In each of these divisions there is much work to do. Each has its own distinctive features, and there is abundance of minor incident.

Material of special interest to Ontario bearing on the French régime is contained in the "Correspondence Générale," in the papers of the "Collection de Moreau St. Méry," which have been transcribed from the Paris archives for the Canadian archives, most of which has never been published in printed form. There is also valuable Ontario material in the "Haldimand Collection of papers," the "Bouquet Papers," and the Colonial Office records bearing on this period. It is intended to collect and publish these papers, accompanied by an adequate translation, when not written in English, and adding extracts in chronological order from the publications of Perrot, La Potherie, La Harpe, Charlevoix, De Kalm, the Jesuit Relations, papers by Margry, and a portion of the "Mémoire pour Messire François Bigot," which contains what seems to be an excellent summary of the commerce and condition of all the western trading posts at the time of the conquest. Other sources of material for publication have also been considered in connection with this early period.

Aboriginal or Indian history presents many interesting features to us, and some attention has been given to the subject, including an inquiry as to the original savage occupants of Ontario, their origin, migrations, traffic, and intercourse; their language, topographical nomenclature, folklore, and literature; the origin and development of their clan, tribal, and national organization; the history and results of European contact; their present condition, capabilities, and tendencies.

This period of Ontario history, that of the French régime, will be our heroic age, as "distance lends enchantment to the view." Here will be found the adventurous coureurs de bois, many of the great routes and trading posts, the headquarters of which in later times, was Fort William, on Thunder Bay. Here the Huron and Iroquois met in deadly conflict; here also the French missionaries of the Cross endured untold sufferings with ecstatic heroism, and receiving the martyr's crown left a record of Christian zeal and fortitude not surpassed, if at all equaled, in the history of the world. Events which stirred the imagination and fascinated the finely poised mind of a Parkman will yet furnish the material for Canada's great, unwritten epic poem.

The Ontario bureau of archives has made a beginning in this field by publishing a volume on the "Identification of the Huron Village Sites," where those missionaries labored and fell, prepared by the venerable and scholarly archivist of St. Mary's College, Montreal, the Rev. Father Jones, S. J., a contribution, I believe, of undoubted value. It may be taken as significant of our attitude that a work of such erudite research has been treated as a public document and issued free to the people at the expense of the Government. It will soon be followed by the writings of Father Potier, a work of far-reaching importance and interest, which is in process of preparation for the press. The three volumes of manuscript have been photographed page by page and a zincograph facsimile of the original will be placed before scholars, a work the casual announcement of which has already whetted the appetites of not a few antiquarians.

Leaving this interesting period for the second I have mentioned, we reach the coming to Ontario of the United Empire Loyalists. These form the basis of our population and still give color to our political thought and form and fashion to our institutions. In this period we have published two volumes, one of about 1,500 pages, being the manuscript of evidence laid before a royal commission reporting on the claims for compensation for losses suffered by the United Empire Loyalists, a document now out of print and much sought for. The other volume consists of the minutes of the land board of the western district of