The Seamstress; or, The White Slave of England — page 101: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

94 THE SEAMSTRESS. build and maintain palatial establishments with the bones, blood, and sinews of famished seamstresses - and starving journeymen-tailors;—and let Christian - charity throw its veil over the errors and frailties of the white slaves of England. The parsons need not always look beyond the boundaries of this world to discover demons and point out devils: there are both upon the face of this earth—both desecrating this land of vaunted civilization—both busily em- ployed in making a terrestrial hell of this world of ours. Yes—body-crushing and soul-destroying devils and demons have dared to fix their habita- tion amongst us: vampyre-like, they are drinking the blood of men, women, and little children: hideous cannibals, they are preying upon human | and have compassion upon her. | ginia with the air of one who feels very much in- clmed to unmask a hypocrite: but not considering it worth while to waste many words upon the matter—especially as he was busy at the time—he sharply bade her go about her business and settle her quarrels with the foreman elsewhere. Vir- ginia’s heart swelled almost to bursting: she en- deayoured to speak—but her feelings choked her; -——and her brutal employer pushed her out of his private office. She hastened back to her humble lodging— flung herself on her knees—covered her counte- nance with her hands—and implored the sainted spirit of her mother to look down from heaven Deep, deep was flesh ;—and their accursed system is spreading an | the poor girl’s anguish as she thus wept and awful demoralization throughout the country— | prayed in the bitterness of her spirit and with filling the streets with unfortunate women, peopling | the keenest sense of her orphaned condition. the gaols with victims, and crowding the work- | What had she done to deserve so much persecu- houses with a mass of human wretchedness. tion? Surely, surely she worked and toiled hard Such are the tremendous iniquities of those who | enough for her bread, without being subjected to grind down the needlewomen and slop-workers, | the cruelty of insult ? Was Man a base and re- But to return to Virginia—we said that about two | morseless tyrant, who not only made poor Woman months had passed away since she procured em- | his slave, but likewise the object of his persecu- ployment from the army-clothier’s;—andduring that | tion? Ah! it would almost seem as if she had no period the foreman in the establishment gradually | right to be virtuous:—and assuredly she received became more pointed in his attentions—more sig- | no credit for her virtue! nificant in his flatteries. anticipating the result, received the former with coldness and turned a deaf ear to the latter. At length, as she had feared and expected, the fellow became more explicit in his observations, and from general hints proceeded to direct overtures. He was married and had several children: but the duties of a husband and a father did not restrain him from carrying on his intrigues wherever his fancy was suited and his favour valued. Indeed, of all the females who worked for the establishment over which he presided, there was scarcely one who, if at all good-looking, had not been compelled to en- dure his persecution and submit to his wishes. When, therefore, he was met with an indignant rebuff on the part of Virginia, he was so astonished at such unusual conduct, that he was some minutes before he could recover himself: then, bursting out into an insolent laugh, he taunted her with the affectation of a virtue which she was too poor to practise. This crowning insult brought all the blood into the hitherto pale cheeks of the pining, suffering girl;—and, throwing down the work which she had just received from the foreman, she repaired straight to the master of the warehouse. To him she briefly and modestly explained the treatment she had experienced; and, with the big tears running down her blushing cheeks, she he- sought his protection against insult for the future. But the clothier was incredulous as to the purity and sincerity of the young creature’s motives: he did not believe that she was truly and veritably inspired by the resentment of outraged virtue ;— but he fancied that some jealous pique was prompt- ing her to seek the means of revenge against the foreman. In plain terms, he did not for a moment imagine that our heroine was actually virtuous: he did not believe that she could be! Well aware of the appalling fact that nine-tenths of the females who worked for him were morally ruined by the On the contrary, the The poor girl, though | rectitude of her behaviour and the purity of her morals were likely to become barriers instead of auxiliaries in her painful path through this life! Scarcely had she risen from her knees, wiped away the traces of her tears, and sate down to ponder upon the course which she ought to pur- sue, when a knock was heard at the door. She hastened to open it—and the foreman of the esta- blishment entered the room. A flush of indig- nation appeared upon the maiden’s countenance : but, on a second thought, she subdued her feelings as well as she was able, in the hope that he had come to apologise for his behaviour toward her. Apologise indeed! he was as unlikely to experience any remorse for persecuting “a mere seamstress ”’ with his attentions as his master was incapable of sending him to pay a proper tribute to offended virtue. Besides, the man was too much inflated by the easy conquests he had invariably met with in all former instances not to make sure of obtain- ing a triumph in this. He accordingly shut the door—leant his back against it—and addressed our heroine in the following terms:—“It is all very pretty of you, Miss Mordaunt, to play the prude with me, in the hope of attracting the notice of my master and making a market of your charms with him. But he’s too steady and at the same time too knowing an old file to be caught in that manner. The plant was good—only it wouldn’t do. So you will have to fall back upon me, after all. And now hear what I have got to say, young Miss. If you continue to look as black as thunder upon me, you may just go and get work where you can: for I'll be hanged if yow ll have any more from our shop. But, on the other hand, only be kind and good—and there’s nothing I won’t do for you. You shall have the best and easiest work—and if you do happen to make a mistake now and then and charge for two dozen pairs, instead of one dozen, I shan’t be over system that made him rich and prosperous and. | nice in comparing the bill with the number of them wretched and miserable, he looked upon virtue | garments brought in. coe Virginia did indeed understand him ;—and, m- | in a seamstress as a phenomenon amounting almost Do you understand me P” - —_) to an impossibility. He accordingly surveyed Vir- spired with a spirit which had not animated her | iInook