will sympathize. I only hope that you will find little to criticise and nothing to condemn, in the nature and style of the means by which I have sought to accomplish it.

Yours,

With respectful affection,

SPRINGFIELD, July 1, 1858.

THE AUTHOR.

CONTENTS.

LETTERS TO YOUNG MEN.

LETTER.

I. GETTING THE RIGHT START,

II.-FEMALE SOCIETY-THE WOMAN FOR A WIFE,

V. THE BLESSINGS OF POVERTY-OFFICE AND EFFECT OF

VIII.-THE REASONABLENESS AND DESIRABLENESS OF RELIG

8.

II. THE TRANSITION FROM GIRLHOOD TO WOMANHOOD,

LETTER.

V. THE CLAIMS OF LOVE AND LUCRE,

VI.-THE PRUDENT AND PROPER USE OF LANGUAGE,

VIL-HOUSEWIFERY AND INDUSTRY,

VIII. THE BEAUTY AND BLESSEDNESS OF FEMALE PIETY,

V.-SEPARATION-FAMILY RELATIVES-SERVANTS,

VI. THE INSTITUTION OF HOME,

VII.-SOCIAL HOMES, AND BLESSINGS FOR DAILY USE,

VIII.-A VISION OF LIFE, AND ITS MEANING,

157

167

. 177

. 186

that the earlier and more thoroughly this lesson is learned, the better it will be for his peace of mind and his success in life. A young man, bred at home, and growing up in the light of parental admiration and fraternal pride, cannot readily understand how it is that every one else can be his equal in talent and acquisition. If, bred in the country, he seeks the life of the town, he will very early obtain an idea of his insignificance. After putting on airs and getting severely laughed at, going into a bright and facile society and finding himself awkward and tongue-tied, undertaking to speak in some public place and breaking down, and paying his addresses to some gentle charmer and receiving for his amia