The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Young Lady's Mentor, by A Lady

Title: The Young Lady's Mentor

A Guide to the Formation of Character. In a Series of Letters to Her Unknown Friends

Author: A Lady

Release Date: March 28, 2005 [eBook #15490]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1

***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE YOUNG LADY'S MENTOR***

E-text prepared by Joshua Hutchinson, David Newman, Cori Samuel,
and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
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and the University of California Library (Davis)

THE

YOUNG LADY'S MENTOR:

A GUIDE TO THE

Formation of Character.

IN A SERIES OF LETTERS TO HER UNKNOWN FRIENDS,

BY A LADY.

PHILADELPHIA:

H.C. PECK & THEO. BLISS.

1852.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, by
H.C. PECK & THEO. BLISS,
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

STEREOTYPED BY L. JOHNSON AND CO.
PHILADELPHIA.

PREFACE

The work which forms the basis of the present volume is one of the most original and striking which has fallen under the notice of the editor. The advice which it gives shows a remarkable knowledge of human character, and insists on a very high standard of female excellence. Instead of addressing herself indiscriminately to all young ladies, the writer addresses herself to those whom she calls her "Unknown Friends," that is to say, a class who, by natural disposition and education, are prepared to be benefited by the advice which she offers. "Unless a peculiarity of intellectual nature and habits constituted them friends," she says in her preface, "though unknown ones, of the writer, most of the observations contained in the following pages would be uninteresting, many of them altogether unintelligible."

She continues: "That advice is useless which is not founded upon a knowledge of the character of those to whom it is addressed: even were the attempt made to follow such advice, it could not be successful."

"The writer has therefore neither hope nor wish of exercising any influence over the minds of those who are not her 'Unknown Friends.' There may, indeed, be a variety in the character of these friends; for almost all the following Letters are addressed to different persons; but the general intellectual features are always supposed to be the same, however the moral ones may differ."

"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