England and Wales.-Duke of Bedford, Countess Cowper and Baroness Lucas, Earl of Dartmouth, Earl Spencer, Earl of Mount Edgcumbe, Earl Cathcart, Earl of Bradford, Earl Cawdor, Viscount Dillon, Lord Camoys, Lord Arundell of Wardour, Lord Lyttelton, Lord Calthorpe, Lord Wrottesley, Lord Leigh, the Hon. G. M. Fortescue, Sir Charles W. Dilke, Bart., Sir Henry Dryden, Bart., Sir Baldwin Leighton, Bart., Sir Geo. Osborn, Bart., Trustees of the late Sir R. Puleston, Bart., Miss Ainslie, J. C. Antrobus, Esq., W. R. Baker, Esq., C. M. Berington, Esq., Colonel MyddeltonBiddulph, Colonel Carew, Mrs. Collis, Richard Corbet, Esq., W. Bromley-Davenport, Esq., M.P., C. Cottrell Dormer, Esq., J. R. Ormsby Gore, Esq., M.P., John Harvey, Esq., Dr. Hoskins, H. B. Mackeson, Esq., charter chests of the family of Neville of Holt, F. Peake, Esq., Mrs. Prescott, J. J. Rogers, Esq., W. T. McCullagh Torrens, Esq., M.P., W. H. Turner, Esq., Mrs. Willes, W. W. E. Wynne, Esq.; St. Lawrence's College, Ampleforth; Clare College, Gonville and Caius College, Jesus College, and Trinity Hall, Cambridge; Carlisle Cathedral; St. Mary's College, Oscott; Corpus Christi College, Exeter College, Jesus College, Lincoln College, New College, Oriel College, Queen's College, Trinity College, and Worcester College, Oxford; Stoneyhurst College; Monastery of the Dominican Friars at Woodchester; Corporation of Abingdon; Petyt MSS. in Inner Temple Library; and Chetham Library, Manchester.

Scotland.-Duke of Montrose, Duke of Sutherland, Marquis of Huntly, Earl of Crawford and Balcarres, Earl of Morton, Earl of Strathmore, Earl of Dalhousie, Earl of Airlie, Earl of Stair, Earl of Rosslyn, Earl Cawdor, Lord Forbes, Lord Torphichen, Sir J. H. Burnett, Bart., J. Guthrie, Esq., A. F. Irvine, Esq., and J. F. Leith, Esq.; University of Aberdeen; Catholic College of Blairs; Trinity College, Glenalmond; University of St. Andrew's; and Royal Burgh of Montrose.

Ireland.-Marquis of Ormonde, Earl of Granard, Earl of Rosse, Major-General F. P. Dunne, Robert D. Lyons, Esq., M.D. (Archbishop King's collection), The O'Conor Don, M.P., and Rothe's Register of Kilkenny.

Each report has, in conformity with the circular of the Commission, been submitted to the proprietor of the collection to which it refers, who has assented to its publication and circulation under the authority of the Commissioners.

In addition to these collections several others, including those of the Earl of Seafield, Lord Rollo, Sir Archibald Edmonstone, Bart., Rev. W. Sneyd, Mr. Dundas, of Arniston, Mr. Dundas, of Dundas Castle, Mr. Webster, of Aberdeen, and Mrs. Wemyss, of Wemyss Castle, have been examined; the notices of these are necessarily postponed to the next report of the Commission. The Dukes of Argyll, Buccleuch and Queensberry, Northumberland, and Roxburghe, the Marquis of Salisbury, the Earl of Home, Lord Wharncliffe, the authorities of Trinity College, Dublin, Colonel Carew, Mr. Wilson, of Eshton, Mr. Peake, of Sleaford, Mr. Dymond, of Exeter, the Corporations of Colchester, Haverfordwest, King's Lynn, Pembroke, and Tenby, and the Dean and Chapter of Wells, have also consented to the inspection of their manuscripts.

In the Report which will be issued by Your Commissioners in the ensuing year will be included a notice of the Shelburne papers now at Lansdowne House, in the possession of the present Marquis of Lansdowne. It is believed that these papers may contain many documents of great importance relating to the political history of the latter half of the 18th century, and may throw light on the events which led to the fall of the Shelburne ministry and the Fox-North ministry in 1783, and on those which decided the composition of Mr. Pitt's first ministry. It is also believed that there are many interesting letters from eminent literary characters in this collection.

One result of the operations of Your Majesty's Commissioners has been that some valuable series of papers have either passed or are about to pass from private into public hands. The Trustees of the British Museum are in treaty for some of the collections noticed in the First Report of the Commissioners; Sir George Duckett has presented a portion of his manuscripts to that institution; and the Curators of the Bodleian Library, Oxford, have purchased from Mr. Turner the volume noticed in Mr. Riley's report (Appendix, p. 101). These books and papers by being placed in public libraries will be catalogued and made accessible to the historical student.

The Earl Cawdor on 4th May 1870 placed under the care of Your Commissioners an heraldic and genealogical collection in three volumes, with a fourth containing the indices to the same, relating to the settlers in Wales, and known as "the Golden "Grove Book." These volumes have been deposited in the Public Record Office, under the following conditions:-That the public may have access to the same; that the volumes are to be properly preserved and taken care of; and that his Lordship, or his heirs, may at any time hereafter remove the volumes from the Record Office upon giving a receipt for the same. They will be found described at p. 31 of the Appendix.

Sir W. Stirling Maxwell, Bart., has presented to Your Commissioners for public use three volumes privately printed relating to the families of "The Stirlings of Keir," and "The Maxwells, of Pollok."

The Standish Papers sent to Your Commissioners by F. Peake, Esq., have been sorted and repaired by the Public Record Office. The Montacute Papers belonging to R. Phelips, Esq., are being arranged and bound, and some manuscripts belonging to the Corporation of Abingdon have also been repaired and bound.

Transcripts of the papers relating to the Gunpowder Plot, noticed in the last report, have been made and placed with similar books in the Public Record Office, where they are now available for public use.

The Calendar of the Earl of Macclesfield's letters has been continued; 16 bundles, comprising 1,820 documents, have been calendared.

Dr. Stuart reports that the Earl of Dalhousie has resolved to print the "Registrum "de Panmure" (noticed in the Commissioners' First Report, App., p. 119), and has requested him to undertake the editorship of it. The collection contains numerous charters, many of them of early date. The Early English Text Society has obtained the permission of the Marquis of Lothian to print the Anglo-Saxon Homilies of the 10th century, noticed in the last report of the Commissioners (App., p. 14). That Society has printed a very scarce, if not unique edition of Lyndesay's Minor Poems from Lord Mostyn's collection. The Camden Society has printed, under the editorship of Mr. S. R. Gardiner, a selection of letters and papers from the collection of the Hon. G. M. Fortescue, a catalogue of which is annexed to this report (App., p. 49). One of the manuscripts in a volume belonging to Mr. Harvey, of Ickwell Bury, reported on last year, was found to contain information which proved to be of use to a gentleman who is now occupied on a life of Sir P. Sydney; and other persons have obtained important historical facts (which were previously unknown) from Your Commissioners' First Report.

Your Commissioners have much satisfaction in informing Your Majesty, that, in pursuance of the recommendation made in their report of last year respecting the papers in the House of Lords, Sir John George Shaw Lefevre, Clerk of the Parliaments, has engaged two of his officers to continue the arrangement of the papers in question, and that the Lords of Your Majesty's Treasury, at the instance and recommendation of Your Commissioners, have expressed their willingness to devote an annual sum towards the expenses of arranging and calendaring the same. The two gentlemen chosen by Sir John Shaw Lefevre have already commenced their labours. They state in one of their reports to Your Commissioners that the papers dated between 1629 and 1640, though not very numerous, are very interesting and important. They call attention to the original documents of Archbishop Laud's visitation in 1634, consisting of the articles issued and the answers, joint or separate, from the members of the several chapters. They also refer to the papers respecting J. Dury's mission to the Continent (1630-39), for a reconciliation between the Lutherans and Calvinists, consisting of his letters to the Archbishop, copies of his letters from foreign divines, resolutions of the Synods, &c. These papers will probably add much to the knowledge extant on the subject. Specimen calendars will be found in the Appendix, p. 106.

The Duke of Bedford sent for the information of Your Majesty's Commissioners an inventory of his MSS. at Woburn Abbey, with permission to have any portion of them calendared that the Commissioners might consider of historical importance. The catalogue is printed at p. 1 of the Appendix.

Among the Earl of Bradford's papers is the valuable correspondence of Lord Torrington while Ambassador at Brussels, from 1782 to 1792, giving the threads of European diplomacy during that important period. Mr. Horwood's report on this collection will be found in the Appendix, p. 30.

The collection of Countess Cowper and Baroness Lucas, at Wrest Park, described by Mr. Horwood (App., p. 4), includes a fine copy, written about 1400, of Higden's Polychronicon in Latin; the English Brut Chronicle, 15th century, and a French version of the same; a fine cartulary of Croyland Abbey (14th century), important; because it shows that the compiler did not know of or did not believe in the early charters cited by Ingulphus; the cartulary of the Abbey of St. John the Baptist at Colchester (13th century); four volumes of original works by Wyclif; a portion of Nicholas Trivet's French Chronicle; a curious early Chronicle pedigree of the great house of Mortimer; and interesting political memoranda by Lord Grenville, 1761-1768, and by Lord Grantham, 1766-1769.

Earl Spencer's MSS. at Spencer House, St. James's, contain most important materials for the history of the periods to which they relate, as will be seen in Mr. Horwood's

The

report at p. 12 of the Appendix. Among them is a thin volume in the autograph of the Marquis of Halifax, containing notes of his conversations with King William the Third on persons, parties, and politics. Lord Spencer possesses two copies of this interesting paper, but was not seemingly aware that he owned the original. Journal of the expedition of Robert, first Lord Spencer, who carried the Garter to Frederic, Duke of Wurtemburg in 1603, is curious and interesting. There are many hundred letters which contain ample illustrations for the political and social history of England during the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. There are several letters from gentlemen in attendance on Queen Catherine (widow of Charles the Second), when she went to Portugal after the death of her husband. There are some volumes which give copies of letters in the 16th and 17th centuries, among them are some from Mary Queen of Scots and Arabella Stuart. Letters from Sir Walter Raleigh, and other persons of note of the 16th and 17th centuries, give notices of raids on the Scottish border, of Court life and entertainments. Among the letters of the 17th century is one giving a notice of the marriage of Carr, Earl of Somerset, and the presents made at his marriage, and one by Archie (the King's fool), in 1616. An original letter by the Prince of Orange (17th December 1688) to the Marquis of Halifax and two other peers, to advise King James to go to Ham, where he would be safe. Among the writers of letters in the 18th century may be named, Sarah Duchess of Marlborough, David Garrick, Sir W. Jones, Sir Sidney Smith, Charlotte Queen of Naples, and Sir W. Hamilton. Some letters by Kent (the artist ?) give curious notices of Alexander Pope. The collection of the Earl of Mount Edgcumbe contains many letters illustrating the Civil War and the reigns of Charles I. and Charles II.; a document relating to Perkin Warbeck's conspiracy; an unpublished work on Forest Law, by Recorder Fleetwood; and papers about a naval expedition by Sir P. Edgcumbe (temp. Elizabeth), to assist Don Antonio, claimant to the Portuguese throne. Mr. Horwood's report is printed at p. 20 of the Appendix.

Earl Cathcart possesses a most extensive collection, containing numerous letters about the rebellions of 1715 and 1745; the troops abroad under the Duke of Marlborough ; Earl Cathcart's embassy to St. Petersburg in 1768; and the English military expeditions to Holland and Bremen at the end of the last century. These papers will all be found fully described in Mr. Horwood's report in the Appendix, p. 24.

The Earl of Dartmouth's MSS., reported on by Mr. Horwood (App., p. 9), are valuable as containing numerous letters to Colonel William Legge, one of the staunchest supporters of Charles I.; many official papers regarding Tangier and its abandonment; scores of letters by Samuel Pepys on navy matters; numerous holograph letters by James II.; and several by the Prince of Orange (afterwards William III.). In 1688, Lord Dartmouth was Commander of the Fleet, and the part he took in the Revolution is well known. The correspondence here during 1688 is very extensive, and the letters in November and December, including originals by James II. and the Prince of Orange, are of high interest and value.

The collection of MSS. of Viscount Dillon at Dytchley (App., p. 31), though small, is certainly very choice; among them may be noticed Wycliffe's translations of the Gospels, with commentaries in English, one of which, that on St. Mark, appears to be unknown. It is not a little remarkable that two circumstances connected with the career of this celebrated man have been brought under public notice by the proceedings of the Historical Manuscripts Commission. Henry Lee's "Discovery and Recovery of Ireland," the letters of Charles II. and James, Duke of York, and letters and papers illustrating the French military operations on the Continent, 1706-1715, may be pointed out as well worthy of attention.

The collection of Lord Wrottesley, reported on by Mr. Horwood (App., p. 46), contains several interesting documents; it includes, among others, an original deed of composition under the Dictum of Kenilworth, and the existence of any other besides that at Wrottesley is not known. Letters relating to John Duddeley, the Duke of Northumberland, who was beheaded in the first year of the reign of Mary. He obtained from Henry VIII. a grant of the lands of the dissolved Priory of Dudley; these lands now belong to Lord Wrottesley, and the title deeds show distinctly the identity between Mr. Duddeley and the subsequent Duke of Northumberland. The deed of 1088, although only a copy, is not in the Monasticon. It is evidently taken from the muniments of Evesham Abbey, as affecting the anterior title of the manor.

The large and valuable collection of manuscripts belonging to Lord Calthorpe has been reported on by Mr. Horwood (App., p. 39). It contains original letters by Henry VIII., Philip, Queen Elizabeth, Mary, Queen of Scots, and some foreign sovereigns; original letters from persons engaged by Henry VIII. in the matter

of the divorce; very important papers and letters regarding the Queen of Scots, and curious drawings of her trial and execution; large collections concerning the Hanse Towns in the 16th century; and considerable information on the many salient points of Elizabeth's reign. Some few papers are in the hand of Lord Burghley, and many of the volumes contain important notes by their former collector and framer, Robert Beale, who was Clerk of the Council to Queen Elizabeth.

Lord Lyttelton's MSS. (App., p. 36), contain letters illustrating the Civil War, and letters from eminent literary men in the 18th century, including Swift, Pope, Voltaire, and Dr. Johnson; and a curious note as to the first form of Lord Bolingbroke's "Idea of a Patriot King."

The collection of Sir Henry Dryden, Bart. (App., p. 63), includes letters by and to members of the poet's family during the 17th and 18th centuries, and an interesting letter of Atterbury when in the Tower.

The papers of the late Sir Baldwin Leighton, Bart., of Loton Park (App., p. 64), though not of great historical importance, yet contain matter which will be interesting

to many persons.

Sir George Osborn's manuscripts (App., p. 65) contain some papers relative to Guernsey, but they have nearly all been printed.

Among the MSS. belonging to the Trustees of the late Sir Richard Puleston, Bart., reported on by Mr. Horwood (App., p. 65), is a very copious "Bouche of Court, giving a minute account of the various officers and attendants of the Royal household, temp. Henry VIII., their daily diet, and regulations for orderly behaviour within the precincts; an elementary work for teaching the Latin language, by John Leylonde, an Englishman of the 15th century; the original creation of Chirk to be a borough; illustrations of the tenure of land in Wales in the 14th century; notices of Dean Swift, and of the oppressive proceedings of Parliamentarians during the Civil War.

Mr. Antrobus, of Eaton Hall, Cheshire, submitted his manuscripts to the inspection of your Commissioners; though they are chiefly of a local nature, belonging to the class of title deeds, yet among them there are a few documents of historical value. (App., p. 69.)

In the collection belonging to Mr. W. R. Baker, Bayfordbury, Herts, are letters from Dryden, Addison, Aphra Behn, Congreve, Davenant, Dennis, Sir Godfrey Kneller, Sir J. Vanbrugh, Pope, Prior, Sir Richard Steele, and others, addressed to the well-known Jacob Tonson. Mr. Horwood's report will be found at p. 69 of the Appendix.

Colonel Myddelton-Biddulph, of Chirk Castle, possesses a manuscript chronicle of Wales, composed in the 16th century, as well as notices of King Charles at Oxford in 1636. (App., p. 73.)

In the collection of Mr. Richard Corbet, of Market Drayton, are some early deeds relating to Stoke and Drayton in Shropshire, and a book of seignorial rules for the town of Drayton, from 36 Hen. VIII. to 1720. (App., p. 77.)

Mr. Wm. Bromley-Davenport, M.P., of Baginton Hall, co. Warwick, and Capesthorne, co. Chester, possesses a document which possibly refers to Wm. Shakespeare; an unpublished letter and poem by Ben Jonson; letters by Atterbury; interesting historical memoranda by James Wright (of the Temple) from 1685 to 1714; English poems of the 15th century; a poem by Henry Marten, the regicide; and early documents relating to the serjeanty of the forest of Macclesfield. The collections at Baginton and Capesthorne are fully described by Mr. Horwood in his reports (App., pp. 78, 80).

Mr. C. Cottrell Dormer, of Rousham, possesses letters by Sir Philip Sidney, and by Katherine, the widowed Countess of Suffolk, to the Earl of Leicester, and letters containing notices of the Duke of Monmouth and Algernon Sidney; letters by the Royal Family of England while in exile during the Protectorate; and the interesting journals of Mr. Dormer's ancestors as Masters of the Ceremonies during the 17th and 18th centuries. Mr. Horwood's report will be found at p. 82 of the Appendix.

Mr. J. R. Ormsby Gore, M.P., of Brogyntyn, co. Salop, has the letter book formerly belonging to Richard de Bury, Bishop of Durham (temp. Edw. III.), containing copies of royal and other letters of importance; a 15th century volume of English poems; English tracts in the form of dialogue on ecclesiastical and social matters (temp. Henry VIII.); a fine copy of Higden's Polychronicon; numerous original letters by King Charles I., Prince Rupert, Prince Maurice, Sir John Byron, and others during the time of the Civil War. (App., p. 84.)

Mr. H. B. Mackeson's collection (App., p. 91) contains letters and papers touching the concerns and management of Hythe, and its relations with the other Cinque

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Ports; Churchwarden's account, temp. Henry IV.; parts of a guild book, temp. Hen. VI., Hen. VII., and Hen. VIII.

The charter chests of the family of Neville, of Holt, co. Leicester (App., p. 93), contain a fine 12th century letter by Walter, Archbishop of Rouen, regarding the patronage of a church in England; an original letter giving account of the ravages by the French and English during Henry V.'s invasion of France; a roll of charges against William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, temp. Henry VI.; a deed giving a new fact in the life of William of Wykeham; a grant by Cecily, mother of King Edward IV., wherein she asserts that her late husband was rightful King of England; a pedigree of the Carringtons of the North, showing why Sir John Carrington (who died in 1446) assumed the name of Smyth; a volume containing copies of numerous State papers, temp. Queen Elizabeth.

Among the Standish Papers sent by Mr. Peake (App., p. 92), are the original documents executed on the foundation of a chantry in the parish church of St. Wilfrid in Standish, co. Lancaster.

Mrs. Prescott's collection, reported on by Mr. Horwood (App., p. 97), contains letters (original and copies) by Oliver Cromwell and members of his family, and the original account by Samuel Morland, laid before Cromwell, of the expenditure of the money raised for the persecuted Vaudois.

Mr. J. J. Rogers, of Penrose, co. Cornwall, possesses some papers relating to the Civil War and the Duke of Monmouth's rebellion. (App., p. 98).

Mr. Wm. W. E. Wynne, of Peniarth, co. Merioneth, possesses early manuscripts of the histories of Beda and Henry of Huntingdon, and later manuscripts of the histories of Alfred of Beverley and Nennius; large collections for early English and Welsh history, by John Lewis, of Lynwern (temp. James I.); the original duplicate signed by Francis I., of France, of a treaty between him and King Henry VIII., against the Turks; copies of State papers (temp. Queen Elizabeth); a transcript of Leland's Commentaries, which will supply the blanks in Hearne's edition; copies of the 13th century of 35 charters by Anglo-Saxon Kings, from A.D. 800 to A.D. 1048; a dramatic mystery in the Cornish language, A.D. 1508; several copies of the Brut Chronicle, some in English and some in Welsh; several very early copies of the Welsh Laws; an unpublished letter by the Earl of Mar in 1717, relative to a projected invasion to reinstate the Pretender. priceless collection (the Hengwrt and Peniarth collections combined) comprises about 600 volumes. Mr. Horwood's report is printed in the Appendix, p. 103.

This

In the Chetham Library there is a volume consisting of transcripts in the 17th century of valuable matter for the civil and ecclesiastical history and topography of Ireland. (App., p. 156).

Among Lord Camoys's MSS. at Stonor Park (App., p. 33), is a noble folio volume upon vellum, in the original oaken boards, containing several treatises; among them is "The Ladder of Perfection," "The Stimulus Amoris, or Prickyng of Love," by S. Bonaventura, translated into English by Walter Hilton; "Amor Dei, or the "Love of God;" a poem in English verse called "The Prick of Conscience," by Richard Hampole.

Of the extensive and very curious collection of MSS. belonging to Lord Arundell of Wardour, at Wardour Castle, reported on by Mr. Stevenson (App., p. 33), the series of household rolls forms an important feature. They illustrate the history of prices in England from the reign of Edward III. to that of Elizabeth, while numerous particulars connected with the progress of art, trade, commerce, architecture, &c. are here recorded. It might be advisable that the whole series should be examined more closely than possibly could be done in a preliminary and partial inspection.

Many of the articles contained in Miss Ainslie's MS. volume (App., p. 68) are of interest for the illustration of the early history of the City of London, its trade, privileges, and customs. Copies of such as are unprinted might be secured and deposited in the Public Record Office, or in the Library of the City of London.

The collection of MSS. belonging to Mr. Berington, at Little Malvern Court, has at present been only partially examined, it would therefore be premature to decide what are the chief treasures which are deposited therein; so far, however, as it has been inspected, there is no doubt that among the letters which it contains, connected with the private history of the family from the early years of Queen Elizabeth to the end of last century, there must be many of which a more detailed account is desirable. The papers connected with the Council of Prince Arthur are worthy of especial notice; and full transcripts of these should, if possible, be obtained. Indeed,