Page:The Peerage, Baronetage and Knightage of the British Empire Part 2.djvu/816

Collectanea Genealogica. INTRODUCTION. HAVING pledged myself to raise my "Peerage and Baronetage" to a standard ofj excellence never as yet attained by any similar Works, and having also commenced the compilation of a series of Royal Descents, it will be a surprise to some of my patronSj that I have now undertaken, in addition, to edit a Monthly Publication^ although it is generally! allowed that the proposed contents are destined to prove of the greatest importance to the', Genealogist and the Historian, by placing at their disposal an invaluable array of facts, " allj which would require Briareus his hundred hands, Argus his hundred eyes, and Nestor his. century of years, to marshal." . I Shortly stated^ the explanation is, that upon applying myself to perfett the Pedigrees m. my Peerage, and more especially in my Royal Descents, as I consider they ought to be perfected (my standard of excellence always ascending), I found myself confronted with difficulties so great that I felt compelled to lower for awhile my flag, so that I might give; the causes of those difficulties my careful deliberation— more especially as I am strongly ol opinion that too many of the genealogical books issued in the present day are merely sprinkled with an infinitesimal quantinty of original matter, while they abound with repetitions of wellj known blunders and are embellished with many that are new. For some reasons, I hold that further MS. Collections are to be deprecated, especially if they are not well arranged, and that attention should be rather bestowed on utilizing the^ vast unindexed, and consequently unknown, raw material which lies ready at hand, not only ini existing MSS-., but also in printed books. If such a plan could be extensively carried out, nol} only would an incalculable boon be conferred upon all Genealogists, but a more wide-spreaci interest in their science would also be aroused among those to whom the difficulties of it;| study have hitherto made it a sealed book. All Genealogical Serials, extant or extinct, havt[) failed, in my opinion, to interest more than a narrow circle of readers, because they hav(^ been too diffuse in their aim and too kaleidoscopic in their contents. The CoUectanec proper should be reduced almost to a minimum (none but subjects of general interest ancj permanent value being admitted), and the bulk of the Serial should be devoted to th(| publication of important matter, carefully and systematically arranged. i To supply in some measure the above want, which must have been generally felt bjj others also, and to lessen the difficulties which I, in common with all, have experienced in tht! compilation of the genealogical works to which 1 have already referred, I have determined t( edit, and issue to Subscribers, a Monthly Serial, devoted principally to the republication, iij an original and handy form, of Collections of Genealogical matter, each alphabetical!] arranged and each independently paged. The importance of good Indexes has been o late much insisted on, but even the best Index involves a reference to, and implies thi possession of, the original work ; whereas, it will be a special feature of my own plan that by substituting Lists for Indexes, the required fact will be found at a glance, without tb need of a second reference. A Series of Lists will thus be eventually formed, which mus serve to lighten incalculably the arduous labours of the Genealogist. I have been fortunate in having such material at hand as the " Obituary " of Sir Willian Musgrave, Bart, the Funeral Certificates of Ireland, and (by permission of Mr. Sims) the Inde: to the Lleralds' Visitations, which last will be re-arranged, with additions, in continuou Alphabetical Order. l>ut, in each and all of these, murn careful revision is still absolutely necessary in preparing them for the press. i The Alphabetical Lists of Members of Parliament, and of the Marriages from th! Ilhlurical Redster and the Gentleman Magazine (17 14 to 1867), have been worked ui