ABSTRACT
Every thing being once more quiet, I took my seat in an obscure corner, and began to examine the variety of wretchedness around me. Every countenance exhibited marks of guilt or despondency; every tongue uttered either a prayer for liberty, or an execration, which proclaimed the most hardened depravity. Near my feet, on the ground, sat a female, whose features interested me, and whose manner excited my curiosity. She appeared to be about six-and-twenty years of age; her form was beautifully proportioned, but her face was impressed with the lines of premature decay, such as affliction traces, before the hand of Time sets its seal on the fragile works of Nature. I gazed on her with more than ordinary attention; her downcast eyes dropped frequent tears upon her bosom; her dishevelled hair half veiled her cheek, where an artificial bloom served to contrast the pale and quivering lip, from which no murmur of complaint proceeded.
