“ catalogue of the bookseller, to whose hands it came afterwards; for it was at the sale of the stock of a bookseller that Mr. King purchased it.

" To bring the authenticity of this copy as near to that of the original as I could, I have most carefully copied it with my own hand. The pages and lines of the copy correspond exactly with those of the original; the orthography, abbreviations, interlineations, and incorrectnesses are preserved, so that it is a facsimile except as to the form of the letters. The orthography and abbreviations are evidences of the age of the writing . . . ”

The copy in the Jefferson collection is unbound. It was certainly written circa 1705, and if it is the original manuscript sent by Rufus King (and returned by Jefferson to him) it has lost its covers and all signs of provenance.

The copy made by Jefferson according to the Introduction addressed to the Editor of the Enquirer, was lately sent as a curious and interesting historical document, by the President to his venerable friend, Mr. Wythe, with permission to the bearer to communicate its contents to the Public.

This copy seems not to have come back to Jefferson with George Wythe’s bequest.

Thomas Mathew, fl. 1705, according to the details of himself given in the manuscript, was a planter of Northumberland on the Potomac River, and was elected a member of the Assembly in 1676 for the County of Stafford, of which assembly Colonel Mason was his colleague, and Colonel Warner the Speaker. He was an eyewitness of the facts he describes.

With regard to the identification of T. M. with Thomas Mathew, see the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography. Vol. I, 1893-4, page 201.

Nathaniel Bacon, 1642?-1676, Virginia patriot.