ably tidy in her habits. She kept the kitchen extremely neat, and
loved to decorate it with little ornaments, especially with flowers.
Poor shattered soul! Who can tell into what blossom of poetry that
little germ might have expanded, if it had been kindly nurtured under
gentle and refining influences? She behaved very well for several
months, and often expressed gratitude that she could now feel as if she
had a home. Friend Hopper took great interest in her, and had strong
hopes that she would become a respectable woman. Before a year expired,
she relapsed into intemperate habits for a time; but he overlooked it,
and encouraged her to forget it. As she often expressed a great desire
to see her cousins in Albany, he called upon them, and told the story of
her reformation. They sent some little presents, accompanied with
friendly messages, and after a while invited her to visit them. For a
time, it seemed as if the excursion had done her good, both physically
and mentally; but the sight of respectable relatives, with husbands and
children, made her realize more fully the utter loneliness of her own
position. She used opium in large quantities, and had dreadful fits in
consequence. Sometimes, she stole out of the house in the evening, and
was taken up by the police in a state of intoxication. When she
recovered her senses, she would be very humble, and during an interval
of weeks, or months, would make an effort to behave extremely well. I
forget how often Friend Hopper received her back, after she had spent
the night in the Station House; but it was many, many times. His
patience held out long after everybody else was completely weary. She
finally became so violent and ungovernable, and endangered the household
so much in her frantic fits, that even he felt the necessity of placing
her under the restraining influences of some public institution. The
Magdalen Asylum at Philadelphia consented to receive her, and after much
exhortation, she was persuaded to go. While she was there, his daughters
in that city called on her occasionally, at his request, and he and his
wife made her a visit. He wrote to her frequently, in the kindest and
most encouraging manner. In one of these epistles, he says: "I make
frequent inquiries concerning thee, and am generally told thou art
getting along _pretty_ well. Now I want to hear a different tale from
that. I want thy friends at the Asylum to be able to say, 'She is doing
_exceedingly_ well.