"Mr. and Mrs. Fairchild had three children, Lucy, Emilyand Henry."—Page 1.
Introduction
The History of Lucy, Emily, and Henry Fairchild was begun in 1818,nearly a century ago. The two little misses and their brother playedand did lessons, were naughty and good, happy and sorrowful, whenGeorge III. was still on the throne; when gentlemen wore blue coatswith brass buttons, knee-breeches, and woollen stockings; and ladieswere attired in short waists, low necks, and long ringlets. The Battleof Waterloo was quite a recent event; and the terror of "Boney" wasstill used by nursery maids to frighten their charges into goodbehaviour.
Perhaps some of those who take up this book and glance at itstitle-page are saying to themselves. We have plenty of stories aboutthe children of to-day—the children of the twentieth century, not ofthe early nineteenth. How should it interest us to read of these littleones of the time of our great-grandparents, whose lives were so dulland ideas so old-fashioned; who never played cricket or tennis, or wentto London or to the seaside, or rode bicycles, or did any of the thingswe do?
To anyone who is debating whether or no he will read the FairchildFamily, I would say, Try a chapter or two before you make up yourmind. It is not what people do, but what they are that makes theminteresting. True enough, Lucy, Emily and Henry led what we should callnowadays very dull lives; but they were by no means dull little peoplefor all that. We shall find them very living and real when we makeacquaintance with them. They tore their clothes, and lost their pets,and wanted the best things, and slapped each other when they disagreed.They had their good times and their bad times, their fun and frolic andtheir scrapes and naughtiness, just as children had long before theywere born and are having now, long, long after they are dead.
In fact, as we get to know them—and, I hope, to love them—we shallrealize, perhaps with wonder, how very like they are to the children ofto-day. If they took us by the hand and led us to their playroom, orinto "Henry's arbour" under the great trees, we should make friendswith them in five minutes, even though they wear long straight skirtsdown to their ankles and straw bonnets burying their little faces, andHenry is attired in a frock and pinafore, albeit he is eight years old.We should have glorious games with them, following the fleet Lucyrunning like a hare; we should kiss them when we went away, and reckonthem ever after among our friends.
And so, as we follow the History of the Fairchild Family we shallunderstand, better than we have yet done, how chi