The Sun.
London, England, 1839-02-01 00:00:00

FASHIONS FOR FEBRUARY.

(From the World of Fashion )
MORNING CAPS.—These of real lace become more in fa-
vour. Some that hare lately appeared have a small caul
drawn in round the summit of tti.2 head, under a wreath of co-
quets of ribbon. The top of the caul forms a puff, but not a
high one. The border, laid fiat and narrow on the forehead,
is much deeper as it descends down the sides, and turns back
twice round the caul ; but the second fall is raised above the
other.

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. 'Y'.. s_

CAPOTES appear, at last, to have their size positively fixed
for the winter. Those of shot silk have almost wholly disap-
peared. They are now composed of plain materials only.
HATS AND -BONNIITS.—The cottage shape seems to have de-
creased in favour,and the mode of trimming hats and bonnets with
lace is even more general than last month. We scarcely see
one of an elegant description that is not adorned with either
white or black lace. Lace draperies intermixed with velvet
flowers arc also adopted.

CnAcvArx.—The majority have the brim more of an oval
form. Velvet, particularly black velvet, is the material most
in request for promenade hats. Several are decorated with a
long black ostrich feather, tipped with one of the colours of
the shaded ribbon that ornaments the hat; it is placed upon
the brim, and droops over it upon thu throat. One of the
most remarkable of the coloured hats is or a new shade of
grey and blue; the brim is edged with very broad black lace,
and surmounted by a single ostrich feather panache°, blue upon
blue.

EVENING .I:lREssts.—The fashion of covering the head is
this winter more generally adopted, even by very young
married ladies, than we have ever known it. We must cite a
singularly pretty little cap, styled the bonnet guirlande ; it is
of tulle, excessively small, placed quite at the back of the
head, and encircled with a wreath of flowers. The bonnet
Vestale, ornamented with heath blossoms, is also an elegant
novelty ; and the bonnet puff has the imposing air of the old
style with the lightness of the new.
NEW MATERIALS EOR EVENING DRESS.—III reviving the
fashions of the seventeenth century, we have also revived the
superb silks and brocades that were then employed.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON EVENING AND BALL ROBES.
Black velvet and satin robes are very much in vogue ; several
arc trimmed with velvet flowers, of ♦ery vivid colours. Co-
loured velvet or satin dresses, of those of Pekin, trimmed with
black lace flounces, are also very fashionable ; thew have the
corsages made tight, and encircled with lace mantillas of the
flat kind, some of which form points upon the shoulders and
bosom. Short sleeves, tight at the top, but trimmed at the
bottom with bouillons or manchettes. Several ball dresses
have the fronts disposed en tablier, and decorated with rich
Gothic lace; they are also sometimes trimmed with gold
or silver blonde lace, or with the material of the robe.
Organdy dresses, which we must observe, are of the most
exquisite fineness and transparency, are embroidered in small
patterns of sprigs upon the ground. The flounces which trim
these dresses are cut bias, and embroidered in a patierr► some-
what different from that of the ground, but yet hearing a
resemblance to it.

ROBES DE CIIAMBRE.—Some are made with a large falling
collar, entirely of velvet; otilers have the collar, which is
also of %elvct, ♦ery small and round ; but there is, besides, a
small pelerine somewhat in the paysanne form.
COURT COIFFURES.—Those styled moyen-age will be com-
posed of a superb antique point lace lappet, retained by a gold
foliage intermingled with diamonds. A coiffure that will be
adopted by several of the high nobility, will he composed of a
longe Berthe of silver blonde lace, intermingled with volubilis
of pink velvet.

.'ciards OP COURT Ros=s.—The corsages will be made
tight to the shape and pointed, and the skirts of excessive,
fulness.

MATERIALS OF COURT ROBES.—Satins-Pompadour mill be
very numerous. Pekins figured in bouquets of all colours
upon an azure blue or gold coloured ground, presents an ad_
mirable imitation of that antique style of patterns so pinch in
vogue at present. Velvets of all kinds, gros de Tours
flowered in reliefs volonte. Satins rubannes, and strewed
with bouquets. so perfectly figured as to resemble the most
beautiful embroidery, and though last not least, brocade of
either a white or rose-coloured ground, figured in gold or silver.
BALL DRESS MATERlALs.—Besides tulle, gauzes of various
kinds, crape, and organdy, all of which are in favour, we have
to announce two new satins—satin-istasis, the ground of which
has the appearance of white lace thrown over satin, flowered
in colours ; and satin. erzeroum, embroidered in very rich and
elegant patterns.

SHAWLS.—Thibet fringe is in great favour for trimming
shawls, both of velvet and satin. The most cle,7,ant of theso
superb fringes hove a heading of velvet, wi',n patterns of silk
and gold in relief.

POINTED SHAWLS.—Some black se'in ones have appeared:
they are pointed before and behirra. and with a pelerine of a
large sin, which is also pointe?. TbeSe shawls are of two
kinds, some are entirely blr.ck, the lining being either gros de'
Naples or pelucbe, and The border of black velvet, with patterns
in relief. The others have a velvet border of a very striking
colour, and also with patterns in relef, and the lining is of
silk or peluche, to correspond with the border.
CLOAKS.-Witgehouras both of velvet and satin are adopted
in carriago dress. It is yet early in the season for their ap-
pearance. Short cloaks trimmed with sable are also in great
request ; they are in general made with a large collar of the
fur. One of the most elegant noveltiesof the month is a black
satin cloak, bordered with an embroidery of mk leaves, in two,
shades of green chenille, and edged with a full fall of double-
grounded black lace.
PELISSES tire very much in vogue both for carriage and
promenade tress. There are two kinds in favour. Those
worn over robes are wadded, and have the lining quilted
throughout. These. are composed of satin,
and may be
trimmed either with velvet or fur, but the latter is 'preferred.
HEAD-DRESSCS OF HAIR.-Coiffures a la Grecque are also
much in request. They are ornamented with a circlet of gold
on the forehead, and an arrow of gold set "with coloured gems
passed through the knot behind.
FASHIONABLE COLOURS have not varied since our last num-
ber, but we observe that black increases in favour in every de-
partment of the toilette in which it can be employed.

THE LATE MR. COBBETT, M.P.—Miss Rey—
nolds, we understand, has been prevailed upon to give a Fourth
Lecture on the Writings of that truly great man Mr. Cobbett.
She has selected very interesting subjects, and has acquitted
herself admirably. We shall witness her display on Monday :
we expect a treat, and hope not to be disappointed.
On Tuesday last a Deputation of the Committee of
the Coffee and Eating-house Keepers presented a vote off
thanks, passed at their general meeting, to the Right HOD.
the Lord Mayor, fur his spirited and praiseworthy conduct ha
endeavowing to break the combination to keep up the price of
coals, and were very kindly received, and assured that it only
required the support of the public to effect that desired con.
summation.

LONDON :
FRIDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 1, 1839.

With feelings of shame and sorrow we learn from
the United States Journals, recently received, that
Congress has commenced its labours by the adoption
of a series of resolutions, consigning to Legislative
oblivion the question of domestic slavery. That a
people so tenacious of their civil rights as the Ameri-
cans, and who claim them by a tenure which they
merely profess to hold in common with every member
of the human family, should not only retain their
fellow-creatures in bondage, but zealously unite in an
impious attempt to rivet their chains everlastingly by
the degradation of their minds and bodies, is an ano'
maly in national conduct which an honest Liberal
cannot contemplate without a sense of the deepest
mortification and regret. In no country on the face of
the earth does slavery flourish under circumstances
more strongly calculated to excite universal horror and.
detestation than in some of the Southern States of the
American Republic. To teach slaves to read or write,
to seek to elevate them to the dignity of rational beings by
any course of verbal instruction, which would con-
vey to them a conception of self-responsibility and
Gospel equality, would expose the rash philanthro-
phist to certain destruction in the boasted land of
popular sovereignty ! This is a stretch of brutal
barbarism unknown in every other part of the world ;
but it is one for which Congress, by the adoption of
the following resolutions, is henceforth responsible.
We quote them without abbreviation or omission :

Resolved—That this Government is of limited powers,
and that by the Constitution of the United States Congress
has no jurisdiction whatever over the institution of slavery in
the several States of the Confederacy.
Resolved—That petitions for the abolition of slavery in
the District of Columbia and the Territories of the United
States, and against the removal of slaves from one State
to another, are a part of a plan of operations set on foot to
affect the institution of slavery in the several States, and
thus indirectly to destroy that institution within their several
limits.

Resolved—That Congress has no right to do that indirectly
which it cannot do directly, and that the agitation of the sub-
ject of slavery in the District of Columbia, or in the Territo•
ties, as a means or with the view of disturbing or overflowing
that institution in the several States, is against the true spirit
and meaning of th• Constitution, an infringement of the
rights of the States affected, and a breach of the public faith
on which they entered into this confederacy.
Resolved—That the Constitution rests on the broad prin-
ciples of equality among the members of this confederacy, and
that Congress, in the exercise of its acknowledged powers,
has no right to discriminate between the institutions of one
portion of the States or another, with a view of abolishing
the one or promoting the other.
Resolved, therefore—That every petition, memorial, reso-
lution, proposition or paper, touching or relating, in any way,
or to any extent whatever, to slavery as aforesaid, or the
abolition thereof, shall on the presentation thereof, without any
further action thereon, be laid on the table without printing,
reading, debate, or reference.

The first of these resolutions was adopted, without
debate, by 198 votes against 6 ; the second, by 1:36
votes against 6 ; the third, by 164 votes against 39;
the fourth, by 154 votes against 20 ; and the fifth, by
a majority of 126 votes against 78. These resolu-
tions were not all carried without opposition ; but
those who opposed them did not utter a syllable in
condemnation of the atrociously disgraceful system
which they are designed to perpetuate. Had those
who voted against the resolutions—few in number as
they are—been permitted, some of them would not have
voted at all, rather than expose themselves to the ven-
geance of the slave-owners of the South. In the words
of Dr. CHANNING, " these men throng and defile the
seat of Government. Their slave markets and slave
dungeons turn to mockery the language of freedom in
the halls of Congress, and make Americans justly the
bye-word and scorn of the nations." The same elo-
quent writer, in describing the licentiousness produced
by slavery in the Southern States, assures us that it is
no uncommon thing for masters having children
born in slavery, to hand them over to the tender
mercies of the overseer, or to sell them with as little
compunction as they would beasts of burden. In some
instances such children are reared tenderly, during the
life-time of the master ; but at his death they are
seized and condemned to a life of bondage and infamy,
especially if they show indications of becoming pro-
fitable as slave-breeders. Among the pollutions of
heathenism it would be impossible to point out an
enormity so infernal as this. To turn the very pas-
sions of degraded wretches into sources of gain—to
render profligacy in youth and infidelity in the marriage
state, legitimate sources of wealth and social influence,
is deliberately to attack the foundation of morality and
religion. But the crimes of States are as sure to pro-
voke punishment as those of individuals. A day of
terrible retribution awaits the Americans if they per-
sist in acting according to the spirit of the resolutions
which we have just quoted. Slavery and liberty can-

not co-exist for ever. Let the Americans beware lest
the poisoned chalice of which they compel the poor
African to drink so deeply, may not at some future
period be returned to their own lips, and they them-
selves be forced to drain its very dregs. A people by
upholding the institution of domestic slavery, are
qualifying themselves for becoming subjects of the most
ruthless despotism.

Nor are the above monstrous resolutions unaccom-
panied by evidences of their being only a fractional
and the least unseemly part of a sy stem of oprresBion
at this moment in full operation. From a file of the
Cincinnati Philanthropist, just received, we have ar-
ranged near two columns of illustrations of the working
of slavery in the Southern States, which, could we find
room for them to-day, would do away with the neces-
sity of offering here a single remark upon the subject.
We shall endeavour, however, to insert them to-
morrow, that our readers may judge for them-
selves of the honesty of the men who would
revolutionize the Canadas, to confer the blessing
of their Constitution upon British subjects I With
the damning blot of domestic slavery upon them—
branded with the moral infamy of slave-breeders, traf-
fickers in the blood of their own illegitimate offspring,
they dare to talk of liberty as a tree solely of American
growth I We laugh to scorn such pretensions. There
is a feeling in England which universally repels the
associating of public liberty with domestic slavery.
Even the most ignorant among us know and feel that
rational freedom and the moral turpitude engendered
by the existing state of society in the Southern States
of the American Union, are utterly incompatible.

The Madrid Correspondent of the Morning Chro-
nicle gives the following character of the FRIAS
Administration :—" The Duke of FRIAS, in a few
words in defence of the message (sent to the QUEEN,
relative to reprisals), threw infinite light on the rno•
tives and objects of his perfidious Administration.
What once appeared folly, turns out daily to savour
strongly of the deepest treachery." It required no
voice from Madrid to tell'this. Any one in this coun-
try who attended to the plots, intrigues, and move-
ments of the Court and Cabinet during the period
referred to, could not fail to be convinced that
they were based on treachery, and that there was
a strong party in the Cortes as well as in the
Administration prepared to sacrifice the Liberal
interest to the most base and selfish pur-
poses. Indeed treason to the cause of the QUEEN
was so marked, particularly during the latter part of
their Government, that we can account for their es-
cape from public vengeance only on the supposition
that they were backed also by many secret supporters.
Their manoeuvring with NARVAEZ, whose subsequent
foolish conduct has proved him a fit tool for their
purposes, leaves no doubt that he was offered the com-
mand of the army of the South, on the understanding
that he was to carry into effect their plans against the
Liberals of Madrid—merely effecting a double
benefit for Don CARLOS—arraying NARVAEZ
against ESPARTERO, and one portion of the
populace aganst another, and also against a large
division of the QUEEN'S troops ; yet these men are
allowed to remain members of the Cortes, to foment
discord, and carry out, by some new intrigue, their
treacherous plans. If Don CARLOS ever arrives at
the capital, he will owe his success to that class, and
it is a most numerous class in Spain, who sell
themselves to the highest bidder. We are convinced
that a new loan would only hasten the catastrophe.
The money would be squandered among the minions
of the Court and the civil and military functionaries,
and they would then get rid of the payment of interest
and principal, by handing over the Government to Don
CARLOS, who would treat the new creditors as his
brother treated the old—by wiping off the debt with a
stroke of his pen. But Englishmen have already suf-
fered too much at the hands of this perfidious people
to be gulled a twentieth time by any new scheme,
however plausible interested parties may attempt to
make it.

To as many as doubt the extent of Russia's par-
ticipation in the disputes in which our Government is
embroiled in Persia, and on the north-west frontier of
our Indian Empire, we especially recommend the
perusal of the subjoined article from the Augsburg,
Gazette of the 21th instant—the semi-official ve-
hicle of the CzAß's European " feelers." That
this article is of Russian manufacture, is so ob-
vious as to render proof altogether unnecessary ; nor
did it appear in the Gazette before every line of it
had underwent the revision of the Imperial Cabinet.
Such of our self-sufficient Ministerial Contemporaries
as affected to be amused with our discovery of a Rus-
sian intrigue in the siege of Herat, and a danger to
the stability of our Empire in the East, in the possible
fall of that important fortress, will no doubt be
taken rather aback at finding the singular
coincidence existing between our convictions
and the actual designs of the Autocrat of all
the RusseAs, as acknowledged and defended in
the subjoined article. Russia regarded the fall of
Herat as insuring "the fall of English supremacy in
Southern Asia ;" and Herat itself in the hands of the
SHAH was destined to "become the central point of
Russo-Persian expeditions." This is quite as intelli-
gible as ever we expressd it; and yet in the teeth of
this fact, and a covert threat of a declaration
of war against Great Britain in the course of the sum-
mer, we are beset by noodles, official and otherwise,
who would persuade us, if they could, that Russia is
our dearest ally, and that the best thing we can do is to
manifest our confidence in the friendship of the EMPE-
non, by suffering the shattered, worm-eaten remains
of our long-neglected Navy to rot in the dockyards!
Are we exaggerating ? Contrast the flippant assump-
tions of Sir JOHN BARROW and the leading articles
in the Globe with the following Russian Manifesto :

" All accounts from Poland agree in stating that the ge-
neral movement of troops in that kingdom and Southern Rus-
sia are suspended ; but that since the roads have been made
practicable, heavy artillery is being transported towards the
south, and considerable stores are collecting in the magazines
newly established on the line of Poland ; these magazines may
ultimately be carried to Kiew, a place which, in the spring,
may become the general rendezvous of the military forces in
Southern Russia. From these preparations of Russia, it may
be concluded that a war with a great Power is considered
probable next summer ; they prove, at least, that it is not
merely a question of a campaign against the Circassians. It
is useless to attempt to spread the opinion that diplomatic ef-
forts will allay the storm once more, and will remove the cool-
ness that subsists between Russia and England. The contest,
which may become very serious, would present itself to Eng-
land in a manner the most inopportune, she having other em-
barrassments on hand. This, however, is the precise motive
for Russia no longer to defer the contest, which has become
inevitable within a certain time. It is strange that the jour-
nals drawn up in the opinions, and under the influence of
Western Europe, should represent all the enterprises of Eng-
land and France as just, while complaints are heaped up against
the violent acts and pretended aggressions of Eastern Europe.
France may have the right of occupying Ancona and Algiers,
and England may keep possession of Malta and the lonian
Islands ; she may also extend her dominion in America, Africa,
Asia, and Australasia; but Russia cannot conclude a treaty,
rendered necessary by her geographical position, with the Porte,
nor can she be allowed to punish her rebellious Caucasian sub-
jects. The height of absurdity, however, is to wish to find
a Russian intrigue in the Caucasion revolt—an absurdity which
denotes the greatest ignorance of the policy of that absolute
Power. Without doubt circumstances are less favourable for
Russia now than they were a few months since. At that
time the fall of Herat might be counted on; tho loss of that
place would have insured the fall of English supremacy in
Southern Asia ; Herat would have become the central point
of the Russo• Persian expeditions ; and from that place troops
might have been sent to the Indies with greater rapidity than
England could have sent them. In order to avoid the conse-
quences which such a catastrophe might have occasion, Lord
Auckland is endeavouring to re-establish unity in Afghanistan,
and it is difficnit to believe, as some Journals have stated, that
he has received orders from his Government to renounce the
campaign against Cabul. The choice, however, made of the
aged Soojab, for the sovereignty of Cabul, may have been