Referring to the gaps and deficiencies in our own existing records, the papers of the Dutch West India Company and the archives of the then government of the Netherlands were pointed out as the sources whence materials for the Dutch portion of our history were to be obtained; and the recoi'ds of the Plantation Office (Board of Trade) in London, and tlie library of the British Museum, were also alluded to, as affording an important and inestimable fund of information respecting the period of our subjection to the Crown of Great Britain. The public offices in Canada, it was also suggested, might contain much of interest to our historians. But circumstances for a long time prevented any direct effort being made by the society to obtain the favorable consideration of the subject by the Legislature, and it was not until the year 1838 that any formal steps were taken in the matter. In the month of April of that year, upon the motion of Mr. George Folsom, a memorial was prepared and presented to the Legislature, urging the importance of an investigation of European archives, for the purpose of procuring those materials for the illustration of our history which our own State records could not furnish ; and praying the State to undertake, for the benefit of the people, an enterprise the society of their own means were unable to carry into execution. This memorial, however, was presented so near to the close of the session as to render it expedient to postpone further efforts till the next