Dilston Hall Or Memoirs Of The Right Hon James Radcliffe Earl Of Derwentwater A Martyr In The Rebellion Of 1715

Author : William Sidney Gibson
Publisher : Read Books
ISBN 13 : 1443732346
Total Pages : 260 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (437 download)

DOWNLOAD NOW!

Download or read book Dilston Hall written by William Sidney Gibson and published by Read Books. This book was released on 2008-11-04 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: PREFACE: IN presenting before the public a second series of Northum- brian Visits, it is the authors pleasant duty to express his thanks for the indulgent and flattering reception accorded to his former publications. Since he came into Northum- berland, his chief pleasure has been found in visiting antient historic localities, in tracing their history, in collecting memorials of departed worthies, and in writing upon those subjects. The author has consulted only his own plea- sure in the occupation of his leisure hours his own predi- lections have guided the choice of his subjects and he has written for his own amusement and as an amateur, yet he trusts, sometimes with a devout purpose and a higher aim. As he has not sought pecuniary gain, so he has not written to conciliate popular applause and the favourable opinions which have been accorded to his publications, therefore, constitute a reward which he values the more highly. The subjects of the following pages belong to the range .of personal history and biography, rather than that oftopo research. The name of JAMES graphical or antiquarian lives in popular affection and perhaps in English history there is hardly an episode which has even now a firmer hold on popular sympathies especially in the North of England, than his melancholy fate yet there is not any work in which the scattered materials for a life of the beloved and noble Radcliffe have been collected. It is no insignificant mark of the power of virtue, that his character should have remained the traditionary subject of interest after the lapse of so long a period of time. The pale flowers of history, collected in the following pages, have been gathered by the author with a loving ardour and he not only wishes that his labours may be as acceptable to the public as they have been productive of pleasure to himself, but that they may be thought to render some justice to the memory of a generous and devoted young nobleman, who can no longer vindicate himself. The author has traced, with a kind of affectionate sympathy, the memorials of the generous and gallant Derwentwater, and the touching story of his devo- tion and his fate. Of the degree in which the writer may have succeeded, others must judge he can claim credit only for diligence and fidelity but having undertaken a memoir on this subject from an admiration of the Earls character, and a feeling of interest in all that relates to him, the author has been gratified by finding, that all the unpub- lished materials to which he has had access, every piece of evidence that has been discovered, only aids in placing the character of Lord Derwentwater in a bright and estimable point of view, and in justifying the sentiments with which his memory is regarded in the lands where he once bore sway...