in the records remaining at the Privy Council Office in Downing Street. 
To Dr. M. A. Thomson and Dr. R. A. Humphreys of the Institute for Historical 
Research, London, I am grateful for valuable guidance in the use of 
English sources; to Dr. J. H. Le Patourel of the Institute for Historical Research, 
Bailiff A. M. Coutanche of Jersey, Ralph Mollet, Esq., and Attorney- 
General Sherwill of Guernsey, I am indebted for kind assistance in assembling 
the Channel Islands material. To J. Bennett Nolan, Esq., and James M. 
Osborn, Esq., I express gratitude for access to private manuscript collections. 
To Professor Dorothy Burne Goebel I am especially indebted for search in the 
Shelburne MSS at the Clements Library and for critical reading of the entire 
typescript. To my wife, Edith Stenberg Smith, I am grateful for a reading of 
the proof with the practiced eye of an estates lawyer and for compiling the 
table of cases. Dr. Donald Tilton and the late Lieutenant William C. Evers, 
U.S.M.C.R., relieved me of many of the chores incident to research, while the 
library staffs of Columbia University cheerfully submitted to many demands 
on their time and patience. Finally my thanks are due to Mr. Samuel F. 
Howard for undertaking the arduous task of compiling the index, and to 
the Columbia University Press for the care bestowed in bringing this volume 
to publication. 
J. H. S. 
New Yor\ 
August, 1949