II. Étude sur les Blue Laws de la Nouvelle-Angleterre, par Faucher de Saint-Maurice. 12. Sous les bois, par Pamphile Le May, D.Litt. 13. M. de Callières, par Benjamin Sulte. 14. A travers la Vie, par Joseph Marmette. 15. Les Scandinaves en Amérique, par Alphonse Gagnon, présenté par l'Abbé H. R. Casgrain, D.D., D.Litt. 16. James Murray, le Premier Gouverneur Anglais de Quebec, 1759-1767, par J. M. LeMoine. 17. Les Points obscurs des Voyages de Jacques Cartier, par Paul de Cazes. 18. Vocabulaire d'homonymes de la langue Française, par Charles Baillairgé, M.A. 19. Étude Grammaticale de la langue Algonquine, par l'Abbé Cuoq, D.D. 20. Notes sur differents points de Notre histoire, par l'Abbé Verreau. In Section 2: 1. Canadian Studies in Comparative Politics (1) Canada and England; (2) Canada and the United States; (3) Canada and Switzerland. By J. George Bourinot, C.M.G., LL.D., D.C.L. 2. The American Bison-its habits, methods of capture, and economic use in the Northwest, with reference to its threatened extinction and possible preservation, by Charles Mair. 3. The Vinland of the Northmen, by Sir Daniel Wilson, F.R.S.E., LL.D. 4. The Early Portuguese Explorations on the Northeast Coast of America, and the first European attempt at colonization there, by the Rev. George Patterson, LL.D., D.D. The Royal Society will meet, for the first time in its history, in Montreal in May, 1891. The government of Quebec has published vol. vi. of "Jugements et Délibérations du Conseil Souverain de la Nouvelle France," 7 Janvier, 1710,-22 Décembre, 1716. 1276 pp. The government of Canada has published the "Statistical Year-Book of Canada for 1889"-fifth year of issue. Mr. Douglas Brymner, Archivist, of Ottawa, has published his report on the Canadian archives for 1890. It contains: Note. A. Administration of Justice. State Papers, Calendar, 1761-1800. Map of the Northwest, by Peter Pond. Messrs. Joseph Pope, of Ottawa, and Hiram B. Stephens, B.C.L., of Montreal, have published their prize essays on Jacques Cartier and his four voyages to Canada. Four medals, two silver and two bronze, were offered by the Hon. A. R. Angers, LL.D., Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec, for the best two essays on Jacques Cartier and his times, in the English and the French languages. The judges appointed by His Honor were Dr. J. C. Taché, Ottawa; Dr. George Stewart, F.R.G.S., Quebec; J. M. LeMoine, Esq., F.R.S.C., Quebec; and Stewart Thayne, Esq., of Ottawa. The medals were awarded to Joseph Pope, Civil Service, Ottawa; Dr. N. E. Dionne, Quebec; Hiram B. Stephens, Montreal; and Toüon de Longrais, Rennes, France. IS HISTORY A SCIENCE? By Prof. R. H. DABNEY, University of Virginia, Va. A gentleman well known for his historical writings, who has in a former year held the presidency of this association, Dr. Charles Kendall Adams, of Cornell University, has declared in his "Manual of Historical Literature" that there is "no well-grounded promise . of a science of history." Not only, therefore, does he negative the question: "Is history a science?" but he even denies the hope of its becoming one. It is my purpose to maintain the affirmative side of the question; and yet, as President Adams speaks on another page of the "rigorous laws that have shaped the destinies of nations," and asserts the "great truth that the history of civilization is one continuous story of development," it may be that after all our difference is only a verbal one. Most disputes are about words, and perhaps the present controversy is simply one concerning the meaning of the word "science." Before attempting, therefore, to prove that history is a science, I must say what a science is. In the first place I utterly repudiate the too frequent misuse of the word to designate only those branches of knowledge that treat of the material world. The distinction between literature and science is false and misleading, if taken to mean that scientific works are always without literary skill and literary works without scientific accuracy. A work on astronomy may be written with artistic literary skill, while another on English poetry may be written in the dreariest of styles. There is no necessary antagonism between the artistic and the scientific methods. Historical |