XII ÊOYAt SOCIE'tY OF CAlfAUA. 



words of greeting through mc, whom slie charges moreover to emphasize the formal invitation sent 

 by her to you, the hosts, and to the British Association for the Advancement of Science, your 

 guests, to attend the Philadelphia meeting in September. 



"What can be more fitting than that scientific men, who know no creed but love of truth, and no 

 boundaries but those which limit our finite efforts to attain it, should set the examjDle to the world of 

 these brotherly amenities? What portion of the globe can be more fitting to lead in these com-tesies 

 than Canada, distinguished for her sturdy eff"orts in the van of peaceful jM-ogress ? And to what 

 people could Canada more suitably offer this graceful invitation than to the United States, her neigh- 

 bour and friend ? Canada and the United States are bound together by many and strong bonds. They 

 have had the same wildernesses to reclaim ; the same problems of the new western life to solve. Our 

 borders separate no hostile people; but Canada's glories are ours, and ours ai-e hers. Indeed, some of 

 the names which shed the greatest lustre on science, literature and art are those of Canadians. Is it 

 not noticeable that the dictionary of the people of the United States, so fecund in expanding itself to 

 meet the wants occasioned by new conditions of things, has but one adjective to specify the na- 

 tionality of our own illustrious men, one which will apply equally to those of Canada, — American. 

 The American Association for the Advancement of Science has twice made its sojourn in Canada, and 

 has twice adjourned uuder a deep debt of gratitude for the hospitality of the Canadians. The first 

 time was in 1857, when it was welcomed by General Sir William Eyi-e, and the second in 1882, when 

 youi- society, having just sprung into being, armed cap-îi-pie — the Minerva of the great northern 

 Dominion — welcomed us with open arms to yom- metiopolis. In this connection, it is not uninter- 

 esting to note that Montreal is one of the only four cities of the continent at which the American 

 Association has held two of its thirty- three sessions. 



It earnestly invites you to give it the opportunity of returning your civilities at the next and 

 greatest of its meetings. The formal invitation to this eftect has been already laid before you, and I 

 am here to assure you that it is in no conventional or perfunctory spirit that it has been given. The 

 bonds of union which this year will be established between the scientific men of Canada, Great Britain 

 and the United States will owe no inconsiderable part of their durability to yom- acceptance and to 

 the presence of representatives of the Eoyal Society in Philadelphia next September ; and these bonds 

 are but the first warps in the net which will one day unite scientific men of all nations in an inter- 

 national, or, rather, a natimial, organization, of which even now the whispered aspirations of some of 

 the gieatest of those who will constitute it lead us to form a vague picture. Indeed, whatever success 

 in the unification of human interests diplomacy may achieve, it is certain that science will precede it 

 by many years in this direction. May that time soon come. 



Messieurs les membres de la section française: — Je me permetti-ai de vous adresser maintenant 

 quelques mots, bien que j'aie la crainte que ma connaissance imparfaite de votre langue ne trahisse 

 mon bon vouloir, et ne m'empêche de vous traduire fidèlement ma pensée. Tout à l'heure, au nom de 

 l'Association américaine pour l'avancement de la science, j'exprimais l'espoir que la Société Eoyale 

 du Canada assisterait à notre conférence du 4 septembre prochain, et en rehausserait l'éclat. MM. les 

 membres de la section française sont tout naturellement compris dans cette invitation, que je tiens 

 pourtant à leur renouveler dans leur belle langue, afin de mieux établii- que leurs frères méridionaux, 

 de l'autre côté de la barrière nationale, pensent à eux d'une façon toute spéciale ; car rien ne serait 

 plus injuste, Messieurs, que de croire que nous ayons pu vous oublier, nous qui avons avec vous tant 

 de lions anciens et tant de grands souvenirs qui nous sont à tous également précieux. 



A une séance annuelle de la Société historique de la Pennsylvanie, à la quelle j'ai assisté il y a 

 deux semaines, j'avais le plaisir d'entendre un mémoire des plus intéressants sur le chevalier de Beau- 

 jeu qui s'est si noblement distingué, et qui a perdu la vie au moment de la victoii'e, près de la ville que 

 l'on nomme aujourd'hui Pittsbui-g. 



Les incidents de la vie de ce héros ont vivement impressionné l'auditoire, qui a exprimé le vœu 

 qu'une plus large place fût dorénavant réservée, dans les comptes rendus de notre société ainsi que 



