PREFACE. 



On t entering a crowded assembly, filled with members of the 

 fashionable world, we gaze on the numerous groups of 

 fair human flowers with some interest, admiring the grace 

 of one, the brilliancy of another. Perhaps we carelessly ask 

 the name of those who particularly attract our attention 

 or claim our admiration; but all soon fades from the me- 

 mory, leaving only a confused remembrance of something 

 beautiful and agreeable. Let however any of these chance 

 acquaintance be introduced into our home or to our inti- 

 macy, and the case is immediately altered : then we no 

 longer confine our regards to their personal appearance; 

 their mere outward beauty, charming as it may be, forms 

 the least of their attractions, and we inquire with interest 



