The Sun.
London, England, 1845-12-02 00:00:00

FASHIONS FOR DECEMBER.

CLoAKs.—The forms are of an infinite variety, and
present, in general, a width which is considered neces-
sary to render them becoming and graceful ; the way in
which the fold; are arranged and attached being the
principal thing which evinces the taste and ingenuity of
the modiste. These cloaks are made in velvet, and
trimmed with very beautiful fancy ornaments, or in cash-
mere, decorated with Grecian designs brodes all round
in twisted silk, or figures composed of points de chainotte
appliques ; then there is the manteau loway, the cut
and form of which is so remarkable for its ample and
graceful appearance, being richly ornamented with furs
and beautiful fancy trimmings.
BALL DRESSES.—The following are those of the latest
fashion :—A robe of Indian muslin, having a broad
hem, through which is passed, a transparent, a pink
ribbon ; over this is worn a pink tunic of Italian silk.
open the whole way up each side, edged with a narrow
faucy gymp, and attached together with nmuds a longs-
bouts (long streamers) of pink silk ribbon ; plain cur-
sate a point, opening up the entire front, and attached,
similar to the skirt, with nceuds of pink silk ; short open
sleeves, also decorated with nceuds ; secondly, a dress
of Tarlatane deux jupes ; the under one bordered
with an embroidery as deep as to reach to the top of
the knee, where it is met by the upper skirt, similarly
embroidered ; plain low body and berthe of embroidered
muslin.
BONNETS are mostly velvet, lined with satin of a dif-
ferent colour, and of the Pamela form ; whilst others are
more simply trimmed with torsades of fancy gymps, and
a great number with elegant feathers ; but the most de-
cidedly fashionable are those hats made in the velours
(Tingle, so pretty, fresh-looking, and elegant ; some
ladies pfefer them to velvet until the winter is more ad-
vanced ; they are principally decorated with fe ahers,
and also ribbons put on and arranged with great taste ;
they may be trimmed with black velvet.
DRESSES.—There is no question but that the sleeves
la musquetaire will be brought into fashion, recalling
those famous gauntlets that used to be worn by ancient
chevaliers ; they consist of a kind of manchette com-
posed of velvet, made tight round the wrist, and wide
over the sleeve, which it nearly conceals ; the bodies of
these dresses are of dark blue satin, myrtle, green, or
maroon, with facings of black velvet so put on as to
form a kind of breast-piece or plastion upon the chest,
rounding upon the hips, en basque, to the width of 18
inches at least.

DRESS Hans.—The favourite style are those of the
demi-Pamela form, pink and white ; the brim small and
open, and quite 'adapted fora theatre toilette ; whilst
others are made in crepe—light, and young-looking—
decorated solely with a large feather, shaded and com-
posed of the marabout. Several have lately appeared
in black and white lace ; the form petit, and perfectly
round, supporting beneath the brim all kinds of orna-
ments, such as ribbons, flowers, bouillonnCes, lappets,
&c., the outer part being decorated with a feather, an
esprit, a drooping marabout, or three small tips of fea-
thers etageos._ _

VISITING MANTEAUX.—A new style has just been
introduced, made in velvet, and trimmed with broad lace
attached at equal distances with agraffes of satin ; or
composed of satin rattachee, with fastenings of velvet ;
others are decorated with fancy velvet trimmings. or
guipure fringes, d'effil6s n la reins, &c. ; these trim-
mings, however, will soon give place to rich furs, as the
cold increases.

CAPUCHONS.—For sorties de spectacle, these very
convenient hoods aro now becoming in great request,
being so extremely convenient ; they combine the ad-
vantage of not interfering with the head-dress, and
forming a sort of cap, having a garniture of lace, which
is most elegant and becoming to the countenance.
VELVETS will this season be more adopted for trim-
mings, both for morning and evening dress, than for
entire dresses ; corsages a basquines, indeed, aro prin-
cipally made of velvet, but otherwise it will serve only
to ornament in the shape of bands, embroideries, lozenges,
and a hundred different forms.

PALETOTS will be very much in vogue this winter ;
they are extremely elegant, made in cashmere of a cho-
colate colour, fastened the whole way up the front without
being drawn in at the waist ; a small pelerine, or cape,
surrounds the top of the shoulders, but does not reach
lower than the waist, being rounded over the arms, and
finishing upon each side just in front of the sleeves,
edged with a narrow passementerie, which also surrounds
the lower part of the paletot, and ascends up the front
as far as the neck, which is also encircled with a small
half• high collar ; the fancy trimmings being repeated
across the front, upon the chest, rind fastened with ele-
gant buttons, which close the corsage just to the waist.
Fashionable colours are now principally of a dark
hue ; indeed, nothing is more fashionable than black ;
still we see many such colours as maroon, violet, green,
different shades of grey, l'ecru, and flame colour.

DEFENCE OF CANADA.

(From the Montreal Courier.)

An article appeared in a late number of the United
Service Magazine, relative to the defence of Canada, in
the event of a war with the United States, which has
called forth some observations from the New York
Courier and Enquirer. The writer of the article in the
United Service Journal is an officer of our artillery, who
claims to be an authority on this subject, from having
spent a long time in this colony. It is possible that he
may; we suppose he would not say so if he had not ;
and, from his profession, he ought to know more of
these things than we can be supposed to do; but we
must, nevertheless, be permitted to differ from him most
materially upon many points.
This artillery officer assumes that there are three
parties in Canada—" one is staunch to the British rule,
another is favourable to the Americans, and the third
wish for having Canada an independent country"—we
believe in the existence of no such two parties as the two
last-mentioned; we do not believe that a hundred p: ogle
in the colony (unless some United States settlers or their
descendants, perhaps), wish to have anything to do with
the United States; neither do we believe that a doz n
people in the colony are foolish enough to believe that
Canada could be an independent country. The popula-
tion of Canada, taken as a whole, are better informed
than the people of England, and they know very well
that Canada could not at present maintain its indepen-
dence, even if it had, unassisted by any foreign power,
the strength to achieve it.
If the artillery officer or the editor of the Courier and
Enquirer thinks that the mass of the Canadian people,
or even any large portion of them, are disaffected to-
wards the mother country, they are very much mis-
taken. Our local political squabbles are just, on a smaller
scale, the political squabbles of the parties known as
Conservatives and Liberals at home. Any foreign enemy
who should reckon on the aid of disaffected parties at
home, in a war with England, would find himself woe-
fully in error.
Ours are merely family disputes, which would be for-
gotten in an instant were there signs of foreign aggres-
sion. The smile is the case in Canada; there may be,
and probably are, a few visionaries who indulge them-
selves in day-dreams of the glories of a Canadian re-
public, and have delightful visions of themselves seated
in the presidential chair, but the mass of the people are
sound to the heart's core; and in this opinion we have
no doubt but that some of our brethren of the press of
opposite politics will be found to coincide with us. Ask
the editors of the Toronto Globe and Examiner, the two
leading ultra-liberal papers, what they think of repub-
licanism? That Canada will at some future day be in-
dependent of the mother country we have no doubt, and
with England's good-will and consent, but that there is
any party in the colony, worthy the name of a party, that
wish for it now, we utterly deny.
The officer of artillery says the French Canadians
would probably be found " less loyal than could be
wished." Our opinion, on the contrary, is, that should
we go to war with America, the French Canadians will
be found among the most forward defenders of the pro-
vince. That circumstances occurred in this colony
during years past to which we have no desire to recur,
which had the effect of rendering the French Canadians
dissatisfied, is well known. But we believe that the pre-
sent wise system of government carried out by Lord
Metcalfe, and the evident desire of the British Govern-
ment to do justice, and ample justice, to the French Ca-
nadians, are removing that feeling, if, indeed, it is not
already removed.
The French Canadians, during the war of 1812, &c.,
showed themselves valiant and good soldiers. We con-
ceive that no better material out of which to make good
troops exist on this continent. Besides this, they are
accustomed to the climate, care neither for heat in
summer nor cold in winter. Why, we would ask,
should not Frenchmen in Canada make as good soldiers
as Frenchmen in France ?

As to the employment of Indians in war, it strikes us
that our friends the Americans need not be under much
alarm. All the Indians likely to be employed in war by
the British Government, these terrible Mohawks, Hurons,
&c., are now Christians, pretty nearly as civilised as the
white subjects of their " Great Mother," and have quite
forgotten all their " scalping" and " torturing"—we
don't think a dozen tomahawks could be found in the
colony. The Indians far away in the North West may
still be inclined to indulge in their old cruel practices,
but are not likely to be brought into contact with the
Americans should hostilities occur. _

When the artillery officer spoke of the pride of the
Americans in being militia men, and their love of train-
ing-day, it was a pity ho had not before him two or three
papers that are now lying before us ; two or three of the
most respectable New York journals, in which this
militia training is spoken of in terms of the greatest
contempt, and declared to be, the abhorrence of the
people.
We very much doubt the fact of the Americans. being
on the whole such good riflemen as they were in the
arming mw negtho; ourth
last war. The rifle is the weapon of the borderer and
the hunter, and these men are notlyno?
frontier as they were in 1812.
o
rifle is more used now in the civilised and cultivated
vi.dosu%
States, such as Vermont, New York, and Massachusetts,
than it is in any English counties. There is no game,
afford scopefor the • of
or next to none, to a
rifle and the game have gone West together. That the
English troops are generally
.ad shots,
we cannet
deny—that is the fault of the captains of companies, who
think target practice a horrid bore, and blaze away the
practice ammunition as hard as they can, to get the job
over, without taking any pains to instruct the men; but
no on will say that they are not good at the bayonet.
Military officers in Canada are very apt to form erro-
neous opinions of the colony, its inhabitants, and its
capabilities. If England had nothing to rely upon for
the defence of this colony but the regular troops which
she could spare from other places, she could not keep
Canada six months. In the actions of the last war a
good deal of fighting fell to the lot of the militia—but
the credit was principally given to the regulars. If
England wants us again, we, the despised colonists, will
take good care that while we do our share of the fight-
ing, we will not be deprived of our share of the honour.
There are plenty of men in Canada who could command
a battalion in the field, or a larger force if necessary.

THE FRENCH PRESS AND THE
CORN QUESTION.
La Presse of Thursday observes, that "the circular
of the Minister of Commerce on the state Vf the corn
crops in France and in Europe has been made the sub-
ject of the commentaries of the entire press. The jour-
nals opposed to our views on the subject rely on it as an
argument in favour of the do-nothing system of the Go-
vernment, whatever may be the circumstances which are
likely to occur, and trust that we shall join them in re-
storing confidence to the public. Certainly, when we
roused the attention of Government, we did nothing
(whatever may be said) to excite the anxiety of the
population relative to the means of existence—the
first of all interests as regards them as well as our-
selves. We know no more miserable, no more blame-
able party tactic than that which consists in agitating
the mass of the population, as a Legitimist journal does
this morning, by affirming that 'the people are not sure
of having sufficient to 'eat to the end of the year,' and
that the Government is taking no measures of relief.
But between alarming public opinion and lulling it to
sleep, there is a medium, which consists in warn-
ing the public and the Government, and that is the
course which we have followed. We shall continue to
pursue that course, because, though there exists no
danger of the people wanting bread this year, there is
danger that they may pay dear for it for the advantage
of foreigners ; and, on the other hand, we must prepare
for the chances of the next harvest. Moreover, if our
language could produce any injury, our adver-
saries are sufficiently numerous and sufficiently
noisy to confute our arguments. We confess we are
far from finding in the circular of the Minister of Com-
merce that assurance which he wishes to convey against
the inconvenience of exportation to foreign countries.
All his calculations and all his arguments may be
summed up in these words—the harvest is sufficiently
abundant. We have never denied that fact ; but we
added, it is sufficient if we keep it for ourselves, but it
will not be sufficient if we suffer a great part to
be exported. In vain have we examined the circular
of the Minister of Commerce for a reply to this
argument, but it contains none. Our opponents rely
upon the calculations of the Minister of Commerce to
refute our arguments. But there is no cause for their
exultation, if we examine the conclusions of the circular.
The Minister demonstrates that only 26 depart-
ments have this year produced an overplus of corn,
that 28 departments have produced sufficient for
their consumption; and that in 32 departments there
exists a deficiency. Now for the potato crop. It
is deficient in 36 departments, in only 11 is it su-
perior to a fair average crop, and in 37 departments it is
equal. The last harvest, however, is still sufficient for the
wants of the population, but it does not promise a golden
age; and the Minister was right in concluding that the har-
vest of 1845 is inferior to that of an ordinary year. But
the circular insinuates that foreign countries will require no
corn from us, because they can find sufficient elsewhere.
England will want no corn, her bonding stores and the en-
trepots in the Black Sea are overflowing with corn, and
wheat is selling at a low price in the countries where it is
produced. Let us not delude ourselves. The reserve in the
entrepOts is limited, and not more than sufficient for
the demand from England. The moderate price at
which wheat is selling in England is owing to the
speculators who fill those entrepots, and who are wait-
ing for a rise in price, and a reduction in the import
duties. The low price in the foreign markets is owing
to causes not connected with abundance. We aro told
that the price of wheat is only 13f. the hectolitre at
Odessa. Yes; but, unfortunately, there are three
answers to this argument which it is endeavoured to
establish on that fact—first, to the price of 13f. you
must add the freight, which, to Marseilles alone, is sf.
or 61.; in the second place, to what amount will this 131.
rise when all the nations who want wheat will arrive at
the market of Odessa ? and, in fine, is it known
whether Odessa can supply wheat to Europe ? Is
it known what is the amount of the fabulous
abundance attributed to Odessa? Let us make a single
reflection. If the market of Odessa could thus supply
all Europe in years of scarcity, how would it dispose
of its wheat in years of abundance. Would it cast
its corn into the Black Sea ? We are not more reas-
sured, we confess, by the present price of wheat com-
pared with that of the preceding years. The aver-
age price of the hectolitre of wheat for all France
was but 21f. 4c. on the 15th of October, says the
Minister's circular. Yes ; but at the same period
last year it was but 18f. 66c. This is a consider-
able difference, and it is in vain to explain it by the ap-
prehension created amongst the population —an apprehen-
sion which did not exist at the period when those ave-
rages were struck. Neither is this difference explained
by the consideration that the price of wheat usually
rises at this season of the year, since that argument ap-
plies as much to the year 1844 as to the year 1845. It
is further to be remarked, that in the northern depart-
ments—that is, in the departments where the super-
abundance exists—the price has risen ; and this is a
most conclusive fact."

The Echo Agricole, after publishing the circular, ad-
dressed by the Minister of Agriculture to the prefects
of the departments, on the 15th inst., observes—" This
circular, in many respects, agrees with the information
we have ourselves collected. If France could freely use
the resources offered by her own crops and those
which foreign trade regularly deposits in the south-
ern entrepOts, her consumption would be amply
secured, and the prices would not rise beyond mea-
sure. But if the Minister has truly appreciated
the different resources of France, we sre of opinion that
he has not sufficiently considered the wants of the
countries which surround us, and particularly England.
It is certain that the latter will he obliged to import
largely, and she has already made considerable pur-
chases in our entrepOt at Marseilles, where her vessels
arrive in great numbers, laden with coal, and can afford
to return with cargoes at a ri-duced freight. It is,
censequently, to be feared that the resources pre-
sented by that entrepot will not he available to France.
As respects the northern entrepOts, Dantzic and
Hamburgh, they are rather within the domain of Eng-
land than ours; but the quantity of grain they contain
is far from being adequate to the wants of England.
The prices, moreover, are very high; and the countries
which usually supply them have produced too little to
hold out a hope that the stock will increase or the
prices diminish. Holland, it is true, is abundantly fur-
nished; but those resources will rather serve to feed
Germany and Belgium than provide for the wants of
England. The Mediterranean and the United States
are accordingly the only two points upon which Eng-
land can rely, and there we shall necessarily compete
with her. It is consequently probable that the English
merchants will apply to our departments of Brittany, to
which they have of late sent large orders, and where the
people have already manifested apprehensions on that
account, which deserve to fix the attention of the Go-
vernment. Several journals have intimated that the
French Administration should adopt exceptional mea-
sures to the effect of preventing further exportation.
The question is difficult, and the Minister of Agriculture
and Commerce appears little inclined to recur to such
means. The future will tell if he was right. Under
existing circumstances the Minister gives wise instruc-
tions to the administrators of the departments. It is
certain that the free circulation of grain is the
surest mode of insuring the general supply, and
that any impediments in the way of the internal
trade would be attended with the most fatal re-
sults for certain localities. We trust, moreover,
that before proclaiming the adequacy of our corn
legislation to provide against all the inconveniences of a
considerable exportation, our Ministry has ascer-
tained whether England herself would net have re-
course to exceptional measures. This is a point of the
highest importance ; for if the Reformers should attain
their end at the other side of the Channel, we shall evi-
-1 dently be the first to feel the effects of that change in
the English legislation, and it would be the height of
imprudence not to have foreseen it."
The Commerce publishes the following letter, dated St.
Malo, the 17th inst. :—" This morning a manuscript no-
tice, posted at the corner of the vegetable market, invited
the people to repair to the houses of M. Hovins, mayor of
the city, and of M. Louis Blaize, a former deputy, and re-
commended them to set fire to the dwellings of those two
honourable citizens. The cause of this invitation is the
ever •increasing dearness of bread, and particularly the
export of black corn to foreign countries. Yesterday a
company of the 71st Regiment of the line set out in all
haste for Dinan, where a numerous assemblage inter-
cepted the passage of ships on the Rance by casting enor-
mous blocks of stone into the canal. The gendarmerie
and the troops which left our town having been found
inadequate to quell the riot, and two gendarmes of Dinan
having been severely wounded by stones, it was found
necessary to send hastily for reinforcements. Two com-
panies of the line were summoned from St. Briene, and
we learn that a battery of artillery has been dispatched
from Rennes.
" P.S.—At the moment of closing my letter I learn
that the riot has re-commenced, and that the inhabitants
of Broons, of Beckerel, and even of St. Malo, have joined
,ugwht_oo chaaussedpisrpolpayeretdy
much
to be,
le
Paul Robert, is said to have had his arm broken, and to
the rioters of Dinan. A respectable merchant named
have received some severe contusions. The authorities,
respected, and some arrests have been made by order of
however, are sufficiently
the King's Attorney; b
Ycneartrtl
zeal during these distur ances. The same excitement
prevails on the entire coast of Lower Brittany, black
corn being the only resource of the poor when the potato
crop fails.
The Courrier Francais publishes the following letter
from Manheitn, dated the Bth inst.:—" The uneasiness
which has been manifested on the subject of the even-
tuality of a dearth of corn and of potatoes during the
winter, has excited the entire solicitude of the autho-
rities, and given rise to a most minute inquiry. The
information collected has enabled the Municipal Council
and the Chamber of Commerce to publish a report,
which will much contribute to tranquilise the country.
The conclusions of the report are-1. That it cannot be
advantageous to purchase corn at the present high
price, because the object proposed could not be attained—
that of furnishing bread on cheap terms to the labouring
classes. 2. That the present high price of corn does not
arise from a deficiency, but from the apprehension caused
by the reports of speculators and forestallers. Many pro-
prietors, adds the report, have their entire produce on
hand. 'I la purchases of corn for Alsace and Switzer-
land have ceased in Germany—first, because corn is
cheaper in those countries ; and because their supplies
are sufficient. The potato crop has been a fair average,
and the accounts of the potato disease are exaggerated.
Corn in many parts of Germany is cheaper than here,
and large quantities of American flour are on their pas-
sage to this country. It is from those facts that the
Chamber of Commerce and the Municipal Council have
determined to reject every proposal tending to prohibit
the export of grain, and that they propose to grant to
the importers of American flour a premium consisting
in the return of part of the import duty."

Viscount and Viscountess Sydney purpose to re-
ceive a succession of visitors at Frognal-lodge, their seat near
Footscray, this week.