3rd.  Wherever  a  letter  or  paper  is  especially  difficult  to  decipher,  or  the
allusions  more  than  ordinarily  obscui-e,  it  will  be  advisable  for  the  Editor  to
adhere,  as  closely  as  is  consistent  with  brevity,  to  the  text  of  the  document.
He  is  to  do  the  same  when  it  contains  secret  or  very  rare  information.
4th.  Where  the  Editor  has  deciphered  letters  in  cipher,  the  decipher  may
be  printed  at  full  length.  But  when  a  contemporary  or  authorised  decipher
exists  it  will  be  sufficient  to  treat  the  cipher  as  an  ordinary  document.
.5th.  Striking  peculiarities  of  expression,  proverbs,  manners,  &c.  are  to  be
noticed.
6th.  Original  dates  are  to  be  given  at  the  close  of  each  entry,  that  the
reader  may  know  the  exact  evidence  by  which  the  marginal  dates  are
determined.
7th.  Where  letters  are  endorsed  by  the  receivers  and  the  date  of  their
delivery  specified,  these  endorsements  are  to  be  recorded.
8th.  The  number  ot  written  pages  of  each  document  is  to  be  specified,  as
a  security  for  its  integrity,  and  that  readers  may  know  what  proportion  the
abstract  bears  to  the  original.
9th.  The  language  ot  every  document  is  to  be  sjDCcified.  If,  however,  the
greater  part  of  the  collection  be  in  English,  it  wiU  be  sufficient  to  denote
those  only  which  are  in  a  different  tongue.
10th.  Where  documents  have  been  printed,  a  reference  should  be  given  to
the  publication.
11th.  Each  series  to  be  chronological.
12th.  The  Prefaces  of  Editors,  in  explanation  of  documents  in  the  volume
are  not  to  exceed  fifty  pages,  unless  the  written  permission  of  the  Master  of
the  Eolls  to  the  contrary  be  obtained.
'*^*  Editors  employed  in  foreign  archives  are  to  transcribe  at  full  length
important  and  secret  papers.
