1855.] 



LITERAEY AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF QUEBEC. 



195 



LITERARY AND HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF 

 QUEBEC. 



LITERARY AND STATED MEETING. 



Wkdxesday, 3rd Januart, 1855. 

 Lieut. T. C. Malony, R. A., and T. B. Harvey Esq., were proposed 

 as associate Members. 



ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING. 



Wednesd.vy, 10th Jaxuakt, 



185-5. 



Report of tUc Council of tlie Liiterary and Historical Society 

 of (^ucbet't for 1854. 



The Council of the Literary and Historical Society respectfully 

 submit, in accordance with the U5ual practice, a Report of the 

 Proceedings of the Society daring the year which has just closed. 

 That year has been marked by events ot' more than ordinary interest 

 and importance to the Society. We have on the one hand, serious 

 losses aad misfortunes to deplore, while on the other, we are consoled 

 by the progress which, iu spite of every obstacle and trial, the Society 

 has made during the last twelve months. 



Our last annual meeting was held, as you remember, in the Rooms 

 which the Society had, for many years, been allowed to occupy 

 in the old Parliament buildings. Within little more than a fort- 

 night from the day of that meeting, the whole of those buildings were 

 destroyed by fire. In that calamitous fire, the Society sustained a 

 severe loss. Nearly the whole of its well selected and very extensive 

 Museum of natural history and mineralogy, the fruits of the labor and 

 expenditure of many years, embracing a unique collection of American 

 birds, and specimens of almost all the natural productions of the 

 country, as well as many antiquarian objects of interest, perished in 

 the flames. Through the praiseworthy exertions of some of the mem- 

 bers of the Society, a large portion of our Literary, and almost the 

 whole of our valuable manuscripts relating to the early history of the 

 country, were rescued from destruction. But a serious inroad was, 

 notwithstanding, made upon our library shelves, and many valu- 

 able sets of books have been rendered comparatively useless by the 

 loss of one or more volumes from among them. The pecuniary loss 

 which the Society sustained on that occasion has been estimated at 

 about £1400, but many of the most interesting objects which were 

 destroyed in the Museum are such as cannot be replaced. 



Under these circumstances immediate steps were taken by the 

 Council to meet the emergency, and to repair as far as possible the 

 severe losses of the Society. In the first place rooms were secured, 

 fitted up and furnished for the Society's meetings, and for the tem- 

 porary reception of the remains of the Library, and the wreck of the 

 Museum, and an appeal was made to other Institutions of a similar 

 nature with our own for contributions to enable us to commence the 

 re-construction of our Museum. 



The first meeting of the Society was held in our present rooms, on 

 the 8th March. When it is borne in mind that the Council, had to 

 provide, fit up and furnish the rooms, it will, we think, be admitted 

 that no time was lost in providing the Society with the necessary 

 accommodation. The fitting up and furnishing of the Society's rooms 

 involved an outlay of a considerable sum, as compared with the 

 resources of the Society, but the Council did not hesitate to assume 

 the responsibility of incurring it; and notwithstanding the expenses 

 thus entailed, and other extraordinary drains upon our finances, wo 

 have been almost enabled, from the increase of the number of our 

 members during the year, to meet our expenditure from our ordinary 

 resources. 



It is with great pleasure wo recoi-d that during the past year the 

 Society has published two numbers of its Transactions. One of these 

 is composed wholly of communications read before the Society many 

 years back, the publication of which, after they had been placed in 

 the printer's hand, had, for various reasons, been delayed. The other 

 is made up of communications read before the Society during the last 

 twelve or fifteen months. 



A list of 1 11 the Papers read during the course of the past year is sub- 

 joined. The papers are principally upon subjects of a local and 

 practical character. It is satisfactory to be able to ad J that, with 

 scarcely an exception, an interesting paper, sometimes more than one, 

 was read at each of the literary meetings. Those that have been 

 selected for publication will bo found to contain much valuable infor- 



mation. The Meteorological Observations alone will form a most 

 important addition to th 5 mass of information which is being collected, 

 both in Europe and America, on the subject ; more especially as the 

 locality of Quebec appears to be peculiarly favourable for the exami- 

 nation of some of the most interesting Meteorological phenomena. 



In connection with this matter, it may be mentioned that the Society 

 has long been anxious to secure a building for its own use, where its 

 Museum and Library might be deposited in safety, and in such a way 

 as to be available, as heretofore, to the public generally, and in which 

 we may be able eventually to establish an Astronomical and Meteoro- 

 logical Observatory in connection with and under the auspices of the 

 Society. 



In order to carry out these objects, the Council applied to the head 

 of the Government for a grant of a portion of the Ordnance property 

 on the north side of the Government Gardens in this city, sufficiently 

 large for such a building as they thought necessary. We regret to 

 say, that this application, .although favourably received by the head of 

 the Government here, has been refused by the Ordnance Department 

 at home ; the reason assigned that the ground may be required for 

 military purposes, in the event of the Head Quarters of the Military 

 Government of the Province being transferred to this city. 



It is much to be regretted, for many reasons, that the prospect of 

 being possessed of a building of our own is not likely soon to be real- 

 ized ; yet we hope that our successors in office will not be discouraged 

 by the failure of our efforts in that respect — but that they will endea- 

 vour to devise some expedient for securing for the Society a local 

 habitation, in the enjoyment of which they cannot be disturbed. 



We have now to call the attention of the Society to an important 

 step which has been taken by the Council since the commencement of 

 the present Literary Session, \yith a view to bring the Society more 

 prominently than heretofore before the public. We allude to the pub- 

 lication of the Monthly Proceedings of the Society in the columns of 

 the Canadian Journai o( Toronto. It had long been feltto.be most 

 desirable to publish regularly the ordinary proceedings of the Society 

 at its general and stated, or literary meetings. The publication of the 

 Canadian Journal, under the auspices of that young, but rapidly grow- 

 ing and most useful sister Society, the "Canadi.an Institute," of 

 Toronto, seemed to the Council to present a most suitable medium for 

 the publication of their proceedings. Upon being applied to for that 

 purpose, the Council of the Institute expressed, in the most liberal 

 manner, their desire to meet the wishes of the Society, and ofiFered to 

 allow an account of our Proceedings to appear gratuitously in the 

 columns of their Journal. Since the commencement of the present 

 Session our proceedings have accordingly been published in that 

 Journal, the first publication Ijeing prefaced by a short sketch of the 

 history and objects of the Society, furnished by the Council to the 

 Editor at the request of the latter. The Council trust that their suc- 

 cessors will see the expediency of keeping up the system of publishing 

 our proceedings on the terms iu every wiiy advantageous to the 

 Society. 



It is gratifying to be able to state that the Legislature has consider- 

 ably augmented the amount of the annual grant to the Society, having 

 raised it from £50 to £250. It must, however, be observed that as an 

 indemnity for our losses occasioned by fire, this sum is altogether 

 inadequate. AV'e think, however, we should not regard it in that 

 light ; and we h.ave little doubt that if the Society continue to act with 

 the energy and zeal which has marked the present Session, and, above 

 all, if we evidence our existence to the outer world by the publication 

 of useful papers, we shall have little difficulty in obtii'ining an equally 

 liberal, or evcnii more liberal grant from tlie Legislature at its next 

 Session. 



One of the most satisfactory proofs of the progress which the Society 

 has already made in public estimation, Tvill be found in the number of 

 members who have during the year been added to its lists. We cannot 

 now give the precise number, but we are sure that they form a very 

 considerable portion of the Society; and we believe we ni.ay add that 

 among the recent additions will be found someof our most zealous and 

 useful members. 



On the whole, it seems to the Council that the review of the events 

 of the past year presents much that is encouraging. It was indeed 

 ushered in with a heavy disaster, but the effects of that disaster have 

 been more than atoned for, by the zeal and cnorg;i- of the Society; and 

 at the end of the year we find our finances in a flourishing condition, 

 our numbers rapidly augmenting, our Transactions enriched by two 

 parts, our communications increased io number and importance, and 



