rEOCREDINfiS FOR 1885. VII 



llicm iiMilor llie supervisiiiii of the rrovinciiil Secretary. This has been iloiic in (itlior instMiicos ; and 

 were it done in the case of tlie Literary and Historical Society of Quebec, that Society would be fi'ced 

 from the responsibilit}' of stoiing up literary material which it is unable to publish for lack of funds. 

 In the matter of current expenses, the Treasurer has been forced to reduce the expenditure to the 

 limits of bare expenditure, keeping out of debt, however, and expie.ssing the hope that some public 

 benefactor may yet come to his assistance and provide the means of cari'ying out moi'c fully the 

 l)urposes of the Society as set forth in its Eoyal Charter, viz., " the prosecution of researches into 

 the early history of Canada ; the recovering, procuring, and publishing of interesting documents and 

 useful infoimatiou as to the natural, civil and literary history of British North America, and for the 

 advancement of the arts and sciences from which public benefit may be expected." 



The visit of the Bi'itish Association tor the Advancementof Science was an event of great interest 

 to the members of the Literary and Ilistoi-ical Society of Quebec, and several of its officers took an 

 active part in making ari'angcments tor the public reception of those of the scientists who found time 

 to visit Quebec. Two of the members of tlic Council prepared a paper for distribution among the 

 membei's of the Association as they arrived at Eimouski from Britain, its purpose being to call the 

 attention of their distinguished visitors to the points of interest in Quebec and to the scenes which 

 were worthy of notice on their way up the St. Lawrence towards the city. The compilers of the 

 work were J. M. LeMoinc, one of our past presidents, and .1. M. Harper, one of the vice-presidents. 



In the Annual Eeport, read on January 14th, 1844, mention is made of the death of three 

 members of the Socictj- — Messrs. McLean Stewart, J. B. Ecnaud and J. Brown, jun. There has been 

 a slight decrease of members, the number of associates being at the present moment two hundred 

 and thirty-nine, with twenty-three honorary and forty-two corresponding members,— the whole num- 

 ber being thus three hundred and tbui'. Mr. Matthew Arnold, who favoured the Society with a lecture 

 during the winter of 1883-4, has been elected an honorary member, and Mr. E. A. Brock of 

 Eichmond, Virginia, a corresponding member. 



During the winter, a paper was read on Kdward I by the President, the Hon. D. A. Eoss, who 

 retired from office in January, and a lecture was delivered by Lieut.-Col. William Ehodes on ( reography. 



The librarian, Mr. F. C. Wurtele, in making his report for the year, takes note of the fact that 

 want of funds has greatly curtailed the purchase of books. One hundred and seventy-tive of the 

 members have availed themselves of the privilege of taking out books to the numbei' of three thousand 

 from the ten thousand on the shelves. Among other things, the librarian advises the reprinting of 

 some of the historical documents in order to make the series prepared by the Society complete. 



The officers of the Society for the present year are the same as last j-ear, with the exception of a 

 change of Presidents and the election of Mr. H. M. Price, and Lieut.-Col. Cotton to the Council. 



In presenting this report from the oldest literary society in Canada to an association so full of 

 promise as the Eoyal Society of Canada, I have to join with my associates in Council in expressing 

 the regret that we cannot place on record an indication of greater activity in extending the influence 

 of our Society. The condition of atfaii-s in our city is not unfrequently animadverted upon by those 

 who presume to sum up a city's prosperity in its commercial enterprise. If, however, the city of 

 Quebec is not what it ought to be from a commercial standpoint — and he is but a faint-hearted 

 Quebecer who has not hopes of improvement even in this respect — there is certainly no more delight- 

 ful spot in Canada for the quiet prosecution of literary- work and historical research, possessing, as it 

 does, picturesque surroundings, unrivalled and teeming with historic interest. If Quebec and its 

 enterprise are decaying, as some are inclined to think, it seems to me that a visitor, left to himself, 

 would find some difficulty in detecting the evidence of such a state of affairs in the improvement of 

 its squares and streets and public buildings. And so with her institutions. Though there is not to 

 be found in their present condition the activity and growth of a younger town, there is anything 

 but decay. As an evidence; of this, I may say that in examining lately the annals of our Society 

 with the intention of preparing a memoir of its Transactions, I have found in its changing fortunes a 



