The Express.
London, England, 1866-09-18 00:00:00

THE WEATHER AND THE HARVEST.

The weather has been broken, torizterons, and
marked by frequent and heavy showers during the past
week, and those farmers who were unfortunate enough to
have any portion of their crops still unsecured., found it a
very difficult task to complete their harvest dating the
" matches" of fine weather with which the week has been
varied. Great hope had been entertained that with
the " new moon " more favourable weather would
have set in, but this hope was soon dispelled,
and fears of a " wet moon " took their place.
Sunday was a day of very boisterous winds and henry
showers of rain, and engendered serious misgivings as
to the fate of the harvest in the northern and midland
counties. On Monday, however, the storm had subsided
and the day was bright and dry—though occasionally
dightly clouded. Coming in with a change of the moon,
it is to be hoped that the change of weather may not prove
merely temporary. We have now reached a period when
it is of grave importance that fine and dry weather should
preys') in order to enable the harvest in the north to be
quickly completed. The days are rapidly getting short
and the nights lengthening, and rain with a low tempera-
ture and the absence of sun must very seriously affect the
character oftbe grain remaining to be gathered in. There
is still tiinesjor a fine fortnight in September, and we
heartily Mpe that it is in store for as.
The repents from the hop districts are pretty much of
the same character. The complaints of ad map from con-
firmed rain and the boisterous winds are almost universal.
A general opinion also prevails that the recent estimates
of the probable crop are in the main "overeat," and that
the crop mart prove a short one—and ye y far short of
last year. The growth will be very uneven, both as re-
gards quantity and quality. Here and there are to he found
gardens which will produce a large crop, and a capitalaample,
but these are the exception. All must now depend upon the
weather. With a fine and dry time the quality may, in
man 7 instances, compensate for the shortness of yield,
but if cold and wet weather prevail, the result must prove
disastrous to the condition of the hops, and consequently
to the value of the crop. As yet the pickers have had but
a sorry time of it. Picking is now general. It will, how-
ever, be a comparatively short task—unless, indeed, pro-
tracted by bad weather. We hope that our next report
may prove of a more cheering character.—Sussex Ad-
vertiser.

A personage (remarks the Paris correspondent of
the Times) of whom one doe. not hear a great deal, except
at times, whom the dearth of important pol'tical topics
leaves leisure for attention to palace scandals and the in-
trigues of councillors, has been most painfu'ly affected by
the reverses of Austria, and their probable cows:glances
elsewhere. In private letters from Madrid it was some
time ago mentioned that at the news of each successive
victory of the Prussians over the Austrians, Queen Isa-
bella of Spain abed tears, and broke out into lamentations.
"It is all over with us !" she is reported to have ex-
claimed, " with the Pope, with Austria, with all of us !
The heretics, the protestants triumph." Like Antonelli,
her Most Catholic Majesty thought the world was going to
"ca wade." If she considers Austrian defeats calculated
to make her own tenure worse she had cause for alarm,
for it is insecure enough already.

The Wilton Sheep Fair last week was the worst
that has been known for years. The number of sheep
penned was at least 20,000 under the average, and num.
ben were driven away unsold.
EchiPsEs. —There will be a total eclipse of the
moon on Monday next, the 24th inst., and on Monday,
October 8, there will be a partial eclipse of the sun. It
will commence at 4 o'clock in the afternoon.

EARTHQUAKE IN DEVON. —A correspondent of
the Exeter Gazette writes from East Budleigh :—" Two
distinct shocks were felt here at a quarter to 10 on
Thursday night. The windows of my house rattled
violently. About fin minutes elapsed between the two
shooks, and the last was the more violent of the two. I
believe that the cause was an earthquake. The night was
quite calm at the time." The same paper states that
inhabitants of neighbouring villages also felt the shock.
" FATHER lONATIUS" AND THE ARCHBISHOP OP
CANTERBURT.—We have authority to state that the Arch-
bishop of Canterbury has never sanctioned either the re-
appearance in London or anywhere else of the Eneslt
Order of SL Benedict, or the adoption of any of the
Benedict'ne rules by the association of which the Rev.
Joseph Leyeester Lyne was once the superior. If such a
proposition bad ever been made to the archbishop, he
would al once have forbidden its being carried into execu-
tion. All that the Archbishop of Canterbury engaged
to do, in consequence of the spontaneous promise on
Mr. Lyne's part to submit absolutely to the
archbishop's orders, was to admit him as a deacon
to serve a curacy in his diocese, but without any express
promise as to priest's orders ; and if the incumbent
whose curate he should be, permitted it, to allow two
laymen to live with him and work in the service of the
church under the incumbent. They might live if they
pleased, according to rules, provided these rules were not
inconsistent with the doctrine and discipline of the
church of England, and did not in any way interfere with
the performance, on Mr. Lyre's part, of the duties of an
ordinary curate under the direction of his incum-
bent, or on the part of the laymen, with their
obligations as lay assistants in the parish. The
Rev. Mr. Lyne was thus to be placed in a state
of probation ; and it remained to be tried how far such a
brotherhood as thus described could be carried on in corn-
ploo subordination to the parochial system, under the
direction of the bishop. It is not true that the Rev. J. L.
Lyne has been appointed to the curacy of Margate. The
general object as regards the society to which Mr. Lyite
belonged was to alter its character and constitution, and
to render its organisation directly subservient to the
use of the church by making it the means of enlist-
ing a larger amount of lay agency in her service ; all
the existing members of it were to place themselves
at once under the direction of the clergyman of the parish
in which they resided, promising to work according to his
orders provided the bishop consented, and acknowledging
no superior authority. The archbishop has given no orders
or permission beyond this, and it remains to be seen
whether this system could work for the benefit of the
church. The abandonment of the monastic dress, as well
as of the title of Superior of the Order of St.
Benedict, together with a promise to obey in every-
thing the erclabishoo's orders, were the conditions on
which alone the archbishop consented to have an inter-
view with Mr. Lyne and nothing whatever has since been
settled definitely or agreed upon between them, save what
has been mentioned above. The Rev. J. Lyne having
now, as it appears, committed himself to his former asso-
ciates in a way which renders it impossible that he should
any longer submit implicitly to the archbishop's orders,
end having announced his resolution to adhere to the
system pursued at Norwich, excepting sato the dress and
name, it is useless any longer to put Mr. Lyne under the
proposed probation, or to attempt further to direct his
proceadin' gs.—Herald.
FUNERAL OF THE LATE MR. J. B. DILLON, M.P.
—The remains of the late Mr. J. B. Dillon, M.P., were
interred yesterday afternoon in Glssnevin Cemetery. They
were removed from the late residence of the deceased,
Druid Lodge, Killiney, at shortly after 12 o'clock, but in
consequence of the length of the corage and the numerous
accessions made to it on the road, the funeral did not
reach the cemetery until half-past 3 o'clock. The mourn-
ing coaches were occupied by Mr. Valentine B. Dillon,
brother of the deceased; Messrs. Dillon, jun., his nephews;
' Dr. N. C. Whyte, Secretary of the National Association ;
' Mr. John Martin, Kilbroney ; and Mr, James Cantwell
Amongst those who attended were—The Lord Mayor,
the Solicitor-Genera, M.P., Serjesat Armstrong, M.P ;
Serjeant Barry M.P.; Sir Colman O'Loghlen, M.P. ; The
O'Donogints, M.P. ; Sir John Gray, M.P. ; Edward Fox,
J.P. ; David Sherlock, Q.C. ; Alderman Tarpey,
Keogh, banister P. P. 1113winey, James Haughton,
J.P.;PPhilip
J. P. O'Reilly, T.C. ; W. N. Hancock, LL. D. ;
J. M. Lougbnaa, barrister; John ll'llaboa, barrister;
the High Sheriff of the city of Dublin, Dr. Ryan, P.C.;
Dr. WSwiney, Christopher N. Duff, James Martin, J.P.,
Professor Barry, Philip Redmond, T.C. ; and a large
body ot Room catholic clergymen.