The papers here printed cover a larger number of years than any other volume in the French series of Instructions, but matter of importance is more thinly distributed over the period, partly owing to the wars that broke out between Britain and France, partly because of the policy pursued by the former country during the first decade of the reign of King George III.
It must be remembered, with regard to the interval between the peace of Aix la Chapelle and the death of Lord Albemarle, that the official despatches are not the sole sources of information as to the working of the minds of Newcastle and his colleagues, for an active private correspondence was carried on between Newcastle and Albemarle. Owing to the fact that Albemarle died when on duty at Paris, the whole of his correspondence was apparently handed over to Newcastle, who in his business-like way carefully preserved it all in his own house, whence it passed to the British Museum. This correspondence therefore contains the originals of the official letters written to Albemarle by the Secretaries of State which can be compared with the office copies in the Public Record Office, together with the private letters that passed between Newcastle and Albemarle. Though the differences between the original despatches and the office copies prove to be trifling, it has been thought better to print from the originals, for they were the documents upon which Albemarle acted. No attempt has been made, except in an occasional footnote, to print the private correspondence.
