urces of information admit.

The production of material has so far exceeded the use of it in
literature that very much more is known to students than can be
found in historians, and no compilation at second hand from
the best works would meet the scientific demand for completeness
and certainty.

In our own time, within the last few years, most of the official
collections in Europe have been made public, and nearly all the
evidence that will ever appear is accessible now.

As archives are meant to be explored, and are not meant to be
printed, we approach the final stage in the conditions of
historical learning.

The long conspiracy against the knowledge of truth has been
practically abandoned, and competing scholars all over the
civilised world are taking advantage of the change.

By dividing our matter among more than one hundred writers we
hope to make the enlarged opportunities of research avail for
the main range of modern history.

Froude spoke of 100,000 papers consulted by him in manuscript,
abroad and at home; and that is still the price to be paid for
mastery, beyond the narrow area of effective occupation.

We will endeavour to procure transcripts of any specified
documents which contributors require from places out of reach.

2. It is intended that the narrative shall be such as will serve
all readers, that it shall be without notes, and without quotations
in foreign languages.

In order to authenticate the text and to assist further research,
it is proposed that a selected list of original and auxiliary
authorities shall be supplied in each volume, for every chapter
or group of chapters dealing with one subject.

Such a bibliography of modern history might be of the utmost
utility to students, and would serve as a substitute for the
excluded references.

We shall be glad if each contributor will send us, as early as he
finds it convenient, a preliminary catalogue of the works on
which he would rely; and we enclose a specimen, to explain our
plan, and to show how we conceive that books and documents might
be classified.

3. Our scheme requires that nothing shall reveal the country,
the religion, or the party to which the writers belong.

It is essential not only on the ground that impartiality is the
character of legitimate history, but because the work is carried
on by men acting together for no other object than the increase
of accurate knowledge.

The disclosure of personal views wou