[SIEBERT & GILLIAM] THE LOYALISTS IN P.E.I. 117 
advantage of proximity to Nova Scotia, received an additional stimulus, 
and benefited agriculturally, commercially and in other respects. 
The presence of the Loyalists also made itself felt politically. Governor 
Patterson was not averse to bidding for the votes of Loyalists and their 
friends in the lower house of the provincial legislature when some favour- 
ite measure was up for enactment. These people were naturally con- 
scious of their obligations to the executive, and were likely to vote as 
he desired. However, the political influence of this class of settlers 
seems to have been incidental to the exigencies of the situation.! 
Otherwise, it manifested chiefly, if not altogether, in the recurring at- 
tempts to right the wrongs of the Loyalists themselves. As the Loyalist 
strength, however, was entirely confined to the House of Assembly, 
remedial legislation could not be secured. The adverse power of the 
proprietors found its chief defence in the Legislative Council; the pro- 
prietors well knew that their titles to disputed lands were only safe 
while they were in control of that body. As the governors, Patterson 
and Fanning, were themselves proprietors, they did not escape being 
charged with sharp practice towards the refugee claimants, although 
the latter was himself a North Carolina Loyalist. In this connection 
it may be noted that one of the early chief justices of the island was the 
son of a Loyalist from Connecticut, Munson Jarvis.’ 
We have some slight indications of the religious adherence of the 
new settlers. The great majority of them were undoubtedly Episco- 
palians. But when in 1792 a Methodist revival was held in the island, 
Nathaniel Wright and his family became converts. They were of the 
number of Loyalists who had scattered from Shelburne. They remained 
zealous followers of Methodism, and not only assisted in bringing 
another minister to the island in 1794, but were active in keeping alive 
Methodist teachings in the colony. It is probable that Nathaniel 
Wright who lived at Bedeque—the place of settlement chosen by many 
of the Loyalists—had associated with him a considerable number of 
his fellow refugees in the Methodist community which grew up there. 

! Stewart, Account of Prince Edward Island, pp. 192-4. 
? Sabine, The American Loyalists, p. 384. 
