PREFACE.
The nature and object of this little work are thus explained by the writer herself, in a note addressed to the Secretary of the Calcutta Christian Tract and Book Society:—
“It is a book specially intended for Native Christian women. I have endeavored to show in it the practical influence of Christianity on the various details of domestic life, such as the forming of marriage connections, behaviour to husbands, moral training of children, and the duty of women, specially to the poor, to the sick, and to the heathen. I have also touched upon the following topics;—the necessity of the private study of the Bible, of keeping the Lord's day holy, of attending the house of God, and of female education; also the bad effects of running into debt, of confining females strictly to their own houses, of injudicious treatment of the sick, of certain superstitions which are still in full force among many Native Christians, and of marriages where the parties know nothing of each other, or where their tastes are dissimilar,—the duty of domestic economy, of cleanliness, of cheerfulness, and of industry, &c.
“The above subjects are worked into the little story, fictitious on the whole, but founded upon facts; for many of the incidents related in it have come under my own notice, and others I have heard from Missionaries’ wives in the country. Throughout the whole book, true heart-religion has been shown to be the basis of every good work, and the simple Gospel plan of salvation has been repeatedly explained, and referred to.”
