CXLIV THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



XIII. — Report of the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec. 

 Presented by Dr. J. M. Harper, M.A., Ph.D., F.E.I.S., Delegate. 



This is the third occasion on which I have the honour to represent 

 the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec at the meetings of the 

 Royal Society of Canada, as one of the Associated Societies. I am 

 glad to report that there has been no falling off in the membership 

 of the Quebec Society, while its finances show a handsome balance, 

 even in presence of the increased outlay for new books and the printing 

 of sundry important documents. Two of these documents, beyond 

 the. publishing of the usual Annual Transactions, include a selection 

 from Chevalier de Johnstone's Journals that have reference to Canada, 

 and as written in the original French of that writer; and the Journal 

 of Lady Durham, wife of the first Earl of Durham, Governor-General 

 of Canada in 1837. These two documents will together form the 

 Ninth Volume of what goes by the name of the Historical Documents 

 in the archives of the Society, the latter embodying an account of 

 Lady Durham's experiences in Canada during her sojourn at Quebec, 

 as the constant companion of her distinguished, though somewhat 

 misunderstood, husband, while the administration of Canadian 

 public affairs was in his hands. As we all know, she was the daughter 

 of the second Earl Grey, who held the reins of power in Great Britain, 

 as Prime Minister from 1830 to 1833. And her journal reveals many 

 interesting incidents in connection with the political incongruities 

 of rule that her husband had to face and try to correct, during his 

 short but momentous residence in Quebec — with many other references 

 to the social conditions of these early times and local alliances for 

 and against progressive government. 



Two other documents or manuscripts, namely, the Diary of 

 Lieutenant Charles Grey and the Letters of Mrs. Alicia Cockburn, 

 are in process of being printed, and will form the Tenth Volume of 

 our Historical Documents, to be added during the current year. 

 Lieutenant Grey was an officer in the Guards which had been sent 

 out to undertake the defence of Canada, he being a brother of Lady 

 Durham, and becoming later an equerry to the young Queen Victoria 

 and still later her private secretary, ending his public career as General 

 Sir Charles Grey. He was the father of Canada's recent Governor- 

 General, the fourth Earl Grey. His diary now in the hands of the 

 Quebec Society refers to personal experiences during his journeyings 

 from Kingston to Ottawa and Montreal and his personal knowledge of 

 the condition of affairs along the American frontier in 1837. On the 

 other hand, Mrs. Cockburn's Letters refer to her personal knowledge 



