tempestuous ocean, where mine has been wrecked and lost for ever;
you have been more fortunate--you are united to a man of honour and
humanity, united by the most sacred ties, respected, esteemed, and
admired, and surrounded by innumerable blessings of which I am bereaved,
enjoying those pleasures which have fled my bosom never to return; alas!
sorrow and deep regret have taken their place. Behold me, Madam, a poor
forsaken wanderer, who has no where to lay her weary head, wherewith to
supply the wants of nature, or to shield her from the inclemency of the
weather. To you I sue, to you I look for pity and relief. I ask not to
be received as an intimate or an equal; only for charity's sweet sake
receive me into your hospitable mansion, allot me the meanest apartment
in it, and let me breath out my soul in prayers for your happiness; I
cannot, I feel I cannot long bear up under the accumulated woes that
pour in upon me; but oh! my dear Madam, for the love of heaven suffer me
not to expire in the street; and when I am at peace, as soon I shall be,
extend your compassion to my helpless offspring, should it please heaven
that it should survive its unhappy mother. A gleam of joy breaks in on
my benighted soul while I reflect that you cannot, will not refuse your
protection to the heart-broken. CHARLOTTE."

When Charlotte had finished this letter, late as it was in the
afternoon, and though the snow began to fall very fast, she tied up a
few necessaries which she had prepared against her expected confinement,
and terrified lest she should be again exposed to the insults of her
barbarous landlady, more dreadful to her wounded spirit than either
storm or darkness, she set forward for New-York.

It may be asked by those, who, in a work of this kind, love to cavil at
every trifling omission, whether Charlotte did not possess any valuable
of which she could have disposed, and by that means have supported