HISTORICAL COLLECTIONS. 153 



graph. These were deposited with the association by Messrs. J. Cum- 

 mings Vail, Stephen R. Vail, nnd George R. Vail, surviving heirs of the 

 late Alfred Vail, of New Jersey. 



The association is directed by the act of incorporatioji to report an- 

 mially to Congress, through the Secretary of the Snuthsonian Institu- 

 tion, concerning the condition of historical study in America. 



The first annual report was transmitted to tlie Smithsonian Institu- 

 tion on June 13, 1800, by Dr. II. B. Adams, secretary, and was submit- 

 ted to Congress on June IG, By the Senate it was referred to the 

 Conmiittee on the Library and ordered to be printed as Senate Miscel- 

 laneous Document, No. 170, Fifty-first Congress, lirst session. The 

 document was put in type during the fall of 1800, and forms an octavo 

 volume of 427 pages, containing — 



(1) General report of the proceedings at tlie annual meetijig held at 

 Washington, D. C, December 28-31, 1889. 



(2) Inaugural address of President Charles Kendall Adams on recent 

 historical work in the colleges and universitiesof Europe and America. 



(3) The spirit of historical research, by James Schouler, of Boston. 

 (1) The origin of the National Scientific and Educational Institutions 



of the United States, by Dr. G. Brown Goode. 



(5) Bibliograpliy of the published works of mendiersof the American 

 Historical Association. 



The regular document edition (1,900) copies of this report is all that 

 was officially printed and distributed in the usual manner by the Senate 

 and House of Representatives. The association , however, had a private 

 edition of 500 copies printed in December, 1890, and a second edition of 

 1,000 copies on special paper was printed during the spring of 1891. 

 The reports have been distributed to the leading historical associations 

 and institutions in the United States and foreign countries. 



The seventh annual meeting of the association was held December 

 29-31, when some loan collections of objects ]»ertaining to Amei'ican 

 history were brought together in the lecture hall to supplement the reg- 

 ular exhibibition in the north hall. 



The programme of the meeting was as follows: 



I'UOGHAMMF, OF THK SEVENTH ANNt'AL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN HISTOIilCAr, 

 ASSOCIATION (OECEMHER 27-31, 1890). 



Inaugural address. By the Hon. Jolin .lay, el. d., president of the assooiation. 



Canada and the United States: From historical points of view. By Dr. J. C 

 Bouriuot, c. M. G., clerk of the Canadian house of commons. 



The New Enjjfland Settlements in Acadia. By Benjamin Kand, ph. d., Cambridge, 

 Mass. 



The Legislative Work of the First Parliament of Upper Canada., 1792-1796. 

 (Abstract.) By "William Houston, m. a., librarian to the Ontario legislature, Cana<la. 



The Fate of Dietrich Flade. By Prof. George L. Burr, Cornell University. 



The Theory of the Village Community. By Dr. Charles M. Andrews, Bryn Mawr. 



A Plea for Reform in the Study of I!nglish Municipal History. By Dr. Charles 

 Gross, Harvard University. 



