It need scarcely be said that the views of the State were at once warmly and zealously entered into by the distinguished gentleman who represents our country in England, and whose friendly and valuable counsels have laid me under obligations I shall always be proud to acknowledge ; or that it was fortunate for the cause of literature and historical investigation that the Earl of Aberdeen was Foreign Secretary of Great Britain when the Agent of this State made a renewed attempt to obtain permission from Her Majest)''s government to execute the duties of his mission. No time was lost; and on the 23d December, 1841, Mr. Everett addressed a note to Lord Aberdeen, recapitulating the steps Mr. Stevenson had taken with the late ministry, and expressing a hope that the requisite facilities for the attainment of the objects of my mission would now be afforded by the government of Great Britain ; for which

it is claimed that it has " never permitted itself to be surpassed by any other, in the countenance which it has at all times extended to every judicious effort for the promotion of useful knowledge." Some time subsequently, Lord Aberdeen having suggested that though it might not be possible for me to furnish a specific list of the historical documents desired, yet, that a general statement of their nature must be practicable, and would facilitate a decision on the pending application, I prepared a statement of the kind proposed, and as specific as the nature of the case admitted ; which Mr. Everett transmitted to his lordship, in a note dated 14th February, 1842, in which the purely literary character and objects of my commission were again urged, and the hope expressed that the synopsis I had prepared would remove whatever hesitation may have existed in reference to a compliance with my request.