[bourinot 1 BUILDERS OF NOVA SCOTIA 9S 



But I must drop the curtain over the past and close my ears to the 

 many voices that are ever whispering. Where, indeed, do we not hear 

 the voices of Nova Scotians ? Do we not hear them in the old halls and 

 sombre corridors of the Province Building, so full of the phantoms of 

 Nova Scotia's public men ? Do they not speak to us from the banks of 

 the Annapolis, the Chebogue, the La Hève, the Avon, the Gaspereau, and 

 the Basin of Minas, where the Acadians made the saddest pages of our 

 history ? From the Mabou, the Marguerite, the Miré, and othei- beautiful 

 rivers, which now flow through cultivated meadows and farm lands, we 

 hear the Scotch accents of the humble people who were exiled from the 

 mountains and glens of old Scotia. Do they not speak to us from the 

 storm-swept beaches of the Atlantic coast, where the surf of the ocean 

 ever beats a requiem in memory of the hapless loyal exiles, who wept on 

 the lonely shores to which they fled from their homes in the old rebellious 

 colonies ? Does not Inglis call to us from the beleaguered walls of 

 Lucknow, — Williams from the ancient citadel of Kars, — Parker and 

 Welsford from the trenches of the Eedan ? Wherever the drum beat 

 " following the sun and keeping company with the hours " may play 

 "the martial airs of England," will be heard the voices of Nova Scotians 

 under the folds of the meteor flag to which they have been always true. 

 From every part of the globe we hear the echoes of the calls of our 

 sailors : 



" From Bermuda's reefs ; from c d^es 



Of sunken ledges 

 In some far-off, bright Azore ; 

 From Bahama, and the dashing 



Silver flashing 

 Surges of San Salvador. 



"From the tumbling surf that buries 



The Orkneyan skerries, 

 Answering the hoarse Hebrides ; 

 And from vi^recks of ships, and drifting 



Spars, uplifting 

 On the desolate, rainy seas." 



And we may be sure that wherever Nova Scotians may be found — 

 whether toiling under the burning suns of India, or amid the sands 

 or jungles of Africa, or planting orange groves in the sunny land of 

 Florida, or in the fruitful valleys of Southern California, or seeking 

 fame and fortune in far Australian lands, or searching for gold amid 

 the rocks of Klondike, or driving the plough through the rich grasses 

 and flowers of the western prairies, or illustrating the intellect and genius 

 of their people in legislative halls, — they never forget that Acadian 

 land which is associated with the most cherished memories of their 

 boyhood or manhood. 



