The Envy of the American States: The Loyalist Dream for New Brunswick by Ann Gorman Condon (review)

450 THE CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW inthe region - thepioneer mission era, theperiod ofintense settlement and expansion,and the six decadessincechurch union. The book contains twenty-one papers,a pictorial'guidedtour' of churcharchitecture in that conference,and two useful appendicesdescribingthe holdingsof the conference's archives and those of the United Church Central Archives related to thehistoryof the Prairies. Manyof the topics coveredby the essayists are wellknownto Canadian religious historians - the caseof JamesEvans,the twoWoodsworths, John Black,James Robertson, Salem Bland,and,predictably, NellieMcClung-but the treatmentis fresh,often revisionist, and will enlightenits intended audience. New groundisbrokenbyJ.C. Saunders on the muchneglected Congregationalists, byVeraFaston'The LaborChurchinWinnipeg,' byM.E. McPherson's examination of theworkof women's missionary societies, andby Keith Clifford's 'Church Union and Western Canada.' The mission theme is reflected in papers ontheMethodists andnativepeoples, Presbyterians and Ruthenians,the United Church and Chinese Canadians,and on medical and hospital work.A few lessknownindividuals and congregations are also chronicled, andthefinalcontribution isa playevoking theghost of pioneer missionary George Youngin search of thatprairiespirit! Inevitably somanyauthors makes forunevenness inthequality andinterest of thepapers, andbythefinal pages onefeelsthatMill'slawof diminishing returns hasovertaken thisambitious project.The organization ofthecontents isbasically chronological, butthereisnoreference totheUnitedEvangelical Brethren,sostrong in Manitoba, whojoinedtheUnitedChurchin •968. JOHN s.MOIRUniversity ofToronto The Envy ofthe American States: The Loyalist Dream forNew Brunswick. ANN GORMAN CONDON. Fredericton, NB:NewIrelandPress •984. Pp.xii, 236 A perceptive groupbiography of theleadership of Loyalist NewBrunswick, Condon'snarrativeexaminestwenty men from their pre-revolutionary patricianAmericanoriginsthrough the early 18oos.Amongthe twenty, EdwardWinslowand Jonathan Sewellreceiveby far the mostattention, followed byJonathan Odell,Joshua Upham,George Leonard, Amos Botsford, WardChipman, JohnSaunders, JohnCoffin,JonathanBliss, andGabrieland GeorgeDuncanLudlow. Throughout, theauthorspecifies thatheranalysis isonlyof'these particular Loyalists' and not of all New BrunswickLoyalists. To studyany leaders, however, istoconsider theirrelationship withthose theysought tolead,and for theLoyalist elitein NewBrunswick thequestion iswhethertheywerea self-serving oligarchy whoretarded thepolitical development oftheprovince. WhileCondon does notstate thequestion, herwell-documented an.d cogent appraisal leaves nodoubtthather answerwouldbe'no.' Condonminimizes theanti-democratic position of hersubjects, preferring REVIEWS 451 toemphasize theircommitment toliberty.Thusshefindsthem'less arbitrary andconspiratorial' thandoesGeorgeRawlykandcredits•785 LowerCove electors withless 'organizational structure and...political coherence' thandoes DavidBell(•78, •45).Sheevenrefuses tocast the •79os constitutional crisis asa contest between eliteLoyalists and rank-and-file Loyalists but nevertheless drawsconclusions consistent with suchan alignment.Likewise,the author makes noissue oftheNewEnglandorigins offourteenof hertwentysubjects, thereby discounting assessments ofNewBrunswick politics which havepitteda middlecolonies-based democracy againsta New England-based oligarchy. Evenso,mostof her exposition of thepoliticalthoughtof theleaders- the heartof thestudy- isbased on their Massachusetts majority. Condon's Loyalists thoughtthat the constitutional balancecombining monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy had erodedin Americaprior to the Revolution andthatthisgrowth ofdemocratic organs hadcaused therebellion. Accordingly, their visionfor New Brunswick calledfor strengthening the functions ofmonarchy andaristocracy. Casting themselves asthe'aristocracy,' theyunderstood bythattermaproduct of birth,education, personal abilities, magnanimity, or theircombination. Onecaninfer thatCondon's patricians hadabsorbed theBritisholigarchy's fearandhatredofrepublicanism andthat theNewBrunswick leaders sawtheirrecentcivilwarin termsof theEnglish CivilWar, concluding from bothupheavals that any strengthening of the democratic element wouldresultin a republic, evenin theLoyalist province. 'Republican' was apowerful epithet against theNewBrunswick opposition, not onlybecause of theword'sassociation with the United States and treasonbut alsobecause it suggested horrorsof the Interregnumand,in the •79os,the French Revolution. Condon gives theloyalist eliteofNewBrunswick goodmarks asbuilders of anorderly,productive, andfreesociety. Shereadilyacknowledges thattheir effortstoestablish a political oligarchy ... provedwhollyanachronistic ... [as] popularparticipation in government hadbecome a sine quanonof Englishspeaking communities in North America'(•69). Until muchmoreisknown aboutthecommonalty, to conclude thatCondon's 'particularLoyalists' were self-serving andoppressive simply because theywerenotdemocratic wouldbe both facile and itself anachronistic. CAROIlY. WATTV. RSON TgOXI•V.g ElonCollege, NorthCarolina LaSeigneurie deVaudreuil etses notables. gv.i•i•) PARIZEAU. Montreal: Fides•984. Pp.•4•, illus. Lapremiere partie dulivredeParizeau couvre lap•riode•8oo-3oetporte sur laseigneurie deVaudreuiletses notables. Parmices individus, l'auteuraccorde une attentiontoute particuli•reau marchandJean-Joseph Trestler. La deuxi•mepartiedu volume(pages•75 et suivantes) traitedesdeuxi•meet troisi•meg•n•rationsdeTrestler. ...