REPORT ON CANADIAN ARCHIVES.. DOUGLAS BRYMNER, ARCHIVIST. Honourable JOHN CARLING, Minister of Agriculture, &c., &c., &c. SIR, I have the honour to present the report on Archives for 1889. * -- There have been received last year from the staff employed under the direction of the High Commissioner at the Public Record Office, London, copies of the State Papers (Colonial Series) down to 1807 for Lower Canada and to 1812 for Upper Canada. There are in addition the volumes of the series "America and West Indies" down to 1769, which include the correspondence of Braddock, with an account of his death four days after the engagement in which he was wounded (9th July, 1755), and sketches of the position of the forces, the one showing that at the beginning of the action, and the other their position about two o'clock, when the whole of the main body had joined the advanced and working parties, then beaten back from the ground first occupied. These plans, which have been partly published, were sent in a letter from General Shirley to Sir Thomas Robinson, dated 5th November, 1755. The documents in this volume (A. & W. I, vol. 82) afford a valuable contribution to the history of this action, for the result of which Braddock has been severely censured and as strenuously defended. The series of volumes now received under the title of "America and West Indies" contains the correspondence of the Commanders during and for some time subsequent to the close of the war in North America in 1760, including the Indian hostilities, Indian conferences, &c. All the plans in the original letters have been traced and bound with the copies; a few have been published in works dealing with the events to which they relate; but the majority are still unknown. They include some plans of the order of battle in different engagements, harbours, forts and proposed defences, north and south, as might be expected, the military command extending at that time over the larger part of North America, including the portion now forming the United States. In the volume for 1769 (vol. 125) is an elaborate report on the defences of Quebec, with plans for a citadel on Cape Diamond, prepared by order of Sir Guy Carleton. These volumes contain the contemporary record of the events of an important period in the history of North America, and will prove of great service to investigators. A series of volumes relating chiefly to the affairs of the British Army serving in North America from 1756, forms a supplement to the last mentioned series, and will be found of use in dealing with many questions of interest, whose solution depends to some extent on the identification of officers employed on different services. * In the report for last year, by a typographical error, the date here was given as 1887, instead of 1888. It was corrected in the French edition. The volumes relating to the old Province of Quebec and to Lower and Upper Canada, subsequent to the division in 1791, are absolutely essential to the study of the period since the Conquest, and of the advance in the settlement of the different counties and townships. The documents relating to the two Provinces, as has been stated in a previous report, are being copied concurrently, so as to carry on the record of the course of events in both Provinces, it being impossible to separate them without detriment. I beg again most respectfully to direct attention to the question of having copies made of the Archives in Paris relating to this continent. These have been reported on by M. Marmette, Assistant Archivist, and many applications are being received for additional information and for copies. It is impossible to obtain a thorough knowledge of the history of Canada under the French régime without access to the official correspondence, and I am, therefore, compelled again to urge that favourable consideration be given to this representation. Among the papers acquired from private sources are some received from the family of the late Judge Badgley, Montreal. One is a journal of Laverendrye, 1738-39 (published in this report, with remarks); the others are letters from Bienville, Governor of Louisiana, and a memoire by Father Coquart, dated in 1750, without title, but addressed to the Intendant (Bigot), giving an account of the King's posts-Malbaye, Tadousac, the Islets de Jeremie, Chicoutimi and Sept Isles. Father Coquart was a Jesuit, who was sent in 1746 as missionary to Chicoutimi and Tadousac; these stations he continued to serve till his death, besides others which were added in the course of years. He died in 1765, and was buried at Chicoutimi ; the body was subsequently removed to Tadousac, where it now lies. Correspondence and other documents of the late Capt. Bulger, chiefly relating to the war of 1812-15, have been acquired from his son, Mr. A. E. Bulger of Montreal. An interesting pamphlet, "Lieut. James Moody's Narrative of his exertions and sufferings in the cause of the Government since the year 1776," was published in London in 1783, and has long been out of print. His grandson Mr. J. W. Moody, of Yarmouth, N.S., who possesses one of the few copies, which it is to be presumed are still in existence, has had the kindness to make and transmit a written. copy to this branch, for preservation, for which thanks are due. The list of works presented shows that the publications of the Public Record Office, London, are regularly transmitted as issued, as well as the Reports of the Deputy Keeper of Records and of the Historical Manuscripts Commission, the value of which can scarcely be overrated. A general acknowledgement to the different Provincial Governments for documents received appears to be all that is now necessary, their official publications being regularly received and arranged for reference. An examination of the list referred to will show how widespread is the interest in the work of this branch. The applications for information on various subjects, many of them relating to important public and private interests, are daily increasing. Among these are references for information required by different Departments to enable settlements of claims to be made; others are from private individuals respecting successions and other questions of a similar nature. From this point of view this branch has been of great service, an important part of its functions which is apt to be overlooked, its value for historical purposes, being that to which attention is chiefly called, owing to the greater publicity naturally given to this part of the office, as there is scarcely a recent work published relating to the history of Canada or the United States that does not contain acknowledgements of obligations to this branch for information given and assistance rendered. It will not, I trust, be considered out of place to quote one or two of the many notices by authorities on historical subjects in the United States; those from Canadian writers are equally favourable. In the Atlantic Monthly (Boston, Mass.), for November last, is a review of Mr. Theodore Roosevelt's "Winning of the West," which states that he has in the preparation of the work "consulted original documents in the State Department at Washington, the Canadian Archives at Ottawa-unrivalled on this continent for materials in Western history." In the "Narrative and Critical History of America," edited by Mr. Justin Winsor, the latest extensive work on this subject, it is stated, in reference to the sources of information with respect to Canada from 1763 to 1867: "The most remarkable service done to the history of this period (1763 to 1791), as well as to that of several years following, has been accomplished by the Canadian Archives Department, Ottawa, whose collection, begun in 1872, under the indefatigable management of Mr. Douglas Brymner, has grown with marvellous rapidity in the few years of its existence." (Vol. VII, p. 171.) At the recent meetings of the American Historical Association the Canadian Archives have been specially noticed for their importance. At the meeting in Boston, in May, 1887, Mr. Justin Winsor, of Harvard College, President of the Association, in his address on the "Manuscript Sources of American History," says: "We owe it to the intelligent action of the Dominion Government and to the assiduity of the Dominion Archivist, Mr. Brymner, that copies of the Haldimand Papers are now at Ottawa, of which we are given an excellent key in the calendar in course of publication by that same Officer." At the meeting of the same association held at Washington in December, 1888, the President, Dr. F. W. Poole, of Chicago, said, in reference to the "Sources and Facilities for the Study of North-Western History:" "I will first call attention to the collection of original documents in the Canadian Archives at Ottawa. A large portion of these documents relate to the early history of the North west, then a part of Canada. Some of them have been used by Mr. Parkman; but as a collection it is little known to writers on Western history. It covers the period from the earliest settlement of Canada to recent dates, and is especially rich in documents of the last century relating to the North-West, in reference to which our National and State archives are very weak. "The intelligence with which these documents have been collected, arranged, and calendared in print is most creditable to the Canadian Government, and to its accomplished Archivist." In summing up, Dr. Poole adds: "Something of the enterprise of the Canadian Government should animate the Congress of the United States in the establishment and support of a Department of Archives, which will be worthy of this nation." Page. NOTE E. THE RESERVATION OF INDIAN LANDS 1. Col. Cresap to Bouquet.. 2. Bouquet to Col. Cresap.... 3. Lt. Col. Mercer to Bouquet 4. Bouquet's Proclamation against Settling (1761) 5. Governor Fauquier to Bouquet......... 6. Bouquet to Governor Fauquier... 11. Proclamation regarding Indian Lands (1763) .... NOTE F.-CANAL FROM LAKE CHAMPLAIN TO THE ST. LAWRENCE 1. 2. Edward Bancroft to Hon. T. T. Townshend......... Observations (No. 1) respecting a Navigable Canal from Lake Champlain........ 3. Additional Observations (No. 2)...... 4. Silas Deane to Evan Nepean................ 5. Observations as to cost, &c., of the Canal, by Silas Deane........ NOTE G.-LIST OF BOOKS, &C., PRESENTED.. HALDIMAND COLLECTION, CALENDAR-Continuation. B 207. B 209. Concluded Memoranda relating to Hon. J. Cochrane, 1778-1784...... B 210-11. Correspondence and Papers relating to the Hon. John 1778-1784......... Memorials from the Provincial Corps and Loyalists, do do 1776-1784....... B 213. B 214. 66 B 215. 73. 78 B 217. 81 B 218. 89 B 219. do do do Vol. II 95 B 220. B 221. B 222. Speeches in the Legislative Council, &c., 1779–1784................ 100 103 105 Memorials from Civilians in Canada, 1777-1785........ General Inventory of Papers relating to Canada. Inventories of Papers relating to Canada, 1778-1784 Memorandum Books of General Haldimand, 1756–1778...... . B 230 to Private Diary of General Haldimand, (in French, with a Military Accounts, South Carolina, 1757-1758 Correspondence with General Amherst, 1759-1763... Government Instructions to Lord Amherst. Correspondence with Colonel Washington, 1758 ..... A 12-1. Correspondence of Capt. Ourry, 1758–1764....................... A 20. General Correspondence, Vol. VIII........ A 22. Letters from Colonel Bouquet to various Persons, 1757-1759, |