upations.
In 1826, she started _The Juvenile Miscellany_, as already mentioned,
said to be the first magazine expressly for children, in this country.
In it, first appeared many of her charming stories afterward gathered
up in little volumes entitled, "Flowers for Children."

In 1828, she was married to Mr. David Lee Child, then 34 years of age,
eight years older than herself. Whittier describes him, as a young and
able lawyer, a member of the Massachusetts legislature, and editor of
the _Massachusetts Journal_. Mr. Child graduated at Harvard in 1817
in the class with George Bancroft, Caleb Cushing, George B. Emerson,
and Samuel J. May. Between 1818 and 1824, he was in our diplomatic
service abroad under Hon. Alexander Everett, at that time, Charge
d'Affaires in the Netherlands. On his return to America, Mr. Child
studied law in Watertown where, at the house of a mutual friend, he
met Miss Lydia Maria Francis. She herself reports this interesting
event under date of Dec. 2, 1824. "Mr. Child dined with us in
Watertown. He possesses the rich fund of an intelligent traveller,
without the slightest tinge of a traveller's vanity. Spoke of the
tardy improvement of the useful arts in Spain and Italy." Nearly two
months pass, when we have this record: "Jan. 26, 1825. Saw Mr. Child
at Mr. Curtis's. He is the most gallant man that has lived since the
sixteenth century and needs nothing but helmet, shield, and
chain-armor to make him a complete knight of chivalry." Not all the
meetings are recorded, for, some weeks later, "March 3," we have this
entry, "One among the many delightful evenings spent with Mr. Child. I
do not know which to admire most, the vigor of his understanding or
the ready sparkle of his wit."

There can be no doubt that she thoroughly enjoyed these interviews,
and we shall have to discount the statement of any observer who
gathered a different impression. Mr. George Ticknor Curtis, at whose
home some of these interviews took place, was a boy of twelve, and may
have taken the play of wit between the parties too seriously. He says,
"At first Miss Francis did not like Mr. Child. Their intercourse was
mostly banter and mutual criticism. Observers said, 'Those two people
will end in marrying.' Miss Francis was not a beautiful girl in the
ordinary sense, but her complexion was good, her eyes were bright, her
mouth expressive and her teeth fine. She had a great deal of wit,
liked to use it, and did use it upon Mr. C