APPENDIX A LXXIX 



of writings a very creditable specimen, is the essay by Dr. H. M. 

 Bowman, a contributor both last year and this year to the Trans- 

 actions of this Society, on " The Preliminaries of the Peace of Amiens," 

 a monograph to w^hich flattering reference is made in Dr. J. H. Rose's 

 well known life of Napoleon. 



In the field of Canadian History our greatest name is undoubtedly 

 Garneau. When we consider that Garneau's first edition was published 

 in 1848, and that no work of entirely equal merit has been produced in 

 the succeeding sixty- five years, we see a proof of the truth just hinted at, 

 that literature does not always wait on population. What Garneau 

 possessed in a superior degree was a sense of historical proportion; but 

 he had also gifts of style and the true historical temperament. His 

 work, as a whole, would have done credit to the literature of any country. 

 It bears, perhaps, a stronger stamp of nationality than any other his- 

 torical work of Canadian authorship that can be named; and this may 

 be accounted for by the fact that the story he had to tell had its roots 

 in a comparatively distant past. The French period of 150 years was 

 his not less than the English period of (at the time) something less than 

 100. Much expectation has been raised by the announcement of a new 

 edition of this Canadian classic, under the editorship of the historian's 

 grandson. We may trust that it will give us the original work with all 

 its merits unimpaired, with possibly some errors corrected, and anno- 

 tated in accordance with the fuller knowledge of to-day. 



Christie's "History of Lower Canada" produced at about the same 

 time as Garneau's is a work of decided merit, though written from a dif- 

 ferent point of view, and not taking in the French Regime. It is par- 

 ticularly useful for the original documents it embodies. It is not written 

 in as attractive a style as Garneau's, but it bears the stamp of reflection 

 and of political experience. The author, it will be remembered, was 

 member for Gaspé in the House of Assembly of Lower Canada, and was 

 five times expelled from the Legislature for offence given to the major- 

 ity. Honourable mention must be made of the ''Histoire de la Colonie 

 Française en Canada" by the Abbé Faillon, and of the "Cours d'histoire 

 du Canada" of the Abbé Ferland. Parkman has borne testimony to 

 the value of the former, and the latter is deservedly esteemed as a well- 

 arranged and ably written narrative of the period it covers. Both 

 works, it may be said, rest on a basis of wide research and solid know- 

 ledge. 



Another work deserving of mention is MacMullen's "History of 

 Canada from its First Discovery to the Present Time," which gives in 

 succinct form a very readable narrative of Canadian history down to 

 the era of Confederation. 



