The Sun.
London, England, 1841-01-29 00:00:00

FASHIONS FOR FEBRUARY.

(From the London and Paris Ladies' Magazine of

Fashion.)
Velvet is at this moment the favourite material in the
fashionable world, whether for bonnets, paletots, or dresses;
of the latter, many are made with biais, or have lace
flounces and mantillea on the bodies ; watered silks and
satins, veloutea, are also trimmed with black lace ; re-
dingotes have two rows of buttons down the front ; the
velvet bodies are again worn this season, in black, green,
or violet, with short sleeves trimmed with lace, and with
muslin skirts embroidered, or with three flounces of lace ; as
also with crape skirts, having three folds of velvet
of the colour of the corsage. There is no particular
change in the make of dresses ; the small short sleeves are
much ornamented, and lace is much used ; it is consi-
dered the long tight sleeve is already losing favour; the
newest form now making in Paris is tight from the wrist
to the elbow, and then gradually enlarges to the shoul-
der. For evening dress, white, blue Joinville, and roan
de Corinthe, are in favour. Scarfs of tarlatane, embroi-
dered and trimmed with lace, are much in demand, and
for young ladies scarfs are made of plain tarlatane, lined
with gauze, and trimmed with a fringe of pink and white.
Long gloves aro finished on the top with wreaths of
gold feuillage, cords of silver or gold, flowers, feather
fringe, lace, coques of ribands, &c. &c.
The hair continues to be dressed low; bandeaux are very
generally worn, plaits being rather out of favour ; ringlets
are fashionable; flowers are much used in coiffures, the
newest are the diamenties, having dew-drops sparkling
like diamonds, some covered with snow, frost, &c., &c. ;
and the coiffure scraphique composed of a roulean of
marabouts placed at the back of the head enlarging and
terminating on each side near the cheeks, with deep
fringes plaited at the ends, and floating on the shoul-
ders. Turbans, resille hats, petits bords, all are now
in demand. Bonnets of black velvet have been
lined with pink velours epingle, with a pink ruche
round the interior edge. Velours epingle of citron, white
and green, &c., is much used ; one novelty is the in-
troduction of buttons to ornament bonnets ; three small
buttons confine the nceuds at the side ; other trimmings
are roses pompons, curled feathers, cactuses, and wreaths
of moss, united by ribbon ; another novelty is the bonnet
of pluche bouclee ornamented with coques of the same on
one side, and a berthe of much smaller coques encircling
the face. Many bonnets are now made of one piece of
silk, without the usual join of the frost and crown, which
is advantageous for the trimmings.

DREADFUL MURDER NEAR

BRISTOL.

INQUEST ON THE BODY.
The coroner's inquest on the body of Mrs. Shedden was
held on Wednesday morning, at eleven o'clock, and did
not close until half past six, when the Jury returned a ver-
dict of " Wilful murder against Charles Rudge," a lad
who was apprehended on the night of the murder on sus-
picion. It was held at the Anchor Inn, near the house of
Mr. Shedden.

The first witness called was the husband of the decea3ed,
Alexander Shedden. The witness stated the circum-
stances of his going to Bristol on the day of the murder,
as we stated them yesterday. Some things bad been
taken. Mrs. Shedden was in the habit of fastening the
front door when he (Mr. Shedden) went out, as she had
frequently expressed a fear that some harm would come
to them in this out-of-the-way place. The witness ex.
plained, in refercice to a dispute which he had mentioned,
that be (the prisoner) bad kept some money which was
given him to pay for some pipes, and having lent Mr. Shed-
den a book, and made application to have the book re-
turned (he having in the meantime been forbidden the
house, on account of misconduct, and their missing several
little things), Mr. Shedden refused to return the book un-
less he returned the money he had kept, and -that he had
again applied for the book with the same result, and he left
the house, muttering curses, and swearing that he would
have the book. The prisoner was employed by him occa-
sionally in working in the garden, and other odd jobs.
When the witness left him his wife was employed in making
a machine to sweep the kitchen chimney, as it was too
narrow to allow a boy going up, but the brush did not ap-
pear to have been used. [At tbis time the prisoner fainted,
and fell into a fit, which continued for about ten minutes.]
Mr. Shedden, in continuation, stated that the candle was
in the same state as when he left the house, and bore no
appearance of having been lighted. When the candle
was lighted I was surprised to find the front roam shutters
were fastened, which was also the case with the kitchen
shutters. I was surprised, because Mrs. Sbedden was not
in the habit of shutting the shutters until the last glimpse
of light had disappeared, as she was very saving of her
candle, and the kitchen shutters were not usually closed
until she went to bed. Besides this, the fastening which
held the parlour shutters up to the ceiling had been forcibly
torn down, as if they bad been shut by a stranger. It was
more than a month before this since the prisoner had been
employed by me.

Mr: Bell, the surgeon, who examined the body, thought
all the blows were inflicted by the same instrument, such
as a hammer ; but all the wounds on the right side were
contused, and all on the left incised, from which he in-
fered that the hammer must have had a cutting side to it,
which must have been a large one. Several of the wounds
were sufficient to cause death. The body was quite cold
and rigid, and she must have been dead some hours. The
blood on the wall must have been caused by a second blow
inflicted on the bleeding surface. It is probable that
Mrs. Shedders was sitting in her chair by the fireside when
the blows were inflicted ; should suppose from the position
of the arms that the deceased had struggled.
William Furze, a boy about sixteen, saw Charles Rudge
about eleven o'clock on Monday—( From the prisoner—
" It's no such a thing, you did not")—going up the path.
I was in the field on the side of the hedge sowing wheat.
I saw him again about three o'clock go down the road.
Rudge looked •ery hard at me ; I am quite sure it was him.
The prisoner asked the witness if he did not say at Mrs.
Shedden's that be saw him (Rudge) go down the road at
four o'clock. The witness replied, that he said at that
time it was between three and four, but he had no watch.
He thinks now it was a little after three o'clock.
William Butt, assistant overseer of Horfield, deposed to
his having assisted in apprehending the prisoner, and also
to the conversation which took place on the occasion, the
material point in which was, that the witness was quite
positive of the prisoner having first mentioned the name of
Mrs Shedden in connection with the murder. On coming►
down stairs the prisoner had mentioned the name of
Mrs. Shedden. I said, " Who said anything about Mrs.
Shedden ?" and the prisoner said, " Some of you."
The prisoner here said he wished to put a question to
the witness, and entered into an explanation as to the way
in which Mrs. Shedden's name was first introduced, which
the prisoner said was by one of the policemen in answer to
his mother, who asked what was the matte► ? The police-
man said, " Why, Mrs, Shedden has been murdered at
Horfield," and he (the prisoner) said, " Good God I Mrs.
Shedden ! go with you, then, for I declare to God and
man I am irdiucent."

Henry Lewis, policeman, deposed to the apprehension of
the prisoner, and also to the prisoner having been the first
to mention the name of Mrs. Shedden, as stated by Butt ;
and also stated that the prisoner said, when he was con-
fronted with the body, that he was innocent, but be had
helped Mrs. Shedden to shake the carpets, but that he
left about twelve o'clock. The prisoner was taken to the
station.house and searched, but nothing particular was
found on his person but two duplicates and a purse. His
clothes were examined, and on his trousers and boots
marks of what appeared to be blood were found.—[The
clothes were here produced and shown to the jurors.]
The prisoner said when he was on the way to Mr. Lar-
cham's office, " Well, they shan't have the banging of me,
for I will make away with myself;" and he afterwards ex-
pressed a wish to see the Rev. Mr. Clifford in his cell, as
he wanted to communicate something which he was to
write in his book, but not to tell any one until ha (the
prisoner) was dead, and theifit was to be revealed to his
mother; but the prisoner said it was not anything about
the murder or any bloodshed.
Mr. Bell was recalled and examined as to the appear.
antes on the boots and trousers of the prisoner, and gave
it as his opinion that they were marks of blood.
W. Herapath,. Esq., was called to examine the boots
and trousers of the prisoner, and pronounced that there
were four spots of blood on the right leg of the trousers
and one on the string of the boot, and that they were
recent.

Mary Nelson, a beershop-keeper, residing near the pri-
soner's father, deposed to the prisoner having drunk a half
pint of Bnrton ale at her house at ten minutes before one
o'clock on Monday.
This closed the evidence, and the Coroner, having cau-
tioned the priFoner, asked him if he had any statement to
make; but the prisoner, acting under the advice of his
father, declined making any statement. The Coroner
then ordered the room to be cleared, and proceeded to
read over the evidence and to sum up to the Jury. Ver.
diet of " Wilful Murder against Charles 'fudge."
On hearing the verdict the prisoner fainted; he reco.
vered in a few minutes, and was then removed in custody,
protesting his innocence to the last.

_
The Rev. Sydney Smith is, we hear, about to
take the Corn-laws under his patronage, and is inditing a
pamphlet thereon.—Cheltenham Examiner.
NEW POSTAGE STAMP.—We have been fa-
voured with a sight of a new postage stamp about to bo
issued for envelopes in lieu of the present nondescript pro-
duction. The new stamp is a manifest improvement both
in appearance and convenience; for, while it only occupies
about the same space as the penny label, the requisite dis-
tinctive mark is a well executed raised head of her Ma.
jetty, surrounded by the words " Postage ane penny,"
also in raised work. All the raised or embossed parts are
white, the ground being pink, and the whole has a very
neat effect.— Wolverhampton Chronicle,