of Ireland to the
Union. ADOLPHUS, _History of England from the Accession of George III._,
8 vols., 1840-45, a laborious and impartial record of events, viewed
from a conservative standpoint. MASSEY, _History of England_, 4 vols.,
1855-63, ends 1803, chiefly treating of home affairs; neither animated
nor philosophic, written from a liberal point of view, unduly severe to
the king, but deriving some value from the author's legal and
parliamentary experience. Lord STANHOPE, _History_, 7 vols., edit. 1853,
vols. iv.-vii., ends 1783, trustworthy, dull, and whiggish. To these
must be added Sir T. E. MAY (Lord Farnborough), _Constitutional History
of England from 1760 to 1860_, 3 vols., 5th edit., 1875.

(2) The chief manuscript sources consulted:--The great collection of the
_Duke of Newcastle's Papers_ in Add. MSS., British Museum, extremely
important down to 1767, specially with reference to ministerial
intrigues, the old whig methods of government, the negotiations with
France in 1761-62, and the growth of the cabinet system. The _Pitt
Papers_, a mass of letters addressed to Pitt (Earl of Chatham) and
William Pitt, and some to Lady Chatham, together with various political
memoranda. These papers have been sorted into different bundles, to
which the numbers given in my footnotes refer, and a manuscript index of
them has been made by Mrs. Lomas of the Record Office, where they are at
present deposited by their owner. They have been used in the preparation
of the _Chatham Correspondence_, and by Lord Stanhope, but the field is
large and may be gleaned with profit. _Foreign Office Correspondence_
(despatches of ambassadors, etc.). With respect to these, the kind and
efficient help given me by Mr. Hubert Hall, of the Record Office, is
gratefully acknowledged.

(3) Akin to these sources are various publications of the Historical
Manuscripts Commission. Among these special reference should be made to
the Reports on Mr. Fortescue's _Dropmore MSS._, 3 vols., containing the
papers of Lord Grenville, of the highest interest and importance,
specially from 1793; the Duke of Rutland's _Belvoir MSS._, 3 vols., with
_inter alia_ the fourth Duke of Rutland's correspondence while
lord-lieutenant of Ireland, 1784-87; the _Charlemont MSS._, also
essential for Irish history; _Lord Dartmouth's MSS._, vol. 2, American
Papers to 1776, and Mrs. _Stopford-Sackville's MSS._, and Sir _E.
Strachey's MSS._, both throwing much light on the conduct of