I am apprehensive that I shall be able, but very inadequately, to satisfy the desire which Your Lordship will naturally feel to learn something, from my personal observation, of the state of things in this Country at this interesting period of its history; if however I fail, in giving you much information, I trust that the shortness of my Residence here, and the expediency of my keeping somewhat in the background, until the return of the King enabled me to present my Credentials, will be a sufficent excuse.

Chamberlain emerged from the government reshuffle which followed the ‘Coupon’ election as Chancellor of the Exchequer. In many respects the appointment appears unremarkable given his past experience and reputation. His first tenure of the office had been in October 1903 in the immediate aftermath of his father's departure from the Balfour Cabinet. Although only a few days from his fortieth birthday and widely regarded as a ‘hostage for Joe’, he soon proved himself to be a capable minister. During this period a future Permanent Secretary at the department ‘thought highly’ of him as a ‘hard worker and good official’. Walter Long went even further in contending that he was ‘without exception the best Chancellor of the Exchequer he ha[d] ever worked with’ After leading the opposition to Lloyd George's 1909 budget, even former detractors were obliged to concede that Chamberlain was ‘in the first rank as a debater and as a leader’ It was a measure of this stature that at the outbreak of war in 1914 Lloyd George had invited him to attend the Financial Conference assembled to tackle the initial emergency. On one occasion the Chancellor had even asked Chamberlain to preside while he attended a Cabinet meeting. Although Lloyd George later presented this unique occurrence as ‘a foretaste of the Coalition’, others rejoiced that Chamberlain was ‘practically acting as chancellor of the exchequer’ because Lloyd George, ‘who knows very little of finance, has completely lost his head’: a preference initially echoed within the Treasury itself.

Henry Cavendish, whose journey to Constantinople is narrated in the following manuscript, was the eldest son of Sir William Cavendish and his third wife, Elizabeth Hardwick, the celebrated 'Bess of Hardwick', who subsequently married, as her fourth husband, George Talbot, sixth earl of Shrewsbury.

At the close of the Relation of a short survey of 26 counties observed in a seven weeks' journey begun on 11 August, 1634, by a Captain, a Lieutenant, and an Ancient, all three of the Military Company in Norwich, the "courteous reader" was invited by an anonymous writer of verse to

Receive it only as a preparation

For a more large and long itineration

and it is not unfitting that in the tercentenary of the fulfilment of this promise, the account of the tour to the south and west of England should be offered to the Royal Historical Society

The Goschens spent the first nine months of 1903 in Copenhagen, apart from a visit that Goschen himself paid to Gisselfeld in February. On 7 October Hosta Goschen left for Tentschach, where her husband joined her later in the month. On 25 November they left for England. Goschen returned to Copenhagen at the end of December.

Auguste 13. UPON Satterdaie, beinge the 13. of Auguste, my lord,(2) havinge intelligence that those of Roan mente to give him a camisado in the nighte, in his army provided all things necessarie to welcome them, together with a determynation, that if they came not that nyghte, then the next morninge he would have surprysed some of them in some of their owne holds and fortresses nere adjoynynge; and for that purpose had caused all his owne cariage-horses and others of th'armye (which would have been above five or six score horses) to be in a-readiness to mownte his beste muskatiers upon. And being ordering of all those things, sir Roger Williams came from the kinge with letters.(3) Whereupon he resolved to goe the nexte mornynge to the kynge, with all his lawnces, and many other voluntarie gentlemen, with a commaundment that none should carrie baggage, but merely a shirte.