s neck--thy brain
becomes dizzy, thy senses reel, and thy amorous soul bathes in a sea of
rapturous delight!

* * * * *

Truly, Frank Sydney, thou art a pretty fellow to prate about sallying
forth at midnight to do good to thy fellow creatures!--Here we find
thee, within an hour after thy departure from thy home, on an 'errand of
mercy,' embraced in the soft arms of a pretty wanton, and revelling in
the delights of voluptuousness. We might have portrayed thee as a
paragon of virtue and chastity; we might have described thee as
rejecting with holy horror the advances of that frail but exceedingly
fair young lady--we might have made a saint of thee, Frank. But we
prefer to depict human nature _as it is_ not _as it should
be_;--therefore we represent thee to be no better than thou art in
reality. Many will pardon thee for thy folly, Frank, and admit that it
was natural--very natural. Our hero did not return to his hotel until an
hour after daybreak. The interval was passed with the young lady of
frailty and beauty. He shared her couch; but neither of them slumbered,
for at Frank's request, his fair friend occupied the time in narrating
the particulars of her history, which we repeat in the succeeding
chapter.

CHAPTER II

_The Courtezan's story, showing some of the Sins of Religious
Professors--A carnal Preacher, a frail Mother, and a lustful Father--a
plan of revenge._

'My parents are persons of respectable standing in society;--they are
both members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and remarkably rigid in
their observance of the external forms and ceremonies of religion.
Family worship was always adhered to by them, as well as grace before
and after meals. They have ever been regarded as most exemplary and
pious people. I was their only child; and the first ten years of my life
were passed in much the same manner as those of other children of my sex
and condition. I attended school, and received a good education; and my
parents endeavored to instill the most pious precepts into my mind, to
the end, they said, that I might become a vessel of holiness to the
Lord. When I reached my twelfth year, a circumstance occurred which
materially diminished my belief in the sanctity and godliness of one of
my parents, and caused me to regard with suspicion and distrust, both
religion and its professors.

'It was the custom of the pastor of the church to which my parents
belonged, to make a w