to their environment, and New Brunswick entered on that
era of prosperity which has been hers ever since.




CHAPTER VIII

IN PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND

Not many Loyalists found their way to Prince Edward
Island, or, as it was called at the time of the American
Revolution, the Island of St John. Probably there were
not many more than six hundred on the island at any one
time. But the story of these immigrants forms a chapter
in itself. Elsewhere the refugees were well and loyally
treated. In Nova Scotia and Quebec the English officials
strove to the best of their ability, which was perhaps
not always great, to make provision for them. But in
Prince Edward Island they were the victims of treachery
and duplicity.

Prince Edward Island was in 1783 owned by a number of
large landed proprietors. When it became known that the
British government intended to settle the Loyalists in
Nova Scotia, these proprietors presented a petition to
Lord North, declaring their desire to afford asylum to
such as would settle on the island. To this end they
offered to resign certain of their lands for colonization,
on condition that the government abated the quit-rents.