INTRODUCTION. XI 



in this domestic excursion, unalloyed as it 

 is by any restraint of official etiquette, with- 

 out feelings of extreme pleasure ; as a bright 

 pattern to people of the highest rank, and, 

 if copied, would reflect credit upon those of 

 an humbler station. 



Let those ladies whom we thus address 

 reflect upon this, even if they be in inde- 

 pendent circumstances, and that they look 

 only to personal enjoyment ; but, if they 

 are mothers, they will surely feel the neces- 

 sity of impressing on their youthful charge 

 the real value of time ; showing to them by 

 the force of their own example, that no por- 

 tion of it should be uselessly wasted. 



In making this observation, however, it is 

 not meant to insist on the arduous employ- 

 ment of either mind or body. Recreation 

 should be afforded to both, and in this, per- 

 haps, the cultivation of the garden stands 

 foremost ; but the cares of the poultry-yard 



