"One word more must be added. All of the rules and systems recommended in these Letters have borne the test of long-tried and extensive experience. There is nothing new about them but their publication."
The plan of the writer of the Letters enables her to give specific and practical advice, applicable to particular cases, and entering into lively details; whereas, a more general work would have compelled her to confine herself to vague generalities, as inoperative as they are commonplace.
The intelligent reader will readily appreciate and cordially approve of the writer's plan, as well as the happy style in which it is executed.
To the "Letters to Unknown Friends" which are inserted entire, the editor has added, as a suitable pendant, copious extracts from that excellent work, "Woman's Mission," and some able papers by Lord Jeffrey, the late accomplished editor of the Edinburgh Review.
Thus composed, the editor submits the work to the fair readers of America, trusting that it will be found a useful and unexceptionable "Young Lady's Mentor."
Contents
[PREFACE]
[LETTER I.: Contentment]
[LETTER II.: Temper]
[LETTER III.: Falsehood and Truthfulness]
[LETTER IV.: Envy]
[LETTER V.: Selfishness and Unselfishness]
[LETTER VI.: Self-Control]
[LETTER VII.: Economy]
[LETTER VIII.: The Cultivation of the Mind]
[LETTER IX.: The Cultivation of the Mind] (Cont.)
[LETTER X.: Amusements]
[The Influence of Women on Society]
[The Sphere of Woman's Influence]
[Education of Women]
[Love—Marriage]
[Literary Capabilities of Women]
[Ennui, and the Desire to be Fashionable]
[The Influence of Personal Character]
[On the Means of Securing Personal Influence]