PROCEEDINGS FOR 1856. XV 
manifested to give the foremost place to questions which directly affect humanity. The speculations 
of science more and more converge towards one centre; and along with this it is impossible to over- 
look the growing tendency among one class of inquirers to translate hypothesis into scientific dogma. 
It is well that we should ever bear in remembrance that “Evolution,” which is the magic word 
assumed for the present to solve all difficulties, necessarily implies progressive change ; and so points 
to a beginning—a Creator. This novel hypothesis of the great English naturalist of our century, 
which offers for its acceptance a new ecience of life, has revolutionized the whole course of scientitic 
speculation. The geologist, responding to its appeal, undertakes, on strictly scientific evidence, the 
significant problem of the antiquity of man. The biologist unites with the paleontologist, in a 
renewed search for his pedigree. The psychologist has embraced within the sphere of his philosophic 
speculations the evolution of the intellectual powers, the conscience, and the will; and assumes no 
less dogmatically to determine the descént of mind. 
With so vast a range of speculation thus comprehended within the field of scientific research, 
the most gifted student might well hesitate to cope with the theme, in this its revolutionary stage. 
For me, the attempt would be altogether presumptuous; and I shall best fulfil the duty now devolving 
on me by limiting myself mainly to one department of research, which, as I conceive, has special 
and urgent claims on the attention of this Society at the present time. 
The Science of Language, itself among the youngest of the sciences, has not escaped the influence of 
the new revolution; and novel theories of the evolution of language itself supersede earlier inquiries 
into the origin of letters. In one respect the Royal Society of Canada differs in its constitution 
from older kindred societies of the mother country, in so far as it includes, within the recognized 
work of its Sections, both French and English literature. Here, accordingly, language finds its legiti- 
mate place; and without embarking on the seemingly shoreless sea of speculation and hypothesis 
that I have indicated, there are certain aspects of comparative philology which are full of interest 
and value to ourselves as Canadians. This department of study will not hamper in any degree the 
legitimate operations of other Sections ; though it may influence inquiry in certain allied directions. 
But here, it seems to me that, without limiting the freedom of individual members in their choice of 
subject, much work of great practical value may be accomplished by a judicious selection of themes 
specially necessitating prompt consideration. The literature of France, with its “Chanson de Roland,” 
its Froissart, its Moliére, Corneille, Racine; and all its brilliant creations, to the latest productions 
of de Musset or Merimée, pertains, like contemporary English literature, to European classics. 
Canadians may emulate the great masters in letters, as they have elready done in more than one 
department; but the republic of letters is free to all without the fostering aid of a Society such as 
this. It is, indeed, a matter of just interest to watch the growth of a native Canadian literature m the 
languages both of France and England; and to trace the influence of novel environments moulding 
and fashioning our intellectual, no less than our physical development. But without slighting this 
attractive branch of work, it appears to me that more important results may be anticipated from a 
class of communications that have already received some attention in the past, and which I hope to 
see making greater demands on our space in the future. They are exemplified in the volume of 
Transactions now issued, in such papers for example, as “ La race française en Amérique,” “ L’élément 
étranger aux Etats-Unis; ” ete., as in previous volumes, we had “Les races indigènes de l'Amérique 
devant l'Histoire,” “Les aborigènes d'Amérique, leurs rites mortuaires ; ” and in another, but not 
less interesting aspect: “La province de Québec et la langue française.” In like manner, in both 
the present and the past volumes, papers on “The Half-Breed,” “The Huron-Iroquois,” and others 
of the aboriginal races of the continent have been contributed to Section IT. Thus the ethnology 
and comparative philology, not of Canada only, but of America, have, to some partial extent at 
-least, been brought under review. It is a small portion of the wide field mapped out for our joint 
labours; but in this direction, as it seems to me, valuable results may be anticipated, marked by such 
local character as will naturally be looked for from our Canadian Royal Society, and constitute a 
