I had endured
hardships, 'tis true--my whole life had been a series of such; and
when I looked forward, the prospect was not much bettered, but then
they were become habitual to me, and consequently I could bear them
with less difficulty. If one scheme of life should not succeed, I
could have recourse to another, and so to a third, veering about
to a thousand different shifts, according to the emergencies of
my fate, without forfeiting the dignity of my character beyond a
power of retrieving it, or subjecting myself wholly to the caprice
and barbarity of the world. On the other hand, she had known and
relished the sweets of prosperity, she had been brought up under
the wings of an indulgent parent, in all the delicacies to which
her sex and rank entitled her; and without any extravagance of
hope, entertained herself with the view of uninterrupted happiness
through the whole scene of life. How fatal then, how tormenting,
how intolerable, must her reverse of fortune be!--a reverse, that
not only robs her of these external comforts, and plunges her into
all the miseries of want, but also murders her peace of mind, and
entails upon her the curse of eternal infamy! Of all professions
I pronounced that of a courtesan the most deplorable, and her of
all courtesans the most unhappy.
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