ABSTRACT
Beside the familiar black and red of Mr. Hare's books, there lies one of six little volumes in grey marbled covers, the sixth edition of "The Parent's Assistant," "printed for J. Johnson & Co., ·St. Paul's Churchyard, 1813," which has been the delight of three generations of children, and has not been displaced even by the charming stories and gay pictures of the present day. What child has not sympathised with Rosamond's disappointment over her purple jar, mourned over Susan's lamb, formed a low opinion of all attorneys from the conduct of her oppressor, and hated the name of Barbara, which belonged to his cruel daughter? Those who have revelled in these tales in chIldhood, cannot fail to rejoice in making the personal acquaintance of the author, even if" Belinda" and " Helen" are unkllown, and "Castle Rackrent" an unexplored domain. It" is one charm of Mr. Hare's biographies that it is really the personal acquaintance of his characters that we make, through the medium of their own letters and those of their contemporaries, not merely the editor's idea of them, while the paragraphs from his own pen, which link the letters together, serve admirably to elucidate the points left obscure, and complete the chain of facts.
