Читать книгу The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism (Vol. 1-4). The History of Sea Voyages, Discovery, Piracy and Maritime Warfare онлайн

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Among the early laws of Nova Scotia was one by which it was enacted that no debts contracted in England, or in any of the colonies prior to the settlement of Halifax, or to the arrival of the debtor, should be recoverable by law in any court in the province. As an asylum for insolvent debtors, it is natural to suppose that Halifax attracted thither the guilty as well as the unfortunate; and we may form some idea of the state of public morals at that period from an order of Governor Cornwallis, which, after reciting that the dead were usually attended to the grave by neither relatives or friends, twelve citizens should in future be summoned to attend the funeral of each deceased person.

The Nova Scotians are popularly known by Canadians and Americans as “Blue Noses,” doubtless from the colour of their nasal appendages in bitter cold weather. It has been already mentioned that Halifax is now a thriving city; but there must have been a period when the people were not particularly enterprising, or else that most veracious individual, “Sam Slick,” greatly belied them. Judge Haliburton, in his immortal “Clockmaker,” introduces the following conversation with Mr. Slick:—