THE DOLL AND HER FRIENDS. 3

of us ever “said a foolish thing,” if she “ never did
a wise one.”

Personal beauty I might almost, without va-
nity, call the “badge of all our tribe.” Our very
name is seldom mentioned without the epithet pretty ;
and in my own individual case I may say that I
have always been considered pleasing and elegant,
though others have surpassed me in size and gran-
deur.

But our most striking characteristic is our power
of inspiring strong attachment. The love bestowed
on us by our possessors is proof against time, fami-
liarity, and misfortune :

“ Age cannot wither” us, “ nor custom stale”
Our “infinite variety.”

With no trace of our original beauty left,—dress in
tatters, complexion defaced, features undistinguish-
able, our very limbs mutilated, the mere wreck of
our former selves,—who has not seen one of us still
the delight and solace of some tender young heart ;
the confidant of its fancies, and the soother of its
sorrows ; preferred to all newer claimants, however
high their pretensions ; the still unrivalled favourite,
in spite of the laughter of the nursery and the quiet
contempt of the schoolroom ? | 3
Young and gentle reader, your sympathy or