"[B]ut the poor girl by thoughtless passion led astray, who, in parting with her honour, has forfeited the esteem of the very man to whom she has sacrificed every thing dear and valuable in life, feels his indifference in the fruit of her own folly, and laments her want of power to recall his lost affection; she knows there is no tie but honour, and that, in a man who has been guilty of seduction, is but very feeble: he may leave her in a moment to shame and want; he may marry and forsake her for ever; and should he, she has no redress, no friendly, soothing companion to pour into her wounded mind the balm of consolation, no benevolent hand to lead her back to the path of rectitude; she has disgraced her friends, forfeited the good opinion of the world, and undone her-self; she feels herself a poor solitary being in the midst of surrounding multitudes; shame bows her to the earth, remorse tears her distracted mind, and guilt, poverty, and disease close the dreadful scene: she sinks unnoticed to oblivion."
Charlotte: A Tale of Truth [Charlotte Temple]
Susanna Rowson, <u>Charlotte: A Tale of Truth</u> (London: Minerva Press, 1791). Republished in America: <u>Charlotte: A Tale of Truth</u> (Philadelphia: M. Carey, 1794). &lt;<a href="http://search.lib.virginia.edu/catalog/u826545">Link to UVA Special Collections</a>&gt; &lt;<a href="http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/etcbin/toccer-new2?id=RowChar.sgm&images=images/modeng&data=/texts/english/modeng/parsed&tag=public&part=all">Link to UVA E-Text Center</a>&gt;<br>
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Text from U.Va. edition. Reading in <u>Charlotte Temple and Lucy Temple</u>, ed. Ann Douglas (New York: Penguin, 1991).