"'Take me from this place, Mr. England; take me from this place!'
"After demanding Mary's trunk, which was delivered to him, with all her things, Mr. England immediately took the rescued girl to a place of safety.
"Mary's brother had died, as she soon learned, while she was on her voyage to meet him. But a young New York lawyer saw her and loved her, and wooed her, and won her, and married her, and she is now living, happy and prosperous, in Brooklyn.
"But suppose there had been no Mr. England in the case. Or, suppose Mr. England had gone to Rhode Island, without stopping to look after this homeless young stranger!
"Why, then, she would have met her wretched doom in that William street den, and been one of the class about, whom this article is written."
In the July number of _Packard's Monthly_, an able and sprightly magazine, published in this city, there appeared an article by Mr. Oliver Dyer, entitled "The Wickedest Man in New York." It was a lengthy and interesting account of a dance-house, carried on at No. 304 Water street--one of the vilest sections of the city--by one John Allen, and of the proprietor himself. As many of our readers may not have seen this article, we give portions of it, referring them to the magazine for the rest.
The Wickedest Man in New York goes by the name of John Allen. He lives at No. 304 Water street. He keeps a dance-house there. He is about forty-five years old. He is _reputed_ to be worth one hundred thousand dollars, more or less, and is _known_ to be worth over seventy thousand dollars. He has three brothers, who are clergymen--two of them being Presbyterians, and the other a Baptist--and is reported to have once been a minister of the Gospel himself. He is known formerly to have been a school teacher, and is a man of education and fine natural powers; was originally a good man; and is yet a 'good fellow' in many respects. Were it not for his good qualities he never could have attained unto the bad eminence of being the Wickedest Man in New York.
Take him for all in all, our Wickedest Man is a phenomenon. He reads the Bible to his dance-house girls, and his favorite papers are the New York _Observer_ and the _Independent_. He takes them regularly, and _reads_ them. We have repeatedly seen them lying on the counter of his bar-room, amid decanters and glasses, along with the daily _Herald_ and the _Sun_. We have also seen a dozen copies of the _Little Wanderer's Friend_ at a time scattered about his place, for he takes an interest in mission work, and 'goes in' generally for progress for other people.