x : PREFACE 
European archives. Considerably more than half a million orig- — 
inal MS. records of the period of Elizabeth and James, most of © 
them not yet catalogued; have been examined, and the indexes © 
to some million more have been sifted. The resulting discov- — 
eries, some of which appear in these introductory chapters, may 
seem disproportionately few. On the contrary, I am surprised — 
and gratified to find so old a field even thus rich, and am encour- 
aged to complete the work I have been gradually drawn into. It 
is hoped that the following introductory account may be in some 
measure gratifying also to those readers who hail every item of 
new knowledge with an open mind. The question they will — 
weigh is not so much whether the discoveries are greater or less 
than former ones, but first of all whether they add to the store — 
of information, then how much. Looking at results with the © 
grudging eye of a third person,—for they belong not to me but — 
to historical truth,—I recognize that they are at least sufficient 
to advance knowledge in this field beyond previous bounds, and ~ 
clear away some difficulties that have troubled scholars more than _ 
a single century. 
Yet this history is by no means final. I regard it as little more 
than pioneer work in the field. No more can be claimed for my 4 
part in it than fidelity and loving-care in stating and interpreting 
the facts in the light of the evidences collected For the docu- 
ments themselves, no more can be claimed than partial assem- 
blage, and authoritativeness only so far as they speak. The vast 
body of documents lie yet undiscovered. -From definite evidences 
gathered in the course of research, I know where many of these 
are to be found. But it requires time, money, and organization, 
all of which I shall secure, to complete the work. Not only cer- 
tain discoveries of especial worth, but the numerous minor ones 
as a result of definite, persistent tracing give confidence of large — 
results in future research. 
No one can be more keenly conscious of the lacks of the present 
work than I am. Great gaps in the materials have been tempo- 
rarily bridged as well as possible, but the gaps remain. There are 
consequently more statements unimpregnably fortified than is 
pleasing to one who loves research for the sake of truth. The 
excuse if not palliation for their being, is that they seem to be in © 
II2 Sam 
