e of the great-coat pockets of a sturdy pedestrian,
who kept the other pocket free for the partridges he shot on the way,
we can fancy what an event in any part of the province the appearance
of Joe Howe must have been.

Halifax, the capital, where Howe was born, engrossed most of the social
and political life of the province; in fact, it _was_ the province.
The only other port in Nova Scotia proper that vessels could enter with
foreign produce was Pictou. A few Halifax merchants did all the trade.
Halifax was an old city, as colonial cities count. It was near Great
Britain as compared with Quebec, Kingston, or Toronto; much nearer,
relatively, then than now. The harbour was open all the year round,
giving unbroken communication with the mother country. Halifax had a
large garrison, and it was the summer headquarters of the North
American fleet. On these and other accounts {8} it seemed to be the
most desirable place for a British gentleman to settle in, and many
accordingly did settle in it. Their children entered the Army or Navy
or Civil Service, and many distinguished themselves highly.

Halifax was essentially a naval and military town. As such it was
proud of its great traditions. It was into Halifax Harbour, on
Whitsunday 1813, just as the bells were calling to church, that the
_Shannon_ towed the _Chesapeake_. Captain Broke had been wounded and
the first lieutenant killed, and the _Shannon_ was commanded by a
Halifax boy, her second lieutenant. Of these glories no one was
prouder than Howe. 'On some of the hardest fought fields of the
Peninsula,' he said, 'my countrymen died in the front rank, with their
faces to the foe. The proudest naval trophy of the last American war
was brought by a Nova Scotian into the harbour of his native town; and
the blood that flowed from Nelson's death-wound in the cockpit of the
_Victory_ mingled with that of a Nova Scotian stripling beside him,
struck down in the same glorious fight.'[2]

On summer nights the whole population turned out to hear the regimental
band. One of the great functions of the week was the {9} Sunday church
parade of the garrison to St Paul's Church, which had been built in the
year of the founding of the city. On these occasions the scarlet and
ermine of the chief justice vied in splendour with the gold lace of the
admiral and of the general. Whether this was altogether good for the
town may be doubted. It gave the young men of civilian fa