190 TRANSACTIONS OF TUE CANADIAN INSTITUTE. [YoL. II. 



led to some discussion. Professor Tourtoulon read a part of a paper 

 (published in full in the Revue) in which the question raised was, Are the 

 Roman languages Latin or the daughters of Latin ; i.e.^ are they a 

 natural development of Latin or languages changed by external influ- 

 ences ? The Bishop of Montpellier, a charmingly suave personage, spoke 

 of an edict of Charlemagne's published both in Latin and in lingua 

 Rusticd Roinand^ whether the same as that alluded to in Raynouard I 

 did not ask. One of his abbes related having met with an island of 

 Proven9al {iin islot) in the Department of the Isere, that is, a township or 

 two where the people still speak Provencal, while in the surrounding 

 districts they speak French. This he considered evidence that Romance 

 had once existed much further north than now. There was also a paper 

 given on the Courts of Love, of some historical interest. The delegates 

 met with the utmost hospitality from the good people of Montpellier. 

 The President of the Congress, Mr. Ferdinand Castets, was kindly 

 attentive to all, and gave us, at the close of the congress, a charming 

 dejeuner, at which some eloquent speeches were delivered and some 

 friendships cemented, which will last, though mountain chains, seas and 

 oceans now divide those 'who sat side by side at table — but no collation 

 of news, no appointment of committees was made, no subjects for future 

 observation or reflection were appointed. In short, while some inter- 

 esting facts were stated or hints given by a few', no organised action, 

 no cohesion was noticeable. I was present also at the congress of the 

 Geographical Societies, and I observed that it too proceeded to resolve 

 {cmettre un vceu) that the government should be asked to do this and 

 that. There was none of the feeling of independence noticeable here, 

 which leads us to make enquiries at our own cost of time and money ; 

 none of the division of labor among committees who are expected to 

 report, and do report, at stated times ; no covering a large field by 

 concerted action. And when I spoke of this difference, my friends 

 would admit the fact and lament the weakness in this particular of the 

 PVench character. 



I will mention, as an instance of how small the world is, that at 

 the dejeuner I sat close to Mr. Van Hamel, of Groningen University, 

 a pupil and friend of the late Professor Hoeksema, of that university, 

 who was my school " chum " in days long past ! " El mondo es poco ; 

 digo que el mondo no es tan grande como dice el volgo " (letter of 

 Columbus to Queen Isabella, from Jamaica, 1503). But I must by no 

 means forget to say that for a short time the congress was honored with 

 the presence of Mr. Frederic Mistral, who was asked, on his entrance, to 

 take a place with the vice-presidents on the platform. 



