When
the first refugees arrived, it was not expected that so
many more would follow; and consequently the earlier
grants were much larger in size than the later. In Parrtown
a town lot at length shrank in size to one-sixteenth of
what it had originally been. There was doubtless also
some favouritism and respect of persons in the granting
of lands. At any rate the inequality of the grants caused
a great many grievances among a certain class of refugees.
Chief Justice Finucane of Nova Scotia was sent by Governor
Parr to attempt to smooth matters out; but his conduct
seemed to accentuate the ill-feeling and alienate from
the Nova Scotia authorities the good-will of some of the
better class of Loyalists.
It was not surprising, under these circumstances, that
Governor Parr and the officers of his government should
have become very unpopular on the north side of the Bay
of Fundy. Governor Parr was himself much distressed over
the ill-feeling against him among the Loyalists; and it
should be explained that his failure to satisfy them did
not arise from unwillingness to do anything in his power
to make them comfortable. The trouble was that his
executive ability had not been sufficient to cope with
the serious problems confronting him. Out of the feeling
against Governor Parr arose an agitation to have the
country north of the Bay of Fundy removed from his
jurisdiction altogether, and erected into a separate
government.
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