THE FATHER AND DAUGHTER,
A Tale, in Prose.
By MRS. OPIE.
| Thy sweet reviving smiles might cheer despair, On the pale lips detain the parting breath, And bid hope blossom in the shades of death. |
| Mrs. Barbauld. |
NINTH EDITION.
LONDON:
PRINTED FOR
LONGMAN, HURST, REES, ORME, BROWN, & GREEN,
PATERNOSTER-ROW.
1824.
Printed by Richard Taylor,
Shoe Lane, London.
 |
| "——she saw that he had drawn the shape of a coffin and was thenwriting on the lid the name of Agnes."—— |
DEDICATION.
TO
Dr. ALDERSON of NORWICH.
DEAR SIR,
In dedicating this Publication to you, I follow in some measure theexample of those nations who devoted to their gods the first fruits ofthe genial seasons which they derived from their bounty.
To you I owe whatever of cultivation my mind has received; and the firstfruits of that mind to you I dedicate.
Besides, having endeavoured in "The Father and Daughter" to exhibit apicture of the most perfect parental affection, to whom could I dedicateit with so much propriety as to you, since, in describing a good father,I had only to delineate my own?
Allow me to add, full of gratitude for years of tenderness andindulgence on your part, but feebly repaid even by every possiblesentiment of filial regard on mine, that the satisfaction I shallexperience if my Publication be favourably received by the world, willnot proceed from the mere gratification of my self-love, but from theconviction I shall feel that my success as an Author is productive ofpleasure to you.
AMELIA OPIE.
Berners Street,
1800.
THE FATHER AND DAUGHTER.
BY MRS. OPIE.
TO THE READER.
It is not without considerable apprehension that I offer myself as anavowed Author at the bar of public opinion,—and that apprehension isheightened by its being the general custom to give indiscriminately thename of Novel to every thing in Prose that comes in the shape of aStory, however simple it be in its construction, and humble in itspretensions.
By this means, the following Publication is in danger of being tried bya standard according to which it was never intended to be made, and tobe criticized for wanting those merits which