Mr. Chalmers arrived in England about the year 1775, and immediately devoted himself, with much assiduity, to the study of the history of the British colonies in North America. His first work, the Political Annals of the United Colonies, displayed great diligence, research, and fidelity, and has been of essential use in facilitating the labors of later historical investigators in the same field. The first volume was published in 1780, but the second unfortunately, never appeared.— In 1786, Mr. Chalmers was appointed chief clerk to the committee of Privy Council charged with " the consideration of all matters relating to trade and foreign plantations," and he continued to discharge the duties of this office for nearly fifty years. The situation gave him, of course, the freest access to all the archives connected with the colonial interests of Great Britain, and furnished him abundant facilities for the prosecution of his favorite studies. Among the numerous works of which Mr. Chalmers was the author or compiler, we may mention, in addition to the Annals and this collection of Opinions, a Collection of Treaties between Great Britain and other Powers in 2 vols. 8vo, London 1790; Life of Thomas Paine, author of the Rights of Man, (tenth edition) 1793, under the assumed name of Francis Oldys; a Chronological Account of Commerce and Coinage in Great Britain from the Restoration to 1810, London, 1810; Considerations on Commerce, Bullion, Coin, Circulation, and Exchange, London, 1811; but he is most widely known among general readers by his Life of Mary Queen of Scots, London 1818, 2 vols. 4to, reprinted in 3 vols. 8vo. and his Caledonia, or an Account, Historical and Topographic, of North Britain, vol. I. London, 1807 4to, vol. II. London, 1810 4to, both of which are works of great and permanent value. The Caledonia was never completed, but it was the principal original work of his life and occupied a large proportion of his leisure hours for a period of more than twenty years. It was designed to extend to five volumes, but though he had made extensive researches for the purpose of completing it, the materials he had collected were not found, at his death, in such a state as to warrant their publication. He died at London on the 31st of May 1825, at the age of eighty-three, and as his last illness was a short one, he kept up his literary activity to nearly the close of his life. The present is not a fit occasion for a critical appreciation of Mr. Chalmers' literary ability, but the value of his contributions to the domestic history of Great Britain, and to that of her colonies and their relations to the mother country, is admitted to be great. The work a new edition of which is now offered to the public, though relating to questions not much discussed at present, will be found to touch upon principles whose practical bearing is even yet by no means exhausted, and it is believed to possess scarcely less interest for the citizens of the United States, than for the people of those American Provinces which still remain connected with the British crown. It is in fact the most complete and authentic record we possess of the current of legal opinion in England upon the relations between that country and her American colonies, and, as such, has been very frequently referred to by the ablest American jurists in the discussion of the great questions it is so well calculated to elucidate. Having never been reprinted since its first appearance at London in 1814, it has become extremely rare, and the publishers believe that they are rendering a useful service to the professional and the historical inquirer, by making more generally accessible so valuable a repository of legal and political doctrine. Chalmers, George, Clerk of Committee of Privy Council. Erton, Dr. Thomas, Of the Commons. Fane, Francis, Counsel to Board of Trade. Finch, Heneage, Solicitor-General. 19 26 20 Kemp, William, Attorney-General, of New York. 37 Kenyon, Sir Lloyd, Chief-Justice. 35 King, Sir John, Treasurer of Inner Temple. B 19 24 Lamb, Sir Matthew, Counsel to Board of Trade. Macdonald, Sir Archibald, Privy-Councillor, Marriot, Sir James, Vice-Chancellor. Montague, Sir James, Chief-Baron. Page. 37 20 23 34 28 36 37 24 29 Ryder, Sir Dudley, Chief-Justice. 29 20 37 21 29 25 Talbot, Charles, Lord-Chancellor. 28 Temple, Sir William, Master of the Rolls. 39 Thompson, Sir William, Baron of the Exchequer. Willes, Edward, Justice King's-Bench. Winnington, Sir Francis, Solicitor-General. |