LXXVIII THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



by the word sic in parenthesis after "whiskey". It hardly needs the 

 highest power of the higher criticism to conjecture that the word 

 "wheat" was intended, and that some one or other, perhaps the 

 correspondent himself, having got so far as "wh," allowed his mind to 

 wander to another word which began with the same letters. 



A different kind of error entirely is illustrated by the following 

 example taken also from our Canadian records. The French word 

 "obérer" means to l)urden with taxes. It is not a very common word, 

 and, in copying an impoi'tant public document in which it was used, 

 some ingenious and well-meaning individual thought it must be a 

 mistake, and so substituted the much better known-word "opérer," 

 which he felt sure must have been intended. True, "opérer" made 

 no sense whatever, but that is the last thing to trouble some people. 

 That error again has been traced to an earlier copy. Operations of 

 this kind, it need hardly be said, do not improve manuscripts. 

 Copyists ought to have more faith in their own ignorance, and go 

 to the dictionary before they decide there is a mistake in the original. 

 This counsel is of wide application: there is nothing like the pride of 

 knowledge for leading into error. 



I am paying the penalty for having taken too large a subject by 

 finding that one or two aspects of it, even meagrely treated, have 

 practically exhausted the time at my disposal; but, if you can bear with 

 me for a few moments longer, I should like to touch briefly in conclusion 

 on the development of history and historical study in Canada. It can- 

 not be said that Canada is rich in historical works. Canadian writers 

 have hitherto confined themselves almost exclusively to the history of 

 their own country. It is not so amongst our neighbours. Parkman 

 has made a specialty of Canadian history during the French period, and 

 to-day, Canadians, English speaking ones at least, are chiefly indebted 

 to him for their knowledge of, and interest in, that portion of our annals. 

 Prescott has written of Peru and Mexico; Motley of the Dutch Republic 

 and the United Netherlands; Lea, an important History of the In- 

 quisition; Lawrence Lowell notable works on "Government and Parties 

 in Continental Europe", and "The Government of England". Ex- 

 tensive lives of Columbus, of Luther, of Cavour, of Napoleon have 

 appeared from American pens. I do not of course, lose sight of the 

 vast disparity in population and resources of the two countries thus 

 brought momentarily into comparison; but literary productivity is not 

 always in proportion to population or wealth. The point, I think, is 

 worth noting that, up to the present time, when Canada's population 

 is rising rapidly to the eight million mark, Canadians can hardly be 

 said to have ventured as yet into the field of general history, save 

 perhaps in occasional university studies or theses. Of the latter class 



