TUl INTEODUCTION. 



in the spring, and walked in the Eow, and 

 gazed, and took notes, and was not satisfied. 

 Perhaps I was too critic aL There was very 

 much to praise, certainly, but there was also 

 much wherewith to find fault. The style of 

 riding was bad ; the style of dressing was 

 incomparably worse. The well-got-up only 

 threw into darker shadow the notable defects 

 visible in the forms and trappings of their 

 less fortunate sisterhood. I questioned myself 

 as to how this could be best remedied. 

 Eemonstrance was impossible — advice equally 

 so. Why could not somebody write a book 

 for lady equestrians, or a series of papers 

 which might appear in the pages of some 

 fashionable magazine or journal, patronised 

 and read by them ? The idea seemed a good 

 one, but I lacked time to carry it out, and so it 

 rested in embryo for many months. Last 

 June, whilst recovering from serious illness, 

 my cherished project returned to my mind. 



