expounder of the new principles; like "Old Mortality" he delights in haunting ancient places and refreshing broken tombstones; while the stream of life goes by and flowers bloom unheeded at his feet." Of another he said: "My honorable friend found fault with me for my reference to David, and told me that that great and good man 'raised not his hand against the Lord's anointed.' Neither have I. I have not killed Lord Falkland, but I have shown him, as David did Saul, the folly and negligence of his advisers. When the drowsy guards left the master they should have protected, at his mercy, in the cave of Engedi, David cut off the skirt of his garment, to show the imbecility of the statesmen and warriors by whom he was surrounded." It was this powerful use of language, this consummate art as a speaker, coupled with the conviction that he was right, that made Howe the idol of the people of Nova Scotia and that brought about the reforms he advocated. However, he could not speak as he did without making bitter enemies, so bitter that some of them even sought his life. As a result of the speech on the twelve resolutions he was challenged to a duel by the son of the Chief Justice, John Haliburton. To decline the duel would have been to stamp him with cowardice. He met his opponent in the early morning hours, permitted Haliburton to shoot first and then delicerately discharged his pistol in the air. As Principal Grant says: "he had no desire to have murder upon his soul," and as he was a dead shot it would have gone hard with Haliburton had he taken advantage of the situation. This did not satisfy the Tories, however, and one Sir Robert D'George likewise challenged him to mortal combat. However, he wisely declined the challenge, saying "that he was not prepared to make himself a target for everyone to shoot at who maintained he had a grievance," and added “that his country at that time could not afford to dispense with his services." The resolutions introduced by Howe and duly passed by the Assembly roused the anger of the council, and they refused to vote supplies unless the obnoxious resolutions were withdrawn. Howe was as diplomatic as he was resolute, and promptly moved that the resolutions be rescinded; and the appeased Council passed the Supply Bill. Howe then embodied the substance of the resolutions in an address to the Crown, and the address was adopted during the closing hours of the session. Howe went further than this. He addressed a series of letters to Lord John Russell, Secretary for the Colonies, pointing out the state of affairs in Nova Scotia and the need of responsible government to keep the colonies loyal to the motherland. In these letters he deplored the rebellious outbreaks in Canada. His strong presentation of the case, coupled with the report of Lord Durham, did much to make the Home government take a liberal view of the situation. Instructions were sent to Sir Colin Campbell, Governor of Nova Scotia, to, as far as possible, meet the wishes of the people; but Sir Colin Campbell was opposed to responsible government for Nova Scotia, and put forth no efforts to carry out the suggestions of Lord John Russell. Howe thereupon moved an address to Her Majesty in which the grievances of the Province were set forth at length, and in which the recall of Sir Colin Campbell was demanded. Lord Falkland was sent out to replace him and at once made a feeble endeavor to satisfy those who claimed that they had grievances. old Tory element, and at He dismissed four of the members of the Executive Council and invited four Liberals to accept the vacant seats. They did so, but the Tory and Reform elements in the Council continued to act in such bitter antagonism to each other that no progress in reform was made. Howe and his friends in the end resigned. Lord Falkland sided with the the time of the elections visited different parts of the Province with the hope of defeating Howe. But Howe followed in his steps, scathingly denounced his mode of conducting the government and won a magnificent victory, carrying the Province by a large majority. A vote of want of confidence in the government was passed and the Tory executive resigned. In 1848 Nova Scotia was in the hands of the Liberals. Lord Falkland felt his position keenly and left the province in anger and humiliation. The fight had lasted for ten years and during that time Howe never let up in the struggle. The strain had been a great one; he had overworked mind and body, but in the end he had his reward. During the last two years of the struggle he was forced to reside in the country, and among the Musquodoboit farmers he, to use his own words, "worked his body and rested his mind, learning to plow, to mow, to reap, to cradle." During these years he won the lasting friendship of the farmers of the Musquodoboit district. Joseph Howe worked not only for the liberties of Nova Scotians, but for the material prosperity of the Province as well. In 1838 he made his first visit to Europe. On this trip the man-of-war on which he was a passenger met the steamer "Cyrius" off the coast of Ireland. Howe's quick mind at once conceived the scheme of having a line of such steamers ply between England and Halifax, linking the colony more closely to the motherland. He did not permit this to be merely a passing thought, but, when in London, succeeded in having the Colonial Secretary interested in steamship communication between England and America. As a result of Howe's work, Mr. Cunard, a merchant of Halifax, took hold of the scheme and the celebrated Cunard Line had its beginning. Howe saw the possibilities of the development of his Province by the establishment of railway communication with the other Provinces of British North America, and, immediately after his great victory for responsible government was won, began the advocacy of vast railway enterprises. He had sublime confidence in the future of Canada, and in the early fifties declared: "That in a few years we shall make the journey hence to Quebec and Montreal, and home through Portland and St. John by rail, and I believe that many in this room will live to hear the whistle of the steamengine in the passes of the Rocky Mountains, and to make the journey from Halifax to the Pacific Ocean in five or six days." In his railway schemes he looked for help to England, but the Home government declined any assistance. Joe Howe was not to be beaten, but went to England and succeeded in changing the Colonial policy of the government of Great Britain, and secured from the government a pledge of a loan of £7,000,000 sterling at a low rate of interest for the construction of the Intercolonial Railway. His suavity of manner and his eloquence made a deep impression on those with whom he came in contact in Great Britain. He was to visit |