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ESSAYS
for
YOUNG LADIES.
ESSAYS
on
VARIOUS SUBJECTS,
Principally deſigned for
YOUNG LADIES.
As for you, I ſhall adviſe you in a few words: aſpireonly to thoſe virtues that are peculiar toyour sex; follow your natural modeſty, and thinkit your greateſt commendation not to be talked of oneway or the other.
Oration of Pericles to the Athenian Women.
LONDON:
Printed for J. Wilkie, in St. Paul's Church-Yard;
and T. Cadell, in the Strand.
MDCCLXXVII.
to
Mrs. MONTAGU.
MADAM,
If you were only one of the fineſtwriters of your time, you wouldprobably have eſcaped the trouble ofthis addreſs, which is drawn on you,leſs by the luſtre of your underſtanding,than by the amiable qualities of yourheart.
As the following pages are writtenwith an humble but earneſt wiſh, topromote the intereſts of virtue, as faras the very limited abilities of the authorallow; there is, I flatter myself,a peculiar propriety in inſcribing themto you, Madam, who, while yourworks convey inſtruction and delightto the beſt-informed of the other ſex,furniſh, by your conduct, an admirablepattern of life and manners toyour own. And I can with truth remark,that thoſe graces of converſation,which would be the firſt praiſe of almoſtany other character, conſtitutebut an inferior part of yours.
With the higheſt eſteem,
Your moſt obedient
Humble Servant,
Briſtol, Hannah More.
May 20, 1777.