The Sun.
London, England, 1857-07-30 00:00:00

ART IN DRESS-FASHION'S FOLLY.

There aro few things more 'curiols to contem-
plate than the " whirligig" of fashion—which
never stands stilt, but is' incessantly presenting
to the view a few original devices, mixed with
more which have seemingly become fixtures in
the wheel, and are copied, as it turns round, to
a greater or less extent from time to time. An
old sea-faring character in one of Captain
Marryat'a novels, had an idea that inseventeen hun-
dred and so many years events rotted, and that in
seventeen hundrez_l and so on, he would be engaged
upon the identical employment on which he was
then busy : a similar belief might-, with more means
of proof, be attached to the revolutions of fashion.
No doubt the ingenious artist who devised the flow-
ing and full-bottomed wig for the fair and youthful
French monarch, the use of which was presently
adapted to the g im-visage I Charles 11., thought
that he had hit upon an original device. A visit,
however, to the Brit sh Museum will show that
" there are few things new under the sun," for
there will b 3 found a flowing wig just
similar to that named, which was worn
by some en in ent Egyptian, probably two
or three thousand years ago. While amongst
the peasant class, the wheel has in a mewure stood
still, changes have been constantly going on ameng,t
others : eve note the burly Saxon in his flowing and
graceful robes, the taste ef which was partly bor-
rowed from the Romans, and the elegant costumes
of their wives and daught,r3 derived from the same
source : then came the warlike covering, which so
well displayed the st thwart forms of the Norman.
warriors : the fe.nale dregs of this period is singu-
larly ma ned and elegaut It would require a volume
to notice the numerous changes which ware con-
stantly made. The armour, from being made to fit
to the shape of the human body, grew to monstrous
cases unlike anything in the natural creation, which
enveloped both men and horses. Many strange &-
vices were turned out by fashion ; at one time the
toes of the gentleman's shoes g 1 ew longer an 1
longer, until it was found necessary to fasten the
end of the point to the knee. This would seem to
U 3 ridiculous enough, but many fashions in mo-
dern times might te mentioned to show equal
absurd.ties : for instance, when that exfrAordi-
nary cut, the swal:o v-tailed coa*, was intro-
duced, the length of the tails was.moderat.-3 ;
however, grow in longitude, until the meld
were nearly even with the heels, and it was ()tag
some merciful turn of the wheel which caused the
majority of the long t ails to be turned into " spen-
cers." Thatpreveete.dthe long necessity of tying the
" swallow-taile" to the pig tails," in the same way
that theahoe-toeswere for merly fs'enedte the knees.
It is curieus to remark that the liveried servants of
the rich are, a means of preserving the costumes of
various periods for many years : the silk bags on
the backs of the state footmen, the long-tailed laced
coats the cocked hats, knee-breeches, and silk
stockings, were the ordinary apparel of the gentle-
men themselves. The hair powder, so much in use
60 or 70 years ago, by nearly every one of respect-
able condition, has now. de,,cended to the servants'
hall, and the neat wigs of other days may be etal
seen surmounting the craniums of fashionable
co tchmee, and. in due course, as the wheel of
fashion moves round, the present dress coats, white
waistcoats, and neck-ties all have lost their posi-
tion, and taken the place of the laced coats and cor-
resdonding paraphe, nalia. —The Builder.

The ordirary session of the two Chambers of Nassau
was closed on the 24tb. It la, however, said that the
Diet will again be convoked this year for an extraordi-
nary session in order to settle some questions which have
not been brengbt to a solution.
The. Emperor of Russia, on learning that the tiler
Lablache was ordered, on account of his health, not to
think of again appearing on the stage, has sent to the
artist his nomination to the dignity of " His Majesty's
singer," accompanied with a gold medal enriched with
diamonds, bearing the inscription—" Pour distinction."
The medal to he suspended from the neck by the ribbon
of the Order of St. Andrew.
EHBEZALEHENT AND SUICID2.—On Saturday forenoon
William Woed, late salesman to' nGilmore and
Co., of Glasgow, was apprehended at nelensbargh on a
charge of embezzl meet by Mr. Miller, messenger-at-
arms, Glasgow, and conveyed to Greenock in the
steamer Alma, While the boat was passing West-quay
Wood jumped overboard, but was rescued by two Nor-
wegian seamen, who were passing. When taken into
the boat, however, ho drew a razor from his pocket and
cut his throat. He was remitted to the infirmary, where
he lies in a critical state.—North British Mail.
THE WALLS or BERWICX.--" We observe," says the
Newcastle Ohrontcle, " that the council of Berwick; at
its last meeting, entertained three distinct resolutions
for the partial demolition of the ancient ramparts of the
town, and it seems not improbage that the modern
Vandals who brought them forward will succeed in car-
rying out their designs. The good people of Berwick
have not very much to be proud of to the way of archi-
tectural beauties, but they certainly may claim no in-
considerable renown from the possession of the ancient
defences of their town, and it seems hardly credible that
they will permit these time-honoured erections to be
demolished."
_OINCONIZ AND EXPENDITURE OF TIM EAST INDIA
Eut Inia
u I'ILINT.—Last week were issued the accounts respect
leg the territorial revenues and disbursements of the
slim to d
Company for the year 1855-56; with an
of the eacne for the succeeding year. The total
ryearevenaume
orucnc et
ei pds t eof2aBll,,Bt9hle,
21;1-97 dae ndc etsh
eo f t
oltnadlieahafergrethore
expenditure in India to 26,599 n 4
1/., which added to
3,264,6291., disbursed in India,
diture of the year to 29,864,090/ brings the total !xpen-
excess of expenditure ov, r ir.come 972,A15/.nwlnngtahne
two previous years the deficiency wee
respectively
1,707,3641. and 2,044,1107. The income for the
year
1856-57 is estimated at 29,844,961., and the
expenedair,
tare at 31,326,0221., li)siii4g a deficiency of 1,981,0624
•

RUSSIAN AGGRESSION-INDIA.

Mr. J. Stmley Dell writes to a contemporary as
follows :

"I rejoice to find that public feeling is about to
be roused into action by the astounding news, just
received from the, Circassian coast, of the Russians
having already had the audacity to make use of the
British flag to perpetrate, with more effect and im-
punity, another of those atrocities by which they
hope at length to subjugate the heroic, long-suffer-
ingnatives.

-"I knew formerly, as a very honest man, Osman
Reis, of the neighbourhood of Trebizond (master of
a small trading vessel), by whom the intelligence
was brought there.
"By those whu will take the trouble to inform
themselves of the way in which Lord Palmerston
and his agents have throughout managed matters
connected with Circassia, it may be readily seen
how little cause we have for astonishment at any-
thing the Russians may attempt, with a view to
overthrow the great Caucasian barrier, which alone
defers their further conquests in Persia and Turkey
in Asia, and thus arrests their progress towards
our Indian front;er.

"In orrier to throw some light ttpon the subject,
I beg you to have the goodness to publish in your
paper a letter I wrote lately to Lord Clarendon on
the subject of the capture of the British schooner
Vixen in the lo.ty of Sudjuk-Kaleh, in Nov. 1836.
"By that letter it will be seen how readily the
Russians may conclude that we are totally indif-
ferent to what they may do in that part of the
world, since they found, by the debates in the
Rouse of Commons on the 21st June, 1838, and
on the 18th April, 1854, that even such statesmen
as Lord John Russell, Dr. Lushington, and Sir
James Graham have never yet given themselves
the trouble to prepare, even for speaking on ques-
tions intimately connected with and to be decided
by the construction and validity of tnat most im-
portant European document—the Treaty of Adria-
nople ; and found further, by the debates of May,
last year, how complacently Lords Palmerston and
Clarendon abandoned the Circassians thenceforth
to their tender mercies.

" I may add that, previously to the arrival of
my letter in this country, Lord Clarendon had re-
plied, on the 14th of Feb., 1856, to an application
wade to him on the same subject by one of my bro-
thers, on my behalf, dated 29thof Jan., 1856; that
he could not hold out any expectation that the
case of the Vixen will bore-opened by her Majesty's
Government.' I did not of course insult Lord
Clarendon by informing him—our foreign mini :ter
—what realty were the terms of the Treaty of
Adrianople as regards Circassia ; but most folks
may be surprised aLd indignant to learn, after all
the above display of their knowledge of them by
our ministers, that there is not in that treaty, a
single name by which either Circassia itself, or any
one place in Circassia, is designated, and that the
•nly expression by•which Russia deigned to reveal
her intention as to the annexation sbe purposed
making of Circas,ia to her empire for ever,' is
that she closed the list of the outlandish names of
places to be so honoured—Akbaltzik, Akhalkalaki,
Sic.—with this misty phrase, as well as all the
littoral [sic] of the mouth of the Black Sea, from
the mouth of the Kuban to the port of St. Nicho-
las inclusively, shall remain in perpetuity under
the dominion of the Empire of Russia.' In the
Appendix of my Journal of a Residence in Cir-
cassia' is an article—the 13th—written for me by a
brother of mine (now . Chief Judge at the Cape),
which will bo found well worth the perusal of those
who wish to understand how it is that our amateur
aristocratic, and nearly irresponsible statesmen with
their huge private fortunes to fall back upon in
case of any serious false step, are almost always
outwitted by the carefully chosen, well trained,
and well-reined diplomatists of the.; Emperor of
all the Russias.' "

Copy.
Rio de los Saval(os San Juan di Nicaragua,
'Aprills.
My Lord,—Alehoush the incidents to which I
take the liberty of calling year lordship's attention
occurred at a date now remote, still their import-
ance in political and national respects were, and I
venture to say are, such that they must, I believe,
be still fresh in your lordship's recollection.
I allude to the seizure of the British schooner
Vixen, in the Bay of Sudjukleb, on the coast of
C,ircrssia, in Nov. 1836, iby orders of the Russ an
admiral commanding at Ghelendjik, and the deten-
tion of myself, as well as her captain and crew,
there, and subsequently at Sebastopol and Odessa,
on the plea of our having violated a blockade of that
coast, established by his Government; to the confir-
mation of that seizure and detention by Admiral
Lazareff, commander-in-chief in the Black Sea; and
to the subsequent acquiescence by the British Go-
vernment, in another plea, subsequently put forth
by that of Russia, for confiscating the Vixen and
11.5 r cargo, viz., that we hail violated the Custom-
house ordinances issued by the Russian Govern-
ment for the regulation of trade with that portion
of the Russian territory.
However untenable either of these pleas—that of
a blockade, which had neither been proclaimed nor
"adeyrately maintained, and was therefore equally
invalid and illegal —or that cf Custom-house
ordinances applied to a cast with the natives of
which Russia, was then, and has ever since been,
carrying oa war (and never possessed), and which
was her's therefore as little de facto as it is now
known to hive been de jure—l should probably
never have attempted to re-open the question as to
the wrong a late brother of mine and I have suf-
fered, had the political relations of Great Britain
with Russia remained as they were ; because I
should have thousht it improbable that any Bri-
tish Ministry would think it censistentwith its duty
to the national interests in general to imperil them
for the sake of those connected with the affair in
question—a feeling by which the Ministry of the
day was probably influenced in the decision which
it finally adopte I—hostile to the British claimants.
But as all cause for such a feeling ceased, of
emir e, on the rupture of ourrelations with Russia,
I am not without hope that your lordship may
admit that an opportunity is now afforded for
rectifying the great injustice suffsred by myself
and those connec el with the in the said voyage, in
having our property seized and confiscated, our
persons restrained, and our projects as to a per-
f-ctly legal and highly profitable trade balked and
defeated, through the unjust pretensions and un-
wairan' able acts of the Government of Russia, and
the subsequent acquiescence in those pretensions
and the justification of those acts by the British
Ministry then in power.
It might appear presumptuous in me thus to
allude to transactions which were warmly debated
on, at least, in Parliament, and were implielly
sanctioned by the decision of the majority of the
House of Commons on the 21st of June, 1833 ; and
I might have hesitated to do so, bad I not incon-
trovertible evidence from that debate (which oc-
curred while I was again in Circassia), as well as
from one that occurred on the 18th of April, 1854,
that on the former occasion, and ever since, there
has prevailed, among some members of the Go-
vernment at least, if not all, a strange, and, to my.
'we brother and me, most disastrous misapprehen-
sion of the terms and the whole purport, so far as
Circassia, is concerned, of the Treaty of Adrianople
—that document upon which the legality or the
illegality of our enterprise entirely depended !
In proof of this serious allegation, I beg to refer
your lordship to the former of the abovementioned
debates—that of the 21st of June, 1838—wherein
it was asserted by Dr. Lusbington—" He would
maintain that by admitting the occupation (by
Russia) of Sudjuk-Kaleh we wore not giving up,
nor weakening in the slightest degree, our right at
any future period to question the sovereignty of
Russia over Circassia ! up :n the ground that Tur-
key had no right to cede that country;" and by Lord
John Russell that "by the Treaty of Adrianople,
Poti, Anapa, and SudjukKaleh, were recognised
as belonging to Russia • but wish respect to that
particular point at which the vessel arrived, it was
one ceded to Russia by the Treaty of Adrianople
and acknow:edged to belong to her, and at which
she had a right to establish 'her own regulations,
whether sanitary or commercial ;" and to the latter
debate—that of the 28th April, 1851—wherein Sir
J. Graham, having state in defence of the conduct
of Capt. Jones, of 11. Sampson,on the Circassian
coast, that the said captain came to the conclu-
sion, and I am prepared to contend that it was a
proper conclusion, that it would not be proper for
him to interfere will the passage of a Russian
transport from the coast of Circassia, which is a
Russian territory, to Sebastopol, a Russian port 1 "
Mr. H. D. Seymour having called for an explani
tion respecting Sir J. Graham's extraordinary doc-
trine as to Circassia being a Russian territory, Lord
John Russell explained that. " with respect to
what had been said as to the statement of the First
Lord of the Admiralty, the hon. member for Poole
had made a mistake if he suppcsed that Circassia
had been spoken of as a Russian country. By the
Treaty of Adrianople, certain posts on the Circas-
sian-coast thereinnamed were surrendered to Rus-
sia. These forts had formerly, he believed, been
occupied by Turkey, and it was from these and
other forts established along the comfit that the Rus-
sian troops had been removed, and it was to these
posts only that the First Lord of the Admiralty had
particularly referred."

I hope my allegation will thus be held proved.

The pleas upon which, I believe, the British Go-
vernment finally sanctioned the confiscation of the
Vixen and her cargo were--Ist. That she had en-
tered a Russian port in contravention of the Rus-
sian Oudoni-house regulations ; and 2ndly, that