AN ILLUSTRATED GIFT-BOOK FOR

BOYS AND GIRLS.

EDITED BY MARK MERRIWELL.

ONE HUNDRED ENGRAVINGS.

LONDON:

CHAPMAN AND HALL, 186 STRAND.

MDCCCXLVIII.

MY DEAR YOUNG FRIENDS,

Right glad and merry I trust you are, with hearts full of affection for your kind friends and teachers, and with minds ever ready to receive instruction. The ready scholar is always cheerful, and will learn more in a day than a dull one would be able to comprehend in a month ay, and while application is to the latter a pain, to the former it is a pleasure.

It is for the good, the affectionate, and the attentive, that I have prepared this book; for those who on a winter's night or on a wet holiday would rather read of people or places that perchance they may never see, than loiter away their time dozing over the fire, or watching

the rain-drops racing down the window-pane; for those who would be more tempted by a pleasing tale, or find greater charms in conning over the account of some cunning animal or gaily-feathered bird, than in all the games and romps and puzzles the parlour could produce.

But I am far from recommending you to be always poring over the pages of instruction. There is a time for everything—a time for study and a time for play. The mind must not be always bent to the book, for health requires recreation. It is too often the case, however, that too much time is given to play and too little to study. Let each have its proper portion;-for, that you should find pleasure in the pursuit of knowledge, enjoy health, be happy and contented, is the earnest desire of

Your sincere Friend and Well-wisher,

MARK MERRIWELL.