The Sun.
London, England, 1861-11-02 00:00:00

THE PENINSULAR MAILS.

The screw, steamship Alhambra (of the Penin-
sular and Oriental Company's fleet), Captain J. 1).
Steward, bringing mails of the 27th ult. from Lis-
bon, and of the 28th from Oporto and Vigo, in charge
of Mr. Cavell, Master, R.N., naval mail agent,
arrived at Southampton at 8.30 a.m. yesterday
(Friday). This packet brought 27 passengers (viz.,
15 first-class, 7 second, and 5 deck), £2,400 in specie,
six casks and ten cases of wine, 548 chests of
oranges, 334 boxes of eggs, 20 packages of general
merchandise, and 18 live bullocks.

Between Lisbon and Vigo the Alhambra had
fresh s( utherly winds and variable weather ; across
the Bay of Biscay, strong north-easterly winds,
with high sea ; and moderate westerly winds in the
Channel. At 11 a.m„ on the 30th, in lat. 46 5 N.,
long. 7 17W., spoke the Tagus steamer, steering
south-west.

When the Alhambra left Lisbon on the 27th of
October, there were no foreign vessels of war
anchored in the Tagus.
The Cortes were to be opened on the 4th of
November, and to be immediately adjourned to the
2d of January.

His Majesty Dom Pedro V. was suffering from a
slight attack of gastric fever ; and his brothers,
Don Fernando and Don Augusto, had suffered from
rheumatism.

Lisbon exchanges for three months were quoted
for this mail :—London, 537 531; Paris, 527 ; Ham.
burg, 481 ; Amsterdam, 42i ; Genoa, 526. Portu-
guese Three per Cent. Stock, registered, 48 481 ;
Coupons, 471 48 ; Deferred, 4114 421 ; Bank of Por-
tugal shares, 17 to 17-1 per cent. premium ; Bank
of Oporto shares, 29 to 30 per cent. premium.
Her Majesty's gunboat Handy, 3, from Plymouth,
bound to the West Coast of Africa, put into Vigo
on the 22d ult., from stress of weather, and re-
mained there when the Alhambra left.

The Alhambra will leave Southampton again on
Thursday next, the 7th inst. with the return mails
for the abovementioned ports.

NEW PUBLICATIONS FOR NOVEMBER.—SeveraI
works of great promise are announced for appearance during
the present month by Messrs. Hurst and Blackett. Among
them are the long-expected " Life of Turner," from original
letters and papers furnished by his friends and fellow acade-
micians, by 'Walter Thornbury ; "French Women of
Letters," by Miss Kavanagh; a new novel, entitled "The
Last of the Mortimers," by the popular Author of " Mar-
garret Maitland," &c. ; and "White and Black, a Tale of tie
Southern States." The new volume of Hurst and Blacket t's
"Standard Library," just issued, comprises " The Valley
of a Hundred Fires," by the author of " Margaret and
Her Bridesmaids," illustrated by Millais.

WHY ENGLISHWOMEN DO NOT DRLSS WELL.—
There are two things which tend to make the ordinary run
of Englishwomen dress ill : first, that they are never led
to seek the relations, the rapports between their outward
garb and themselves ; and secondly, that they are totally
devoid of the science of management. An Englishwoman
sets about buying a dress for herself as though she were
buying it for somebody else. Dress is with her an abstrac-
tion. She does not think of how this shade of blue, or that
shade of green, will or will not harmonise with the tints of
her skin, or her hair, or her eyes; she does not dream of
composing her own dress so as to make it set her off; but
she, in a business-like manner, contracts with a dressmaker
to furnish her such or such a covering, just as a speculator in
small villas contracts for his roofs and pipes,-27 e London
4eVkles