The Sun.
London, England, 1863-06-23 00:00:00

that he is to bide his time, to act and move with
all due deliberation—to take as his motto, in effect,
the ancient device of the PLUNKETT'S, festina lente!
Things are beginning in fact to look about as
badly for General HOOKER on the Rappahanock,
for General BANKS on the Mississippi, and for
General GRANT before Vicksburg, as they are now
looking propitiously for General LEE at Fredericks-
burg, for General KIRBY SMITE( at Milliken's Bend,
for General PEMBERTON even in Vicksburg, and
for General JOHNSTONE—StiII vaguely, but for that
very reason the more formidably—somewhere !

It must be a matter of regret to all right judging
persons that the jury who were engaged to con-
sider the circumstances concerning the death of
MARY ANNE WALKLEY, should have decided in so
strange a manner, All the details that were eli-
cited tend to prove the correctness of the reports that
were at first circulated regarding this unhappy af-
fair. The words of the verdict prove either too
much or too little. They are that the "deceased
died of apoplexy, but there is too much reason to
fear that her death was greatly accelerated by work-
ing long hours in a crowded workroom, and sleep-
ing in a close badly ventilated bedroom." This is
too much for any jury to say, without calling in
question the conduct of those who authorise such
treatment of their employers. The hours of work
in themselves were shatheful, they would have been
too much for occasional pressure, but for a continu-
ance were really scandalous. From half-past six
in the morning until eleven at night, and sometimes
a much longer period was this poor girl condemned
to toil. There is something monstrous in the idea
of young girls being condemned to endure such an
infliction in the heart of a civilised city. There are
meetings constantly taking place to benefit the poor,
succour the distressed, and relieve the suffering,
but in the midst of these kind intentions and
earnest efforts the poor dressmaker's apprentice is
being slowly killed or rendered a hopeless invalid.
It seems that no one can or will help these sufferers.
It is no excuse for those whose life of fashion is the
cause of giving employment to the establishments
where they toil, to say that they know nothing of
it. They ought to know, and to institute inquiries
cor cerning the mode practised in these houses.
The laissez oiler style of procedere is often the
cause of great injustice and injury, but in this case
it results in positive cruelty. The account given
of the sleeping apartmen:s is, if possible, worse than
the description of the day's work. Each cell, as it
might be called, is "just large enough to contain
two beds placed end to end, and there were two
young women in each bed." In allusion to thissub-
ject the writer of a letter to the Times observes
with great truth that " the horrors of the middle
passage in a slave ship can hardly exceed this."
The same writer truly remarks that it is a wonder
that an infectuons disease should not have broken
out at this establishment, and recommends the
neighbours to call upon the officer of health of the
district to do his duty. If anything could have
been more absurd and uncalled for than
another in this painful affair, it was the
statement of the husband of Madame ELISE,
that " he did all he could for the comfort and health
of his young people." If all he and his wife can
do to promote these ends is to foster the system be-
fore commented on, they sooner they give up em-
ploying any one to work for them the better for
their own consciences and the welfare of all con-
nected with them. Yet the worst consideration of
all is that this state of things recorded is not a
solitary instance but a sample of many similar esta-
blishments. Madame ELISE now incurs the odium
through the chance of one girl being more delicate
than the others, or more unaccustomed, perhaps, to
work and close confinement. But there are many
other places where just the same practices prevail,
and it is high time that such abuses should be pre-
vented by law. Too much has been left for too
long to the good feeling and consideration of all
concerned in the affair; it now remains to insist
'•that such tyranny comes under the penalty of the
law. Why should so much be done for all classes
of the community, and the most helpless among
them be left to the mercy of those who do not seem
to know the meaning of justice. The sums charged
by these Court milliners and dressmakers are enor-
mous, and it is scandalous that they cannot
afford to employ extra hands on an emer-
gency, instead of crushing the life out of
those committed to their care. MARY ANNE
WALKLEY will not have died in vain if her
wretched end calls attention to the fate of her
living fellow sufferers. There are many more
pining as she did for fresh air and liberty to whom
a brief respite from unremitting toil in the midst
of their close application, and a longer rest at night
in a well ventilated chamber, would seem like a
boon from Heaven. Surely something could be done
for this oppressed and persecuted class, and if not
it will be a mockery to call ourselves a humane
people, and it will be an outrage on commonsense
for any lady to attend a charitable institution in a
dress that has perhaps been the last touch to the
overwhelming toil that has sacrificed a life. This
is not the first time that these cases have been be-
fore the public, and no one has an excuse to plead
ignorance, but if they never heard of them before,
let them now take heed, and at once institute in-
quiries and exact reforms. Some obstacles are sure
to lie in the way, and much opposition will have to
be overcome, but if ever there was a
.cause which
required able advocates, it is that of the dress-
maker's apprentice. No trouble can be too great
that is undertaken to free them in some
measure from their thraldom, and few im-
provements in the social system can be
more satisfactory than that which brings a ray of
sunshine to lighten their benighted ways. It is to
be trusted that something will be done to check
this growing evil, and remove this blot from the
reputation of all immediately or remotely concerned
in these transactions. Many wrongs are perpetrated
through carelessness or inattention, but to persist
willingly and knowingly in sanctioning injustice is
a positive crime, and ends in making the tacit
observer as guilty as the actual instigator of the
evil, and indeed more so if possessed of greater
power and more extended influence.

The members of the Royal. Geographical Society
assembled iis great force last night to welcome the
fortunate travellers who have succeeded in solving
the mystery that has perplexed so many genera-
tions. The many famous adventurers who, from
the days of HERODOTUS, have wandered over the
vgst continent and given us details, more or less
authentic, of the African people and their ways,
, have left us no hint of the existence of the mighty
lake which has 1:10,77 proved to be the key to the
riddle. Even theexplorers of modern times, who
have started with
the express purpose of discovering
the source of tie Nile, have
ap-
rhadNthe sagacity
or the good fortune to approach
the
The difficulty of the route, the dangers to be Lake.
prehended from the natives, and the ignorance
of
the exact direction in which to search for the
source, all combined to keep successive explorers
out of the right line of search. It was reserved
to Captain SPEKE, OD his discovery of the Like
Victoria Nyanza some five yenrs since, at once to
.-ruzzs the secret. He.tells us that WhyDl he found
lis largo sheet of sweet water, 1yi:.,4 about 3,500