Preface

PREFACE.

The documents calendared in this volume commence in March, 1702, at the accession of Queen Anne, and carry the story of her reign down to the end of May, 1703. Whilst the volume was in preparation, the Advisory Committee, which was recently appointed by the Master of the Rolls, in the course of its investigations considered the subject of the Calendar of State Papers, Domestic, for the reign of Queen Anne; and, as a result of their deliberations, I was requested to divide the documents into two classes, and to publish the first class in a Calendar in chronological order, as I had previously done in other Calendars; but to reserve the second class, summarise their contents in Tables, and place those Tables at the end of each year. The Deputy Keeper of the Records gave me directions as to which documents should be placed in the Calendar, and which should go into Tables; and I have to acknowledge his great kindness and valuable help in carrying out the change. It involved re-setting a number of pages which had been passed for press; but I am convinced that the new method of calendaring—which is, indeed, not new, but was adopted in the Calendar of Home Office papers of the reign of George III—is preferable to the old. It will make this volume more handy and useful to students than it would have been had the method of placing everything according to its date been followed.

The documents which have been, or will be, placed in the Calendar proper are to be found in the Public Record Office under the following names and numbers:—
S.P.Dom., Anne, 1–37; S.P. Scotland (Correspondence), Series II, 1–6, &c.; S.P. Scotland, Letter Books 1–2; S.P. Ireland, 363–370; S.P. Channel Islands, 2, &c.; S.P. Dom., Military, 3–5, 34, 41, 45; S.P. Dom., Naval, 6–13, 58, 67–8, 117–122, 138, 139; S.P. Dom., Entry Books 101–105, 106, 107–9, 110–115, 146–147, 204, 206–208, 209–219; S.P.Dom., Various, 1, 7, 13, 21. A few informal State letters have been entered in S.P. Dom., Entry Book 350, S.P. Scotland, Warrant Book 18, &c. and in S.P. Ireland, King's Letter Book 3, &c. (which are mostly given up to formal documents), and these are also placed in the Calendar.

The documents or entries which are, or will be, placed in the Tables are to be found under the following names and numbers:—
S.P. Dom., Naval, 111–115 (Lists of ships); S.P. Dom., Entry Books 74–76, 77–79a, 150–151, 162–173, 167–168, 170–173, 174–175, 237–249, 348–354, 355–359, 387–407; S.P. Scotland, Warrant Books 18–29; S.P. Ireland, King's Letter Books, 2, 3, &c.; S.P. Signet Office, 14–15, &c.; S.P. Signet Office, 123.

The prefatory notes at the heads of the Tables will give the reader further information as to the contents of each Table. I must add, however, that at the outset of the Calendar a few of the entries, especially those from the Scottish and Irish books which, according to the above classification, should be placed in the Tables, have been given in extenso in the Calendar. This has been done, firstly, to show the reader what manner of documents of the period under review are compressed into the narrow limits of the Tables, and, secondly, in cases where a letter, which is really a document of State correspondence, has found its way into a book for the most part devoted to formal grants and warrants. Thus in S.P. Scotland, Warrant Book 18, in S.P. Ireland, Entry Book 3, and in S.P. Dom., Entry Book 350, there are to be found, as I have shewn above, here and there, interspersed among formalities, political letters of great interest. In such cases, my rule of division gives way, and the documents are placed in the body of the Calendar.

It will be seen that the Tables contain only entries from the Entry Books with the exception of the "Lists of Ships" Table. This is from S.P. Dom., Naval 111, which contains a number of minute reports sent by the Lord High Admiral's Advisory Council to the Secretary of State weekly during part of the period of this volume. Until a short time ago, the Entry Books were set apart in classes according to the various matters with which they dealt; but lately all these Entry Books have been collected into one great series (of 448 volumes), and the student has now to dip into this series according to the subjects on which he desires information. For the Secretaries of States' letters, he must go, as he will find from this Calendar, to Vols. 104, 105 &c., or to Vols. 204, 205 &c.; for the Caveats to Vols. 74, 75, and for Commissions in the Army to Vols. 168, 169 &c., and so on. The arrangement of dividing the Calendar into two parts—the Calendar proper, and the Tables—will be maintained in the future; and I have therefore thought it right to explain it at some length. Though I abandoned the chronological system with reluctance, I feel sure that the change was a good one. As the List of State Papers, Domestic, was under revision at the time of the preparation of this volume, my task of collecting everything that had to be collected would have been difficult had not two of the permanent officers, Mr. Lyle and Mr. Johnson, given me their help. I owe much to both of them.

Owing to various reasons, I have decided not to write an historical preface to this volume. In the first place, it deals with fifteen months of our history which are very well known. In the second, the volume is already bulky, and is swollen by a large Index of over 100 pages. Lastly, I think it better to defer such a preface until the second volume (already far advanced) is published: when opportunity will be given to review the course of events between the accession of Queen Anne and the battle of Blenheim. For a general table of contents of the volume, I refer readers to the Index under the heads "Nottingham" and "Hedges." I need only say here that this volume, dealing as it does with public affairs and administration at the moment of the outbreak of a great war, cannot but be of deep interest to many readers at the present time. In March 1702, England was in a position not unlike that in which she suddenly found herself in 1914. She was about to engage in a struggle against a powerful Continental State, and in the course of that struggle was drawn into combination with several other States on the Continent, each with different interests of their own, but all interested in the maintenance of what Queen Anne called "The Balance of Europe." There are, of course, many points of difference between the cause for which England went reluctantly to war in 1702 and the cause for which she drew her sword in 1914. These similarities and differences will, however, readily appear to the readers of this volume, and will no doubt be emphasised by them when they come to make public use of its contents. It is not the part of an Editor to deal with them. The historian sits in the stalls of the theatre whilst the drama of history is unfolded before him, and records his experiences and conclusions. The annalist may more justly be compared to the humble scene-shifter in the wings, who, in the intervals between his mechanical tasks, pauses now and then for a moment to look out from his corner upon the stage. His only advantage—if such it be—is that he sometimes sees the actors and actresses when the limelight is not upon them.

I have complied with the directions of the Master of the Rolls by noting unusual phrases, peculiarities of expression &c., where they occur.

R. P. MAHAFFY.

Chancery Lane,
November, 1915.