6 TRANSACTIONS iSgg-'oo 



It is a worthy ambition for any society, not merely to take 

 a leading part in the educational work of the capital, to foster 

 and encourage among the citizens a taste for intelectual pursuits, 

 but to endeavour to add year bj^ year to the sum total of human 

 knowledge. A means of publication, such as is afforded by these 

 Transactions may, indeed, prove an incentive to original investi- 

 gation by members of the Society. To man}' it has been a 

 matter of surprise that so much new and original matter, as 

 evidenced in the former and in the present number of the Trans- 

 actions, is available in the form of written contributions by mem- 

 bers of the Society and others. To some, perhaps, this fabric of 

 original work in literature, science, art, and other fields, may 

 not appear ver}- ambitious or imposing. Abraham Cowled- 

 cherished the desire to build a house — onh- a small fabric in a 

 large domain, but it was to be an original structure, his own 

 building. This may be claimed for the contents of the present 

 publication that the}' embody matter specially prepared for the 

 Society, and in most cases wholly new and hitherto unpublished ; 

 but it must not be forgotten how wide is the field for original re- 

 search, how vast the domain that invites exploration. The 

 publication of these Transactions will be amply justified if they 

 embody contributions, of an original and substantial character, in 

 the extensive field of Canadian literature and science. 



As an indication of the scope and character of the vSociety's 

 work, the programme of lectures, papers, &c., arranged for the 

 Ses.sions 1898-99 and 1 899-1900, are printed below. 



1898— 1899 

 Dec. 9. — Literary Evening. 



1. Introductor}^ Address by the President. 



2. lyiterary Essay by J. Francis Waters, M. A., Subject : 



"Demosthenes on the Crown." 



3. Poetical Readings by W. Wilfred Campbell, F. R. S. C. 



4. Literary Essay by W. D. LeSueur, B. A., Subject : 



"The Ma.sters of English Prose." 



Dec. 16.— A. McGill, B. A., 



"A Study of Browning's Paracelsus," 



