A woman was
pointed out who bore a very bad character, as hardened, sulky, and
impenetrable. She was in bad health and rapidly failing. Margaret
requested to be left alone with her; and to her question, 'Are you
'willing to die?' the woman answered, "Yes;" adding, with her usual
bitterness, "not on religious grounds, though." 'That is well,--to
understand yourself,' was Margaret's rejoinder. She then began to
talk with her about her health, and her few comforts, until the
conversation deepened in interest. At length, as Margaret rose to
go, she said: 'Is there not anything I can do 'for you?' The woman
replied: "I should be glad if you will pray with me."
The condition of these wretched beings was brought the more home to
her heart, as the buildings were directly in sight from Mr. Greeley's
house, at Turtle Bay, where Margaret, on her arrival, went to reside.
'Seven hundred females,' she writes,
'are now confined in the Penitentiary opposite this point.
We can pass over in a boat in a few minutes. I mean to visit,
talk, and read with them. I have always felt great interest in
those women who are trampled in the mud to gratify the brute
appetites of men, and wished that I might be brought naturally
into contact with them.
Pages:
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209