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but who this person was does not appear, except that we may conclude he was the same individual who is named in proposals for printing the work, dated March 17th 1775, which bear, that "Subscriptions are taken in by William Gray, front of the Exchange, Edinburgh; by Robert Aitken, schoolmaster at Anderston; and by all others entrusted with proposals." Had either of the learned historians above named taken a special interest in the work, it is very improbable that the services of an obscure individual in the West Country would have been required.

But that Edition has no claim to be regarded otherwise than as a Selection from Baillie's Letters. The advertisement prefixed to it states, that "It was thought proper to leave out some things that relate to the Author's family and other private matters; but nothing has been left out that throws the smallest light upon the history of those times." This is scarcely correct: many of the passages omitted may not be strictly historical, yet they throw great light on the spirit and temper of the times. But there are numerous Letters entirely omitted, such as his correspondence with Sharp previous to the Restoration, and others on subjects of Literature, besides all those local and personal details which, however unimportant in themselves, enhance the interest, as they add to the genuine character, of such documents. A complete and accurate publication of Baillie's Letters was therefore a work that had long been desired by persons who felt any interest in such matters.

The present Edition of the Work was undertaken for the Members of The Bannatyne Club; a literary Association in Edinburgh, instituted several years ago, for the purpose of preserving, in an accessible form, the more valuable remains of our National History and Literature existing in manuscript, or in printed works of great rarity. In regard however to the

acknowledged importance of this work, and as the Rules of the Club do not restrict the circulation of works so printed among the Members, when of a kind likely to interest the Public, it was resolved, although the chief expense of collating and transcribing(") would fall upon the Club, that some arrangement should be made for having an extra impression thrown off for general sale, and for securing its publication at a moderate charge. The usual quarto size of the Club publications being less suited for that purpose, as necessarily adding to the expense, the lines of the pages have been overrun, to alter the form into royal 8vo., so that both Editions might usually correspond page for page, as well as in other respects. This plan, however, has proved the means of greatly retarding the completion of the work. As to the mode of editing, I may add, that the text has partly been given from the Manuscript belonging to the Society of Antiquaries, but chiefly from that of 1701, (which was most obligingly granted for that purpose by the Reverend THOMAS M'CRIE,) and then very carefully revised and corrected by the Author's original copy; the use of this latter MS. having been obtained three years ago for The Bannatyne Club, by the special permission of the GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE CHURCH OF SCOTLAND.

The Author, in the course of his correspondence with his cousin WILLIAM SPANG, frequently transmitted him copies of public papers, and other documents relating to the affairs of the time. Many of these he also caused to be transcribed along with his own Letters. whole of such extraneous matter would greatly have increased the size of

To have inserted the

(6) For this purpose the services of my worthy friend Mr. DAVID MEEK were secured; but besides the necessary collation and transcription, numberless minute investigations were required, (which my own time did not permit of making,) for ascertaining the dates of letters, &c.; and to his great fidelity and familiar acquaintance with the ecclesiastical transactions of the period, it is but justice to add, that the work is greatly indebted.

the work without materially adding to its value. On the other hand, either to have incorporated some of them in the text, or entirely to have omitted them, might have been equally liable to objection. The plan that has been followed, was not adopted without due deliberation. In the Appendix to each Volume is given, first, a complete List of the various Papers interspersed with his Letters, and references to works in which a very considerable portion of them have already been published; and next, a Selection of such contemporary Papers as seemed most worthy of notice. This includes from Baillie's M.S. such as either related to his own personal affairs, or to the University with which he was so long connected; but instead of swelling the work by republishing papers merely from the circumstance of their having been collected by Baillie, this Selection generally consists of Original Letters and other documents hitherto unpublished. These have been collected from a variety of sources, and chiefly refer to the state of Ecclesiastical Affairs in Scotland during the period which each volume embraces. This Selection however is much less numerous than I could have wished, owing to the limited space. The articles in the Appendix to the present volume being mostly written by the opponents of Baillie and the Presbyterian party, that such additions may not be thought incongruous to a work like the present, I may observe, that nothing seemed so well calculated to illustrate and confirm the Author's statements, or so clearly to point out the objects which the Scotish Prelates and their adherents had in view, when the troubles commenced, than the publication of such of their Letters and Papers, between 1633 and 1639, as could be recovered.

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