The Sun.
London, England, 1855-06-29 00:00:00

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,i6Y4714'41 i344404-r..14444(fi‘ .11i41744.
series Of objects is r4iewed together. under
the generic head of Halls, for instance, we have
the :;
everything we need to learn in reference to
ek ftler ers', GraCare', Drapers', Fishmongers',
inners', Merchant-Teilora'., Haberdashers', cum
exleris puribus. Under the Inns of Old London, we
are rod all we can well wish to be told about the Bull-
and-Mouth, the B .It-in-Tun, the Belle-Sauvage,
the S wan-with-two-Necks, the Yorkshire-S tinge, and
the like famous hostelries. Under that of Libra-
ries,. we are introduced successively to such literary
sanctums as those. of the Royal Institution, the
Royal Academy of Arts, or the Royal Society of
Literature. The article on Markets conveys us, in
'like manner, in due sequence through the flowers
'and fruit of Covent-garden, the greengrocery of
Clare and the Borough, the meat of Newgate, the
poultry of Leadeuhall, and the fish of Billinsg,ate.
After a like fashion, it may be observed, all the
smaller streets of any note leading out of them, are
spoken of under the heading of the principal tho-
roughfares: Thus in wandering with Mr. Timbs
down Fleet-street, we branch off every now and
then into all sorts of byeways ; now into
Bride-lane, now into Wine-office-court, now
into Sergeant's-inn, now into Gough-square.
Or, sauntering along the Strand, we are
allured from what has recently called
" the main artery of the world"—(Vide "Famous
Persons and Famous Places," p. 125.)—At one
moment into Fountain-court, at another intoßeau-
fort-buildings, at another into Milford-lane, at an-
other into Pdgeaee-place, now into Ship-yard, and
now again
into the Lowther Arcade. As illustrat-
ing in pleasant way
the kind of curiosities here
a.
embalmed like flies and straws in the amber of Mr.
Timbs' compilation, we may direct attention to the
ingenious notes compacted together, in an alpha-
betical position, thus expressed under the heading
"Fashions, Old, in Dress." Within this one sec-
tion of the work before us what strange congeries
of odd and out-of-the way facts are there amassed !
It reminds us that if the mutability of dress is pro-
verbial elsewhere, in London old fashions are pre-
served, here and there, in a manner quite extraor-
dinary. The blue coats and yellow stockings still
worn bythe boys of Christ's Hospital being the com-
mon habit worn in the days of Edward VI, by serv-
ing men and apprentices! The quaint jacket with
its metal badge on the arm worn nowadays by our
firemen and watermen, dating back to the same
reign ! Nay, the Yeomen of the Guard, or royal
beefeaters (buffetiers), we learn, are decked out to
this day in the uniform of the private soldiers
of the time of Henry VII ! Slightly varied,
indeed, in some minute details, but at any
rate exactly the same as they appeared at the Court
of Charles IL—in their scarlet tunics, and red hose,
and stiff white ruffs, in their parti-coloured shoe-
bows, and their black velvet caps enriched with
knots of red, blue, and white ribbon ! So also, we
are informed ou the authority of /Votes and Queries
(No. 82), that the plain mob-caps and long gloves
of our London charity girls are the same that
they were in the time of Queen Anne—the
brass badge of our cab and omnibus men being
a vestige of the liveries worn by Elizabethan
retainers— the sailor's dress of the era of
William 111. being yet preserved among our, fisher-
men—the blue smock Of our butchers being an old
guild uniform—and so on through all sorts of un-
expected coincidences between the dresses of to-day
and those of a remote past familiar to our far-off
ancestors. Mr. Timbs, by the way, here takes pc-
casion to commemorate certain peculiarities of
garb, by which sundry personages of ability were,
in their day, diStingtushed, as in the instance of
Mr. Pitt's blue-coat, buckskin breeches, top-boots,
round hat, po wderand pigtail—or of Mr. Fox's plain-
coloured, almost Quaker-like, clothes, his broad
rimmed hat, and his white stockings—or of the
large cocked hat of Murphy the dramatist—or of
John Wilkes' great scarlet and gold flap-waist-
coat. It may be remarked, in further illus-
tration of the motley nature of the London
" Curiosities" here commemorated, that while on
the title-page of the volume there appears a
facsimile of the charter granted to the City of Lon-
don by William the Conqueror—to the effect
" William the King friendly salutes William the
Bishop, and Godfrey the Portreve, and all the
Burgesses within London, both French and Eng-
lish : and I declare, that I grant you to be all
law worthy, as you were in the days of King Ed-
ward : and I grant that every child shall be his
father's heir after his father's days : and 'I will not
suffer any person to do you wrong : God keep you"
—while we say the curious Saxon characters of the
Old Charter are imitated in the woodcut upon the
title page : the last paragraph of the volume has re-
ference to the new " wonder of the world," the
Crystal Palace—the Palace of the People—at Sy-.
denham ! Closing the volume at that significant
and suggestive paragraph, we can conscientiously,
and very cordially, and even gratefully, commend
the twenty-seven years of assiduous toil which have
resulted in this valuable and attractive contribu-
tion to the national memorials henceforth to ba
stored up in the library of the educated English-
man.

THE UNSUCCESSFUL
_ATTACK ON THE

MALAKROFF.

The following is from- a letter, dated Paris,
yesterday, six p.m. :

" The same day that the telegraphic despatch, giving
an account of the unsuccessful attack of the Allies on
the Malakhoff Tower and the Redan, reached us, it was
whispered that the failure was principally owing to
slowness or carelessness on the part of the Bri-
tish. Whether the rumoured omission of the faseines
was true or not, I am unable to say ; but it is
certain that, as I mentioned at the time, a
phrase or two of General Pelissier's despatch was
left out In the Moniteur. General Pelissier also said
that his reasons for making his troops resume their po-
sition were too long to be transmitted by telegraph.
It occurred to me at the moment that there must
have been some complaints made by the French
General on the want of combination or of energetic
support on the part of his English colleague, and
from what has transpired within the last few days
I believe such to be the case. Indeed, these com-
plaints, which. have been pretty freely expressed in
several public offices, are not now uttered for the first
time since Pelissier took the command ; and, if it be
true, as is stated, that a good deal of discontent exists
not merely at his head-quarters, but generally through-
out the camp for the same reason, the matter assumes a
very serious aspect. It is stated that, a correspondence
has take place between the two Governments on the
subject, and that it has not yet terminated, nor can I say
how it may terminate."

RUSSIAN ACCOUNT OF THE STATE OF

SEBASTOPOL.

The Journal de Constantinople of 18th says :
"The Russian prisoners taken in the recent affairs,
and who have been brought to this city, have given
interesting information as to the present situation of
Sebastopol. Some of the details have been kept
secret owing to their importance ; but it is generally
known that the Russians have at this moment 15,000
wounded Soldiers in the place, and that they cannot
send them away, from being so closely watched. It is
known also that cholera is exercising great ravages in
the town, and it is true, as previously stated, that all
women, children, and old men have been sent from the
town, and are now encamped beyond the citadel. The fol-
lowing rather curious episode is said to have taken place
at the Mamelon Vert in the evening of the Sth. The
soldiers employed in constructing the batteries sud-
denly perceived a Russian sub-officer and three sol-
diers coming towards them. Their appearance
caused some surprise, for they appeared to have
risen from under ground, and it was found on in-
quiry that they had actually done so. On quitting'
the ALttnelon Vert the Russian commandant left them in
the powder magazine with orders that they shotld set fire
to it the moment the French entered. These poor men, not
feeling any inclination for a flight into air, even in com-
pany with a number of enemies, took care not to execute.
this order, and after remaining in their place of conceal-
went for about 15 hours, and feeling the pangs of
hunger, they extinguished the matches with which they
might have done such mischief, and quietly came and
asked for something to eat from the new possessors of
premises."

Weunderstand that Lord Panmure and Lord Hardinge
will proceed to Aldershot to-day to inspect the seven
battalions of infantry now encamped there. They are
the Ist Battalion Coldstream Guards, Ist Battalion Soots
Fusilier Guards, sth Royal Lancashire Militia, West
Kent Light Infantry, 2:lWar wickshire, Ist Royal Surrey,
East Middlesex, and a wing of the 2d Staffordshire.
ILLNESS OF THE KING OF DENMARK. —A. letter from
Copenhagen, of the 21st instant, states that his Danish
Majesty had had a rather violent attack of fever on they
19th, but that on the following day it had very much
decreased.

DINNER TO HER MAJESTY'S JUDGES. Last evening
the Sheriffs of London and Middlesex, Sir Henry Mug-
geridge and Sir Decimus Crosley entertained her Ma-
jesty's judges at a splendid banquet, at the Albion.
Amongst those present were Mr. Baron Parke, Lord Jus-
tice Knight Bruce, Vice-Chancellor Stuart, Mr. Justice
Erie, Mr. Justice Cresswell, Mr. Justice Williams, Mr..
Justice Crowder, Mr. Baron Martin, Mr. Serjeant Man-
ning, Mr. Serjeant Shee, Mr. Serjeant Thomas, Mr.
Serjeant Atkinson. There were also present—Sir Übap-
man Marshall, Alderman Hu'-nphery. Alderman Cabitt,
Alderman Rose. Alderman Sidney,‘Deputy Dakiu, Mr.
L. Taylor,Mr. Wood, Mr. T. H. Hall, Mr. W.Sones,
Mr. Valiance, Mr. Cotterill, Mr. Perkins, Mr. Toker,
Mr. Lloyd, Mr. Lambe, Mr.
MAthrire.dherleataotbae,Fiffrr.,oldfe
Nje.ThYi'llips, Mr. Parker, Mr. White,
Southwark, the under theriff., Messrs.
Farrar and Crosley. Covers were laid for 130. After
the usual loyal toasts. had been proposed and responded
to with enthusiasm,. Sir 11. Muggeridge gave " Her Mee
jesty's Judges," Mr. 'Rayon, Parke and Lord Justice
Knight Bruco.returning thanks. The other toasts le
the evening were " The Lord Mayor," " The Sheriffs
"The Lord Mayor," &c.. The dinner, which .consisb
of every luxury, was setzved in most admirable style 4Di
Messrs Staples.