I90O-I TRANSACTIONS. I9 



Country.'' This is a story of the War of 1812, giving not 

 only an excellent picture of the chief operations in the 

 Niagara Campaign, but also containing several charming 

 descriptive passages of the scenery of the Peninsula Miss 

 Machar has since written a number of other novels and tales, 

 chiefly appealing to juvenile readers. She is also the author 

 of a volume of very fair verse. 



In 1877 Mr. John Talon-Lesperance, of Montreal, pub- 

 lished a story of the American invasion of Canada in 1775-76, 

 under the title " The Bastonnais." This book was afterwards 

 translated into French. 



In the same year William Kirby's historical romance^ 

 " Le Chien D'Or," appeared, in an unauthorized American 

 edition. Several subsequent editions were published in the 

 United States, also without the author's consent, and it was 

 not until as recently as i ^97 that the first authorized edition 

 appeared, from the publishing house of L. C Page & Co., of 

 I .oston, under the title "The Golden Dog." It is a curious, 

 and not very creditab'e, fact, that this novel, which ranks 

 among the best written by a Canadian, has never yet appear- 

 ed in a Canadian edition. 



Mr. Kirby's romance is founded on an ancient tablet, 

 containing, an inscription surmounted by a golden dog. The 

 tablet originally stood in the face of a building in the city of 

 Quebec, datint,^ from before the Conquest. When the build- 

 ing was pulled down in 1871, the tablet was removed and 

 placed above the entrance to the Post Office, where it may 

 still be seen. From the legend connected with this tablet, 

 and from the love-affairs of the notorious Bigot. Intendant of 

 New France, Mr. Kirby constructed his fascinating romance. 



Sir James LeMoine mentions a pleasing incident in con- 

 nection with " The Golden Dog.' It appears that Kirby 

 was presents as a member of the Royal Society of Canada, 

 at the At Home given to the Society in 1^83 by its founder, 

 the Marquis of Lome. After some of the leading members 

 of the Society had been presented, the Princess Louise sent 



