But his hopefulness and patience proved of no avail in this instance.  The wreck was too complete to admit of repair.  The poor creature occasionally struggled hard to do better; but her constitution was destroyed by vice and hardship; her feelings were blunted by suffering, and her naturally bright faculties were stupified by opium.  After she left the Asylum, she lived with a family in the country for awhile; but the old habits returned, and destroyed what little strength she had left.  The last I knew of her she was on Blackwell’s Island; and she will probably never leave it, till she goes where the weary are at rest.

An uncommon degree of interest was excited in Friend Hopper’s mind by the sufferings of another individual, whom I will call Julia Peters.  She was born of respectable parents, and was carefully tended in her early years.  Her mother was a prudent, religious-minded woman; but she died when Julia was twelve years old.  The father soon after took to drinking and gambling, and spent all the property he possessed.  His daughter was thus brought into the midst of profligate associates, at an age when impulses are strong, and the principles unformed.  She led a vicious life for several years, and during a fit of intoxication married a worthless, dissipated fellow.  When she was eighteen years old, she was imprisoned for perjury.  The case appeared doubtful at the time, and from circumstances, which afterward came to light, it is supposed that she was not guilty of the alleged crime.  The jury could not agree on the first trial, and she remained in jail two years, awaiting a decision of her case.  She was at last pronounced guilty; and feeling that injustice was done her, she made use of violent and disrespectful language to the court.  This probably increased the prejudice against her; for she was sentenced to Sing Sing prison for the long term of fourteen years.  She was naturally intelligent, active and energetic; and the limitations of a prison had a worse effect upon her, than they would have had on a more stolid temperament.  In the course of a year or two, her mind began to sink under the pressure, and finally exhibited signs of melancholy insanity.  Friend Hopper had an interview with her soon after she was conveyed to Sing Sing, and found her in a state of deep dejection.  She afterward became completely deranged, and was removed to the Lunatic Asylum at Bloomingdale.  He and his wife visited her there, and found her in a state of temporary rationality.  Her manners were quiet and pleasing, and she appeared exceedingly gratified to see them.  The superintendent granted permission to take her with them in a walk through the grounds, and she enjoyed this little excursion very highly.  But when one of the company remarked that it was a very pleasant place, she sighed deeply, and replied, “Yes, it is a pleasant place to those who can leave it.  But chains are chains, though they are made of gold; and mine grow heavier every day.”