guine may be the woman who is to-day the acknowledged
belle of a fashionable house of ill-fame, her doom is sure. Would you
see her seven years hence, should she live that long, you must seek her
among the living corpses of the Water street dens.

"The wages of sin is death!" Never were truer words written. Ask any
one whose duties have called him into constant contact with the shadowy
side of city life, and he will tell you that there is no escape from the
doom of the fallen women. Let no woman deceive herself. Once entered
upon a life of shame, however brilliant the opening may be, the end is
certain, unless she anticipates it by suicide. The longer her life, the
greater her suffering. It is very hard for a woman to reform from such a
life. Not one in a hundred feels the desire to reform. Everything is
against her. Her mode of life is utterly destructive of her better
nature, her higher impulses. There is but one means of safety. Avoid
the first step. There is no turning back, when once a woman enters upon
the downward path. "The wages of sin is death!"--death in its most awful
form.

It is generally very hard to learn the true history of these
unfortunates. As a rule, they have lively imaginations, and rarely
confine themselves to facts. All wish to excite the sympathy of those to
whom they speak, and make themselves as irresponsible for their fall as
possible. It is safe to assert that the truly unfortunate are the
exceptions. Women of cultivation and refinement are exceptionally rare
in this grade of life. The majority were of humble position originally,
and either deliberately adopted or allowed themselves to be led into the
life as a means of escaping poverty and gratifying a love for fine
clothes and display. The greater part of these women begin their careers
at second and third class houses, and, as a matter of course, their
descent into the depths is all the more rapid. Very many are led astray
through their ignorance, and by the persuasions of their acquaintances
engaged in the same wretched business. The proprietors of these houses,
of every class, spare no pains to draw into their nets all the victims
that can he ensnared. They have their agents scattered all over the
country, who use every means to tempt young girls to come to the great
city to engage in this life of shame. They promise them money, fine
clothes, ease, and an elegant home. The seminaries and rural districts
of the