SCHEME FOR A NEW SETTLEMENT.
As the public generally suffers at the end of a war, by the sudden dismission of a great number of soldiers and seamen, who having contracted a habit of idleness, and finding themselves without employment and the means of subsistence, engage in desperate courses and prey upon the community, it was judged expedient to provide an opening through which these unquiet spirits might exhale without damage to the commonwealth. The most natural was that of encouraging them to become members of a new colony in North America, which, by being properly regulated, supported, and improved, might be the source of great advantages to its mother country. Many disputes had arisen between the subjects of England and France concerning the limits of Nova Scotia, which no treaty had as yet properly ascertained. A fort had been raised, and a small garrison maintained, by the king of Great Britain, at a part of this very country, called Annapolis-Royal, to overawe the French neutrals settled in the neighbourhood; but this did not answer the purpose for which it was intended. Upon every rupture or dispute between the two crowns, these planters, forgetting their neutrality, intrigued with the Indians, communicated intelligence to their own countrymen settled at St. John’s and Cape Breton, and did all the ill offices their hatred could suggest against the colonies and subjects of Great Britain. A scheme was now formed for making a new establishment on the same peninsula, which should further confirm and extend the property and dominion of the crown of Great Britain in that large tract of country, clear the uncultivated grounds, constitute communities, diffuse the benefits of population and agriculture, and improve the fishery of that coast, which might be rendered a new source of wealth and commerce to Old England. The particulars of the plan being duly considered, it was laid before his majesty, who approved of the design, and referred the execution of it to the board of trade and plantations, over which the earl of Halifax presided. This nobleman, endued by nature with an excellent capacity, which had been diligently and judiciously cultivated, animated with liberal sentiments, and fired with an eager spirit of patriotism, adopted the plan with the most generous ardour, and cherished the infant colony with paternal affection. The commissioners for trade and plantations immediately advertised, under the sanction of his majesty’s authority, that proper encouragement would be given to such of the officers and private men, lately dismissed from the land and sea service, as were willing to settle, with or without families, in the province of Nova Scotia; that the fee simple, or perpetual property, of fifty acres of land should be granted to every private soldier or seaman, free from the payment of any quit-rents or taxes, for the term of ten years; at the expiration of which no person should pay more than one shilling per annum for every fifty acres so granted; that, over and above these fifty, each person should receive a grant of ten acres for every individual, including women and children, of which his family should consist; that further grants should be made to them as the number should increase, and in proportion as they should manifest their abilities in agriculture; that every officer, under the rank of ensign in the land service, or lieutenant in the navy, should be gratified with fourscore acres on the same conditions; that two hundred acres should be bestowed upon ensigns, three hundred upon lieutenants, four hundred upon captains, and six hundred on every officer above that degree, with proportionable considerations for the number and increase of every family; that the lands should be parcelled out as soon as possible after the arrival of the colonists, and a civil government established; by virtue of which they should enjoy all the liberties and privileges of British subjects, with proper security and protection; that the settlers, with their families, should be conveyed to Nova Scotia, and maintained for twelve months after their arrival, at the expense of the government; which should also supply them with arms and ammunition, as far as should be judged necessary for their defence, with proper materials and utensils for clearing and cultivating their lands, erecting habitations, exercising the fishery, and such other purposes as should be judged necessary for their support.