Blogs from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, North America - page 3

Halifax, Nova-Scotia, 28 juin Tout au long de ces côtes déchiquetées, parsemées ça et là de quelques plages de sable blanc, l'histoire mouvementée de l'implantation des européens dans ces contrées maritimes nous interpelle. Il y eut bien sûr les premiers habitants, notamment les Micmacs, mais le paysage actuel laisse davantage paraître la présence coloniale britannique. Il faut toutefois rappeler l'âpre bataille de survivance des Acadiens installés dans le sud de la Nouvelle-Écosse depuis l'époque de Port-Royal, car de petites communautés persistent et signent toujours avec cet accent si charmant et j'ai retrouvé les traces de ces Cayens jusqu'au Cap Sable, tout au bout de la pointe sud de la province. Ces premiers arrivants européens furent suivis au milieu du dix-huitième siècle par des colons recrutés en Suisse et en Allemagne qui fondèrent la pittoresque Lunenburg en ... read more

With a little sadness, we woke up to our last day, travelling day. A number of people in the hotel dining room were from the conference, which gave us a few more moments to reminisce and to exchange details for keeping in touch. People who were at the conference in Bermuda five years ago (the other end of the North America station in the 18 century) are lobbying to have another one there in three years. Patrick says this is his last, but he seems to want to be persuaded. After checking out and storing our bags, Deirdre and I strolled out into the warm sun. Our destination was the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, but by the time we reached it and checked out the exhibits list, we decided that being outside on such a ... read more

Even though this was Sunday, we had three lectures this morning. The first was by Cheryl Kinney, a doctor and specialist in Jane Austen. She explored the mystery about Jane Austen’s final, unsuccessfully treated ailment, usually thought to be Huntington’s disease. Sarah Emsley, a local writer on Jane Austen, proposed that Anne Elliott in Persuasion had more ambition than usually credited to her, because she was masked by her adherence to social norms. By popular demand and dressed in the correct admiral’s uniform, Patrick Stokes repeated his knowledgeable study of the navy in the 1800s, concluding with hi... read more

Our morning began with another lecture by John Mullan, this time entitled “Persuasion and Self-delusion”. Although his talks are entertaining and well referenced, I did not totally agree with him. I thought some of the characters were not self-delusional but trying to talk themselves into accepting difficult circumstances. Something to ponder, which means the conference is indeed a success. Later in the morning, we boarded the bus to go to Government House for a reception with the Lieutenant Governor, JJ Grant. After a brief tour of the well-proportioned Georgian home, we were ushered into the ballroom, set up with rows of chairs. The aide-de-camp welcomed us, and then announced that the Lieutenant Governor was unavoidab... read more

Our morning started earlier today, as the first two conference lectures started at 8:45. The first thoroughly described the posting of Jane Austen’s brothers, url=https://austenprose.com/2009/10/09/jane-austen%E2%80%99s-siblings-%E2%80%93-charles-john-austen-1779-1852/Charles and Francis, in Halifax for several years. The Halifax harbour was the northern station for the Atlantic fleet, and the southern station was Bermuda. During their separate successful naval careers, they would spend the summers in Halifax and the winters in Bermuda, patrolling for French and American ships that were breaking the blockade during the Napoleonic Wars and beyond. The second lecture was an unexpectedly hilarious exploration of time in ... read more