LXXIV ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 
His voluminous report to the head of his department sums up the 
whole case so ably, that I cannot do better than quote a portion of it. 
“T visited,” says he, “ Toronto, Montreal and Quebec (the two latter 
cities more than once), Halifax, St. John and Fredericton . . . I 
consider it desirable to call attention to the manner in which the records 
and official documents are kept. In Montreal, the vaults under the old 
government court house . . . . are unfit for the purpose to 
which they are applied. The airis damp and foul, so that it is dangerous 
to the health to remain in them beyond a very limited time 
Many of these are of much historical value ; some of them could not he 
replaced.” : 
“The complaint as to the dampness of the vaults in Montreal, applies 
also to those under the court house at Quebec.” 
It may be well to state that these complaints have since been 
effectually removed. He continues : 
“Tn Halifax the documents in the province building are stored in a 
room which is not fireproof; otherwise they are well kept and i in good 
order. G 
“Tn 1857, on aol on of the Hon. Joseph Howe, an examination of 
the ancient records and documents illustrative of the history and progress 
of society in Nova Scotia, was ordered to be made. In 1864, upwards of 
200 volumes of manuscripts had been selected, arranged, catalogued and 
bound, and in 1865, the legislative assembly referred the matter to a 
committee.” 
It would take me far beyond the bounds to which space limits me, 
were I to attempt a full history of the Dominion archives since their 
origin. Those curious of entering deeper into the subject have ample 
verge and material to consult in the fifteen reports submitted on this 
matter to the legislature since 1872 by Mr. Brymner, by the learned 
Abbé Verreau in 1874, and by Mr. Joseph Marmette (Alas, no more !) 
1873.—The report for this year includes an account of the Dominion 
archivist’s visit to London, and of the records and despatches stored in 
the British Museum, the British public record office, the Tower of London, 
the war office, the office of the secretary of state, on war, fisheries, com- 
merce, emigration, etc. 
With respect to the documents stored at Montreal, he adds: “ There 
is a collection of statutes, in French and in English, which I would 
respectfully recommend should be distributed to public libraries and 
literary institutions. They are chiefly the old ‘ Acts and Ordinances’ 
and ‘ Edits et Ordonnances,’ reference to which is frequently desired.” 
The legislative assembly of Halifax referred the subject of archives 
to a committee, who recommended the publication of a volume of public 
documents, to be selected by the commissioner of public records, Dr. T. 
