New-York daily tribune., 1844-08-06

For oh! they lived but is is t the round
OF shameiessneu and sin'
To tie Edacr If The Tribune:
There are scenes in Lifes drama, that make
the unreal scenes of fiction and the stage vanish
like the morning mist Attached to the Peni-
tertiary on Blackwell's Island, some thirty rods
distant, is Hospital for the sick, devoted e5clu-
sively 10 females There many other places
in and about Ncw-York where the tenants seem
to be but one remove from the brink of perditon
but here, in the majority of cases, they seem not
only to have foretaste Of eternal death, but to
have already barred the heart to the cravings Of
the undying worm.
This building is sustained at the public expense,
and affords the only asylum found in our city for
the miserable slave OF sin, who, when overtaken
by disease, would, bnt for this refuge, die upon
the sidewalk An appropriate motto 10 be In
scribed upon its walls would be the texts found
in Prov. Y. II, 12 "And thou mourn at the last,
when thy flesh and thy body are consumed, and
say, How have | hated instruction and my heart
despised reoroofp" There are at the present
time one hundred and t,oenty fire inmates, whose
condition, whether considered physically or mo-
rally, is truly deplorabe. Accompanied by a
number Of ladies called thiher for benevolent pur-
poses, we recently passed through the several
wards, distributing tracts TO those able to read
them, and convcrsing with the poor invallds as
we had opportunity.
In ono corner nurse, clad in the habliments
of the Prison, was attending to the wants of an
almost dying consumptivc-yet in her teens
whose whole appearance assured US that youth and
life had been sacrificed at the shrine Of vice. Ex-
trcmc debility and mental alteration indicated
that, for her, all hope of aid from earth or heaven,
was gone. Not far from her sat convalescent,
perfectly Indifferent to what was passing, amusing
herself with reading q vile French novel. She
was urged to lay aside such polluting trash, for
the Bible, and other better books to which she re-
Piled, 1T IS very interestng;" but was finally
persuaded TO part with 1t for promised equlva-
lent. The tendency Of such reading was ex-
paiped. to the group around her, and the book
committed to the flames in their presence. The
Christian counsel and admontion impaired by
some of the visitors fastened many eyes upon us,
and in several cases fearful tenderness assured
us that there was yet one chord in their hearts
that might be touched.
A Christian mother, providentally with us from
abroad, addressed few words to one whose
countenance expressed superior intelligence As
she mentioned the name Of Jesus, the poor crea
ture seemed overcome by strong emotions and
IL harh hoIo
terogated kindly as to the cause Of this burst
of feeling. She hesitatcd, continuing TO weep,
but soon said, ~ have not always been as you
see me-far from it-I have had the kindest and
the best of parents-I was their favorite My
father was clergyman of Philadelphia, univer-
sally esteemed. He has brother, clergyman,
now President of a Southern Theological Senn-
sry. had devoted, praying mother. Little
did she think she would raise child who would
come to this Oh-if had followed her coun.
sci and example l should then have been saved !"
These and similar expressions were made as from
bursting heart, and the account she gave Of the
mental agony she had endured during the seven
months she had been confined within those hated
walls drew tears from many eyes. AT first she
seemed unwilling to give her name ON account Of
her worthy relatives but at length consented,
making no objections to our communicating with
them in her behalf. She confessed that in her
career of sin she had been for some time an act
rcss upon the stage-but said that early impres.
sons and early instruction had followed her at
every step, and she sometimes dared to hope that,
in answer to her parents prayers, she might yet
find mercy, though the chief Of sinners.
Her language and manners convinced us OF
the truth of her statement, that she had enjoyed
the advantages of education and moved in good
society-and our painful interview impressed most
deeply on our minds the great truth whatsoever
man soweth that shall he also reap"
PRISON VISITORS.
.Ns,O- York July 3Ota, 1914.
LUCKY EscArE.-Yesterday afternoon, as an
Irishman was walking across Chatham-square
with table on his head, he was run down by a
hackney coach, and one of the horses treadlng
both feet on his breast, and both wheels passing
over his head, it was supposed that he was dead
The screams Of his wife, who was with him,
brought number of persons to the spot, when to
their astonishment, the man rose up without as
sistance and walked off to an apothecarys TO get
blsd, seemingly very little hurt by the heavy pres
sure he had received.
/ FIFTH CONGRESSIONAL DIsTRIcT.-The Wings
of this District rally in Mass meeting this erening
Ii. Grand street, fronting the BROADWAY HOUSE. J.
A. OvERroS, Of Georgia; Hon. W. L. DAYTON Of
Ncw-Jersey; II. G. WHEATON of Albany; }. l..
WHITE, late of Indiana, and other gentlemen, will
address the meeting. The Glec Club OF the l4th
Ward will lend their music 10 the occasion, aided
by the Ashland Glee Clubs. Broadway House will
be illuminated, and the whole scene will be such as
may be expected from the ndomi'able Wings OF that
District.
The Clay Club of the l4th Ward have the ar
rangement OF Ibis meeting, and all local and minor