PREFACE.

The character of the papers published in the series of which this is the second volume, and their relations and value in the documentary history of the state, were the subjects of comment in the preface to the volume immediately preceding this. In that publication were included the township charters or grants issued by the government of Massachusetts in the period when its jurisdiction was asserted over territory north of the present boundary line, and a part of the charters emanating from the provincial government of New Hampshire. An alphabetical arrangement was adopted as one that would render the documents most readily accessible to such as might have occasion to consult them in the printed form. It was found that only a part of the New Hampshire charters proper, could be included in the preceding volume. Those falling under the letters A to E inclusive, however, found place there. Those remaining are included in the present volume. Important historical documents and the results of researches in the early history of the state by eminent students of that epoch are given in the appendix. The notes under each town title are of the same character as those which are found in the former volume. They contain numerous citations to authorities in local and general history relative to the several towns. While it is not to be presumed that a complete exposition of titles in our local history has been accomplished in these notes, it may be said that they are the result of a careful examination of the best accessible collections of works devoted to local history, and of an extensive correspondence with those supposed to be the best informed in this class of literature. The plan of illustration and indexing is that previously followed. The Blanchard and Langdon, Jeffries, and Holland maps of the province were reprinted for volume XXIV, and accompany it. They are useful as aids to an understanding of the grouping of the towns which were the subjects of grants by New Hampshire, Massachusetts, or Masonian authority, and which appear in the current series of publications. The volumes to follow will include, first, the grants made in the disputed territory west of the Connecticut River and known in history as the New Hampshire Grants, and next in order, the so-called Masonian Grants.

In the prosecution of this work the editor has realized the value of official co-operation from His Excellency Charles A. Busiel and all the members of his council. To the other gentlemen named and to the many to whom, on former occasions, a more general allusion was made as efficient coadjutors in connection with the preparation of preceding volumes, the assurance of a continuing sense of obligation is most cordially renewed.

THE EDITOR.