PROCEEDINGS FOR 1891. XXXIX 



ining upon it. All the more need that it should be taken in hand. The subject is new, but its educa- 

 tional importance is incalculable. To succeed in what we aim at, a great deal of united work will be 

 required, and that work, far from being done at once, will have to continue so long as the mind grows 

 and new forms of idealism are created. What would be the place of the English Literature Section of 

 the Royal Society in this contemplated work? Its place is marked out by its position as the one 

 literary- or educational organization that is wide as the Dominion. At present, volunteer societies 

 are dealing with the very question concerned. Two years ago a Modern Language Association was 

 formed in Toronto, composed largely of Ontario university professors and lecturers and representatives 

 of the high schools. That association is in a condition of vigorous life that is a significant contrast to 

 the lifelessness of our section. Its discussions are helpful to professional students and teachers of 

 English and other modei'n languages, besides tending to guide public opinion aright. The subjects of 

 discussion open to its members are of exhaustless interest, as Prof Cappon has indicated in the sen- 

 tences I have just quoted. When provincial societies are doing this work, because the subject of 

 education is by our constitution entrusted to the provinces, should not our society seek to encourage 

 their efforts and combine them, so that the learning and experience of one province might be a benefit 

 to all ? 



What would be necessary to make our section a living bond between such provincial professional 

 societies? In the first place, the number of our members would need to be enlarged. Discussions 

 are of no value unless among men who understand a subject. Wlien only half a dozen members are 

 present at a meeting, a majority of these probably interested in science or the border-land between 

 science and literature, there can be no discussion regarding literaiy forms, methods or relations. Our 

 section should include the professors of English literature in every considerable university in the 

 Dominion. At present it does not include the professors of Dalhousie, Fredei-icton, McGill, Queen's, 

 Trinity or Toronto ; that is, it excludes the men most competent to discuss English literature. It 

 should also, I think, include representatives of secondary schools, and young Canadians who have 

 done good work in English literature and who would be. willing to take trouble to bring the section 

 into relation to provincial educational forces. It may be a^ed : — why should we have forty or fifty 

 members when the other sections of the society can do their work with twenty ? There are special 

 reasons in their cases, as I have shown, though perhaps they, too, have hardly considered whether 

 they might not do their work better if they opened their doors more widely. Some of the most emin- 

 ent mathematicians, chemists and physicists in Canada are not in the sections devoted to those sciences, 

 and some of the most eminent biologists are not in the other science section. I may frankly say that 

 I see no good reason for the exclusion of such men ; but the question now is, not whether the mem- 

 bership of all the sections should be increased, but whether the section that feels that it must have 

 more members, if it is to do the best possible work for the State, should be permitted its proper 

 development. We must not forget that the Royal Society is a union of several academies, and as each 

 of these must stand or fall on its own merits, it should be allowed modifications of its original consti- 

 tution that experience shows to be required. If it is thought that this might give one section a pre- 

 ponderance in the councils of the society, that could be guarded against by allowing it a vote equal 

 only to that of each of the other sections. 



In the second place, the society should meet in different centres of the Dominion in order to 

 interest the public in its aims and to enlist the co-operation of local scientific men and professional 

 educators. Montreal has fitly taken the initiative already in this new departure, and I am glad to 

 hear that the society is invited to hold its next annual meeting in Toronto. Our headquarters must 

 be in Ottawa, and I trust that before long we may secure offices there and a paid secretaiy. We 

 cannot expect our honourary secretary to continue doing so much of the actual work of the society 

 any longer. We owe almost ever3'thing to him. The Parliament of Canada has sustained us gene- 

 rously. The repi'esentatives of the Queen have given us everj' possible encouragement. Sir William 

 Dawson, our first president, has always been in the front. But to no one is our comparative pros- 



