The Sun.
London, England, 1859-12-08 00:00:00

2HE NAVY.

A court of inquiry was held at the office of the
Rear-Admiral Superintendent, in Portsmouth
Dockyard, on Tuesday, in connexion with the late
series of courts-martial held on board her Majesty's
ship Victory, on the mutineers of her Majesty's
ship Princess Royal. The members of the Court
comprised Rear-Admiral the Hon. George Grey,
Capt. G. T. Gordon (commanding steam reserve),
and Capt. R. S. Hewlett, C. 8., of her Majesty's
ship Excellent. Capt. the Hon. Thomas
late commanding the Princess Royal, with several
of his officers, .was in attendance. _ _

The steam transports Rhadamanthns and Indus-
try were yesterday admitted into basin at Wool-
wich to prepare for reshipment.
The screw corvette Charybdis, which is being
brought forward for the second division of the steam
reserve at Chatham, is to be docked to-morrow.
The Ariadne, 26, steam-frigate, Capt. E. W. Van-
sittart, fitting for sea at Chatham, will go out of
dock to-day and take up her berth alongside the
Hussar fitting hulk, where she will complete her
fitments. Her blue-jackets continue to join
very fast, a large numberßof fine seamen having
lately arrived from Portsmouth and Plymouth.
The officers appointed to this ship have all taken
up their commissions and joined.
The Bacchante, 51, screw, in the steam basin at
Portsmouth, tested her machinery. Everything
worked in the most satisfactory manner.
A part of the 108 men sentenced to three months'
imprisonment for participating in the late disturb-
ance on board the Princess Royal were yesterday
discharged from her Majesty's ship Victory in
Portsmouth harbour, and forwarded by train to tho
gaol at Winchester to undergo their sentence.
The launch of the Duncan, screw two-decked
ship, is to take place on Tuesday, the 13th inst.
The dockyard-gates will be opened for the admis-
sion of the public at 11 a.m.
It is now ordered by the Admiralty that the
cupola furnace on board the Colossus, SO, screw, at
Portsmouth, shall not for the present be removed
from that ship on 'her being prepared for Coast-
guard service.
The Fawn, 17, screw, Commander R. B. Cator,
was appointed to leave Spithead this morning at
daylight for Portland.
On the paying off of her Majesty's ship Princess
Royal, 91 screw, Capt. the Hon. Thomas Baillie, at
Portsmouth on Monday last, the following good
conduct medals and gratuities from the Lords Corn-
miasioners of the Admiralty were distributed :—N.
Stephens, Master-at-Arms, medal and gratuity of
£l5; A. Alpe, boatswain's mate, medal and gratuity
of £l5; E. Bryan, boatswain's mate, medal and
gratuity of £10; William Spence, captain of after-
guard, medal and gratuity of £10; John Williams,
captain of forecastle, medal and gratuity of £lO.
A large number of the best hands in the ship have
joined the Queen, 86, screw, at Portsmouth, Capt.
Charles F. Hillyar, and the greater part of the
ship's company are expected to join on their return
from their leave. Commander Josling and Rev.
Mr. Madden, the late Commander and chaplain of
the Princess Royal, have also joined the Queen on
their appointments by the Admiralty.
Mr. James Logan, gunner, Mr. James Briwning,
boatswain, and Mr. H. W. Barling, carpenter, have
been appointed to her. Majesty's ship Asia, at
Portsmouth, for service in the Bacchante.

The following. appointments were made yep ter-
day at the Admiralty :—Lieut. \% H. Heaton, to
the Britannia ; Lieut. Henry Moore, to the Terror ;
Lieut. Edward Barkley and Lieut. F. G. Shaw, to
the Cossack; Lieut. Henry H. Boys and Lieutenant
Charles R. Macdonald, to the Chesapeake.

Why won't lanes pay their bills, especially the
bills of their dress makers ? It nay be all very well
for marchionesses and lady-millionnaires to keep
the great Court milliners and mantuamakeze wait-
ing for their "little accounts" for any given number
of years. Upon this point we will not express any
opinion, for, no doubt, the persons giving the cre-
dit take care to protect themselves by increase of
price and interest upon payments deferred. Madame
Tulle may find it quite as well worth her while to
leave sums of money in the hands of her customers
at the rate of 20 per cent. as to supply them with
infinite caps and bonnets upon the principle of brisk
business and short payments. Let us leave out of
the question the interests of these Rothschilds and
Barings of satin and gros-de-Naples, and turn our
attention to the fortunes and position of their poorer
sisterhood. It is not every lady who can affOrd to
pay 15 or 16 guineas for a dress. It is not, fortu-
nately, every lady who will insist upon having so
costly an article when she can't afford to pay for it.
The bulk of the female population of London who
ane not clothed by the labour of their own hands are
obliged t o call in the services of a much humbler class
of workwomen than those of whom we have just
spoken. They can only afford to pay sums varying
from three shillings to eight shillings for what is
called the " making-up" of a dress. The Duchess
of Millefleurs may, perhaps, be astonished to
hear that a bonnet may be made up for .a shilling,
and very nicely made up, too. Ascending a little
in the ranks of society, we come to a class of
families who have some five or six b-ndred n •-•
to spend. There are hundreds—we may a1m05i.....y
without exaggeration thousands—of families so cir-
cumstanced in London. The income of middle class
families probably ranges from £5OO to £l,OOO a
year. Now, let us assume that the expenditure
upon dress of every female member of these families
is about £2O a year, more or less. It is evident
that the class of small milliners and dressmakers is
called into existence and maintained in order to
supply their wants. This is a very different case
from that of the distressed ncedlewomen ; if they
were fairly dealt by, and only entered upon the
business under reasonable circumstances of skill
and connection, they ought not to be in a worse
position, than any other class of., petty tradesmen.
They would not, in all probability, be able to do
more than to live from hand to mouth and make
both ends meet at the end of the year, but this is
the normal condition of the greater portion of the
London population living by the labour of their
hands. It is, however, a fair and a legitimate
business, and one that should afford means of honest
livelihood to thousands of women. It would do so
but for the downright and lamentable dishonesty
of the customers who keep these poor creatures
waiting for their money for indefinite periods of
time. The small dressmaker business is essentially
a cash business, and must be transacted upon the
principles of ready-money payment; otherwise the
most deplorable misery and even crime will be the
result. Here is an instance ,of the consequences
which ensue when ladies decline to pay, or defer
paying, the bills of petty dressmakers :
Sarah Dyer, is a woman who has long borne 'an
most excellent and respectable character. She is a
widow, hard-working, and well-conducted, and has
a son, whom she has apprenticed to a tailor. She
is in the habit of working. until 2,3, and even 4
o'clock in the morning at dressmaking, in order to
support herself and her son. Her character is
spoken to by her landlord, with whom she has re-
sided 11 years, and who has had every opportunity
of observing her conduct and her habits. Now, it
appears that this-, poor woman had abundance of
work and abundanen of customers, but in too many
cases the ladieS for whom she worked omitted to
pay her their debts. We read in the evidence given
on the trial of which we are about -to speak that
there were several ladies who owed her money.--
.£lO, £ll, and even £l2, but she could not get a
penny from any of them. Sarah Dyer for many
years past has -been a customer of Messrs. School-
bred and Co., the well-known haberdashers in
Tottenham-eourteroad. From this it follows that
the ladies who owed her money were- not only in-
debted to her for work and labour done, but for
money paid by her for materials taken up on their
own account. Things seem to have gone on with
her from bad to worse, and at last, under the pres-
sure of the most dire and overwhelming necessity,
she was driven into crime. A short time back she
entered the shop of Messrs. Schoolbred and stole
from the counter a few yards of riband, at few
yards of silk braid, and -a
reel of cotton. Of
course, we cannot attempt to justify theft. The
dignity of human nature requires that men and
women should endure the uttn,st extremities of
misery and starvation, and yet remain with clean
hands and consciences undefiled. That is the true
theory, and we know how dangerous it is to urge
arguments in palliation,of offences of this kind ; for
even fraudulent bankers, fraudulent solicitors, and
fraudulent directors of joint stock companies may be
of opinion that they could urge something by way
of excuse for their most abominable crimes. Still,
even Justice, in her sternest moods, will draw a
distinction between the bankers and solicitors who
make away with the funds of their clients and the
poor creatures who, under the pressure of starva-
tion, filch a penny roll from the shopboard of the .
baker or a penny reel from the haberdasher's coun-
ter. There can be no doubt that Sarah Dyer com-
mitted this offence because she could not obtain
from her customers the money they owed her, and
because she had not the means to purchase ma-
terials for the work she had in hand. I-14er case ex-
cited the deepest commiseration. Messrs. Shoot-
bred, the prosecutors, who had no choice but to in-
stitute the prosecution,implored the mercy of the
court in her behalf. The Assistant-Judge, in giving

his decision, said that he considered- this ro be
case in which the greatest; amount of mercy might
safely be extended to the prisoner, and added,
" Should what had been stated find its way into
publicity, those who had so cruelly used this poor
creature by depriving her so long of the reward of
her labour, would understand what mist be thought
of their conduct." No sentence was passed upon
the prisoner, but she was ordered to be discharged
at once.

Now, it is a very common thing for persons of
,hp, middle class to hurl invectives at the heads of
the aristocracy for their dishonesty and want of

principle in money matters. Let justice be done.
Montague-place, Russell-square, has no right to
say a word agzinst Grosvenor-square or Park-lane.
It is the old case of the pot calling the kettle black.
One of poor Sarah Dyer's customers is said to be
actually residing in Montague-place, and is walk-
ing about the streets of pleasant Bloomsbury with
goods stolen from Messrs. Shoolbred's shop upon
her back. The worst of the case is that persons in
the position of this poor widow seem to be abso-
lutely without remedy. They dare not summon
their customers into the County Courts, or they.
would loose their custom altogether. They have,
then, no option between crime and starvation. We
think that this is a case peculiarly deserving of
public commiseration, and, if we might venture to
offer a suggestion which would give a turn to that
public charity which will, no doubt, be exercised
upon this poor woman's behalf as soon as her case
is known, we would say that the best means of
affording her relief is to give her employment.
There can be no doubt that henceforth Sarah
Dyer's name will be put in the " index" of non-
paying Montague-place. The best thing that can
be done for her by ladies who are shocked at the
treatment she has received would be, not to send
her gifts of money, but to give her work. There is
something repulsive to all ideas of morality in
putting, as it might be construed, a premium upon
crime, even when the offence has been of so
venial a character as that •of Sarah Dyer. No
one, however, can say that it is wrong to give her
work and to pay her for the work done. Surely,
there are many ladies who will be ready to do a
work of charity in such a form and for so deserving
SD object.