46 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



and when ho was tninsferred in 1844 to tho new diocese of Arichat, the 

 Kight RevcM-end William Walsh, who liad boon his coadjutor, became his 

 successor in the see ol" Halifax, and. in 1S52 the fii-st archbishop. lie 

 organized the diocese very thoroughly, and was an important entity in 

 the atVairs of the province, where he died in 1858. His successors in the 

 archiépiscopal see have been the Most Reverend Thomas Connolly, 

 Micliael Ilannan, and Cornelius O'Brien. The diocese of Arichat as estab- 

 lished in September, 1844, comprised the three eastern counties of 

 Pictou, Antigonishe, and Guysboro', and all of the island of Cape Breton. 

 Bishojt McKinnon succeeded Bishop Frasor in 1852, and when he died 

 in 1877, the Right Reverend John Cameron, who had been his coadjutor 

 since 1870, was elevated to the see over which he continues to ))re8ide 

 with energy and jibilit}'. In 188G the title was changed from Arichat 

 to Antigonishe, where the bishop resides and has a tine cathedral. The 

 college of St. Francis Xavier, founded by Bishop McKinnon in 1853, is 

 also established in the same pretty town, embowered in willows, and 

 surrounded by picturesque hills with well cultivated slopes. 



The Roman Catholics are now the most numerous denomination in 

 Nova Scotia. By the census returns of 1890-91 they numbered over a 

 hundred and twenty-two thousand souls. The number of ])riest8 at the 

 present time in Nova Scotia proper and Cape Breton island are a hundred 

 and eight with about a hundred and seventy-three chapels to attend. 



II. Church of England.— I have given priority to the Roman Catholic 

 Church becau.se its missionaries were the pioneers in Acadia. The Church 

 of England, however, had its teachers in the province, when JSova Scotia 

 becam(! an Fnglish ])ossession by the treaty of Utrecht, and eventually 

 when Halifax was founded it became practically a State church for very 

 many years in the formative period of English institutions. Army chap- 

 lains necessarily for u while performed religious services at Annapoiis, 

 but the Societ}' for the Propagation of the Gospel extended their opera- 

 tions to the province as early as 1722. The Reverend Mr. Watts was the 

 first school-master and missionary who was paid by that old and historic 



O'Brien, who is always ready to aid liis fellow students in liistory and literature : 

 " The Vicariate of Nova Scotia was erected into a diocese and called the See of 

 Halifax in .January, 1H12 lii.sliop Krascr, previous vicar apostolic, was ap])ointed 

 Its (Irst liishoj), and Dr. Walsh his coadjutor. I have not at hand the oflicial docu- 

 ment, or Bull of erection, hut proofs of the fact ahound. (1.) I have letters of Bishop 

 Fraser's up to November 20, ISJl, and he always signs Bi.shop of Tanen. Tlie first 

 of his whici» Iliave in 1H42 is dated 2l)th October, and he signs Bi.shop of Halifax. 

 (2,) Bishoj) Walsh in a brief inenioranchini of events in liis life says: ' Coadjutor- 

 Bisliopof Halifax rum Jure suca'n»iotiLs, January, 1H-J2.' Shortly after his arrival in 

 Halifax, viz., on Hh November, 18^12, he oMlcially signs ' Coadjutor of Halifax ' to 

 documents and letters. liater on he speaks of, and addresses Ur. Fraser as ' Bishop 

 of Halifax.' There are ol her proofs, but tlie.se sullice. Both Bishop Kraser and Bishop 

 Walsh knew their correct titles. Their letters establish the erection of tlie Diocese 

 of Halifax in 1H12. In Sept., 1844, the diocese was divided, and Bishop Fraser trans- 

 ferred to the new See of Arichat. For a few months Dr. Walsh was ' Apostolic 

 Ailiiiiiiisi rator' of the diocese of Halifax, and then became it.i second bishop. " 



