INTKODUCTION, VU 



look most particularly at that which is the 

 greater novelty, nor am I by any means 

 singular in doing so. 



On the day of which I write, however, 

 ladies on horseback were by no means un- 

 common : I should say there were at least 

 two hundred present upon the lawn. Some 

 rode so well, and were so beautifully turned 

 out, that the most hypercritical could find 

 no fault ; but of the majority — what can I 

 say ? Alas ! nothing that would sound at all 

 favourable. Such horses, such saddles, such 

 rusty bridles, such riding-habits, such hats, 

 whips, and gloves ; and, above all, such 

 coiffures! My very soul was sorry. I could 

 not laugh, as some others were doing. I felt 

 too melancholy for mirth. It seemed to me 

 most grievous that my own sex (many of 

 them so young and beautiful) should be thus 

 held up to ridicule. I asked myself was it 

 thus in other places ; and I came to London 



