chaired, to inquire into the condition of records stored in government facilities, and took steps to acquire copies of relelvant documents from the archives of France and the state of New York. In 1846 and again in 1849 he urged the government to take steps to gather and preserve historical government documents, including judicial and parliamentary records, civil and military records of the government prior to the establishmernt of Lower Canada in 1791, and also the records of the Jesuits prior to their suppression in 1791. He continued to represent the Gaspé region until 1854, when he was again defeated by Le Boutillier. By the end of his political career, he had a reputation for incorruptibility, as a result of his obvious honesty and outspokenness. Historical writings During his period as editor of the Quebec Telegraph, Christie wrote commentaries on political events for the newspaper. The various articles became the foundation for a book, published in 1818, which reviewed the administrations of Sir James Henry Craig, and Sir George Prevost. Craig had been Governor General of British North America and Lieutenant Governor of Lower Canada from 1807 to 1811; Prévost from 1812 to 1815. Christie followed with a second book two years later, covering the period of the next three governors, Sir Gordon Drummond, Sir John Coape Sherbrooke, and Charles Lennox, Duke of Richmond, from 1815 to 1820. A third volume appeared in 1829, covering the government of the Earl of Dalhousie. Later in life, Christie returned to journalism, contributing articles to various newspapers and editing the Quebec Mercury from 1848 to 1850. At the same time, he began work on a six volume history of Lower Canada, focusing on political events from the creation of Lower Canada in 1791 until the union with Upper Canada in 1841. He incorporated material from his three earlier volumes on the administrations of the various governors-general, and also relied on contemporaneous documents, some of which are no longer available. From the time the text first came out, it was recognised as well-balanced, particularly compared to some other historical works at the time. Even Louis-Joseph Papineau, the leader of the Parti canadien, acknowledged that Christie accurately portrayed Papineau's role in the Lower Canada Rebellion, although he disagreed on some points of detail. Fifty years later, this history was judged "one of the few works of importance written by English-Canadians during all these years". Although