet received the deeds for their farm lots. It repeated the 

 earlier complaints about the poor quality of their land, their lack of 

 farming tools, and their dire need of food and clothing. It closed with' 

 an appeal for such relief as would keep the petitioners and their fellow- 

 sufferers from perishing. There can be no doubt that Dorchester, 

 always the friend of the loyalists, answered this memorial with the relief 

 asked ; and the accompanying plan shows that he took prompt measures 

 to establish the town, which the refugees at Sorel needed so sorely from 

 the beginning.* 



*Bundle "Grievances of the Loyalists at Sorel" in the Dominion Archives, at 

 Ottawa, Om. 



