ne or two states, a dead letter. On the other
hand it is impossible not to convict the British
commissioners of a betrayal of the Loyalists. 'Never,'
said Lord North in the House of Commons, 'never was the
honour, the humanity, the principles, the policy of a
nation so grossly abused, as in the desertion of those
men who are now exposed to every punishment that desertion
and poverty can inflict, because they were not rebels.'
'In ancient or in modern history,' said Lord Loughborough
in the House of Lords, 'there cannot be found an instance
of so shameful a desertion of men who have sacrificed
all to their duty and to their reliance upon our faith.'
It seems probable that the British commissioners could
have obtained, on paper at any rate, better terms for
the Loyalists. It is very doubtful if the Americans would
have gone to war again over such a question. In 1783 the
position of Great Britain was relatively not weaker, but
stronger, than in 1781, when hostilities had ceased. The
attitude of the French minister, and the state of the
French finances, made it unlikely that France would lend
her support to further hostilities. And there is no doubt
that the American states were even more sorely in need
of peace than was Great Britain.

When the terms of peace were announced, great was the
bitterness among the Loyalists. One of them protested in
_Rivington's Gazette_ that 'even robbers, murderers, and
rebels are faithful to their fellows and never betray
each other,' and another sang,

'Tis an honour to serve the bravest of nations,
And be left to be hanged in their capitulations.

If the terms of the peace had been observed, the plight
of the Loyalists would have been bad enough. But as it
was, the outcome proved even worse. Every clause in the
treaty relating to the Loyalists was broken over and over
again. There was no sign of an abatement of the popular
feeling against them; indeed, in some places, the spirit
of persecution seemed to blaze out anew. One of Washington's
bitterest sayings was uttered at this time, when he said
of the Loyalists that 'he could see nothing better for
them than to commit suicide.' Loyalist creditors found
it impossible to recover their debts in America, while
they were themselves sued in the British courts by their
American creditors, and their property was still being
confiscated by the American legislatures. The legislature
of New York publicly declined to reverse its policy