[E.B. O'Callaghan (ed.) (1856)] XXxii GENERAL INTRODUCTION. are several deficiencies in the series of letters from Governor Nicolls, and very few of Grovernor Lovelace's communications were found. There does not seem to have been any file of Governor Andros' letters, to the Duke or Sir John Werden, handed to the Committee for Trade and Phintations when the affairs of the Province came under its supervision, upon the devolution of New-York to the Crown, on the accession of King James II.; but after that date the records are much more perfect. After the final organization of the Board of Trade, by King William III., in 1696, the New-York papers are full and complete. "' The policy of France in regard to her Canadian possessions — the establishment of her military positions on our frontiers, and her negotiations with the Indian tribes on our borders, and within the very limits of our territory itself, are directly and intimately connected with our Colonial history; and hfer long struggle to maintain her influence in the northern portion of our continent, affected, in no small degree, the condition, disposition and purposes of the people of New-York. It was with a view of obtaining authentic historical materials, illustrating these points, that an examination of the archives of the French government was made a part of my duty.