24 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
the text book ' studied by the boys and girls of a by-gone generation, 
written in felicitous English, gravely declared that “Nova Scotia was 
a colony where men might be imprisoned but not maintained”! The 
historian deplored the fact that England and France should have 
renewed the war for the possession of so barren a spot. In his opinion 
the founding of Halifax by Cornwallis in 1749, was an act of doubtful 
policy. Halifax, it will be remembered, was established largely by 
disbanded officers and soldiers of the army, and Goldsmith mournfully 
observes: “Thus did the nation ungratefully send off her hardy veterans 
to perish on inhospitable shores, and this they were taught to believe 
would extend their dominions.” 
Fortunately, as time went on, the Earl of Halifax and some of the 
more far-sighted statesmen awoke to the necessity of making Nova 
Scotia a strong British colony in the interest of the nation at large. 
The establishment of Halifax as a military post was a first step in that 
direction. The project had been already discussed on more than one 
occasion. As early as 1718, Captain Coram, a famous projector, pro- 
posed a scheme for an extensive settlement on the southern coast of 
Nova Scotia and Sir Alexander Cairnes, James Douglas and Joshua 
Gee petitioned the Crown for a grant of a tract of land at Chebucto, 
extending upon the coast five leagues north-east and five leagues south- 
west of that harbor. They proposed to build a town, and to improve 
the country round it by raising hemp, making pitch, tar and turpentine; 
and they undertook to settle a certain a number of families (to consist 
of 200 persons) within three years. 
The Lords of Trade favored the enterprise, but it failed to gain 
the approval of the King in council.? Two years later Governor Philipps 
expressed the opinion that the province would never be of any con- 
sequence in trade until the seat of government was removed from 
Annapolis Royal to the south-eastern coast at Port Roseway or La 
Have. He states as a reason for his opinion, that Annapolis Royal 
“is so much of an out-of-the-way place, and navigation so dangerous 
that not one ship in one thousand years will ever come there that is 
not sent with stores for the garrison or some other express.’’ 
What would Mare L’Escarbot have thought of this reflection on 
the superb basin of Port Royal? L’Escarbot designated it “the most 
beautiful earthly habitation God ever made . . . . a port that 
can securely harbour twenty thousand ships, being twenty fathoms 
‘ Goldsmith’s School History of England, see pp. 339, 340. 
? Murdoch’s History of Nova Scotia, Vol. I, pp. 350, 351. 
* Murdoch’s History of Nova Scotia, Vol. I, pp. 368, 369. 
