State of the Province during the War of the United States.—The condition of Nova Scotia, as indeed of the adjoining British provinces on the North, was highly critical during the war of the American Revolution; but the fears indulged from this source proved unfounded. The province remained loyal to the crown during the whole of that long and arduous contest. At its close, there was a large influx of refugees into the province. The number that arrived, prior to September, 1783, was reckoned at eighteen thousand, and two thousand more landed in the following month.
"Many of these new citizens possessed considerable property, as well as regular and industrious habits, so that they formed a most important acquisition. Several additional townships were erected; Shelburne, before nearly deserted, rapidly acquired upwards of ten thousand inhabitants; emigrants from Nantucket established a whale-fishery at Dartmouth; while saw and grist mills were established in various parts of the province. A considerable proportion of these emigrants directed their course to the region beyond the peninsula; which thereby acquiring a great increase of importance, was, in 1784, erected into a distinct government, under the title of New Brunswick." Cape Breton, from the above date, after having been separated from Nova Scotia until 1820, was rëannexed to the latter.
Results of the War of 1812.—The war between the United States and Great Britain, which broke out in 1812, materially advanced the prosperity of Nova Scotia, and showed the importance of Halifax as a naval station. Into this port numerous prizes were carried, by the sale of which large fortunes were realized. The evils of war were almost unknown, for a neutrality was observed by the government of Maine and the British authorities on the New Brunswick frontier; so that although the militia were kept in readiness for service, they were not called into it. A long succession of able governors since, has been the means of giving to the province a desirable increase of wealth and prosperity. The importance of Halifax has, within a few years, been greatly increased, by becoming a touching place for the royal English steamers (Cunard line) in their transit across the Atlantic.
[III. NEW BRUNSWICK.]
Extent—Physical Aspect and Soil—Settlement and Progress—Signal Calamity.
Extent.—New Brunswick is a territory which forms a kind of irregular square, lying on the east of the state of Maine, though extending farther north than that state, and therefore bounded west by a portion of Canada. It comprises an area of more than twenty-seven thousand square miles, and hence its surface considerably exceeds that of Nova Scotia and Cape Breton united.
Physical Aspect and Soil.—The surface of the country is broken and undulating, though scarcely any where rising into mountains. The fertility of the soil is greater than that of Nova Scotia, and is especially indicated by the magnificent forests with trees of enormous size, the export of which for timber and shipping constitutes the chief occupation of the colonists. The borders of the streams consist of the richest meadow lands. The climate, like that of Canada, is excessively cold from November to April. At the latter period comes a sudden change, bringing intense heat and rapid vegetation.
Settlement and Progress.—Previously to 1783, the French comprehended the territory now called New Brunswick, under the general appellation of New France, viewing it more particularly as an appendage to Acadia. At that period, it received its present name and its existence as a colony. The English claimed it as a part of Nova Scotia, though they paid no attention to its improvement.
After that peninsula had been finally ceded to the English, the French laid claim to New Brunswick as a part of Canada, and made preparations to enforce it by arms. But the subject was put to rest finally by the cession of all Canada to the British, at the peace of 1763. It only remained to be populated and improved by enterprising people from abroad, as it was inhabited mainly by the few Acadians who had sought refuge from persecution among its forests.