HEALTHFUL SPORTS
FOR
YOUNG LADIES;
ILLUSTRATED BY
ELEVEN ELEGANT ENGRAVINGS, FROM DRAWINGS BY J. DUGOURC,
Draughtsman to His Majesty the King of France;
Accompanied by Descriptions,
TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH OF MADEMOISELLE ST. SERNIN,
AND INTERSPERSED WITH
ORIGINAL POETRY AND ANECDOTES.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR R. ACKERMANN, REPOSITORY OF ARTS, 101, STRAND.
BY W. CLOWES, NORTHUMBERLAND-COURT.
PREFACE.
The most eminent physicians dwell particularly upon the necessity there isfor young ladies, as they advance towards womanhood, to take active andregular exercise; and to avoid, as much as possible, all sedentary amusements.That love of variety, however, so natural to the human mind, and which isparticularly observable in children, renders it a matter of some difficulty todiversify their sports, so as to discover a sufficient number of games that requireexertion: we, however, flatter ourselves that this has been accomplished,in the little Work here presented to the reader in an English dress. They willfind in it instructions for playing at a great number of games, of such a naturethat they cannot fail of being conducive to their health; and which, whilethey afford an innocent relaxation from study, will be eminently useful informing that easy and graceful carriage, which can only result from the freeand active motion of the limbs, necessarily produced by frequently playing atthese games.
The prose part of the work has been faithfully rendered into Englishfrom the French original; but the Proprietor is indebted to the authorof the Tours of the original Dr. Syntax, who has enriched this little Repositoryof Youthful Sports, with some elegant verses, illustrative, in a moralpoint of view, of the games described.
HEALTHFUL SPORTS
FOR
YOUNG LADIES.
THE SWING.
Madame D’Hernilly was accustomed to pass, every year, several of the summermonths in the country: a particular circumstance obliged her to go there sooner thanusual, and her husband, who was one of the chief magistrates in the capital, was notable to accompany her. Her only companions were her two daughters, both younggirls. There was very little society to be met with in that part of the country whereMadame D’Hernilly’s castle was situated: the nearest town, which was at a distanceof two or three leagues, was a small place, with but few genteel inhabitants; and,even were it otherwise, she would not have been tempted to mix with her neighbours.Solitude