Page:Magdalen, or, The history of a reform'd prostitute.pdf/9



LETTER SECOND.

The of a MAGDALEN.

Man, the lawless libertine may rove Free and unquestion'd, thro' the wilds of love: While woman, sense and nature's easy fool, If poor weak woman swerve from virtue's rule, Ruin ensues, reproach and endless shame; And one false step entirly damns her fame. In vain with tears the loss she may deplore; In vain look back to what she was before; She sets, like stars that fall, to rise no more.

author:Nicholas Rowe SIR,

AM much obliged to you for giving my poor performance a place in your paper; and upon that encouragement, I take the liberty once more to trouble you. I have a plain and artless tale to deliver; and I deliver it only to shew, that pity and relief may not improperly be extended to unhappy objects like myself. Parents too, perhaps, may learn some instruction from my story.

I am the daughter of a tradesman in this city: my father, though engaged in a reputable and advantageous business, had yet no right to the privileges of a gentleman; but