Eskdale.--His interview with Helen.--She is induced to accompany him to
Eskdale; and is finally married to Mr. Johnstone, the Minister of Eskdale.




INTRODUCTION


The Author of this little Work, many years ago, spent a few weeks in
Eskdale, the scene where she has placed the principal events of her tale.
The beauty of the country made a deep impression on her mind, at the time;
perhaps the more so, from its being the farthest excursion to the
southward, that she had then made from her native home. She, however, by
no means pretends to pourtray the scenery in the course of her narrative,
with minute accuracy. Too long a period has since elapsed, and she has
seen in the interval too great a variety of places, to retain an exact
recollection of every spot in this delightful dale; but its general
features remain strongly fixed in her memory; and she hopes that her young
readers will not find her tale less interesting from any slight inaccuracy
which they may discover in the local description.

The general character and manners of the inhabitants are, she believes,
more correctly represented; for there is scarcely an incident,
exemplifying these in the following pages, of which she has not known a
counterpart in real life. The respect universally paid by the parishioners
to their clergyman, and the familiar intercourse and great influence which
the latter possesses, in forming their minds and morals, are circumstances
which have fallen under her own observation, not only in Eskdale, but in
various other parts of Scotland; and she has felt a peculiar satisfaction