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themselves and the prosperity of their only child (for I was such a one) to an eminent degree. They were kind and indulgent; and oh how often have I mourned the blighting influence of that kindness and indulgence, for had they been more rigid in enforcing the principles of honor and virtue on my youthful heart, how different might now have been my lot! In short, sir, I was suffered to have my own may; my childish propensities, however ridiculous, always gratified, and I acknowledged no authority superior to my slightest wish. In this way, sir, I was raised to my thirteenth year, at which time it was my misfortune to lose my parents. My grief was severe, but of short duration. The time which intervened between the one just mentioned, and my seventeenth, was spent for the most at school, and affords no matter particularly applicable to my object in writing. I may mention, however, that though I made some progress in literary pursuits, my moral character was still the same. was, at this time, under the guardianship of an amiable and respected relation, who spared no pains to make me happy and contented. But like my parents, he was too indulgent and too regardless of virtuous propriety. As is usual with wealthy females of my age, I had a great many pretended admirers, some of whom I was warmly persuaded by my uncle to accept, but I willfully rejected his advice, for I had always looked upon matrimony as a subject in which the right of choice was vested in no one but those immediately interested. Towards the latter part of my eighteenth year, I became acquainted with an individual, who forms the most conspicuous personage in my narrative. His exterior accomplishments were unequalled by any I had ever seen. He soon professed an attachment for me, and was for some time assiduous, though delicate and respectful in his attentions, and the consequence was a matrimonial engagement. My uncle, for the first time in his life, opposed me, and urged the necessity of a more extensive acquaintance, for as regarded character he might be considered an entire stranger. I urged the impossibility of a depraved and villainous heart being shrouded by so polished an exterior, and spoke of the representation he gave of himself as being good evidence to my mind in his favor. My uncle still persisted in his opposition, and upon my expressing my determination in no very qualified terms, he threatened to use authority to induce me to obedience. From that moment my resolution was fixed. I went to my room, and having written a note, despatched it to a neighboring village, where he then resided, desiring an interview with him at a convenient place designated in the note. He came at the appointed time. Feeling disposed to test his affection as much as possible, I stated to him the opposition of my uncle, and apparently showed a disposition to obey his (my uncle's) will. My lover became passionate, vowed he could not but be the most miserable of men without me, and finally proposed a clandestine union, to which, after some mere nominal objections, I acceded. Three days after this we were united at a neighbor's house, whose interest we had secured. As all my relations were at enmity with my husband, he proposed moving to his native state, (Georgia) to which I agreed. The wealth which my father had industriously accumulated No. I.-JAN. 1832.

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for the benefit of his child, was converted into cash, at a reduced price, and in a month we set off for Georgia. By this time I had discovered many traits in the disposition of my husband, which were very ominous of much future domestic discord. He on the slightest occasions manifested more passion than I had at first thought him at all capable of feeling; and when one circumstance vexed him he was in an ill humor with every thing else that surrounded him. I soon began to lead an unhappy life, and by the time we reached Charleston, South Carolina, I felt perfectly miserable; I saw clearly that I had been too precipitate, for though I thought then that I truly loved, I now felt convinced that my love depended on the frailty of passion, rather than the stability of reason; and what was worse, I felt convinced that I was not loved in the slightest degree. After our arrival in Charleston, Mr. L (for such was my husband's name) proposed one evening to go to the theatre; accordingly we went. We had scarcely taken our seats when I was interrupted by a loud scream from an adjoining one, and on looking up beheld a lady fast hold of Mr. L's arm. Surprised at this circumstance, I looked at Mr. L-, and discovered him in great confusion. He ́ spoke to the female above alluded to in a low voice, but not so low as to prevent me from hearing: "for heaven's sake do not expose yourself Maria, but take your seat and tell me why you are in Charleston." The lady obeyed, and a conversation took place between them, the particulars of which satisfied me that some intimate relationship existed between them. The lady's agitation was very violent during the conversation, which was interrupted by a gentleman's leading her from the theatre.

I felt an unaccountable presage of impending misfortune as I noticed the discomposure of Mr. L-, and my feelings so overpowered me that I requested him to permit me to return to our lodgings, to which he accompanied me. He left me at the door, with a promise to return in an hour or two. The whole night, however, was spent in undescribable misery, without witnessing his return. The next morning found me in a restless and miserable condition; but unhappy as I was, I was yet doomed to suffer more. Early in the morning a note was brought me by a waiter, the purport of which was so paralyzing to my feelings, that insensibility reigned over my faculties until evening. The following is a copy :

"MADAM-If I am rightly informed, you are miserable; nothing but sheer justice to yourself and me could induce me to make you more so. Mr. L-is the son of parents once wealthy and respectable; they have long since been laid in the silent grave. His propensities in early life were decidedly of a vicious and dissipated nature; and his large patrimony was consequently squandered in gratifying them but previous to this time (pardon me for speaking the plain unvarnished truth) I became his wife.”

It is useless for me to copy the remaining part of the letter; suffice it to say, that as I recovered from the insensibility into which this hope-destroying news had thrown me, I determined to return to

my relations in North Carolina, and if possible to do so without the knowledge of the villain who had wronged me, for a variety of circumstances, unnecessary to mention here, convinced me that the information conveyed in the note last alluded to, was rigidly correct. Whilst making preparations, I reflected that I was entirely destitute of funds; for the degraded being with whom I had been associating, held in possession that which was rightly mine: I therefore concluded to wait until he should return, and endeavor to operate on his conscience so as to make him restore me as far as was in his power the rights of which he had robbed me, but in this I was likewise doomed to disappointment, for after waiting until noon the following day, in the place of Mr. L- I received a letter from him, the particulars of which not only went to corroborate the information I had before received, but also announced to me that I need never expect to see him again, and that I must, to use his own words, "shift for myself."

Judge, sir, of the feelings which then raged within my bosom. My early education was not of that kind which could enable me to withstand the winds of adversity, even to a slight extent : and what must have been the tumult of passion by which I was exercised in this direful hour, and what added to my misery, was the degradation of feeling I should suffer on the knowledge of my situation being communicated to my relations. This last was more than I thought I could bear, but what could I do? A variety of expedients suggested themselves to my mind, but were alike equally unsatisfactory. The idea of suicide flashed before me, but I shuddered when I reflected on the dread hereafter. I recoiled with horror from the prospect of plunging into eternity unprepared and uncalled for by the author of my soul's existence. To remain where I was, was impossible, for I did not possess the means of defraying my boarding expenses.

These reflections produced a degree of despair which you are better able to conceive than I to describe. Considering myself degraded and worthless, not fit for society, and having no possible means of receiving the approbation of respectable individuals, in an evil hour I determined on adopting a course of life which I am now convinced years of penitential virtue can never sufficiently lament. To be plain, sir, I have now spent three years in open prostitution; but they have been three years of misery to me. Repentance would sometimes urge a return to the paths of virtue, but some evil influence would represent it as impossible, and I would resort to the inebriating bowl to drown such (to me) unpleasant thoughts.

Thus, sir, you are furnished with a brief and unconnected history of that part of my life in which my crimes and misfortunes figure most conspicuously. A few weeks since I received the first annual report of the Magdalen Society, and recognize in it an institution capable of doing much good. And having been long convinced of the error of my ways, and having (I hope) a heartfelt desire to reform, and also knowing of no better opportunity of doing so than that which is afforded me through the medium of that society, I hope you will heed my humble request, and receive me as a member. I

am conscious that the distance which I am from you will militate against my project; but I am authorized to state that the reception of a letter from you directed to this place, will not only insure my membership free of expense as to conveyance there, but that of four other females, who are equally desirous of reforming their lives. A benevolent individual of this place suggested to me the propriety of addressing you, and is willing to defray all the expenses contingent to our becoming members.

An early answer to this, Rev. sir, will afford me much satisfaction. In your decision upon my request, I hope you will reflect upon the misery of my circumstances, and the utter desolation in which I shall be eternally involved in case of a refusal. Your's with respect,

M. L.

REV. J. R. MCDOWALL.

No. 34.

In this connection it may be proper to place the address to the public, in behalf of the NEW YORK MAGDALEN ASYLUM, made by its board of directors, in the month of October, 1831.

ADDRESS.

When any institution of benevolence is presented to the public for the purpose of securing their countenance and co-operation, they may justly claim the right of being fully satisfied, in respect to the nature of the object to be accomplished-the wisdom of the plan of operation—and the fitness, and efficiency, of the means employed in the execution. It is therefore incumbent on every such association, to deal fairly and candidly with the community; to answer all sober and reasonable inquiries to receive with proper deference whatever suggestions may be made-and, in a word, as far as possible, to have its whole design and its principles of action, thoroughly understood and properly appreciated. It is with such views of what is due to the public and to the enterprise in which they have embarked, that the board of directors of the New York Magdalen Society address the enlightened and philanthropic of their fellow-citizens, in behalf of an undertaking, which, they think, must approve itself to every friend of humanity-to every well-wisher of society.

The report of our executive committee, containing various facts and statements, intended to exhibit to the benevolent the actual condi tion of a class of unhappy beings, who, however culpable they may be, are yet objects of compassion, has been thought exceptionable by many whose judgment is worthy of respect, and by some, has been subjected to unsparing censure. We deem it proper, therefore, now that the excitement which it occasioned has in some measure passed away, to state the circumstances under which it was prepared, and the end it was intended to attain.

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The institution having been established by individual charity and effort, and thus sustained till it had come into successful operation, and the call for an extension of its means of doing good, having become urgent, it was felt to be necessary to enlist in its behalf the liberality and co-operation of the virtuous and benevolent public. The report was therefore prepared from documents and facts furnished by different members of the committee, and by the chaplain of the institution, and such parts of it as it was supposed might with propriety be presented to a promiscuous assembly, were read to a numerous and apparantly deeply interested audience. It was never offered for sale by the committee, and was intended only to be placed in the hands of the more influential class of citizens, in order to awaken their attention to the importance of the enterprise.*

In regard to the statements and calculations of the report, the correctness of which has been doubted, and in some instances denied, it may be remarked--that owing to the materials having been drawn from various sources, and to the haste with which it was prepared, there are some inaccuracies in the statistics and some ambiguities of expression. For example, an examination of the data of the calculation on page 22, shows that the amount instead of three millions of dollars should be a little more than one and a half; and of course the six millions on the same page should have been only three. These are entirely chirographical mistakes, and there are several passages which from a want of perspicuity, or from some other reason, have been greatly misapprehended. Then it must be obvious to all, that perfect accuracy in estimates of this description is not to be expected. They are, after all, only a judgment of probabilities. But the question must very naturally suggest itself, whether those who have had opportunities of personal observation, who have in some degree measured the extent of the evil, should not be better judges in the case, than those who have never bestowed a moment's attention upon the subject. Many have here unquestionably deceived themselves by relying on calculations founded on the census of our population. That such a calculation can determine nothing, must be obvious to every candid mind, for the following reasons: First, that a very great number of the class of persons in question, are entirely migratory in their habits, and of course would never give their names as residents; and, secondly, that since a disclosure might render them liable to indictment, those who keep houses of ill-fame, are known to practice deception, and to conceal the number of their inmates from those to whom it is not their interest to be communicative. From the influence of these two causes, it happens that a large portion of these unhappy beings, constitute a kind of surplus population, which are included in no general census. The board therefore, in view of facts which have come under their observation, feel themselves sustained in the opinion, that the aggregate of those involved in this debasing vice is immensely larger than many are willing to admit. If, however, the evidence upon which this opinion rests

* It is worthy of remark, that the indiscriminite circulation of the report among the young and the lower classes of society, has been done wholly through the influence of those who have so loudly deprecated its effects on the public morals.