The historical materials of the story are derived from the CHEVALIER DE JOHNSTONE's _Memoirs of the Rebellion_, and DR. HIBBERT WARE's excellent account of Prince Charles's sojourn in the town, appended to the _History of the Manchester Foundations_. But to neither of these authorities do I owe half so much as to Beppy Byrom's delightful Journal, so fortunately discovered among her father's papers at Kersal Cell, and given by DR. PARKINSON in the _Remains of John Byrom_, published some twenty years ago, by the Chetham Society. Apart from the vivid picture it affords of the state of Manchester at the period, of the consternation into which the inhabitants were thrown by the presence of the Rebel Army, and the striking description given in it of the young Chevalier and his staff, the Journal is exceedingly interesting, and it is impossible to read it without feeling as if one were listening to the pleasant chat of the fair writer. Pretty Beppy is before us, as sprightly and as loveable as she was in life. In no diary that I have read is the character of the writer more completely revealed than in this. Of Beppy, the bewitching, and her admirable father, I have endeavoured to give some faint idea in these pages. While speaking of the Chetham Society, which has brought out so many important publications, edited with singular ability by the learned President MR. JAMES CROSSLEY, DR. HIBBERT WARE, MR. WILLIAM BEAMONT, CANON RAINES, and others, I desire to express the great satisfaction I feel at learning that a very large collection of the letters of HUMPHREY CHETHAM, and some of his friends and contemporaries, have been placed, for publication, in the hands--and in no better hands could they have been placed--of CANON RAINES. Unquestionably, this will be the crowning work of the Chetham Society, and at last, from the able editor of _The Journal of Nicholas Assbeton, of Downham_, we shall no doubt receive an adequate biography of the great Lancashire worthy. To return to my tale. I must not omit to mention that the tragic incident I have connected with Rawcliffe Hall really occurred--though at a much more remote date than is here assigned to it--at Bewsey House, an old moated mansion, near Warrington, still, I believe, in existence. At one circumstance I must needs rejoice. Since the publication of this Tale, and incited, I am told, by its perusal, MR. SAMUEL BRIERLEY, of Rochdale, has put together a very interesting collection of anecdotes relating to the visit of Lochiel, with a small portion of the Highland Army, to Rochdale, in 1745.[1] [1] "Rochdale in 1745 and 1746." By an Old Inhabitant. Rochdale, John Turner, Drake Street, 1874. These stories, I understand, were narrated to MR. BRIERLEY by his great grandmother, who died in 1806, aged ninety-three. That they were well worth preserving will be apparent from some extracts which I propose to make from the little work.