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 To the Hon. John Forsyth, 
 
 Secretary of State : 
 
 Sir : Your letter of the 29th August was duly received, and we 
 have now the honor to communicate to you as full and particular 
 information as the character of the subject and oiu- present progress 
 will allow. 
 
 Nothing could have been more gratifying to us than this call 
 for information, believing that it opens the door for an expression 
 of our views, and a statement of facts which will place the whole 
 subject before the Secretary, and the Congress of the United 
 States, in a collected and intelligible view. 
 
 The act of Congress under which our contract was made is in 
 the following words : 
 
 Be it enacted^ <^c.. That the Secretary of State be, and he 
 hereby is, authorized to contract with Matthew St. Clair Clarke 
 and Peter Force, for the publication of a work entitled " The Do- 
 cumentary History of the American Revolution," to be printed in 
 octavo or folio, as may be agreed upon : Provided, That the rate 
 of expense shall not exceed the actual cost per volume of the Di- 
 plomatic Correspondence now printing, or heretofore printed, 
 under the direction of the Secretary of State ; the same to be dis- 
 tributed and disposed of in the manner provided by the joint reso- 
 lution of the 10th July, 1832, for the distribution and disposal of 
 Gales and Seaton's collection of American State Papers, ap- 
 proved March 2, 1833. 
 
 The articles of agreement or contract with the Secretary of 
 State are as follows : 
 
 These articles of agreement, made and entered into this 19th 
 March, 1833, between Edward Livingston, Secretary of State of 
 the United States, of the first part, and Matthew St. Clair Clarke 
 and Peter Force, of the second part, witness : 
 
 Whereas the Congress of the United States, by an act approved 
 2d March, 1833, did authorize the Secretary of State to contract 
 with said Matthew and Peter for the publication of a work en- 
 titled " The Documentary History of the American Revolution," 
 to be printed in octavo or folio, as may be agreed upon : Provided, 
 That the rate of expense shall not exceed the actual cost per vo- 
 lume of the Diplomatic Correspondence now printing, or hereto- 
 fore printed, under the direction of the Secretary of State, &c. 
 And whereas it has been mutually agreed upon, that the said work 
 
shall be printed in folio. And whereas it has been ascertained, by 
 the report of the agent in the Department of State, that the 
 edition of the Diplomatic Correspondence now printing will cost 
 two dollars and twenty cents per volume, without any index 
 thereto ; and whereas the said Secretary is satisfied that, with a 
 good and copious index, said work would have been worth two 
 dollars and thirty-one and one-half cents per volume of five hun- 
 dred and forty-four pages, which would amount to the cost of four 
 mills and one-fourth of a mill per page of said edition. And 
 whereas the folio edition now to be published by said Clarke and 
 Force, is to contain on each and every page four times the amount 
 of matter, on precisely the same type of that edition : Now, there- 
 fore, the said Edward Livingston, Secretary of State of the 
 United States as aforesaid, doth hereby authorize and direct the 
 said Clarke and Force, jointly and severally, to prepare and pub- 
 lish fifteen hundred copies of said " Documentary History of the 
 American Revolution," according to the plan laid down in their 
 memorial and accompanying documents presented to Congress, 
 and upon which said act has been passed. And the said Edward 
 Livingston, Secretary of State as aforesaid, doth hereby covenant 
 and contract, according to the authority vested in him by the 
 said act, with the said Matthew and Peter, and each of them, that, 
 at the Treasury o-the United States, there shall be paid unto the 
 said Matthew and Peter, or either of thera, the sum of one cent 
 and seven-tenths of a cent per page for each and every page of 
 said work so printed and published by them or either of them, con- 
 tained in said fifteen hundred copies. And the said Matthew and 
 Peter, for themselves and each of them, their heirs, executors, and 
 administrators, jointly and severally, do covenant and contract with 
 the said Edward Livingston, Secretary of State as aforesaid, and 
 with his successor in office, if the case may so be, that they, the said 
 Matthew and Peter, or one or either of them, shall and will faithfully 
 execute and do the said work in manner and form as hereinbefore 
 set forth, and deliver unto the said Secretary, or to such person or 
 persons as may be authorized to receive the same, the said fifteen 
 hundred copies of each and every volume so to be published by 
 them ; and the same shall be printed on better paper, and bound 
 in manner and form to correspond with, and be equal to, the do- 
 cuments now reprinting by Messrs. Gales and Seaton for the 
 Congress of the United States. 
 
 Payment to be made therefor as the work progresses, from ap- 
 propriations hereafter to be made by Congress. 
 
 EDWARD LIVINGSTON, [l. s.] 
 M. ST. C. CLARKE. [l. s.] 
 
 P. FORCE. [l. s.] 
 
 In presence of 
 
 Edward Stubbs. 
 
Your letter of the 29th August is in the following words : 
 
 Department of State, 
 
 August 29, 1834. 
 
 Gentlemen : To enable me to prepare the special report re- 
 quired by law to be made at the next session of Congress, relating 
 to the Documentary History of the Revolution, for which a contract 
 was entered into with you by the late Secretary of State, Mr. Liv- 
 ingston, I have the honor to request that you will favor me with 
 full and particular information upon the following points, viz. 
 
 1. The nature and character of the materials of which the work 
 is to be composed, discriminating between those already secur- 
 ed, and those expected to be obtained. 
 
 2. The progress made in the work, in the collection and arrange- 
 ment of the documents intended to be included in it, 
 
 3. The number of volumes which will be required to complete 
 it, and the time when the whole will be ready for delivery. 
 
 And, 4. An estimate of the money which it may be necessary 
 to appropriate for the fulfilment of the contract. 
 1 should be glad to receive information on all these points at an 
 early day : and, as it will be expected by Congress that the re- 
 port should show the progress of the work at the latest period, I 
 will thank you for an additional communication upon the second 
 point on the 1st of December next. 
 
 I am, gentlemen. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN FORSYTH. 
 M. St. Clair Clarke, Esq. and P. Force, Esq. 
 
 Washington, D. C. 
 
 The first point on which you request information contains two 
 inquiries : fiist, generally the nature and character of the materials 
 of which our work is to be composed ; second, a specification of 
 the materials already secured, and those expected to be ob- 
 tained. 
 
 In answering the first inquiry, we cannot perceive how we 
 can well be more specific, or give more satisfaction, than by re- 
 ferring to our memorial and accompanying documents presented 
 to Congress, upon which the act was passed ; and which, as you 
 will have observed, form a substantive and restricting part of the 
 contract. 
 
 On the memorial and documents we ask leave to make a few 
 remarks, in their proper order, as part of our answer. 
 
MEMORIAL. 
 
 To the honorable the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
 
 United States : 
 
 The memorial of the subscribers respectfully represents, that 
 as early as the 11th day of July, 1778, the memorial of Ebenezcr 
 Hazzard was presented to Congress, calling their attention to the 
 importance of " a collection of American State Papers." On 
 the 30th of the same month certain resolutions were passed ap- 
 proving of the object, and granting such patronage and facilities 
 as he desired. ( See copies herewith, A.) 
 
 Shortly after Mr. Hazzard was appointed Postmaster General, 
 two volumes were published by him ; but the object of Congress 
 was not attained, inasmuch as not a single document relating " to 
 the rise and progress of the present war with Great Britain," re- 
 ferred to by the committee, was puljlished by him. He gave up 
 the work in consequence of his other engagements, and no one 
 has since ventured to complete it. 
 
 Your memorialists present themselves to Congress, willing and 
 partially prepared to undertake this interesting and laborious col- 
 lection. Much time has been devoted to the contemplation of 
 this work, and though difficulties have been foreseen, they are 
 not considered insuperable. 
 
 This work would appropriately be called "A Documentary His- 
 tory of the American Revolution, from the commencement of the 
 restrictive measures of Great Britain to the adoption of the pre- 
 sent constitution of the United States." 
 
 Why such a publication has not long since been made, is mat- 
 ter of surprise to your memorialists, who are satisfied that, Avith- 
 out it, the true history of the revolution never can be presented. 
 Even the journals of Congress, from 1774 to 1789, are very 
 unsatisfactory, from the fact that the corresponding documents 
 have never been printed. The list herewith will show, for a 
 short period, the character of those documents. (B.) 
 
 A mere publication of the valuable papers in the Department 
 of State, as they now exist, would be exceedingly defective, 
 many having been lost or withdrawn, which would have to be 
 supplied from other sources. 
 
 In the examination of the material in that Department, your 
 memorialists had every facility given them, and finally addressed 
 a letter to the Secretary of State, which, with his answer, is 
 annexed, and will more fully develop their views. (C.) 
 
 Your memorialists believe the present a proper time to urge 
 Congress to perpetuate these records, wliich belong to posterity ; 
 and fully aware tliat this is a day of bookmaking, they arc willing 
 
to subject the publication to the inspection of any tribunal which 
 Congress may erect. 
 
 It can hardly be necessary to say that no work of this kind can 
 be completed without the assistance of the Government. 
 
 The magnitude, the importance, the nationality of the work, it 
 is humbly hoped, will, if ever to be accomplished, receive the 
 patronage of the Congress of the United States. 
 Respectfully submitted. 
 
 M. ST. CLAIR CLARKE. 
 PETER FORCE. 
 Washington, December 29, 1831. 
 
 The memorial is so explicit that no remarks appear necessary 
 except to call the attention of the Secretary to the fact, that, from 
 the " magnitude," &c. of the work, having asked for the patron- 
 age of Congress, we proposed that they might create awy tribunal 
 considered proper, to which the material would be submitted be- 
 fore printing each volume. This they did not do, and we have 
 regretted the omission, because it would have stamped additional 
 authenticity and importance on our book, both at home and 
 abroad. 
 
 Philadelphia, July 11, 1778. 
 
 Sir : Viewing Congress as the friends of science, as well as the 
 guardians of our liberties, I flatter myself there can be no impro- 
 priety in soliciting their patronage and assistance for a collection 
 of American State Papers, which, from its evident utility, I am 
 confident they will not deem unworthy of either. 
 
 The design of it is to furnish materials for a good history of the 
 United States, which may now be very well done ; for so rapid 
 has been our political progress, that we can easily recur to the 
 first step taken on the Continent, and clearly point out our difter- 
 ent advances from persecution to comparative liberty, and from 
 thence to independent empire. In this particular we have the 
 advantage of every nation upon earth ; and gratitude to Heaven 
 and to our virtuous fathers, justice to ourselves, and a becoming 
 regard to posterity, strongly urge us to an improvement of it, 
 before time and accident deprive us of the means. 
 
 The undertaking will appear, at first view, to be too great for 
 an unassisted individual ; and experience has convinced me, that 
 although several years' incessant application has produced an im- 
 portant collection, yet, so numerous are the materials, and so 
 
much dispersed, that a whole life would be insufficient to com- 
 plete it in the way in which I have been hitherto obliged to pro- 
 ceed. I now propose to visit each State for that purpose, and 
 must request of Congress a certificate of their approbation of my 
 design, should they approve of it, and a recommendation to the 
 several Governors and Presidents to grant me free access to the 
 records of their respective States, and permission to extract from 
 them such parts as may fall within the limits of my plan. 
 
 To enable them to judge of the nature of the collection, I beg 
 leave to enclose the titles of some of the materials of which it is 
 to consist, which please to lay before them, and believe me to be, 
 Sir, your most obedient 
 
 And very humble servant, 
 
 EBEN. HAZZARD. 
 
 The Hon. Henry Laurens, Esq. 
 
 On the same day this memorial was referred to a committee 
 consisting of Richard Henry Lee, William Duer, and Sa- 
 muel Adams. On the 20th they made the following report : 
 
 That they have had the same under consideration, and, having 
 conversed with Mr. Hazzard on the subject, are of opinion that 
 Mr. Hazzard's undertaking is laudable, and deserves the public 
 patronage and encouragement, as being productive of public 
 utility. Whereupon, 
 
 Resolved, That it be recommended to the several Governors, 
 Presidents, and Executive powers of the several States in this 
 Union, to assist Mr. Hazzard, and give facility to his labors iu 
 making a collection of the various State papers relative to the 
 origin and progress of the several European settlements in North 
 America, and such as relate to the rise and progress of the pre- 
 sent war with Great Britain : that, for this purpose, he be admitted 
 to an inspection of public records, and be furnished, without ex- 
 pense, with copies of such papers as he may judge will conduce to 
 the valuable end he hath in view : that it be also recommended to 
 such j)rivate gentlemen as may have collected any materials of the 
 kinds above mentioned, to assist Mr. Hazzard in his laudable un- 
 dertaking. 
 
 The committee further report, that, in their opinion, the mak- 
 ing this collection will not interfere with Mr. Hazzard's employ- 
 ment in the Post Office, nor interrupt the discharge of his duty as 
 a surveyor of the post in the Eastern Department ; but that Mr. 
 Hazzard must necessarily be put to expense of various kinds in 
 procuring the extensive collection of materials he proposes to 
 make. VVhereu])on, 
 
 Resolvedy That to enable Mr. Hazzard to sustain such expense, 
 one thousand dollars be advanced to him upon account, returns 
 being made to Congress of his expenses in this business. 
 
From the memorial and patriotic proceedings thereon, it will be 
 seen that much of the time intended to be covered by our work 
 was embraced in Mr. Hazxard's plan, extended, as it was, by that 
 part of the resolution of the Continental Congress which autho- 
 rized the collection of such papers as related to the " rise and pro- 
 gress of the present war with Great Britain." 
 
 If, then, in 1778, a most gloomy and oppressive period of the re- 
 volution, and before the proudest and most confident patriot could 
 foresee the glorious issue of our contest ; if before a union of the 
 States was contemplated ; if before the plastic hand of patriotism 
 had sketched the outline of our present constitution of Govern- 
 ment ; if when the home resources of the struggling States were 
 more than exhausted, and half allowance, from borrowed means, 
 was meted out to our civil and military defenders ; U, under all 
 these adverse circumstances, the Continental Congress ordered 
 that to be done which we now proffer to do, and more, was it 
 presumptuous in us to ask for, or imprudent or premature in Con- 
 gress to pass the act under which our contract has been made ? 
 
 Can it come to pass that our labor shall be shortened, or stop- 
 ped ? Can it happen, nay, shall our country be so ill-fated as to 
 look on quietly, without an effort, and see, and know, and feel, 
 that the records of her eventful story are mouldering in garrets, 
 or perishing in badly kept public offices, or alone exist in the ar- 
 chives of foreign courts ? 
 
 We do not pretend that we can do full justice to this important 
 object ; but whatever can be done by patient investigation, dili- 
 gent research, and unwearied industry, we pledge ourselves has 
 been and will be done. 
 
 For the redemption of this pledge we trust the Secretary of 
 State and Congress will have ample security when we come to 
 answer that part of the inquiry which relates to the progress of 
 the work. 
 
 The next paper submitted was our letter to Mr. Livingston, as 
 follows : 
 
 Washington, July, 18, 1831. 
 
 Sir : In accordance with the statement and promise made to 
 you a few days since, permit me to state more specifically the ob- 
 ject I have in view, in conjunction with Mr. Force, who has lono- 
 since turned his attention to the subject. 
 
 Our work would be correctly styled " A Documentary History 
 of the American Revolution, from the commencement of the re- 
 strictive measures of Great Britain to the adoption of the consti- 
 tution of the United States in 1789," which would embrace a col- 
 lection of the resolves, addresses, memorials, remonstrances, and 
 other proceedings of the people ; the assemblies and other local 
 
8 
 
 authorities of the colonies, relative to the encroachment of the 
 British Government ©n their rights and privileges, with the cor- 
 respondence and proceedings of the royal Government. 
 
 Also, the public papers of the Congress and of the several 
 States, and of the officers and agents of both. 
 
 Lastly, the proceedings of the Congress, the States, &c., in 
 matters relating to the confederation, up to the adoption of our 
 present constitution and organization of the present Government. 
 
 In pursuing the history of those times, it appeared to be divided 
 into several distinct periods, designated by certain great events, 
 viz. 
 
 1 . The origin of the several colonies, their charters, bills of 
 rights, &c.,and the public papers previous to, and their condition 
 in^l7G3. 
 
 2. From 1763 to the Congress of 1765, at New York. 
 
 3. From 1765 to the Congress of 1774, at Philadelphia. 
 
 4. From 1774 to the Declaration of Independence. 
 
 5. From 1776 to 1783. 
 
 6. From the peace to 1789, the organization of our present 
 Federal Government. 
 
 The documents illustrating the action of the States prior to 1774 
 must be collected from various sources, such as the Government 
 records, and individual publications and papers in possession of 
 individuals, some of which are already promised. 
 
 The list of books and papers herewith exhibited will show that 
 we have taken much pains in procuring this valuable material, 
 and the second list shows those which we have either ordered, or 
 are accessible. 
 
 From 1774 to 1776, the documents can partly be supplied from 
 the Department of State. 
 
 From 1776 to 1789, the principal part can be obtained also in 
 that department and others. 
 
 We desire to know whether the use of those documents can be 
 granted us, under such restrictions and regulations as the Secre- 
 tary may direct. 
 
 Most respectfully, 
 
 M. ST. CLAIR CLARKE. 
 PETER FORCE. 
 
 Hon. Edward Livingston, 
 
 Secretary of State, Washington. 
 
 From the above letter, the Secretary will find, as we have be- 
 fore stated, that we have bound ourselves to do more than Mr. 
 Hazzard. Let two items suffice : 
 
 1st. Our work will contain all the important papers of the 
 Continental Congress, eml)racing not only " the rise and progress 
 of the war with Great Britain," where he must necessarily have 
 
stopped, but the termination of it, and the whole of their proceed 
 ings from 1783 to 1789. 
 
 2d. At that period the public archives of Great Britain could not 
 have been resorted to : now, they are freely open to our inspection. 
 
 This letter gives the outline of the work, and forms what we 
 call the restrictive part of our contract. The several periods of 
 time forming the termini and subdivision of the subjects, are dis- 
 tinctly set forth ; and the material as accurately and extensively 
 described as the limits of a letter would permit. 
 
 We know, and have severely, yet we hope patiently, felt the 
 remarks which have been made on the want of limitation of ma- 
 terial. On this subject, allow us to make, for ourselves, this soli- 
 tary remark : If we have had ambition enough to project and offer 
 this work to Congress — if we have been honored by their confi- 
 dence, and stimulated by their patronage, we sincerely hope and 
 trust that we have pride enough, as editors and as men, neither 
 to violate that confidence nor expend that patronage in gathering 
 worthless matter. 
 
 While on this subject of limitation, we feel ourselves called 
 upon to state the conclusion arrived at by your predecessor, Mr. 
 Livingston. It formed the subject of frequent interviews and 
 conversations ; and, finally, his expressions, as near as can be recol- 
 lected, were these : " I cannot see how I can limit your work to 
 any specific number of volumes. The American State Papers, by 
 Gales & Seaton, were not originally limited ; Sparks was not — 
 nor is the work now executing (by F. P. Blair) limited — the act 
 of Congress does not require it : but, gentlemen, there is a limit ; 
 your characters are at stake, and also, if you print useless matter, 
 you will have trouble about your money." 
 
 The answer of Mr. Livingston to the preceding letter is as 
 follows ; 
 
 Washington, July 20, 1831. 
 
 Dear Sirs: I have examined your proposal for publishing the 
 Documentary History of the United States, up to the adoption of 
 the Federal Constitution. I think it will be a highly useful work, 
 and that, with the materials within your reach, and your industry 
 and intimate knowledge of the subject, it will be extremely well 
 executed. 
 
 There is no difficulty in giving you access to the documents in 
 this Department, under the usual official restrictions. 
 I am, with respect and esteem, 
 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 EDW. LIVINGSTON. 
 M. St. Clair Clarke, Esq., and 
 Peter Force, Esq. 
 2 
 
10 
 
 From the aforegoing';letter the Secretary will see that permission 
 was given to us to use the material in the Department of State ; 
 and although we had for years been in the habit of resorting to 
 them, we did not consider them, until then, as subject to our use 
 by special authority ; and this authority was granted after consul- 
 tation with the President of the United States. 
 
 Perhaps we may be considered as exceeding the bounds of an 
 answer to the inquiry of the Secretary, in attempting to show the 
 importance^ as well as the nature and character of the material — 
 but we make the venture, assured that he will make due allow- 
 ance for pursuing this subject when we say that, in our opinion, it 
 has never been sufficiently pressed upon the public, nor are they, 
 as a community, aware of what has been felt and done by indivi- 
 dual States. 
 
 Nothing can be so essential to history as unvarnished fact ; that 
 alone can make it what Cicero has described it to be — 
 
 *' Testis temporum, lux veritatis, vits memoria, 
 "Magistra vita:, nuncia vetustatis." 
 
 Who, that reads the histories of Greece, and Rome, and France, 
 and Britain, docs not know that there is much fancy and fable in 
 their early chronicles, and more of purchased misrepresentation in 
 their patronized historians ? And shall we, who have risen into a 
 mighty empire in this day of civilization, and feeling the pride 
 and power of liberty, leave no beacon lights behind ? We cannot 
 think so, and are firmly persuaded that the present generation 
 will secure for posterity an imperishable record of those times 
 which called forth the enterprise, and wisdom, and valor of their 
 ancestors. 
 
 If it has been thought necessary to reprint the documents con- 
 nected with the legislation of Congress from 1789 up to 1832, can 
 it be of less importance to print, for the first time, the documents 
 which formed the basis of legislation during the whole of the re- 
 volutionary war, and perpetuate the character of the colonies from 
 their earliest settlement ? If it be the invariable practice of Con- 
 gress, and in every State, to print all important papers connected 
 with their legislation, is it not interesting and imperative, while 
 we can, to bring up the record ab origine 9 
 
 This subject, as far back as 1781, attracted the attention of the 
 Legislature of Pennsylvania. At divers times several of the 
 States have felt the propriety of accomplishing this work for 
 themselves, and within the last few years some of them have 
 pressed upon Congress to do that in which we are now engaged, 
 as part of our plan. 
 
 The following documents will illustrate what we have stated : 
 
11 
 
 House of Representatives, U. S., February '2,^, 1827. 
 
 Mr. Everett, from the Committee on the Library, on the subject 
 of procuring from the public offices in England copies of docu- 
 ments relative to the history of America, made the following 
 
 REPORT : 
 
 The Committee on the Library of the House of Representatives, 
 who were instructed, by a resolution of the House of the 14th of 
 December last, to inquire into the expediency of adopting mea- 
 sures to procure from the different public offices in England co- 
 pies of such papers and documents as may be of value in relation 
 to the history of the country, have had that subject under conside- 
 ration, and beg leave to report as follows : 
 
 That the United States of America, in general, and the several 
 States that compose the Union, enjoy an advantage possessed by 
 no people of the ancient world ; that their entire political duration 
 falls within the period of authentic history. Whatever advanta- 
 geous influence on national character, or gratifying effect on na- 
 tional feeling, can result from authentic details of the discovery, 
 the first settlement and early progress of our beloved country 
 may consequently be realized by us in a higher degree than by 
 any other community, excepting those on the American continent 
 similarly situated, in this respect, with ourselves. The only cir- 
 cumstance which diminishes and qualifies this advantage, is the 
 fact, that the most important sources of our early history are de- 
 posited in the archives of foreign Governments, over which, of 
 course, the United States have no control. Most of the docu- 
 ments illustrating the early history of nearly all the United States, 
 are deposited in the various public offices at London ; and it has 
 long been the wish of such of our citizens as have devoted them- 
 selves to the study of the early history of the country, that mea- 
 sures might be adopted to procure from those offices, by permission 
 of the British Government, copies of documents so interesting to 
 the American people. 
 
 In one or two cases, on special application, this has already been 
 done. Lists of documents relative to the early history of North 
 Carolina and Georgia have been procured from the public offices 
 in London ; and permission has lately been given by the principal 
 Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, in London, to take copies 
 of any documents contained in an ample list of papers relative to 
 the history of Georgia. The subject has excited considerable in- 
 terest in different parts of the country. The Governor of Georgia 
 has made it the subject of a special message to the Legislature of 
 that State. The Governor of New York, in a late message, has 
 alluded to it as a matter of interest and importance- The Assem- 
 bly and Senate of Rhode Island have adopted resolutions request- 
 
12 
 
 ing that provision be made by Congress to effect the object ; and 
 the Massachusetts Historical Society and the American Antiqua- 
 rian Society have taken measures to bring it under the considera- 
 tion of Congress. 
 
 The resolution of the Legislature of Rhode Island, the memo- 
 rial of the Massachusetts Historical Society, and the doings of 
 the American Antiquarian Society, have been referred to this 
 committee, and have received their respectful consideration. 
 
 Regarding the object as one of public interest, and feeling a 
 confidence that the liberal consent given by the British Govern- 
 ment, in reference to the Georgia documents, would not be with- 
 held in regard to the documents illustrating the early history of 
 the other United States, the committee deem it highly desirable 
 that the proper measure be taken to this end, and therefore report 
 the following resolution : 
 
 Resolved, That, in the opinion of this House, it is expedient 
 that proper measures be adopted, at the discretion of the Presi- 
 dent, to procure from the public offices in England copies of 
 documents illustrative of the history of America ; the expense of 
 the same to be defrayed out of the contingent fund for foreign in- 
 tercouise. 
 
 The following letters form part of the proceedings in North 
 Carolina : 
 
 Documents from London, relating to the publication of the histo- 
 ry of North Carolina — Secretary of State'' s Office, Raleigh. 
 
 London, August 25, 1827. 
 
 Sir : I had the honor to receive your Excellency's letter of the 
 1 9th April last, enclosing a copy of a resolution of the General As- 
 sembly of North Carolina, of February 9th, and requesting me to 
 apply to the British Government for liberty to procure for the 
 use of the State, from the office of the Board of Trade, copies of 
 such documents as relate to the colonial history of North Carolina. 
 
 I lost no time in taking the steps necessary to carry into effect the 
 object in view, and found, on inquiry, that there were two offices 
 where papers relative to colonial transactions were deposited, 
 viz. that of the " Board of Trade," and the " State Paper 
 Office," which is the common placc]of dcpositc for the archives of 
 the Home, Foreign, and Colonial Departments, and is under the 
 superintendence of the Secretary of State for the Home Depart- 
 ment. 
 
 Application was accordingly made, officially, to the Foreign Of- 
 fice, and at the same time to the Departments themselves that had 
 the control over the papers, and I am happy to say that I met in 
 every quarter the most liberal disposition to grant the request, and 
 to afford the necessary facilities for procuring the copies asked for. 
 
13 
 
 Assurances were received of the readiness of the lords of the 
 Board of Trade to accede to the wishes of the General Assembly 
 of the State. With a view to that object, a copy of the indexes 
 to such records as had reference to the province of North Caro- 
 lina, was prepared, in order that the documents of which copies 
 were wanted might be pointed out. And their lordships will give 
 directions accordingly, whenever they shall have received the 
 necessary information. 
 
 Copies of the letter of the Secretary of the Board, and of the in- 
 dex, (Nos. 1 and 2,) are herewith transmitted. There will be found 
 amongst the records of the Board, under the heads " Carolina" and 
 " Properties," documents of a date prior to 1729, that relate to 
 North Carolina, and are not included in the index. 
 
 I have no doubt that copies of these will also be obtained, but 
 the selection will require some time, and must be left to the agent. 
 
 Lord Dudley, Provincial Secretary of State for Foreign Af- 
 fairs, informed me that directions would be given to the keeper 
 of State Papers to permit an authorized agent to take copies of any 
 of the documents mentioned in a list which he enclosed. Copies 
 of his letter and of the list (Nos. 3 and 4) are also transmitted. 
 
 This communication has been delayed some time in order to 
 have copies taken of the index, lists, and correspondence. They 
 are deposited in the archives of this legation, and will not be 
 forwarded as duplicates, unless those now sent should miscarry ; 
 as it may be convenient to have them here, in case the State 
 should, instead of sending an agent, think it sufficient to request 
 the minister of the United States, for the time being, at this place, 
 to obtain copies of the documents wanted. This I mention only 
 in case the expense should be an object ; for the work will pro- 
 bably be more completely executed under the superintendence 
 of a person appointed for that special purpose. It must of course 
 be understood that, in any case, the expense of clerk hire for 
 taking copies must be defrayed by the State. 
 
 I have the honor to be, with great respect, sir. 
 
 Your Excellency's most obedient servant, 
 
 ALBERT GALLATIN. 
 
 H. G. Burton, Governor of North Carolina. 
 
 Copy of a letter of the Secretary of the Board of Trade, to Al' 
 bert Gallatin, dated WthJuly, received 2d August. Enclosed 
 in A. Gallatin'' s letter to the Governor of North Carolina, of 
 25th August, 1827. 
 Office of Committee of Privy Councils for Trade, 
 
 White Hall, Uth July, 1827. 
 Sir : The lords of the Committee of Privy Council for Trade 
 
 having had under their consideration the copy of a resolution of the 
 
14 
 
 State of North Carolina, (enclosed in your note to the Right Hon. 
 William Huskisson, of the 10th of June,) requesting that applica- 
 tion may be made to this Board for copies of such papers and do- 
 cuments as relate to the colonial history of North Carolina, I am 
 directed to convey to you the assurance of their lordships' rea- 
 diness to accede to the wishes of the Assembly ; and with a view 
 to this object, I have the honor herewith to transmit, by their 
 lordships' direction, a copy of such portions of the indexes to the 
 records in this office, as have reference to the province of North 
 Carolina, in order that an opportunity may thereby be afforded to 
 the Assembly of pointing out those documents of Avhich they may 
 wish to receive copies ; and I am to add that, whenever their 
 lordships shall have received the necessary information on this 
 head, they will give directions accordingly. 
 
 I have the honor to be, with great respect, 
 
 Sir, your most obedient, humble servant, 
 THOMAS LACK. 
 
 Copy of Lord Dudley'' s letter to Albert Gallatin^ of 2d August^ 
 
 1827. 
 
 Foreign Office, August 2, 1827. 
 
 Sir : I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your note 
 of the 11th of June, containing a request, on the part of the Go- 
 vernor of North Carolina, that an agent of that State might be 
 allowed to procure copies from the proper offices in London, of 
 such papers as relate to the colonial history of North Carolina. 
 
 I lost no time in referring your application to the proper de- 
 partments, and beg leave to acquaint you, in answer thereto, that 
 directions will be given to the keeper of the State Papers to per- 
 mit an authorized agent, on the part of the American Government, 
 to have access to, and take copies of any of the documents men- 
 tioned in the list which 1 have the honor herewith to enclose. 
 
 Such papers bearing upon the subject, as are in the custody of 
 the Boiud of Trade, are not included in this list, as I am inform- 
 ed that Mr. Grant, the Vice President of that Board, has already 
 communicated directly with you upon the subject of them. 
 I have the honor to be, with high consideration, 
 
 Sir, your most obedient, humble servant, 
 
 DUDLEY. 
 
15 
 
 Proceedings respecting the Application of Georgia. 
 
 Mr. Adams to Mr. Rush. 
 
 Departmevt of State, 
 
 Washington, 2Qth January, 1825. 
 Sir : I have the honor of enclosing a copy of a letter which I 
 have received from Mr. Tattnall, a member of the House of Re- 
 presentatives from the State of Georgia, and of requesting the 
 benefit of your aid to the accomplishment of the object which it 
 proposes, by application to the British Government. 
 I am, with great respect, sir, 
 
 Your very humble and obedient servant, 
 
 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 
 
 Mr. Adams to Mr. Rush. 
 
 Department of State, 
 
 Washington, Mth February, 1825. 
 
 Sir : On the 26th of last month I transmitted to you the copy 
 of a letter from Colonel Tattnall, of the House of Representa- 
 tives, relative to the obtaining of facts connected with the early 
 history of Georgia, and requesting you to procure the information 
 desired, if it could be obtained from the public archives of 
 England by a direct application to the British Government for it. 
 I have now the honor to forward to you, enclosed, the copy of 
 another letter which is just received from the same gentleman, 
 referring particularly to the minutes of the Trustees of the Pro- 
 prietary Government of Georgia, as containing part of the infor- 
 mation desired. 
 
 And am, with gieat respect, sir. 
 
 Your obedient and humble servant, 
 
 JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. 
 
 Mr. Rush to Mr. Canning. 
 
 London, March 15, 1825. 
 
 The undersigned, envoy extraordinary and minister pleni- 
 potentiary from the United States, has the honor to enclose to 
 Mr. Secretary Canning the copy of a letter addressed by Mr. 
 Tattnall, a member of the House of Representatives of the United 
 States, to the Secretary of State, stating that the Legislature of 
 
16 
 
 Georgia having allotted to an individual the task of collecting, 
 collating, and publishing documents connected with the history 
 of that State, the individual in question has become solicitous of 
 obtaining, in aid of the execution of his work, sucli written and 
 authentic memoranda, particularly any that refer to the period be- 
 tween 1732 and 1776, as the archives of Great Britain might be 
 found to contain. 
 
 In laying this letter before Mr. Canning, the undersigned has 
 been instructed to express, on behalf of his Government, the hope 
 that his Majesty's Government may view with favorable disposi- 
 tion the request which it contains, and feel able to subserve the 
 literary and historical objects to which it looks. 
 
 The undersigned prays Mr. Canning to accept the assurances of 
 his perfect consideration. 
 
 RICHARD RUSH. 
 
 Mr. Rush to Mr. Clay. 
 
 London, April 19, 1825. 
 
 I have the honor to enclose the copy of an answer which I 
 have received from Mr. Secretary Canning, to my two notes re- 
 specting the historical documents of Georgia. It will be seen 
 from this answer that permission will be given to any respectable 
 person whom the minister of the United States at this court may 
 name, to inspect the proper archives of the British Government, 
 and to make such transcripts from them as may be required for 
 the purpose in view. 
 
 But as this trust could only be performed by a person to be 
 specially employed by me, and as I have no authority, under the 
 general powers belonging to this legation, to incur the expense 
 to which such a measure would lead, I feel that I can do nothing 
 more at present than make known the footing upon which the 
 subject is placed by Mr. Canning. 
 
 It is my intention to apprise Mr. Tattnall of this result. 
 I have the honor to be, with very great regard, 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 RICHARD RUSH. 
 
 Mr. Canning to Mr. Rush. 
 
 Foreign Office, April 12, 1825. 
 
 The undersigned, his Majesty's principal Secretary of State for 
 Foreign Affairs, has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the 
 
17 
 
 note' which Mr. Rush, envoy extraordinary and minister pleni- 
 potentiary from the United States at this Court, addressed to the 
 undersigned on the 15th ultimo, requesting, on behalf of his Go- 
 vernment, that some person may be allowed to inspect the ar- 
 chives of Great Britain, for the purpose of procuring therefrom 
 certain documents connected with the history of Georgia. 
 
 The undersigned has to acknowledge, at the same time, the re- 
 ceipt of a further note from Mr. Rush, upon the same subject, un- 
 der date of the 31st ultimo. 
 
 In transmitting the enclosed list of correspondence and papers, 
 which are to be found in his Majesty's State Paper Office, relative 
 to the history of that State, the undersigned has great pleasure in 
 acquainting Mr. Rush, that if Mr. Rush will name any respecta- 
 ble person to inspect the books mentioned in the enclosed list, 
 from their commencement, in 1735, to the year 1776, directions 
 will be given for such person to be allowed to make extracts from 
 the same for the use of the Legislature of Georgia. 
 
 The undersigned avails himself of this opportunity to renew to 
 Mr. Rush the assurance of his high consideration. 
 
 GEORGE CANNING. 
 
 List of correspondence and papers in his Majesty''s State Paper 
 Office, relative to the State of Georgia. 
 
 1735, August 13, to December 12, 1741. Original letters 
 and papers from General Oglethorpe, and the Trus- 
 tees of the Colony, to the Secretaries of State, - 1 
 
 1742, January 13, to May 18, 1747. Original correspond- 
 ence of General Oglethorpe, Mr. Verelot, and the 
 Trustees, with the Secretaries of State, and their 
 answers, ------ l 
 
 1747, August 18, to August 8,1751. Letters, memorials, 
 informations, &c., from the Trustees, and from in- 
 dividuals to the Secretaries of State, respecting 
 Georgia, ------ l 
 
 1761, October 17, to September 12, 1780. Original cor- 
 respondence of Sir James Wright, Governor of 
 Georgia, and President Habersham, with the Secre- 
 taries of State, and draughts of answers, - - 8 
 
 1767, January 12, to December 15, 1781. Copies and ab- 
 stracts of correspondence between the Governors 
 and officers of the Province of Georgia, and the Se- 
 cretaries of State, - - - - 3 
 
 1768, February 20, to June 27, 1782. Copies of letters 
 of the Secretaries of State to the Goveniors and of- 
 ficers of Georgia, ----- 1 
 
 Volumes, - - - - 15 
 
18 
 
 Special message of Ms excellency Governor Troup to the Legis- 
 lature of Georgia, 
 
 Executive Department, Georgia, 
 
 Milledgeville, November 13, 1826, 
 
 The letter of Joseph Y. Bevan, with the documents accompany- 
 ing it, will disclose the progress which this gentleman, as the ap- 
 pointed historiographer, has made in the development of the his- 
 tory of Georgia. 
 
 Our own archives have been explored ; Avhat they furnished, 
 examined ; and a summary of the result herewith submitted. 
 The office of the Board of Trade and Plantations, in London, is 
 the depository of valuable materials necessary to the illustration 
 of our early history, the settlement of the country, its political 
 changes, to the era of the revolution, and the events of the revo- 
 lution itself. 
 
 From the correspondence of thfi American and English minis- 
 ters, it will be seen that the British Government, in a friendly 
 and liberal spirit, has opened to the researches of the Government 
 of Georgia that depository. An opportunity, therefore, is pre- 
 sented of authorizing an agency for the examination and collec- 
 tion of every thing valuable of colonial history there, to supply 
 what is deficient here ; and without which an essay to a complete 
 history of Georgia must fail. The knowledge acquired by Mr. 
 Bevan of what we have, and, of course, of what we have not, will 
 perhaps recommend him to you as a proper person to fill the agen- 
 cy. His honorable character, patriotic zeal, and patient industry, 
 will not make him an exceptionable person before the British Go- 
 vernment ; and the United States may be kind enough to believe 
 that he who is trustworthy for you, may possibly be so for them. 
 
 G. M. TROUP. 
 
 SOUTH CAROLINA. 
 
 In the Senate, December 7, 1827. 
 
 Resolved, It is desirable and expedient to procure from the 
 office of the Colonial Department in England, copies of such pa- 
 pers and documents as relate to the history of this State, begin- 
 ning with the charter of Charles II, in the year 1662. 
 
 Resolved, That his excellency the Governor] be, and he is 
 hereby, requested to take measures for procuring a list of all such 
 papers ; also, for ascertaining whether it be practicable to ob- 
 tain copies of the same, and what will be the probable amount that 
 may be required to pay for them. 
 
 Repeated 17th December, 1828. 
 
19 
 
 London, December 12, 1829. 
 
 Sir : Under an appointment from the Executive Department, 
 of the 18th July, 1829, as agent for the State of South Carolina, 
 to co-operate with Mr. McLane, our minister to the court of St. 
 James, in procuring certain information from the " British Colonial 
 Department," called for by resolutions of the Legislature, I have 
 made the proper inquiries, and shall be prepared to present your 
 Excellency with a detailed report upon the subject in season for 
 the next session. This could not have been accomplished sooner, 
 from Mr. McLane's not having arrived and been accredited in 
 this country for some time after I reached it, and from the delays 
 incidental here to the complicated forms of public business. It 
 would have been impossible for him to make the investigation in 
 person, and although conducted under his auspices, it was also ne- 
 cessarily so minute and laborious as to occupy much time. The 
 result has been highly satisfactory in the discovery of many ori- 
 ginal, curious, and important manuscripts, useful to the purpose 
 contemplated, and certainly not to be met with elsewhere than in 
 the public offices of this country, where they have been deposited 
 for safe keeping. Having just concluded the inspection of these, 
 I have applied to our minister to ascertain whether permission 
 would be granted, to have some or all of them copied also, in 
 case such a measure should be resolved upon by the Legislature. 
 The answer to this application will be embodied in the further 
 report I propose making. 
 
 I have the honor to be. 
 
 Your Excellency's most obedient servant, 
 
 HENRY N. CRUGER. 
 
 His Excellency S. D. Miller. 
 
 Charleston, November 15, 1830. 
 
 Sir : Referring your Excellency to my communication from 
 London, under date of the 12th December, 1829, I hastened, on 
 returning home, to furnish the report then promised. 
 
 The resolutions of the Legislature, under which I have been 
 acting, require that a list of such papers and documents in the 
 office of the Colonial Department in England, as relate to the his- 
 tory of this State, beginning with the charter of Charles II, in 
 the year 1662, should be procured ; and that it should be ascer- 
 tained whether it be practicable to obtain copies o{ the same, and 
 what will be the probable amount that may be required to pay 
 for them. 
 
 The information called for was found to be dispersed in various 
 
20 
 
 places about London, there being properly no " Office of the Co- 
 lonial Department," and was attained after a long correspondence, 
 and thorough knowledge, to be acquired alone by personal inves- 
 tigation. 
 
 The " Rolle's Chapel Office" is the appropriate depository for 
 charters, grants, forms of Government, &c. Here the charter of 
 Charles II, spoken of, is enrolled, and a copy of it maybe obtain- 
 ed on payment of office fees. 
 
 In " His Majesty's State Paper Office," there are seventeen 
 volumes of " Warrant Books," and " Trade Papers," from Octo- 
 ber 29th, 16G3, to December 11th, 17G1, through which are scat- 
 tered numerous warrants, reports, and official letters, within the 
 scope of the requisition. 
 
 Here also are preserved ten manuscript folio volumes, labelled 
 " South Carolina," relating exclusively to this State. Their con- 
 tents are a compilation of very miscellaneous materials, and in 
 minute portions, so as to admit of being neither detailed nor clas- 
 sified. They consist chiefly of the originals, and copies of letters 
 from various persons, including the correspondence of the Go- 
 vernors and Lieutenant Governors of the colony with the Go- 
 vernment in England, and the instructions and reports that passed 
 between them ; acts, resolutions, memorials, petitions, and ad- 
 dresses from the Assembly, and from individuals ; presentations 
 of grand juries, and affidavits, and proceedings in courts of justice ; 
 pamphlets and newspapers published in Carolina ; talks and 
 treaties with the Indians, accounts of tlieir situation and conduct, 
 and plans for their management ; constituting altogether a rich 
 and authentic mass of information relating to the history and sta- 
 tistics of the colony, its Government, and public afl'airs, climate, 
 products, and commerce, from its earliest settlement down to the 
 period of the revolutionary war, when the contents of the public 
 offices in Charleston were swept away, and transferred to their 
 present sepulchres. 
 
 In the same office, in London, there are ten other volumes, en- 
 titled " Plantations General," in manuscript, of the folio size. 
 They commence in 1765 and extend to 1774, and contain, among 
 other matters, circular orders and instructions from Great Britain 
 for the government of the American colonies, and of the troops 
 there stationed ; accounts of congresses, councils, talks, and trea- 
 ties with the Indians ; despatches, reports, and journals of officers 
 in the army, and of superintendents of Indian affairs, giving de- 
 scriptions of the numbers and condition of the various tribes, their 
 wars, habits, and customs, and of the territory in their occupation ; 
 estimates and details of colonial expenses ; the correspondence 
 between Governors in America and the Lords Commissioners of 
 Trade and Plantations, with maps and charts of the country, and 
 papers relative to boundary lines, particularly between North 
 
21 
 
 and South Carolina and Georgia ; the whole illustrative of the 
 history both of this and the other united States. 
 
 In the " Privy Council Office" the register of the proceedings 
 of the King's council is kept. That part of it which runs from 
 1663 to 1777, has innumerable entries relative to this State. 
 They consist partly of reports from the Board of Trade concern- 
 ing the imports and exports of the colony, and transportation thi- 
 ther of manufactures from Normandy, and Swiss settlers — of the 
 appointment of Governors, and instructions to them, and to the 
 Lords Proprietors, and of the acts of Assembly, and laws of the 
 proprietors, annulled and confirmed. Some of the subjects of 
 these minutes are, the consideration of the form of Government 
 of the colony — the complaints of the inhabitants against the As- 
 sembly, and against the Lords Proprietors — the allotment of land 
 among the latter, and proceeding to vacate their grant — the taking 
 provisionally the government into the hands of the Crown. Dis- 
 putes between the Council and Assembly, and with Georgia and 
 the Indians about boundaries — the settlement and dividing of the 
 colony into parishes — its mines, products, and fiscal concerns — 
 its internal affairs, and foreign relations. 
 
 There are, besides, several volumes of " Plantation Books" in 
 the same building in which the Privy Council Office is situated, 
 containing principally the commissions and instructions to the 
 successive Governors of the different colonies. 
 
 The British Museum has, moreover, a collection, in manuscript, 
 of numerous histories, travels, and other accounts of various parts 
 of America, from the date of its discovery to the epoch of our 
 independence. 
 
 In answer to the inquiry, whether copies of these documents 
 would be allowed to be taken, a communication was received 
 from the Foreign Office to the effect that copies of those most 
 essential would be granted, but that a detailed list of them must 
 first be presented, and that the copies allowed must be so made 
 as to admit of their being withdrawn, or curtailed at the discre- 
 tion of the Secretary of State. Every facility, and the most li- 
 beral conduct in the matter, has in fact been met with, and may 
 be relied on for the future. 
 
 With regard to the expense, probably attendant upon procuring 
 copies of the required papers, it is not possible now to form an 
 estimate. The proper course to effect the ulterior object of the 
 resolutions, would seem, the employment of an agent, whose 
 office it should be, in the first instance, to ascertain if any, and 
 which of the documents contemplated are in existence in the ar- 
 chives at home. This it was not in my power to do, as the ap- 
 pointment with which I was honored was not received until the 
 eve of my embarkation for Europe on professional business. Upon 
 going to England, he could then select from the abundance there, 
 
22 
 
 such portions as might be necessary to supply deficiencies, and 
 the cost, in addition to his compensation, would depend upon the 
 number transcribed. 
 
 To rescue these invaluable materials from oblivion, for the pur- 
 pose of eradicating the errors and filling up the chasms in our re- 
 cords and history, is, however, an enterprise well worthy the 
 patronage of an enlightened Legislature, and the opportunity now 
 open invites strongly their prompt intervention. 
 Most respectfully, 
 
 Your Excellency's obedient servant, 
 
 HENRY N. CRUGER. 
 His Excellency Stephen D. Miller, &c. 
 
 Proceedings of the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plan- 
 tations, in General Assembly, January session, 1827. 
 
 Voted and Resolved, That the Senators and Representatives of 
 this State, in the Congress of the United States, be requested to 
 use their exertions to procure the passage of an act of Congress, 
 at the present session, providing for copying the documents and 
 papers in the Plantation Ofiice, and other public offices in Eng- 
 land, relating to the early history of this country. 
 True copy — witness : 
 
 HENRY BOWEN, 
 
 Secretary of State. 
 
 Memorial of the Representatives of Rhode Island, to the Congress 
 of the United States of America. 
 
 Respectfully represent, Tristam Burges and Dutee J. Pearce, 
 Representatives in Congress, and Providence Plantations, in the 
 same, that, whereas the said State did at their January session, 
 A. D. 1827, pass the following resolution, viz. 
 
 Slate of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, in General 
 Assembly, January session, 1827. 
 
 Voted and Resolved, That the Senators and Representatives of 
 this State, in the Congress of the United States, be requested to 
 procure the passage of an act of Congress, at the present session, 
 providing for copying the documents and papers in the Plantation 
 Office, and other public offices in England, relating to the early 
 history of this country; they, the said Representatives, do, there- 
 fore, respectfully request that such a law may be passed, 
 
 TRISTAM BURGES. 
 
23 
 
 Memorial of the Historical Society of Massachusetts, on the sub- 
 ject of procuring copies of documents from the public offices. 
 
 To the honorable the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in 
 Congress assembled : 
 
 The memorial of the undersigned, a committee of the Massachu- 
 setts Historical Society, respectfully represents : 
 
 That, for thirty-five years past, the Massachusetts Historical 
 Society has been assiduously engaged in the collection and preser- 
 vation of scattered and decaying manuscript and printed mate- 
 rials, tending to elucidate the history of our country, and espe- 
 cially of New England, as most within our opportunity of acquire- 
 ment ; that ample testimony of the activity of this Society is borne 
 by the printed volumes, twenty-one in number, of which the ex- 
 pense has been almost entirely defrayed by its members ; that 
 these voluntary labors are still continued with the design of per- 
 petuating, as far as possible, the apparatus and muniments neces- 
 sary for our future historians ; that these labors are frequently in- 
 terrupted, as must be known to all otherssimilar engaged, by 
 the failure, occasionally, of some single fact, breaking the conti- 
 nuity of their chain of induction or narrative, and discouraging 
 the most patient efforts ; that this failure is the consequence of a 
 deficiency of documents, which on our side of the ocean it is 
 impossible to supply ; and oj which no supply can probably be ob- 
 tained without the intervention of the National Government. 
 
 To obtain this intervention, without which the complete history 
 of our nation can never be written, this Society has judged it pro- 
 per to address this memorial, sincerely believing that the subject 
 deserves the consideration of the Representatives of the Union, 
 considered either in relation to the importance of such a history, 
 or in relation to the exhilarating sentiment which every individual 
 feels, on reflection that our country will boast what so few others 
 can, that its history, from the earliest discovery and feeblest set- 
 tlement, is equally free from the uncertainty of tradition, and the 
 degradation of fable ; or in relation to the principle of national 
 honor, which might be mortified by a taunting remark, that when 
 the other Governments have liberally contributed from their trea- 
 sures to the means of preserving the integrity of their annals, our 
 own has made no attempt to obtain the chief documentary evi- 
 dence of its history, even at the trifling expense of transcribing it 
 from fair records in foreign countries. 
 
 Believing that the present peaceful state of the world, and the 
 liberal spirit of encouraging all improvement, by which the Go- 
 vernment of Great Britain appears to be actuated, make this a 
 period most propitious for obtaining their object, the members of 
 
24 
 
 this Society respectfully ask leave to invite the attention of Con- 
 gress to the following facts, in way of example, Avhich, though for 
 brevity applying principally to New England, arc, in no small 
 degree, applicable to most of the other States. 
 
 In consequence of our colonial dependence, nearly all the docu- 
 ments relative to trade, both import and export, to manufactures, 
 population, and to statistics generally, to many interesting laws, 
 and projects of laws, a negative on which was, in most cases, re- 
 served to the King in council, with all correspondence, official or 
 private, by which the administration of our affairs was regulated 
 in England, are lodged in the office of the Commissioners for 
 Trade and Plantations. 
 
 As the celebrated Governor Winthrop, of Connecticut, one of 
 the founders of the Royal Society of London, under whose pa- 
 tronage it was designed by his coadjutors, until prevented by the 
 King's command, to have transplanted themselves, in part, to 
 America, resided in New England the larger portion of his life, 
 and was a principal contributor to several of its early volumes of 
 transactions, and was requested, among other things, to furnish a 
 history of the country, which his father had begun, especially of 
 its native inhabitants, its minerals, vegetables, and animals, it is 
 highly probable that not a few interesting memoirs regarding the 
 early affairs of the country must be deposited in the archives of 
 that honorable Society. 
 
 We may be assured, from the regular employment of ships of 
 war, to carry into effect the navigation and revenue laws, and for 
 the protection of trade against piracy, and, still more, from the fre- 
 quent junction of royal and provincial troops and vessels in expe- 
 ditions against the Indians, against the French, in Nova Scotia 
 and Canada, and against the same nations, or the Spaniards, in the 
 West Indies, that many valuable materials would reward the 
 search among files of the Army and Navy Board. 
 
 Though most of the petitions and other papers of a general, 
 public nature, relating to our country, addressed to the King, or 
 either House of Parliament, were printed in the mother country 
 or here, yet the evidence and collateral arguments adverse to, or 
 in support of such measures, and especially those statements of 
 facts, used as the basis of the navigation laws, that regulated and 
 controlled the whole productive industry of the colonics, must 
 chiefly be looked for in the files of the House of Commons. 
 
 From the course of proceeding in many most important legal 
 questions, appealed from tribunals hcie to the King in council, 
 particularly those relative to boundaries and rights under land 
 patents, an examination of bureaus originally connected with the 
 Privy Council Chamber becomes highly desirable. 
 
 To remarks which will naturally suggest themselves to your 
 honorable body, from the above enumeration, which might easily 
 
25 
 
 be far extended, by reference to many sources of information of 
 a more private kind, as records of patentees and proprietors, and 
 archives of colonial agents, your memorialists are confident, to 
 add any arguments to exhibit or enforce the importance of their 
 application, would seem either disrespectful or unnecessary. 
 
 It is considered that the Government of Great Britain will rea- 
 dily accord permission to have most of the documents which may 
 be desirable to us, and easily found in the places designated, 
 copied at the expense of the United States. Any objections that 
 might have formerly arisen from the delicacy required in giving 
 to the world papers involving the character and conduct of actors 
 distinguished on one side or the other in the factions, changes, 
 or troubles of the time of Charles I, of the commonwealth of 
 Charles II, of James II, and of William and Mary, have obviously 
 ceased. The publication by Birch of the admirable collection 
 called Thurloe's State Papers, and, by many other persons, of in- 
 numerable essays on the public and private characters of the most 
 prominent men of those periods, of which many have been coun- 
 tenanced by patrons of literature among the most eminent states- 
 men of Great Britain, indisputably prove that the time has arrived 
 when its Government and people can dispassionately view the 
 actions of ancestors, and willingly submit their correct and erro- 
 neous opinions, their virtues and their faults, to the impartial judg- 
 ment of history. Well may these remarks, in the opinion of your 
 memorialists, be applied to the transactions in which our country 
 is in any degree singly concerned, for the whole period of its ex- 
 istence to the peace of 1763. 
 
 Subsequently to that important epoch, a regard to private feel- 
 ings and private interests may, perhaps, cause the Government of 
 Great Britain to object to an indiscriminate examination of papers 
 in its public offices, as premature, at least, if not inexpedient, and 
 the people of our country may well hesitate to urge it. Yet it is 
 confidently believed that all documents strictly considered public, 
 and perhaps many even private ones, after the erasure of a name, 
 relating to our country, or any part of it, of a date prior to the dis- 
 solution of our connexion with the mother country, may, on pro- 
 per application, be placed within the reach of a responsible agent 
 of our National Government. 
 
 Your memorialists, therefore, with a view to attain an object so 
 important to the nation, respectfully request that application be 
 made to the Government of Great Britain, in such way as may 
 seem most likely to effect its purpose, for permission to make the 
 examination in the foregoing pages alluded to, and any others of 
 similar character that may be thought advisable and interesting to 
 the great community of good letters, under such restrictions, cau- 
 tions, and general control, as to that Government may seem expe- 
 dient; and that, if such application be successful, and such permis- 
 4 
 
26 
 
 sion be granted, a competent agent be authorized by our own 
 Government to designate such papers as should he copied, and to 
 forward transcripts of them to such place of depositc as may by 
 Congress be directed, there to be preserved for the use of citizens 
 of these United States. 
 
 All of which is respectfully submitted by 
 
 JOHN DAVIS, 
 JAMES SAVAGE, 
 JAMES BOWDOIN, 
 Committee of the Massachusetts Historical Society. 
 
 Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society. 
 
 At a meeting of the American Antiquarian Society, holden at 
 Worcester, in the county of Worcester, and commonwealth of 
 Massachusetts, on Wednesday, the 24th of January, A. D. 1827, 
 Voted^ That the Delegation of this State in the Congress of 
 the United States be requested to use their exertions to procure 
 the passage of an act of Congress, at the present session, to provide 
 for copying the papers and documents in the Plantation and other 
 offices, in England, relating to the early history of this country. 
 Attest: REJOICE NEWTON, 
 
 Recording Secretary. 
 
 Cambridge, January 10, 1827. 
 
 My Dear Sir : Your letter on the subject of the Library of 
 the House of Representatives w as duly received. However grate- 
 ful it was, as it showed the confidence you repose in me, for any 
 service that I may render you, it Avas peculiarly gratifying, as it 
 gave me the first notice of any contemplated measures to obtain 
 copies of papers in the Plantation Office, and other offices in Eng- 
 land. I hope the Committee on the Library will judge it expe- 
 dient to adopt measures for that purpose. It is difficult to say 
 what documents in the Plantation Ofiice may not be illustrative of 
 the history of this country. From the copious use made of them 
 by Chalmers, in compiling the " Political Annals of the United 
 Colonies," we may readily see how material they are to the eluci- 
 dation of our history. When the first book of that work was pub- 
 lished, the author said, in the preface, that the second book was 
 in great forwardness, and would be speedily published ; but al- 
 though near half a century has since elapsed, it has not made its 
 appearance. The " political" reasons for composing that work 
 
27 
 
 ceasing to operate soon after the publication of the first book, by 
 the dissohition of the relation between the parent country and the 
 colonies, we need be at no loss to judge why the second book 
 never was, and why it never will be published in England, What 
 an invaluable treasure to us were the MSS. for that book, bring- 
 ing the work down from the revolution of William and Mary to 
 the peace of 1763, deposited in your Library at Washington ! 
 
 Instead, my dear sir, of presuming to indicate the several 
 classes or descriptions of papers most wanted, I will simply men- 
 tion the general titles of such collections of them as, we are 
 sure, may be found in the English offices, and, I apprehend, ex- 
 clusively in the Plantation Office. 
 
 Wishing you success, most cordially, in this great and good 
 design, 
 
 I am, dear sir, 
 
 Your friend and obedient servant, 
 
 A. HOLMES. 
 
 Journals in Plantation Office, 6 vols, (at least.) 
 
 Virginia papers, 76 b., 3 vols, (at least.) 
 
 Virginia entries. 
 
 New England papers, 5 bundles and 3 vols., '(at least,) bound, 
 
 above 1,000 pages. 
 Old New England entries, 3 vols, (at least.) 
 Ordinances of New England, abridged. 
 Records of New England. 
 Council-Book of Massachusetts. 
 Bundle of Maryland papers. 
 Council-Book of Maryland. 
 New York entries, 2 vols. 
 New York papers. No. 33, (at least.) 
 New Hampshire entries. 
 Rhode Island, copy of the Indian deed of, among the N. E. 
 
 papers. 
 Carolina entries. 
 New Jersey papers. 
 Pennsylvania papers. 
 
 The answer to the second branch of inquiry on the first point 
 is so intimately blended with the second point, that we beg leave 
 to refer it thereto, and embrace them both in one answer ; the re- 
 ply, if given at length, would be tedious, indeed. Taking due care, 
 therefo>e, to be as satisfactory as possible, we shall confine our- 
 selves within as narrow limits as we can. 
 
 About twelve years ago the plan of our work was originally 
 fixed upon. It began by the purchase and critical examination of 
 books, pamphlets, newspapers, and early periodical publications. 
 
28 
 
 containing or referring to documents, correspondence, speeches, 
 parliamentary and legislative proceedings, &c. &c. Of these a 
 large and very valuable collection has been made, containing 
 many papers not elsewhere to be found. During great part of 
 the time our progress was necessarily slow. For the last five 
 years, Mr. P^'orce, excepting a short time in each year, expended 
 on his Annual Register, has been devoted to this work, to the 
 exclusion of every other pursuit. 
 
 Since the passage of the act, ten out of the " Old Thirteen 
 States" have been visited, and the other three are now undergo- 
 ing examination. 
 
 In Georgia a thorough examination has been made, not only of 
 the State records and papers, but also of the collection of Joseph 
 Y. Bevan, deceased ; all of the latter have been copied for us, and 
 the whole collection from the former is already copied, or desig- 
 nated for copying. 
 
 In New Hampshire the whole archives have been examined, 
 and the papers collected have been entirely copied ; the papers 
 of the Historical Society and Portsmouth Athenseum have been 
 selected and copied, including a large and interesting collection 
 of Sullivan's letters. 
 
 In South Carolina, the public offices at Charleston were ex- 
 amined, and at Columbia we ceased to work, to give time to re- 
 cover, if possible, the legislative records from 1776 to 1782, 
 which are missing. 
 
 In North Carolina we examined a great deal of the material, 
 and had some copying done. Part of her records are lost, espe- 
 cially the proceedings in 1765, connected with the stamp act. 
 We know where they are in England, and shall procure them. 
 
 In Virginia we examined enough to know that her whole legis- 
 lative history prior to 1776 is lost, and can only be partially sup- 
 plied by her " Statutes at Large" and the British offices. 
 
 In all the other States visited, we ascertained the state of the 
 records and papers, and shall know the condition of all before 
 you make your report. 
 
 In the Department of State, we may venture to say, we have 
 handled every paper connected with the Continental Congress, 
 and the accompanying list will show the material copied, amount- 
 ing to more than thirty thousand manuscript pages. 
 
 The amount copied in Georgia, New Hampshire, and else- 
 where, we think, will add about twenty thousand pages more. 
 
 The papers connected with the proceedings from 1774 to 1776, 
 which we have sent for to England, as is known to the Secretary, 
 may amount to five thousand ; and if to this we add the material 
 collected from old periodicals, &c., the whole might reach sixty 
 thousand manuscript pages. This, however, by no means com- 
 prehends the whole material " already secured." 
 
29 
 
 The unpublished collection of Dr. Belknap, late of Massachu- 
 setts ; the papers of General Hazzard, of Pennsylvania ; of Trum- 
 bull, of Connecticut ; of Davie, of North Carolina ; and many 
 others, have been placed at our disposal for selection and copying. 
 
 In truth, sir, every State and public institution which we have 
 visited, has, through the Governors, or other public officers, 
 thrown open their archives, rejoicing to know that the United 
 States had begun a work which none of them could individually 
 do. Thus we may venture to say that nothing is wanting but the 
 time to collect, and have the copying done. 
 
 Those papers, therefore, "expected to be obtained," strictly 
 speaking, are the material in England, France, Holland, Spain, 
 Cuba, and Canada. We know the disposition manifested by Eng- 
 land and France, and have no doubt access will be granted by 
 the others, and permission to make copies of whatever may be 
 deemed necessary. 
 
 We come now to the inquiry as to the progress made in the 
 arrangement. 
 
 As we shall print the whole chronologically, the Secretary will 
 at once perceive that whatever is collected wants only the simple 
 operation of comparison with what has already been done, put- 
 ting it into proper place, and then all is ready for publication. 
 
 We have now material enough for several volumes, but fre- 
 quently there is a hiatus which requires much time and labor to 
 supply — truly, " hie labor, hoc opus est." 
 
 Our task would have been an easy one if we had contented 
 ourselves with printing the material just as we find it ; but, pledg- 
 ed, as we are, to the Government, no pains nor expense have 
 been or shall be spared to make the collection complete. 
 
 We shall, in a very short time, begin to print the first volume 
 of the fourth series, and deliver it early in the next session of 
 Congress. 
 
 The third point is as to the number of volumes which will be 
 required to complete the work, and the time when the whole will 
 be ready for delivery. 
 
 We have said before, and now repeat, that, if possible, we will 
 bring the whole within twenty volumes, and now agree to limit 
 ourselves to that number. It will then remain with Congress to 
 say if, after having printed that number, there should still be some 
 papers left, whether we shall go on or not. 
 
 The Secretary, and all who will reflect upon the nature of the 
 work, must irresistibly come to the conclusion that precision in 
 extent is impossible ; nay, sir, the requisition is destruction. 
 
 Who can lay his finger on the records of the South, and say to 
 us, " Hitherto shalt thou come, and no farther ?" 
 
 Who will put forth his hand, and blot out the deeds of Calvert 
 and of Penn ? 
 
30 
 
 Who in the North would be satisfied with a mutilated monu- 
 ment of revolutionary glory, or stint the record of pilgrim purity 
 and patience ? 
 
 As to the time required to complete the whole, our answer 
 must also be uncertain. Perhaps ten years would not be too long 
 time to give ourselves to complete this important work. It may 
 be possibly done in less. 
 
 The fourth point of inquiry is, the estimate of the money ne- 
 cessary to complete the contract. 
 
 To these we are able to give a precise answer. Our contract 
 is for fifteen hundred copies ; taking twenty volumes, of eight 
 hundred pages, folio, each, the whole sum would be four hundred 
 and eight thousand dollars. This is a large sum, but we trust we 
 shall show that the cost is not disproportioned to the extent of 
 the work, in comparison with other printing done for the United 
 States, leaving out of view altogether the difficulties to be sur- 
 mounted, and the extraordinary expenses to be incurred by the 
 publishers. 
 
 The Secretary will observe that there was an alternate in the 
 act as to the cost. 
 
 By the calculations of Mr. Stubbs, the agent of the department, 
 one work cost ^2 57iper volume, octavo, the other was estimated 
 at $3 20, the lower cost being taken by the Secretary as the 
 standard of our allowance. All which will more fully appear by 
 the following representation made to the Attorney General : 
 
 Washington, 21*^ March, 1833. 
 
 Sir : By an act of Congress approved on the 2d March, 1833, 
 the Secretary of State was authorized (on the memorial of M. St. 
 Clair Clarke and Peter Force ) to contract with said Clarke and 
 Force for the publication of " The Documentary History of the 
 American Revolution," to be printed in octavo or folio, as may be 
 agreed upon, provided that the rate of expense shall not exceed 
 the actual cost per volume of the Diplomatic Correspondence 
 now printing, or heretofore printed, under the direction of the 
 Secretary of State, &c." as will more fully appear by the terms 
 of the act herewith transmitted. 
 
 In point of fact there have been two distinct publications of the 
 Diplomatic Correspondence, one under the editorial direction of 
 Mr. Sparks, the other without any particular editor ; which last 
 is the one " now printing." In both these works all the materials 
 have been furnished from the Department of State, at the ex- 
 pense and on the responsibility of the Government. 
 
 In the former Mr. Sparks received his compensation as editor, 
 and the Government furnished the materials. In the latter pub- 
 
31 
 
 lication there has been another editor, and the " actual cost" has 
 been in some degree diminished. 
 
 In the contemplated publication by the subscribers, they are to 
 be at the entire expense of collecting, arranging, and editing the 
 great mass of material employed. 
 
 Their proposal also embraces a copious index to each volume, 
 of which both the other works referred to are destitute^ and the 
 cost of the work must of course be proportionally enhanced. 
 
 In arranging the terms of the contract with the Secretary of 
 State, a doubt has occurred to his mind whether he is not pre- 
 cluded from allowing any other or higher price for our " work" 
 than the minimum price fixed by Congress — whether that should 
 be the cost of the work " now printing" or " heretofore printed," 
 (being Sparks's edition.) 
 
 Our opinion is that he may exercise his discretion under the 
 circumstances, so as to allow a price not exceeding the actual 
 cost, in proportion, of Mr. Sparks's publication, and not falling 
 short, in his allowance, of the cost of the Diplomatic Correspond- 
 ence " now printing." 
 
 There is a small difference in the cost of the two works, 
 Sparks's edition being the highest. This difference we desire to 
 be allowed, inasmuch as in our work we advance the funds and 
 incur the responsibility ; in the others, the Government did so. 
 
 Mr. Livingston has been so good as to suggest the propriety of 
 asking your opinion on this question, and has expressed his wil- 
 lingness to be guided by it. 
 
 With his sanction, then, as will appear by his within approval, 
 we beg leave to submit this question to you, and to inquire whe- 
 ther, under the act of Congress in question, the Secretary of 
 State may not lawfully contract with us for our " work" at the 
 same rate which the first series of the Diplomatic Correspond- 
 ence, edited by Mr. Sparks, cost. 
 
 A professional friend has suggested to us to request your at- 
 tention to the language of the Supreme Court of the United 
 States in the first volume of Peters's Reports, pages 565 566 
 on the subject of commissions allowed to executors, &c. 
 
 All which is most respectfully submitted to you, by 
 Your obedient servants, 
 
 M. ST. CLAIR CLARKE. 
 PETER FORCE. 
 
 Roger B. Taney, Esq. 
 
 Attorney General. 
 
 I approve of the above statement. 
 
 EDWARD LIVINGSTON. 
 
32 
 
 The language of the law leaves the question in so much doubt, 
 that I think it most advisable not to exceed the minimum price. 
 
 R. B. TANEY. 
 3Iarch 23, 1833. 
 
 Thus then our allowance was fixed at ^2 20 per octavo volume. 
 The Secretary required of us copious indexes, and, as there was 
 none in either of the works referred to in the act, he allowed us 
 eleven cents per volume for an index, taking as his estimate the 
 cost of an index for the " American State Papers" printing by 
 Gales and Seaton, amounting to ^2 31 per octavo volume, or four 
 mills and a quarter per page. 
 
 Having determined, as the act authorized him, that the edition 
 should be folio, and that each page should contain four times the 
 amount of matter, on precisely the same type, the allowance per 
 page was seventeen mills. 
 
 From papers in the Department of State, the Secretary will 
 find that the printing of the work taken as the standard of allow- 
 ance was paid for at Congress prices, and that, before the first 
 account was approved of, the bill was referred to the Secretary of 
 the Senate and Clerk of the House of Representatives, upon 
 whose corrections the account was adjusted, and all accounts sub- 
 sequently paid. 
 
 Of what items, then, is our allowance composed ? Printing at 
 Congress prices ; binding at the same ; the actual cost of copying 
 in the Department of State, with the item o( cost of indexes : not 
 one cent is allowed, as in Sparks's case, for editorial labor. 
 
 We are obliged to seek for the material, and incur the heavy 
 expenses of travel, &c. For the standard work, it was at hand and 
 furnished. 
 
 We have to advance large suras of money in procuring the 
 material ; for the other, these advances were made by the De- 
 partment. 
 
 We feel the deep anxiety and responsibility of editors ; in the 
 other case, there was none. 
 
 From this explanation, we think it will appear that the work is 
 doing as cheaply as it could be required ; and the appropriations 
 being extended through many years, cannot be burdensome to 
 the public treasury. 
 
 These remarks and references have extended far beyond what 
 we at first contemplated. As we progressed, they appeared to be 
 called for. We desire to stand " rectus in curia," and especially 
 that our statements and views shall be such as to meet the appro- 
 bation of the honorable Secretary of State, and enable him satis- 
 factorily to discharge his duty in making his report to the Con- 
 gress of the United States. 
 
38 
 
 With great respect, we have the honor to subscribe ourselves 
 your most obedient, humble servants, 
 
 M. ST. CLAIR CLARKE. 
 
 PETER FORCE. 
 Washington, October 10, 1834. 
 
 The following letters from the Secretary of State, Secretary of 
 War, and Attorney General, were given, at our request, previous 
 to our examination of the several States. The letter of Mr. Adams 
 was written two years before. 
 
 Department of State, 
 
 Washington, 9th April, 1833. 
 
 Gentlemen : When I first heard of your intention to publish 
 the Documentary History of the United States, I was deeply impress- 
 ed with its importance. A better acquaintance with your plan, and 
 more mature reflection on its utility, enable me now to add that 
 I think it a most useful work for establishing the history of our 
 country on its true basis. Already the fugitive documents relat- 
 ing to our colonial state, and to the interesting struggle for our 
 independence, begin to disappear. The most careless observer 
 must have remarked how soon papers in the hands of every one, 
 while the important events to which they relate are recent — how 
 soon they vanish from the public eye, and with what difficulty, 
 after the lapse of only a few yearsj they can be discovered. And 
 even documents which, from their nature, seem to promise a more 
 durable existence, scarcely form an exception. Carelessness and 
 conflagrations, loss by frequent removals and natural decay, all 
 concur to prevent the archives of the country from being a source 
 to which the historian can apply for authentic information, with 
 any certain hope of success. The want of a general place of de- 
 posite for historical documents, and the strange refusal of Congress 
 to provide the means of arranging and indexing those which ex- 
 ist in the archives of the State Department, add to the difiiculty, 
 and enhance the value of your undertaking. 
 
 Although much has been lost, there is no doubt that there still 
 are among the records of the Atlantic States, and in the hands of 
 individuals, most precious materials for the history of the country, 
 and the biography of its most distinguished citizens, which, un- 
 less collected now, may be irretrievably lost. 
 
 The press is the only means of making them imperishable. Once 
 
 embodied in a work like that which you contemplate, they will be 
 
 dispersed among so many private libraries and public institutions 
 
 as to bid defiance to accident- The magazine of facts will for- 
 
 5 
 
34 
 
 ever be accessible, and the means of acquiring a true knowledge 
 of the origin, nature, and operations of our Government will be 
 open to our posterity at the remote period to which all our hopes 
 and prayers carry its existence. 
 
 It is not only to the gratification of the pride or curiosity of our 
 posterity (laudable as they are) that your collection is to minister. 
 It will serve a higher purpose. Fifty years have not yet elapsed 
 since the formation of our National Government, and already the 
 great principles on which it was founded are forgotten, or misre- 
 presented, or unknown. Facts are distorted to suit party purposes, 
 and an honest, intelligent people are deceived, because the means 
 of correcting error are not within their reach. But place in 
 their hands the documentary evidence of what we were in our 
 colonial state ; of the union by which we achieved our indepen- 
 dence ; of the defect of that system ; of the means by which the ad- 
 mirable structure of our constitution was raised. Let them read, 
 not in the distorted, turgid language of party writers of the present 
 day, but in the lucid arguments of the sages who deliberated on 
 the formation, the adoption, and the first movements of the Gov- 
 ernment ; let them draw from that source, fact, and truth, and 
 sound argument, and they can never be made the instruments of 
 political parties, or designing demagogues. 
 
 Go on, then, gentlemen, with your important work ; hasten its 
 publication ; every volume that appears will destroy some error, 
 or establish some political truth. 
 
 You greatly overrate the value of, or necessity for, my recom- 
 mendation. No State will refuse to you the examination of its re- 
 cords, and there are few individuals who will not gladly commu- 
 nicate to you such family papers as show the part their ancestors 
 acted in the past times which your work is intended to illustrate. 
 I am, with respect. 
 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 EDW. LIVINGSTON. 
 
 M. St. Clair Clarke, Esq. and P. Force, Esq. 
 
 Copy of a Utter from Lewis Cass to M. St. Clair Clarke. 
 
 Washington, April 18, 1833. 
 
 Sir : I have received your letter of the 13th instant, and have 
 read, with much satisfaction, the accompanying plan upon which 
 you and Mr. Force propose to publish a Documentary History of 
 the United States. 
 
35 
 
 Such a compilation is an object interesting to our country, and 
 if executed, as I have no doubt it will be, with judgment and fide- 
 lity, will be a most valuable repository — a repository which no 
 other nation possesses, containing the most authentic materials for 
 history from the earliest period of our settlement, and exhibiting 
 the whole course of our Governments, Colonial, State, and Fede- 
 ral, together with those contemporaneous opinions, statements, and 
 expositions which are so necessary to a full comprehension of the 
 subject, and which yet, in other countries, so seldom meet the 
 public eye. Unless these are soon collected, and placed in safety 
 by the imperishable power of the press, they will be irretrievably 
 lost, and with them will be lost the true knowledge of many of the 
 most eventful scenes of our history. These documents are now 
 buried in the public archives, or dispersed among various indivi- 
 duals through the country. Their compilation will render them 
 accessible to all, and no one can be indifferent to the success of a 
 work which promises so many lessons of wisdom derived from the 
 experience of the past, and to be applied to the objects of the 
 future. 
 
 Very respectfully, I have the honor to be. 
 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 LEW. CASS. 
 
 M. St. Clair Clarke, Esq. 
 
 Milledgeville, Georgia. 
 
 Copy of a letter from R. B. Taney to M. St. Clair Clarke. 
 
 Washington, April 15, 1833. 
 
 Dear Sir : The Documentary History of the United States, in 
 which you are engaged, is a work so much to be desired, that I 
 presume you will experience no difficulty in obtaining access to 
 any papers in public offices, or in the hands of individuals, which 
 may enable you to accomplish your undertaking in the most per- 
 fect manner. Every citizen will take an interest in preserving 
 the documents you propose to collect ; and I take pleasure in ex- 
 pressing my cordial approbation of your plan, and will readily 
 affi)rd you any aid in my power to promote its successful exe- 
 cution. 
 
 I am, dear sir, very respectfully. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 R. B. TANEY. 
 
36 
 
 Extract from a letter of John Q. Adams to Matthew St. Clair 
 Clarke, Washington. 
 
 QuiNCY, nth August, 1831. 
 
 Dear Sir: **** I should hope that octavo is the form upon 
 which you will fix, with Mr. Force, for the collection of what once 
 were called the prior documents, and for those contained in the 
 Remembrancer, with others of the same character, down to the 
 adoption of the constitution of the United States. The men of 
 the present age are under a sacred obligation, both to that which 
 has past, and that which is to come, to preserve the recorded vir- 
 tues of their forefathers for the instruction and emulation of their 
 posterity ; nor shall they be unremembered who assume upon them- 
 selves to perform this duty for their contemporaries. Receive, 
 with Mr. Force, my thanks for engaging in the enterprise, and 
 my best wishes that you may both live to witness its accomplish- 
 ment, and to be duly rewarded for it. 
 
 With much respect, I am, dear sir. 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 J. Q. ADAMS. 
 
 The following is part of the material copied in the Department 
 of State : 
 
 Letters A, 1777 to 1789. 
 
 B, 1777 to 1778. 
 
 1779 to 1781. 
 1782 to 1789. 
 
 C, December 16, 1775, to December 18, 1780. 
 1781 to 1789. 
 
 D, 1777 to 1780. 
 1781 to 1789. 
 
 E, October, 1776, to 25th December, 1789. 
 
 F, 1777 to 1789. 
 
 G, 1777 to 1780. 
 
 H, January 4, 1777, to February 16, 1780. 
 
 1780 to 1789. 
 
 K, December 7, 1776, to May 25, 1789. 
 L, January 26, 1778, to August 13, 1786. 
 M, 1777 to 1789. 
 P, 1777 to 1789. 
 R, 1777 to 1789. 
 S, 1782 to 1789. 
 
37 
 
 T, 1777 to 1789. 
 
 W, 1777 to 1789. 
 
 U,V, Y, Z, 1777 to 1789. 
 Letters, New Hampshire, 1775 to 1787. 
 
 Massachusetts, December 30, 1776, to Sept. 1781. 
 
 Rhode Island, 1777 to 1787. 
 
 Connecticut, 1777 to 1789. 
 
 New York, 1777 to 1788. 
 
 New Jersey, February 3, 1777, to 1788. 
 
 Pennsylvania, 1777 to 1789. 
 
 Delaware, 1777 to 1789. 
 
 Maryland, 1777 to 1789. 
 
 Virginia, 1775 to 1789. 
 
 North Carolina, 1777 to 1789. 
 
 South Carolina, 1777 to 1778. 
 
 Georgia, 1777 to 1787. 
 Memorials, A, 1777 to — . 
 Petitions, B. 
 Memorials, B. 
 Memorials, D. 
 
 Reports of Committees on Post Office, 1776 to 1788. 
 on App. of Ind, W. 
 1775-1784. Washington's letters. 
 
 Vol. 1, July, 1775, to May, 1776. 
 
 2, June 3, 1776, to September 18, 1776. 
 
 3, 4, September 19, 1776, to August 27, 1777. 
 
 5, August 28, 1777, to May 1, 1778. 
 
 6, May to December, 1778. 
 
 7, December 16, 1778, to September 11, 1779. 
 
 8, September 13, 1779, to July 10, 1780. 
 
 9, July, 1780, to February, 1781. 
 
 10, February 26, 1781, to September 16, 1782. 
 
 11, October, 1782, to January, 1784. 
 Gates's letters, July, 1775, to June, 1778. 
 
 June 21, 1778, to August, 1782. 
 Schuyler's letters, 1, 2, 3, January 28, 1775, to June 
 
 12, 1785. 
 Arnold, 
 
 U775 to 1781, 
 
 Starke, 
 
 Armstrong, 
 
 Sterlin*'" 
 
 Heath,'july 21, 1775, to July 19, 1782. 
 
 Clinton, 
 
 Nixon, j^ j^^g ^^ j^gg 
 
 Nicola, 
 
 Harraar, 
 
38 
 
 Greene, 1, July 8, 1776, to March 10, 1781. 
 
 2, March, 1781, to August, 1785. 
 Knox, 1, April, 1785, to October, 1786. 
 
 2, October 5, 1786, to September 29, 1787. 
 
 3, November, 1787, to July, 1788. 
 
 R. Howe, ) jyj^j.^j^ j^ j^^g ^^ November 9, 1779. 
 J. Sullivan, 5 - 
 
 Canada Papers, ) j*^q j^i^g 
 
 Sullivan's Expedition, &c. ) ' 
 
 Moultrie, April, 1778, to February, 1782. 
 Lincoln, March, 1777, to August, 1789. 
 Wooster, July, 1775, to December, 1776. 
 Montgomery, October, 1775, to January, 1776. 
 Charles Lee, January, 1776, to October, 1780. 
 McDougal, January, 1776, to March, 1781. 
 Wayne, February, 1776, to August, 1789. 
 St. Clair, January, 1776, to January, 1783. 
 Mifflin, November, 1776, to January, 1780. 
 Parsons, December, 1777, to August, 1779. 
 Spencer, November, 1777, to December, 1777. 
 Steuben, December, 1777, to August, 1789. 
 De Kalb, August, 1777, to September, 1779. 
 Armand, December, 1777, to January, 1786. 
 Smallwood, January, 1778, to June, 1782. 
 Pulaski, March, 1778, to August, 1779. 
 Dupatail, December, 1778, to November, 1781. 
 D'Estaing's letters, July, 1778, to September, 1778. 
 Ethan Allen, March, 1781. 
 
 Letters and Reports of Committees, 1775 to 1789. 
 Reports, Board of War, 1, 1776 to 1778. 
 
 2, April, 1778 to Dec. 1779. 
 
 3, 1779. 
 
 December 1779 to Dec. 1780. 
 March to June, 1781. 
 Lincoln, Secretary of War, November 26, 1781 to 1783. 
 
 June, 1783, to Nov. 1783. 
 Letters of Board of War, 1780, 1781, 
 Reports of Board of War, vol. 6, 1781. 
 
 Feb. 27, 1777, to Jan. 6, 1788. 
 Nov. 18, 1780, to Aug. 13, 1783. 
 Letters from States, 1775, 1776. 
 alphabetical, 1775, 1776. 
 Letters from Laurens, Pierce, Palfrey, Blaine, 1778 to 
 
 1783. 
 Committee to treat with Six Nations of Indians, 1775. 
 Letters from Secret Committee, 1776. 
 Committee at Philadelphia, 1776, 1777. 
 
 TTK ^^«- 
 
39 
 
 Letters from Paul Jones, Robert Morris, &c. 1776. 
 Committee at head quarters, 1780. 
 Reports and letters of Robert Morris, 3 vols. 1781-'4. 
 H. Laurens, President, 2 vols. Nov. 1777, to Dec. 8, 1778. 
 J. Jay and S. Huntington, Dec. 11, 1778, to May 19, 1780. 
 S. Huntington, May 19, 1780, to May 20, 1781. 
 Presidents of Congress, 1781 to 1787. 
 Reports, Board of Treasury, 1776, 1777. 
 
 1778. 
 1779. 
 1780. 
 Jan. 2, 1781, to Sept. 13, 1781. 
 Feb. 14, 1785, to Dec. 16, 1786. 
 May 14, 1785, to Sept. 11, 1788. 
 Letters of Board of Treasury, 1785 to 1788. 
 Reports of Treasury on App. of individuals, A to J. 
 Reports of the Committee. 
 Reports of Committees relating to Congress. 
 Carleton, relative to Captain Huddy. 
 Reports of Committees, 1781 to 1787. 
 Reports of Treasury on App. of States, &c. 1784 to 1789. 
 Estimates of receipts, expenditures, and taxes, &c. from 
 
 1781 to 1787. 
 Letters and Reports of Committees, 1775 to 1779. 
 Pay, &c. of army, August 1, 1780, to December 31, 1780. 
 Charles Thompson's letter-book A, November 20, 1799, 
 
 to October 7, 1785. 
 Memorials and petitions, A to G, 1775, 1776. 
 
 H to W, 1775, 1776. 
 Reports of Committees, A, C. 
 
 on App. of individuals, H to L. 
 

 
 
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