equal in powers and functions to the other chamber. Such a body may be either elective, or hereditary, or be appointed by the head of the state. An elective body would be subject to all the disadvantages that attach to the other representative body, and would largely be a duplicate of it, even if constituted like the Senate of the United States, or as our own legislative councils generally were before Confederation.

It would not necessarily represent the large experience in affairs which is essential to a supervising body, but might simply represent the passing waves of opinion amongst the less educated and the less responsible of the community. Indeed, it has been tried in Canada, and found wanting; and has been, with the unanimous consent of both political parties, replaced by our present system.

An hereditary reviewing body, like the House of Lords in England. is invaluable, as giving stability to the constitution. And considering how its ranks are recruited in the United Kingdom by the appointing to pecrages of the strongest and ablest men in every walk of life, it can be understood how it maintains itself from generation to generation, as a body of commanding intelligence, ability and force.

But such a House here is out of the question. But there has been, undoubtedly-in our constitution under Federation-an attempt to secure its best elements, in the composition of our Senate, which is not a representative body, and is free from the defects of a representative body. It consists in theory (and to speak only plain truth, the theory has been well carried out in practice), of men who are not elected, but appointed for life, in view of their experience and knowledge of affairs,—their standing in the community, and their large stake in the country's prosperity; of men, in short, who have, many of them, interests in almost every part of the Dominion, and can form an intelligent judgment on measures which concern every interest in it, from the Atlantic to the Pacific. To all this may be added that the majority of such men, in this country at least, have placed themselves by their own force of character and intellect, in the position they occupy in the community.

The theory of a properly constituted body, whose main business, though not its sole business by any means, is to review, is fairly expressed in the few last sentences. And it is evident, I think, that in early times, and in the first instance, the assembly of lords and barons of the mother country was composed of just such men.

I conclude, therefore, that it is not desirable that a single representative body should have an unchecked power of making laws to bind the whole of a widely extended population.

That if there is no second chamber the power of the crown, or head of the state, must necessarily be enormously enhanced.

That a chamber whose main function, though not its exclusive one, is to review and reconsideration, is a sine qua non of a properly constituted constitutional government.

And that the best mode of constituting such a chamber in this age and country is to have it consist of persons appointed from time to time. by the Crown, under the advice of responsible ministers, limited in numbers, as may be provided,-appointed for life, and consisting of men of station, wealth and experience, whose knowledge of business and affairs at large qualifies them to review the decisions arrived at by the representative house, as well as, under limitations, to initiate legislation themselves.

IV. The Further History of Pierre Esprit Radisson.

By REV. PROF. GEORGE BRYCE, LL.D.

(Communicated by Sir J. G. Bourinot, and read May 26, 1898.)

We are much indebted to the Prince Society of Boston for collecting the memorials of the versatile French explorer, Pierre Esprit Radisson, who with his brother-in-law, Medard Chouart des Groseilliers, led the way in the formation of the Hudson's Bay Company, which after a history of two centuries and a quarter still preserves its vigour and influence. The Prince Society has printed an1 interesting volume containing the journals of Radisson, which are preserved in the British Museum in London and in the Bodleian library in Oxford.

Dr. N. E. Dionne, the accomplished librarian of the Legislative Library, Quebec, has contributed to the proceedings of the Royal Society of Canada very appreciative articles entitled "Chouart and Radisson." In these he has relied for the detail of facts of discovery almost entirely on the publication of the Prince Society. He has, however, added much genealogical and local Canadian material, which tends to make the history of these early explorers more interesting to us as Canadians than they would otherwise be.

A resident of Manitoba who has shown an interest in the legends and early history of Canada, Mr. L. A. Prudhomme, St. Boniface, judge of the county, has written a small volume of sixty pages on the Life of Radisson. Like the articles of Dr. Dionne, this volume depends entirely for its information on the publication of the Prince Society.

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Readers of recent fiction are no doubt familiar with the appearance of Radisson in Gilbert Parker's novel "The Trail of the Sword." It is unnecessary to state that there seems no historic warrant for the statement, "once he attempted Count Frontenac's life. He sold a band of our traders to the Iroquois." The character, thoroughly repulsive in this work of fiction, does not look to be the real Radisson; and certainly as we survey the bloody scene which must have been intended for a period subsequent to Frontenac's return to Canada in 1689, where Radisson fell done to death by the dagger and pistol of the mutineer Bucklaw, and was buried in the hungry sea, we see what was purely imaginary. Of course, we do not for a moment criticise the art of the historic novelist,

1" Radisson's Voyages." Boston. Printed for the Prince Society, 1885. 2" Chouart and Radisson." Par le docteur N. E. Dionne; 2 articles. First, pp. 115-135, 1893. Second, pp. 29-48, 1894. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Canada. 3" The Trail of the Sword." A novel. By Gilbert Parker. D. Appleton & Co. New York. 1894.

but simply state that the picture is not that of the real Radisson and that we shåll find Radisson alive a dozen and more years after the tragic end given him by the artist.

These three works, as well as the novel, agree in seeing in Radisson a man of remarkable character and great skill and adroitness. We may quote the translation of the Prologue to Judge Prudhomme's little work.'

THE PROLOGUE.

"What a strange existence was that of this man! By turns discoverer, officer of marine, organizer and founder of the most powerful "commercial company which has existed in North America, his life presents an astonishing variety of human experiences.

"He may be seen passing alternately from the wigwams of the mis"erable savages to the court of the great Colbert; from managing the "chiefs of the tribes, to addressing the most illustrious nobles of Great "Britain.

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"His courage was of a high order. He looked death in the face more than a hundred times, without trepidation. He braved the tor"tures and the stake among the Iroquois, the treacherous stratagems of "the savages of the West, the rigorous winters of the Hudson Bay and "the tropical heat of the Antilles.

"Of an adventurous nature, drawn irresistibly to regions unknown, "carried on by the enthusiasm of his voyages, always ready to push out "into new dangers, he could have been made by Fenimore Cooper, one of "the heroes of his most exciting romances.

"The picture of his life, consequently, presents many contrasts. The "life of a brigand which he led with a party of Iroquois cannot be "explained away.

"He was blameable in a like manner for having deserted the flag of "France, his native country. The first time, we might, perhaps, pardon "him, for he was the object of grave injustice, on the part of the govern"ment of the colony.

"No excuse could justify his second desertion. He had none to offer, "not one. He avowed very candidly that he sought the service of Eng"land because he preferred it to that of France.

"In marrying the daughter of Mr. John Kertk, he seems to have "espoused also the nationality of her family. As for him, he would have "needed to change the proverb, and in place of one who marries a hus"band, takes his country,' to say, 'one who marries a wife, takes her "country.'

"The celebrated discoverer of the Northwest, the illustrious Le "Verendrye, has as much as Radisson, and even more than he, of just

"Notes Historiques sur la vie de P. E. de Radisson," par L. A. Prudhomme, St. Boniface, Man. Imprimerie de l'Agriculture.