PROCEEDINGS FOR 1897 XCVII 



lloyal Society, as well as his hearty congratulations on the manner in 

 which the arrangements in connection with this memorial had been 

 carried out. 



Vice-Admiral Sir J. E. Erskine, commanding the North American 

 and West Indian squadron, was next called upon. Theie was an unusual 

 noise on the street during the Vice- Admiral's address, and it was im- 

 possible for the press to catch all he said. He spoke, in beginning, of 

 the pleasure it gave him to represent the British navy at these cere- 

 monies in honour of the four hundredth anniversary of the first voyage 

 across the Atlantic to the mainland of this continent. Sir James then 

 went on to say that he had heard Principal Grant make a remark, which 

 he thoroughly endorsed, to the effect that he only wished we had Her 

 Majesty in Halifax to-day. He would transfer that remark to John 

 Cabot. He onl}" wished we had that illustrious navigator with us, and 

 that to-day he could take good old John Cabot by the hand and escort 

 him aboard the ship that carries his flag. Vice-Admiral Erskine made a 

 good point when he recalled the fact that this is really the anniversary 

 of another event of the greatest magnitude. It is not the four hundredth 

 anniversary of the event to which he alluded, but the thousandth, for in 

 the year 897 the British navy was founded by Alfred the Great. It 

 could therefore truly be said that Britain's naval flag a thousand years 

 has braved the battle and the breeze, (Applause.) The admiral felici- 

 tously drew a comj)ari8on between himself and John Cabot in the matter 

 of proclaiming the sovereignty of England over lands new to the British 

 crown, alluding to the time, years ago, when he was ordered to proceed 

 to the extremity of the Australian station, on which he was then serving, 

 and proclaim the protectorate of Her Majesty over the northern part of 

 New Guinea. In this' way he had been enabled to become a humble 

 follower of the great Bristol navigator. (Loud applause.) 



Lieutenant-Governor Daly was greeted with applause. He said : 

 Ladies and Gentlemen, — I have received an archiépiscopal command, 

 and I am now about to obey that command, to say two or three words 

 to you. These words shall be, first, that we have here His Excellency 

 the Governor-General, who seems to have been on a voyage of discovery 

 until he at last struck Nova Scotia and Halifax and found himself happy. 

 (Laughter.) I am vinable to understand why His Grace the Archbishop, 

 the President of the Society, should ask a landlubber hke myself to 

 speak on the present occasion unless it be that I have the honour to be the 

 Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia (applause), an honour that I esteem 

 most highly, an honour that I trust I shall always be able to do justice to. 

 If I had been John Cabot, long before I discovered this vast continent I 

 should have been uncommonly seasick. (Laughter.) Now, ladies and 

 gentlemen, I do not intend to say one word more to you except to rejoice 

 in the fact that I have been able to participate in the ceremonies of 



Proc. 1897. G. 



