The Sun.
London, England, 1864-06-18 00:00:00

good ground for expecting that the subject has been
grappled with in a competent manner, and that
there will dawn at last a ray of hope on the dark•
ened toil of that much-efilicted race, the needle-
women and apprentice. It is a disgrace to all civil-
isation, a blot on our refinement, and a scandal on
our benevolence that for so long a period these
"crying evils," as Lord SHAFTESBURY has aptly de-
nominated them, should have been rebuked to exist
without a remedy. Th© indifference which has been
so strikingly manifested was repulsed in stirring
words by a master mind. It is many years since
HOOD addressed this impressive language to the
hosts of unthinking individuals who cared only for
the work and thought nothing of the worker—
"It is not linen you're Wearing out,

But human crelturea' liv€B,"

This outburst of genuine feeling was warmly
applauded at the time, but what eff:c:
did it produce. How many toilworn, ground
down fellow-mortals have since passed to GOD'S
judgment seat to bear witness to the cruelty and
cold-heartedness of their brethren on the earth. It
is a distressing picture to dwell upon, and there-
fore people adopt the easiest plan, they put it aside;
but those who suffer their names to figure as the
patrons of charitable institutions, and do their
best or rather their worst to propagate the ills of
the sempstress or the tailor are deceivers in the
truest sense of the term. Nov that the ques•
tion has been again mooted, it is to be trusted
that attention will be drawn to it, and that some
remedial measures will be devised. Lord SHAFTES-
BURY gavo a practical hint, when he remarked that
if the " Legislature had wisdom enough to pass
good sanitary laws, and compel their adoption by
a system of inspectorship, the burden upon the
taxes of this country would be reduced by at least
one-third in the course of the next five years."
This is perfecetly trite, and perhaps this aspect of
the question may attract the attention of those who
otherwise would have let it alone. The fiscal con-
sideration will be thought of when the claims of
justice and the voice of charity may plead in vain.
" The tender for another's pain, the unfeeling for
his own," is often verified with too much exactitude.
There exists, then, every inducement to enforce the
subject of the needlewomen of London upon the
attention of the Legislature, and the time has
surely come.when the question will meet with due
regard. The right.nainded must reflect that they
did incur a very fearful responsibility if they any
longer neglect the call of suffering humanity,
which from many a crowded room and many a
bed of sickness exhorts them to lend their aid and
provide a remedy.

Her Majesty's Theatre.

SIGNOR ARDITI'S CONCERT.
This popular composer gave a grand morning
concert yesterday at her Majesty's Theatre, and, as
might have been expected, the house was crowded
with a brilliant and fashionable audience. The
programme was long and sufficiently varied to en-
chain the attention despite its length. It opened
with a selection from Rossini's exauisite " Stabat
Mater," in which Madame Lemmens-Sherringtou,
Mdlle. Titiens, with Signori Gardoni and Giuglini
took part. Then followed Beethoven's megniiiceet
overture "Leonora," and a selection from " Robert
le Diable," and some miscellaneous music, in which
the concert giver's nompositione naturally occupied
a prominent place. Signor Uriuglini has long since
made the charming Rornanza "Cola Nativi" popue
lar, and it lost none of its wonted effect when he
sang it yesterde-y. A duet, "Il desk.," also one of
Signor Arditi's compositions, was sung for the first
time by Madame Sherrington and Mdlle. Trebelli.
Mdlle. Titiens, who was in excellent voice, sang
" L'Ardita" with so much success that a shower of
bouquets accompanied the applause. The concert
was rich in instrumentalists, for 31-acianie Ara.
bella Goddard played Mend-,Esohn
in G minor with her 's concerto
part in a duet fe,e usual taste, and took
violin and pianoforte with
Mr CarroduF which was of a very high order,
and thP., more effective from not being too long.
Georgi and Miss Constance Georgi obtained
the only encore in a duet from Auber's charming
opera "Les Diamons de la Couronne," and the
compliment was certainly well deserved. A selec-
tion from "Don Giovanni" was well sung by some
of the junior performers, and the last feature in the
long programme was a selection from Nicolai's
opera of "Falstaff," which varied the performance
by the introduction of an incidental ballet. We
must net omit to mention "La Garibaldina,"
composed by Signor Arditi for the reception of the
Italian patriot at the Crystal Palace, bat it was
scarcely so suitable for an operatic performance.
There was one especially gratifying feature in the
concert which all real concert lovers must have
appreciated. There was not a single disappoint-
ment in the long list of eminent singers, and con-
sequently the audience was spared the annoyance
so common on times grand occasions. There was
certainly no lack of performers nor tameness in the
performances, and altogether the concert was an
unqualified success. Signor Arditi did not fall into
the error of some concert givers, and only summon
to his aid foreign artistes, for native talent was
strongly represented. Besides Madame Sherring-
ton and Madame Goddard, there was Mr. Santley,
who gave Arditi's " Stirrup Cup" with great spirit
and success. The concert was not over until a late
hour in the afternoon, when the audience dispersed
apparently well satisfied with the entertainment,
for, thanks to the variety of the programme, it was
less tedious than such lengthened concerts often
are, and must certainly be ranked among the
musical successes of tt e season.

SIR ROWLAND HILL'S PRECURSORS !—Ralph
Allen of Bath (the " Allworthy of 'lons Jones) the
friend of Pope, Fielding, Arbuthnot, &e , and the original
owner of Prior Park, and John Palmer (the apostle of the
great mail-coach era), were the principal pioneers of Sir
Rowland Hill during the last century. It is scarcely credi-
ble how limited the communication was between towns of
even the largest size and importance before the establish-
ment of the mail-coach system. The Treasury Minute for
its commencement was dated in July, 1784. At that time
a single letter-carrier sufficed for Liverpool. The London
letter-bag had been known to arrive in Edinburgh scarcely
forty years before) (1745) with but one letter, addressed to
the Bri,ish Linen Company. And about the same time
the Edinburgh mail is said to have arrived in London con-
taining but one letter, addressed to Sir "William Pulteney,
the banker. The coach began at six miles in an hour, but
the official rata of speed was by-and-by advanced to eight,
nine, and at last ten miles. When the last advance was
made, the most dismal forebodings were entertained among
the gloomier portion of the public as to the results of thus
tempting Providence. Lord Chancellor Campbell relates
that he was frequently warned against travelling in Palmer's
mail coaches, on account of the fearful rate at which they
flew, and instances were alleged of persons having died of
apoplexy from the rapidity of the motion. However, the
stimulus which the new coaches imparted to the service
exceeded Palmer's most sanguine expectations. Three hun-
dred and eighty towns, which had before had but three
deliveries of letters in the week, now received one daily.
The Edinburgh coach required less time by sixty hours to
travel from London, and there was a corresponding reduc•
tion between towns at shorter distances. In the year 1784
the net revenue of the Post• office was about £250,000. By
1814, the proceeds had increased sixfold, reaching the sum
of a million and a half sterling.
As a fitting supplement to the foregoing, we may
add the following :—There is now a total of 14,776
public receptacles for letters in the United Kingdom, which
is more by ten thousand than the total number before the
establishment of penny postage in 1840. The gross number
of letters passing through the Post-office during 1863 was
642 millions, making no less than 22 to each person in the
United Kingdom. As contrasted with the last year of dear
postage, the number of letters show en eightfold in-
crease. The distance over which the mails travel with
this enormous amount of correspondence, in the TJnited
Kingdom alone, is nearly 160,000 miles per day. Of the
mails conveyed by railway a distance of 50,000 miles is ac-
complished every working day-72,000 miles per diem are
traversed en foot—and the rest are carried by mail coaches,
mail carts, and steamboats. Of the enormous gross revenue
for 1863, which was stated before as £3,800,000, England
contributed upwards of three millians ; and it should be
added that this sum is exclusive of £130,000 arising from
newspaper stamps, the charges for which are collected by
the Commissioners of inland Revenue.