part, it was impossible to bring any charge home to
them, on which to found a plea for compelling them
to quit the country, in imitation of the example of
their fellows. They had taken the oaths of allegiance
to England—and, although ninety-nine had
deliberately violated these, there was no legal cause
for driving forth the hundredth, who still kept the
“word of promise to the ear,” however
he might break it to the hope. Not that, on this
account, the hundredth was held to be one whit more
honourable or loyal. It was felt and known, as
though it had been written in characters of fire upon
his brow, that if he did not follow in the steps of
his predecessors, it was because his interests, not
his inclination, induced his pursuing an apparently
opposite course. It is true, those who remained
were few in number; but scattered, as they were, over
various isolated parts of the country, this only rendered
them greater objects of suspicion. If the enemy
became apprised of any of our movements, for the successful
termination of which it was necessary they should
be kept in ignorance, it was at once taken for granted
their information had been derived from the traitors
Canada had so long nourished in her bosom; and as
several of them were in the practice of absenting
themselves for days in their boats, under the plea
of duck-shooting, or some other equally plausible
pretence, nothing was more easy of accomplishment.
Under these circumstances of doubt, the general secession
of the Yankees, as they were termed, which had first
been regarded as a calamity, was now looked upon as
a blessing; and if regret eventually lingered in the
minds even of those who had been most forward to promote
their introduction into the country, it arose, not
because the many had departed, but because the few
remained. That they were traitors, all believed;
but, although narrowly watched, in no one instance
could their treason be traced, much less established.
In the course of time however they committed themselves
in some one way or other, and then of necessity their
only resource was to flee, as their companions had
fled before them, until ultimately few of their number
were left. If Canada has reason to feel happy
in the late war, inasmuch as that war offered a means
of proving her devoted attachment to the Mother Country,
she has no less reason to rejoice in it, as having
been the indirect means of purging her unrepublican
soil of a set of hollow hearted persons, who occupied
the place and enjoyed all the advantages of loyal men.
Should she, failing to profit by the experience of
the past, again tolerate the introduction of citizens
of the United States into her flourishing provinces,
when there are so many deserving families anxious
to emigrate to her from the Mother Country; then will
she merit all the evils which can attach, in a state
of warfare, to a people diametrically opposed in their
interests, their principles, their habits, and their
attachments.