GENERAL PREFACE. of Historians find an advantage in grouping together a variety of circumstances and incidents as to time, place, person, and event, irrespective of chronological order, both in the way anticipation and resuscitation, with a view to prevent constant recurrence, as well as to dispose of all that may, and ought to be advanced, on the same subject; nor less, by such concentration, to produce the most correct and permanent impression on the mind of the reader. In doing this, however, it must not be forgotten, that an ulterior object is not unfrequently sought to be gained, in the establishment of certain favourite theories, whether in philosophy, politics, religion or morals,—the whole of the author's reasonings and deductions proceeding in that direction, and so giving a tinge to the general subject, more or less favourable-as in the case of Hume and Gibbon in reference to Christianity, agreeably to the prejudices and prepossessions respectively entertained. The Annalist, on the other hand, sustains, generally speaking, the character of a simple narrator of facts; appearing somewhat in the official capacity of a servant, while his annals assume the character of an index to history, pointing the finger, like a guide-post, to those facts and events which constitute the base on which the historian rears his superstructure, allowing the reader to take his own impressions, to draw his own conclusions, to prosecute his own speculations, and to make what use of the materials offered, his better judgment shall suggest. Such a work, and for such a purpose, "THE ANNALS OF YORKSHIRE," now presented to the public, will, it is presumed, be found to be admirably adapted;-a book, strictly speaking, of reference—and though not admitting generally of amplification—a book, as to the endless variety of its contents, of the fullest information, as to facts, places, and personages. The annalist, like a person on a journey, possessed of leisure, inclination, and observation, collects, as he proceeds, whatever is deemed worthy of notice and preservation,-the different objects varying, meanwhile, in value and in importance, according to the purposes for which they are sought, and the objects to which they are to be appropriated by others. The best authorities have been consulted, and in cases where it appeared necessary, the authors are named, without encumbering the work, except in the biographical department, with the titles of the several works consulted; and in the latter case, the particularity observed, will inspire confidence, as to the assiduous care employed, to come at facts, in other parts of the work. Various public acts are noticed, and measures introduced, as legislative enactments &c., not strictly confined to the county, yet as they are of a national character, and general in their influence on society, as to the religion, social habits, or commerce of the country, Yorkshire is noticed as participating either in the benefits or disadvantages resulting from the same. In this will be found, if not a justification, at least an apology, for what might otherwise be deemed extraneous matter, in looking at the world's history, as we pass along; as in the first, second, and third chapters, where the broader subjects continue to narrow, till they are brought to bear upon the county whose Annals are here recorded. A wish to know what is doing abroad, as well as at home, exists every where. Yorkshire-for some of its raw materials, and in its |