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cessary to abstract or omit some of the Letters, in order to reduce the Bulk of the Whole.
Thus much in general. But it may not be amiss to add, in particular, that in the great Variety of Subjects which this Collection contains, it is one of the principal Views of the Publication,
To caution Parents against the undue Exertion of their natural Authority over their Children, in the great Article of Marriage:
And Children against preferring a Man of Pleasure to a Man of Probity, upon that dangerous, but too commonly received Notion, That a Reformed Rake makes the best Husband.
But as the Characters will not all appear in the Two First Volumes, it has been thought advisable, in order to give the Reader some further Idea of Them, and of the Work, to prefix
A brief
