INTRODUCTION

ix

mentioned in the text of the ms., and are explained in foot-
notes.

LANGUAGE AND SPELLING

No alteration has been made on the text of the mu. except
the substitution of capital letters for small ones, where capitals
would now be used. In this matter Lauder s practice is
capricious, and it may safely be said that it was governed by
no rule, conscious or unconscious. He spells the pronoun 1
with a capital, and usually begins a sentence with one. But
names of persons and places are very often spelt with small
letters. The use of capitals was not yet fixed, as it is now,
and the usage of different languages, such as English, French
and German, as it came to be fixed, is not identical. Some
changes in the punctuation have also been made in transcrip-
tion for the sake of clearness, but the punctuation, which is
scant)', has not been systematically altered. In the M5S. some
single words have been erased, or rubbed off', at the top and
the foot of the page. The blanks are indicated, and as a
rule, but not quite il1variabl)', explained in footnotes. 1\ISS.
X and H are printed entire, with two unimportant omissions,
one in each, which are noted and explained, and as regards
ns. H, with the exception of some detached pages of accounts,
and a catalogue of some books. Of these it was thought that
the Appendix contains etiough. From ~IS, K only extracts
are givel1, The remainder contains more accounts, and a
further catalogue of books, without the prices, tmd other
memoranda and reflectioiis, now of no interest.

The spelling is to a large extent arbitrary.' It is less
regular than, for example, the contemporary Acts of Parlia-
ment, but more regular than the letters of some of Lauder's
contemporaries, in high positions,2 A word is often spelt in

1 Lauder's French in the Journal in France is full of mistakes, both of
grammar and spelling. He was only learning the language.

2 Cf. Bishop Dowden's introduction to Lauderdale Correspondence (S.H.S.),
~llis~cllarry, vol. i. p. 23°.