respecting New Netherland, and the proceedings of that body in relation to the various matters from time to time brought before them affecting the Colony and its inhabitants. The act of the Legislature directed me to procure, if possible, the originals, and if not, copies of all documents illustrating our history. I applied for the originals, but the regulations of office did not allow a compliance with my request copies were therefore made of the papers ;

selected. Not the slightest difficulty, however, occurred in obtaining these, and not a single objection was made to my having any document transcribed I wished. The most unbounded liberality was evinced on every occasion by the government of that country to which we

GENERAL INTRODUCTION. XXVU trace, with such affectionate veneration, the foundation of our State, and the most friendly and gratifying interest was always exhibited by the gentlemen connected with the different departments of the administration, with whom the business of my mission from time to time brought me into communication. "The investigations in the archives of the Netherlands being now terminated, I returned '

to London in December, 1841, to prosecute the duties of my mission. A new ministry, with the Earl of Aberdeen as principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, had come into power, and Mr. Stevenson had been succeeded by Mr. Everett as Minister of the United States, near Her Britannic Majesty. At the request of the Governor, and justly appreciating the importance to the Union, as well as to the State of New-York, of the objects contemplated by the State in sending an Agent to Europe, the President of the United States had instructed Mr. Everett to apply to the British government for such facilities as might be necessary for the successful prosecution of my proposed researches in England.