DEPARTMENT OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH. 179 



liamentary proceedings has been brought almost to its conclusion, the 

 chief exception being the proceedings of the Scottish Parhament. In 

 respect to that portion of the work which will consist of parliamentary 

 debates, the examination of materials and the selection of texts has 

 been finished to 1750, and a beginning of the work of copying them has 

 been made. We have received a considerable body of transcripts of 

 notes, found in the French archives, reporting debates in the British 

 Parliament bearing upon American affairs. These reports, secretly 

 sent from London for the benefit of the French Foreign Office, make 

 an important addition to the known record of British debates on 

 America, especially at times when publication of parHamentary reports 

 in England was obstructed. 



MISCELLANEOUS OPERATIONS. 



As heretofore, the editing of the American Historical Review has 

 been carried on in the office of the Department, and by its staff. Aid 

 has been given, in a number of ways, to the American Historical Asso- 

 ciation, of which Mr. Leland is secretary. Miss Donnan has finished 

 editing, for the Historical Manuscripts Commission of that society, 

 the papers of the elder James A. Bayard, and the volume has been 

 published as volume ii of the Society's Annual Report for 1913. Mr. 

 Leland has continued to render aid to the State of Illinois and to 

 various societies, in respect to materials from the archives of Paris, so 

 far as conditions in these archives have permitted. He has also 

 directed the making, in Paris, of an extensive series of copies of his- 

 torical manuscripts for the Library of Congress, work which, after 

 interruption for some months early in the year, is now again progress- 

 ing. With some assistance from Dr. Burnett, he has edited a collec- 

 tion of letters from Lafayette to Luzerne, which he found in the 

 archives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris and which have 

 been printed in the American Historical Review. 



As in previous years, searches and copies have been made, in Wash- 

 ington, by the Department, or under its supervision, for various his- 

 torical societies and for many individuals. To perform such services, 

 and to answer the numerous letters of inquiry received as to historical 

 papers in Washington, and similar matters, consumes no small amount 

 of time ; but it has always been held to be a part of the functions of the 

 Department to further the interests, in Washington, of all American 

 historical scholars, and to mediate between them and the various 

 archives in Washington, or in foreign countries, whenever occasion has 

 arisen. Until a suitable National Archive Building has been erected 

 in Washington, an end toward which Mr. Leland and the Director have 

 expended much earnest effort, it will always be difficult for persons at 

 a distance to know where any given paper of historical importance is 

 likely to be found, or what bureau or official to address in order to 



