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[Frontispiece: Girl on a swing]
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 is for young ladies, as they advance towards womanhood, to take
active and regular exercise; and to avoid, as much as possible, all
sedentary amusements. That love of variety, however, so natural to the
human mind, and which is particularly observable in children, renders
it a matter of some difficulty to diversify their sports, so as to
discover a sufficient number of games that require exertion: we,
however, flatter ourselves that this has been accomplished, in the
little Work here presented to the reader in an English dress. They
will find in it instructions for playing at a great number of games,
of such a nature that they cannot fail of being conducive to their
health; and which, while they afford an innocent relaxation from
study, will be eminently useful in forming that easy and graceful
carriage, which can only result from the free and active motion of the
limbs, necessarily produced by frequently playing at these games.
The prose part of the work has been faithfully rendered into English
from the French original; but the Proprietor is indebted to the author
of the Tours of the original Dr. Syntax, who has enriched this little
Repository of Youthful Sports, with some elegant verses, illustrative,
in a moral point of view, of the games described.