healthy, its rigor being modified by the insular char- acter of the province and by the influence of the Gulf Stream. The mean temperature for the year is 42.09° at Pictou, and 43.0° at Windsor. The extreme limits of the thermometer may be stated at 15° Fahr. in winter, and 95° in the sliade in summer. The prov- ince abounds in mineral riches, including gold, coal, and iron. Of the entire area of the colony, 10,000,000 acres are considered good land, and of these 1,028,032 are under cultivation. The principal agricultural products are hay, -wheat, barley, buckwheat, oats, rye, Indian corn, potatoes, and turnips. The waters around the col- ony abound in tish, as mackerel, shad, herring, salmon, etc., and the fisheries are pursued with ardor and with increasing success.
Religious Status, — The Church of England is recog- nised by the ancient laws of the province as the Estab- lished Church. This legal recognition was effected in 1758 ; but though various civil enactments, as to the limits of parishes, appointment of church-wardens and vestrymen, were obtained thereby, nothing beyond the mere name of an establishment has for many j'ears ex- isted. The permanent endowment of Windsor College, under the exclusive control of this Church, has been discontinued by the state; so that, in effect, the only privilege which remains of a distinctive nature is that the bishop retains, ex-rifficio, a seat in the legislative council of the province. The number of adherents to this Church was in 1871 55,124. The list of clergy con- tains one bishop, one archdeacon, besides ordained mis- sionaries and travelling missionaries. These are located in forty different towns and settlements. Four of the clergy are connected with Windsor College, three with Halifax Grammar School, and one is an agent for the Colonial Church and School Society. Until recently large annual remittances for the support of the clergy and college professors had been received from the Brit- ish Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign I'arts, and even, it is understood, from grants of the Im- perial Parliament of Great Britain and Ireland. The foreign aid is now greatly curtailed, and will, it is ex- pected, in the course of a few years altogether cease. The effect of this change of policy has been far from disastrous. A large portion of the wealth of the prov- ince is found within the pale of this Church, and noth- ing is wanting to secure permanent and growing jiros- perity but the prudent management of its internal re- sources. Already this has been tested in the endowment secured by subscription for Windsor College (£10,000), and in the efforts made to sustain in thorough efficiency the Diocesan Society and the Foreign District of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.
Under the general title of Presbyterians are grouped the adherents of three distinct churches, who, though holding the same standards, are yet quite independent in Church government. Their ground of separation depends entirely upon their respective origin. They have all descended from the Presbyterian churches of Scotland, and hold the distinctive principles of what are there denominated Kirk, Free Church, and United Presbyterian. The oldest, largest, and most influential of these bodies in Nova Scotia is that which arose from tlie two secession churches. Burgher and Anti-Burgher. A union was hapjjily effected between the adherents of these and of all the Presbyterians in Nova Scotia in the year 1817. Only one Presbyterian minister re- mained aloof, and he was personally favorable, while his congregation, being originally indejmuhnt, was un- favorable to the nnion. The first Presbyterian mis- sionaries arrived in Nov;i Scotia in 17(')6,'but no per- manent location was made before 1771. The first pres- bytery was formed in ]78(;, under the designation of Presbyter}' of Truro. Nine years afterwards another was formed in Pictou, and so designated. At the pe- riod of the union above referred to there were tliree pres- byteries, comprising in all nineteen ordained ministers and twenty-five congregations. The great impediment
all along experienced by this Church has been the difficulty of obtaining an adequate supply of ministers from the parent churches in Scotland. In 1816 a so- ciety was formed to procure the establishment of an academy for the training of native youth for the min- istry and other learned professions. The basis proposed was sufticiently liberal to unite all dissenting bodies, and the means of support was to be endowed by the state. This effort was for a time apparently successful, but never so much so as to acquire the character of permanency. Ultimately it became a bone of conten- tion, introduced bitter animosity and religious hate into the surrounding community, and became a watch- word for political party, so as to form an effectual hin- derance to ecclesiastical union on the part of the differ- ent Presbyterian bodies. Eventually all connection with this institution was abandoned by the Presbyterian Church of Nova Scotia, and then it became a matter of dire necessity with that Church to provide and main- tain an educational institute out of lier own resources. Several years, however, elapsed before this step was taken. In 1848 measures were initiated with a view to the erection of a theological seminary, as preparatory to the divinity hall. The Free Church Presbyterians sustain a college at Halifax, also an academy and a theological hall. Altogether the Presbyterians are the most powerful body in the province (see statistical table below).