Excerpt from Report of State Historian, 1913 1914 Immediately upon the completion of this work of publication I sailed for England, where five months were spent, a part of this time being devoted to added researches with reference to our early Maine history, especially that following the period 1602-1658. The manuscript department of the British Mu seum contains much as yet unused material with reference to this. Later period. It is well known that not long after the restoration of Charles II in 1660, the colony of Massachusetts Bay, in order to strengthen its hold upon Maine territory, pur chased of F erdinando Gorges, the grandson and heir of Sir Fer dinando Gorges, all his interest in the Province of Maine for the sum of twelve hundred and fifty pounds sterling. Royalist influences in England, however, were soon active in the endeav or to bring the New England colonies under other management than had now become dominant; and among these manuscripts in the British Museum are many that show how numerous and urgent were the appeals of those who were engaged in efforts in this direction. Attacks upon the charter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony were successful; and Ferdinando Gorges, on the ground that the Bay Colony had forfeited its charter, claimed that the Province of Maine had reverted to him; and I found. The original of a proposal made by Gorges February 24, 1675, for the sale of the Province of Maine to his Majesty for one thousand pounds down and ten thousand pounds a year for five years. The affairs of the King, however, were not in a condition at all favorable for his attention to matters connected with New England colonial concerns, and the proposal doubtless received scant if any notice; but the fact that such a proposal was made is an interesting illustration of the long continued and unsuccessful efforts of Sir Ferdi nan'do Gorges' heirs, after the restoration, to regain their pos sessions on this side of the sea. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.