myself to discharging properly my editorial duty; which consisted in making an interesting selection, illustrating with perspicuous notes points that required elucidation, and superintending the translation, which in a work of this kind should aim rather at correctness than the rarer merit of elegance. But even this object was not so easy of attainment; and I should be well pleased if I should be found to have acquitted myself, if not with honour, at least without reproach. Others more able than myself will reap much advantage from these documents. For me it will be sufficient, if the English public, keeping in view the disadvantages of my position, shall receive with some indulgence the fruit of many years' labour and protracted researches.

The Series opens with the correspondence of Louis XIV. and Marshal Boufflers, in reference to the conferences held near Brussels at the outposts of the two armies, in the months of July and August 1697, between the commander-in-chief of the French army and the confidant of William III.— William Bentinck, Earl of Portland. These conferences occupy a pretty considerable place in the history of this period: for they led to a speedy conclusion of the peace so long retarded, which had been negotiated at Ryswick. The letters of Louis XIV. and Marshal Boufflers were extracted from the archives of the war office in Paris.

At first sight, these letters might appear foreign to the main purpose of this publication, which is more especially to disclose the negotiations between Louis XIV. and William III. relative to the succession of Spain. The object of these conferences, the manner in which they were brought about, and the questions there discussed, have largely occupied all the English historians, and given rise to a host of conjectures more or less remote from the truth. Even Burnet, who avers that he had his information from the Earl of Portland, has either misapprehended the confidential communications that were made to him, or has been misled, for on this point he is almost as inaccurate as the compilers who have confined themselves to picking up the rumours that were in circulation upon these conferences, such as Kennet, Tindal, Ralph, Somerville, and, more recently, Mr. Wallace, the continuator of Sir James Mackintosh. Torcy and the Duke of Saint Simon have alone given some details; but these, though pretty accurate, are too brief and not sufficiently minute to cut short further conjectures.

The correspondence of Louis XIV. with Count Tallard, who was sent as ambassador to England after the conclusion of the treaty of Ryswick, has been extracted from the archives of the foreign office. I have been able to give only extracts from their letters, for the original correspondence would

have easily filled ten volumes like the present; but I can assure the reader that these extracts have been made with the greatest care. Neither in the letters of the monarch or his ambassador have I retrenched aught that relates to the first treaty of Partition, more especially in the preliminaries: I have also given at length the overtures relative to the second treaty. But I thought myself at liberty to abridge the series of discussions that lasted fifteen months, on the portions to be assigned to each of the claimants to the undivided succession of the King of Spain, as well as on the different arrangements and questions of suitable distribution; for these discussions were almost nothing but a repetition of those that had taken place during the negotiation of the first treaty, and which I have given almost in full. Moreover, the course of the negotiations may be followed without difficulty in the letters of William III. to the Pensionary Heinsius, which have the merit of being very short. I have given in extenso every thing in the letters of Count Tallard relating to the internal condition of England; and when we consider the nature of the embarrassments which parliament at that time caused to William III., and the few contemporary documents that have come down to us on this state of things, it will be admitted that the information they convey is of great importance.

The confidential correspondence between Wil

liam III. and the Earl of Portland, particularly the letters of the latter, during his embassy in France, merits special attention. These letters, which were written in French, have been translated from a copy taken by Sir James Mackintosh from the originals, preserved at Welbeck Abbey. They were placed in my hands by Mr. Robert Mackintosh; and the Duke of Portland has had the kindness to allow me to make use of them. Nowhere more than in these letters addressed to his confidential and faithful servant are the noble qualities of William III. displayed, not merely as a great public character, but as one friend writing to another on a footing of equality, alike honourable to the master and the servant.

The letters of the Earl of Portland prove that he was worthy of the affection and the confidence of such a man as William III. I do not think I am wrong in asserting that public opinion will willingly, on reading this correspondence, reverse the judgment that has been pronounced on the Earl of Portland down to our own time. Perhaps, too, it will be found that his descendants have not shown befitting discernment in keeping in the dark such valuable documents. In my humble opinion, respect for the founder of their family should have led them to show how fully he merited the favour which has caused William III. to be accused of prodigality. Both the one and the other cannot but

gain by being better known. Should this work, as I have no doubt it will, contribute to this result, I should hold myself sufficiently released from the obligation conferred upon me by the Duke of Portland's kindness in intrusting to me the publication of this valuable correspondence.

For the letters of William III. to the Pensionary Heinsius I am also indebted to the courtesy of Mr. Robert Mackintosh, who confided to me a French translation of the Dutch, originally made under the direction of Sir James Mackintosh. Extracts from these letters were printed nearly a century ago. "The letters of William," says Mr. Hallam, "published in the Hardwicke State Papers, are both the most authentic and the most satisfactory explanation of his policy, during the three momentous years that closed the seventeenth century." But to me they appeared very unsatisfactory. I have completed and revised them; and it will be found, moreover, that, when fitted into the various correspondence which illustrates and elucidates their meaning, they acquire a valuc they were far from having in an isolated form.

William III., distinguished as he was, wielded the sword much better than the pen. His style harsh, intricate, and fettered either by the rudeness of his mother tongue, or by his want of practice when he wrote in French, is in general without force and perspicuity. His thoughts have difficulty in