Fellow of the Royal Society of Northern Antiquaries, Copenhagen;
Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland; Member of the
Royal Archeological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland;
Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Newcastle-on-Tyne ;
Member of the Surtees Society; Member of the Tyneside
Naturalists Field Club; Member of the Architectural and
Archæological Society of Durham and Northumberland; Member
of the Berwickshire Naturalists' Club; Honorary Member of
the Manchester Literary Club, &c., &c.

SONNET

ΤΟ

GEORGE MARKHAM TWEDDELL, Esq.,

F.S.A. SCOT. AND NEWC., ETC.

In earnest reference to his very eloquent Treatise on Shakspere, his Times and Contemporaries," and also to his "Bards and Authors of Cleveland and South Durham."

"Thou honour'st Verse, and Verse must lend her wing
To honour thee."-MILTON.

0

TWEDDELL! the grateful incense thou hast shed
On "Shakspere's" altar, shall make dear thy name
To all who love the Muses' hallow'd flame,
And joy to see its splendour nursed and fed
With glowing tributes both of heart and head,
With soul-felt praise and eloquent acclaim !
This thou hast done: and Justice were as lame
As she is blind, if nought were sung or said
In praise of him who has so voiced aloud
The praise of others!-CLEVELAND will not see
Thy name and worth dimm'd by Oblivion's cloud:
No! of her "Bards" and scenes, with spirit free,
Still chaunt thy praises,-still be glad and proud,
And evermore she shall be proud of thee!

Sunderland, Nov. 5th, 1867.

J. G. GRANT.

ΤΟ

THOMAS MAC NAY, Esq.,

SECRETARY

TO THE

Stockton and Darlington Railway.

DEAR SIR,

HAVE great pleasure in dedicating to you this humble attempt to chronicle the Rise and Progress of the First Passenger Railroad; first, because to you, and to our mutual friend, the late Francis Mewburn, Esq., the first Railway Solicitor and last Chief-Bailiff of Darlington, I am greatly indebted for many of those facts and figures without which history is in great danger of degenerating into mere romance;

and secondly, because to your unwearied exertions the Company is in no small measure indebted for the prosperity which has attended its undertakings.

Of your virtues in private life there is no need for me here to speak: the high estimation in which you are held by your friends and neighbours, says more for you than words of mine could do, without an appearance of that flattery which sensible men despise.

I have not undertaken the present work from any hopes of pecuniary profit. In this, as in my various other publications for the people, if I can only regain the necessary cost of engraving, printing, advertising, &c., and those too-often heavy expenses for a poor Author which invariably attend the procuring of cor

rect information on Local History, such as the purchase of high-priced books, travelling expenses, and the like ;-I shall feel amply rewarded by the pleasure I derive from my labours. Unfortunately, no such success has hitherto attended my efforts to spread abroad such little information amongst my fellow-countrymen as I have been able to gain for myself: a trivial circumstance in the history of the world, but worthy of being borne in mind by those who feel inclined to censure me for the slow issue of my books.

Accustomed from boyhood to soothe my soul with copious draughts of Literature, amid those cankering cares of which I have ever known at least one man's full share, and being always wishful to pick up and preserve such materials as may some day aid a more expert craftsman in erecting historic piles; I have long thought that the faithful chronicle of your Railway, now that its promoters are being fast numbered with the dead, would be of service; and, such as I have had time and talent to make it, I now offer it to the public. Of the Reviewers I only beg one favour, and that is, that whether their notices be favourable or otherwise, they will be kind enough to supply me with a copy of what they choose to say about my little Book. Of yourself and my other Readers I sincerely beseech the favour of having pointed out to me any errors you may perceive into which I may have fallen, and that as early as possible, that I may correct them as opportunity serves. Any free expression of opinion which you or others may differ from, you will please to pardon: having suffered much to gain for myself full freedom of thought and speech, I now value it more than life, wealth, or honours, and mean to retain it to the last. I trust, however, that my readers will find nothing in the work now offered for your acceptance unfit to place in the hands of their sons and daughters,—the future men and women of our common country.

I am, Dear Sir, yours truly,

GEORGE MARKHAM TWEDDELL,

Stokesley, December 2nd, 1868.