FIFTEENTH MEETING. Fifteenth Meeting, 27th February, 1892, the President in the chair. Donations and Exchanges since last meeting, 53. H. H. Langton, B.A., and Alexander Primrose, M.B., were elected members. A communication was read from the secretary of the Lincoln's Farmers' Institute, enclosing a copy of a resolution adopted by that body at its meeting in Niagara on the 23rd instant, respecting diseases of fruit trees. After referring to a resolution adopted by the Canadian Institute on the subject of the inefficiency of the present law regarding the diseases of fruit trees, and stating that the general principle of such resolution appears to be in accord with the views of the meeting, it was resolved that a committee of three fruit-growers of the County of Lincoln be appointed to co-operate with a committee of the Canadian Institute for the purpose of drafting such amendments as will make the working of the present law more effective, and in urging the Legislature to take action in this matter at its present session. The committe is composed of James Sheppard, of Queenston; Lucas Woolverton, of Grimsby, and Roland W. Gregory, of St. Catharines. Capt. Ernest Cruikshank read a paper on "Early Traders and Trade Routes in Ontario and the West." The paper began by a reference to the fact that from 1763 to 1816 the trade not only of Western Canada but of the entire American North-West, including the present States of Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, was conducted by British merchants from Montreal. The French trading posts were enumerated, and the extent of their commerce with the Indians was briefly sketched as it existed about the year 1754, just previous to the outbreak of the war which terminated in the conquest of Canada by the English. The old canoe routes from Montreal to the upper lakes, from Lake Erie to the Ohio and the Wabash, from Lake Michigan to the Illinois and Mississippi, and from Lake Superior to the Canadian North-West were next described, as well as the distribution and numbers of the Indian tribes living in the vicinity of those rivers, and the condition of French settlements in the West at the date of the conquest. The beginning of British commerce was traced. Alexander Henry was selected as a type of these early traders. A summary was given of his travels from 1761 to 1776, and of an unsuccessful attempt to work the copper mines of Lake Superior in 1770 and 1771. Notice was taken of the explorations of Carver, Rogers, and others in the direction of the Mississippi, and of the success of the Frobishers and their associates in penetrating from Lake Superior to Lake Winnipeg and the Saskatchewan valley, and discovering trading stations unknown to the French. The trade of Mackinac, Detroit, and Niagara, and other stations at the beginning of the American revolution, the character of the traders and their relations with the Indians, were next considered in the light of unpublished documents, from which copious quotations were made. The effects of the war were instanced, and a general review taken of the state of the Western trade during this period. Some account was then given of the variety of goods required for the business and the value of the returns, and in conclusion the writer advocated the preparation of a historical map of Ontario and the Canadian North-West. SIXTEENTH MEETING. Sixteenth Meeting, 5th March, 1892, the President in the chair. Donations and Exchanges since last meeting, 62. Prof. Macallum, J. B. Williams, and J. G. Ridout were named to meet the Minister of Agriculture with the deputation from Lincoln and Niagara on the diseases of fruit trees. A communication was read from the Imperial Russian Society of Geography announcing the death of the President His Imperial Highness the Grand Duke Constantine. C. G. Horetzky was elected a member. Mr. W. D. Stark read a paper on "The History of Greenland and Iceland," giving a short description of the coasts of Greenland and Iceland, noting some facts concerning the antiquity of the islanders. Their manners, habits, and modes of livelihood were touched upon, including some account of the animals useful to the inhabitants of those desolate regions. The President, Mr. Arthur Harvey, then read "Rutherford's Narrative -An Episode in the Pontiac War, 1763-an unpublished manuscript with introductory notes by Mr. Harvey." This graphic and interesting narrative of the capture and enslavement of Lieut. Rutherford, an officer of the "Black Watch," by the Indians of Detroit in 1763 was presented by the narrator's grandson, Colonel T. W. Rutherford, of the Madras Staff Corps, late commandant at Delhi, India, to Mr. Thomas Hodgins, to be used as he saw fit. Mr. Hodgins presented it to the Institute, for which a vote of thanks was tendered to him. SEVENTEENTH MEETING. Seventeenth Meeting, 12th March, 1892, the President in the chair. Donations and Exchanges since last meeting, 53. The following were elected members :-Prof. Ashley, R. W. Spence, Lancelot Middleton, C.E., and James T. Locke. The President gave a report of the interview of the deputation on "Peach Yellows" with the Minister of Agriculture. The following resolution was adopted : "1. That special investigations into the cause of the disease known as 'Peach Yellows' have been made by Dr. W. R. Shaw, a member of this Institute. "2. That a committee of the Institute has waited upon the Provincial Government, with whom appeared also representatives of the Lincoln Farmers' Institute, the Niagara District Fruit Growers' Association, and of the Ontario Fruit Growers' Association. "3. That this deputation asked for amendments in the existing laws on the subject, and had a very favorable reception. “4. But that one cause of infection appears to be the introduction of young trees from the United States, grown from 'pips' from infected fruit, and that such young trees, if they come to maturity so as to bear fruit for a year or two, must in the end succumb to the disease and be the means of contagion to other orchards. "5. That the Institute therefore prays for the enactment of a law to prevent, under proper regulations (to be made by the Governor-General in Council), the importation of any peach trees or other young fruit trees unless a clean bill of health accompany, to certify that no disease exists in the districts from which such young trees come, with a proper guarantee that no disease is inherent in such young stock, in the same way as enacted by the State of California and other places interested in maintaining the integrity of their orchards. "6. That the Secretary be instructed to send a copy of this resolution. to the Department of Agriculture at Ottawa, with copies of Dr. Shaw's paper.' Mr. H. Rushton Fairclough, M.A., read a paper on "Lieut.-Col. Coffin and his private correspondence during the rebellion of 1837." He pointed out that the subject of his paper (Wm. Foster Coffin) was the son of a major in H. M. 15th Regiment of Infantry, and grandson of a distinguished U. E. Loyalist, to whom General Sir Guy Carleton attributed much of the credit of saving Quebec when assaulted by Arnold and Montgomery. After giving a short account of the Colonel's movements until 1873, when the Department of the Interior was organized, and he (the Colonel) was promoted to the position of Commissioner of Ordnance and Admiralty Lands, which he held up to the time of his death, in 1878, the paper enumerated the important special offices to which he had been appointed. The correspondence to which Mr. Fairclough called attention covers a period of over six years (1834-40). The letters, twenty-six in all, were written to Colonel Coffin's cousin, Mrs. Grant, afterwards Baroness de Longueuil, and her daughter, now Mrs. J. A. Allen, of Alvington, Kingston, for some years the residence of the Governors-General of Canada. Besides the family and social gossip given in the letters, there is a great deal that must be interesting to Canadians in general, and it is chiefly the writer's free-spoken comments on the exciting political events of the day that Mr. Fairclough brought before the Institute. The first letter in the packet gives a most vivid description of the burning of the Chateau de St. Louis at Quebec on January 23rd, 1834. This castle had been used as the residence of the Governors of Canada for upwards of 150 years. It was never rebuilt. The characteristics of the commissioners appointed in 1835 by Lord Melbourne are humourously described. The Earl of Gosford, Sir Charles Grey, and Sir George Gibbs were known as the three G.'s, gander, goose, and gosling. The conflict in Upper Canada between "His Jockeyship" Sir F. B. Head and the Assembly, the deadlock in 1836 in Lower Canadian politics, the party dissensions of the day, and the racial character of the strife in Quebec, are dwelt upon at length by Colonel Coffin. The earlier incidents of the civil war-the repulse of the troops at St. Denis, Wetherell's victory at St. Charles, and the brutal murder of Lieutenant Weir are all recorded, but what is most worthy of publication is the remarkably vivid description given by the writer as an eye-witness of the battle of St. Eustache. Colonel Coffin characterizes, in a most pointed and vigorous manner, the aristocratic Whig lord, the Earl of Durham, who, in May, 1839, arrived in Canada as “Her Majesty's High Commissioner for the adjustment of certain important affairs affecting the provinces of Upper and Lower Canada." A high eulogy is passed upon this distinguished man, who in the short space of five months investigated and determined the causes of dissension in these provinces, and whose report is one of the most valuable documents ever written upon colonial affairs. Many a tribute of affection and respect is paid to the honest soldier Sir John Colborne. Though these letters add but few historical facts to those already recorded, still nothing could better enable Canadians to realize vividly the state of their country in those critical years, 1834-40, than a perusal of this interesting correspondence. Mr. Bain referred to the series of papers on Lower Canada published last year in the Montreal Star, and urged the importance of collecting and preserving historical documents such as that read this evening, as the principal characters were fast passing away. EIGHTEENTH MEETING. Eighteenth Meeting, 19th March, 1892, the President in the chair. Messrs. Howland and Macdougall were appointed to attend a meeting of the Ontario Artists' Association with the Government and the University authorities respecting the preservation of the old U. C. College buildings and grounds for art, science and literature. Messrs. Clark and Ridout were named auditors for the year. It was decided to call a special general meeting for the 9th April next to consider certain amendments to the regulations proposed by the Council. A vote of thanks was passed to Drs. Susanna Boyle and Letitia K. Meade for their services in the work of craniometry for publication in the last archæological report. Mr. J. W. L. Forster read a paper on "Nineteenth Century Sacred Art." After quoting authority to show that no such art exists in this age, he made a review of the rise of the art in the middle ages and the causes that led to it. Turning to the spirit of this age and its effect upon art, he said that the art of to-day exhibited less of the adornment and precision of the conventicle, and more of the pathos of the soul that has learned for itself the meaning of suffering, right down in the throbbing populations of the world. He Mr. Harvey had made the statement at the reading of a former paper that sacred art has become impossible. Mr. Forster does not meet this question in the spirit the statement was made. He evades the question by introducing a new definition which was not the common one. questioned very much whether religion was at all artistic. It seemed to him that the tendency in religion was to consider moral and religious questions without the aid of art, and it was better so to consider them. Mr. Forster had made the remark that art flourished more when the people were illiterate. It was the object of the art of the middle ages to educate |