TO

MRS. ALICIA MOORE,

WHOSE "PICTURES OF THE MIDDLE AGES" ARE A LIVING MONUMENT

OF FEMALE LEARNING AND ARTISTIC TASTE,

THIS VOLUME,

DESTINED TO ADVANCE THE CAUSE OF WOMANLY REFINEMENT,

IS MOST RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED

BY HER FRIEND,

THE EDITOR.

PREFACE.

THE want of pleasing, and, at the same time, instructive reading for young ladies, must have been frequently noticed by those concerned in this important branch of education, while it is no less certain that the practice of trying to "write down to" a child's intellect, rather than to elevate it to the comprehension of what is at once great and good, too frequently defeats the purpose of those who would seek to shed taste and refinement even around the homes of the lowly.

It is hoped that the present selections will afford a pleasing and profitable variety of reading. A mixture of prose and verse, fiction and reality, and, above all, with a careful and constant reference to the high feelings of religion and morality, will scarcely fail to render these volumes acceptable to those who are concerned in what is perhaps the most important, the most sacred trust in which it is possible to engage.

The illustrations may safely be left to the judgment of those to whom the names of Harvey, Gilbert, and Birket Foster have long since been well known.

Christ Church, August, 1854.