* PICTURESQUE SKETCHES 



that ordinarily resorted to for the establishment of 

 historical views, but not for that reason less satisfac- 

 tory or convincing. This history, too, is exceedingly 

 important in its bearing on the wants and occupations 

 of men ; and upon the particular order and nature of 

 the events it records have depended no inconsiderable 

 proportion of the many physical advantages possessed 

 by England over all the rest of the world. 



The alternation of rich plains and hilly surface 

 which characterizes our country, and which are so 

 well adapted for cultivation her valuable mineral 

 resources of coal, and of iron and other metals her 

 insular position her temperate climate her capa- 

 bility of supplying almost all the wants of man ; all 

 these must be ranked among the advantages derived 

 by England from happy peculiarities in the arrange- 

 ment and ordering of the materials which make up 

 her superficial crust of mineral matter ; and all are 

 conditions the causes of which may be investigated. 

 And if it is thought discreditable to an educated 

 person to be unacquainted with the 'history of the 

 people of his own country, it ought surely to be con- 

 sidered of importance that he should possess some 

 degree of knowledge also concerning this much wider 

 range of history, involving as it does an account of 

 the revolutions and changes on which so many im- 

 portant matters depend ; but yet how many people 

 do we meet, otherwise well educated, who look with 

 indifference, or even contempt, on this branch of 

 knowledge ! 



In spite of the deep interest of the subject and its 

 great importance, comparatively few are familiar even 

 with the general nature of the successive events 



