The Sun.
London, England, 1852-12-31 00:00:00

THE WEATHER IN SCOTLAND.

The weather still continues very changeable, wet and
stormy. High and boisterous winds, often suddenly
rising towards evening, blowing with great violence dur-
ing the night, and moderating towards morning, have
been of frequent occurrence during the last ten days.
On Friday night a heavy gale set in from the south-west,
and continued without intermission till daylight. On
Saturday morning, about four o'clock, a thunder-storm
passed over the city. The flashes of lightning were very
vivid, and reports of the thunder so loud as to rousefrom
sleep many•of the inhrbitants. During Saturday, seve-
ral heavy thunder plumps fell, and by Sunday morning
the Pentland hills were covered with snow. During the
early part of Sunday the weather was fair though cold,
but by mid-day it again rained heavily, and during the
night another gale from the same direction as that
of Friday night set in with still greater violence.
Though somewhat lulled by morning it still continued to
blow so hard as seriously to inconvenience those who
ventured out, and especially in passing along the bridges
and Mound. Monday forenoon was fair, with bright
sunshine arid a brazing breeze from the south-west. The
afternoon was, however, showery. The barometer has
been disturbed in a remarkable manner by the weather
of the last ten days. On Monday at 9 a.m., at about
120 feet above the level of the sea, it marked 27.806,
and by three o'clock suddenly rose to 28.278. The
barometer has not been at such a low point since 1838,
on the 29th November of which year it stood, at
12 at noon, at 27.85. In December of the same
year it was even rather lower. The thermometer
has also shown sudden variations, ranging from the
freezing point up to 53 degrees ; but the average
temperature •of the month has been several
degrees above that of recent seasons. The quantity of
rain which has fallen during the last twenty days is 5.16
inches ; a quantity, however, considerably below that of
any other district from which we have received accounts.
In Westmoreland, the fall of rain during one week of
December was above eight inches. In the counties of
Roxburgh, Berwick, Perth, Forfar, and Ross, large
quantities of rain have also fallen, and in some districts
considerable damage has been done by the floods. Be-
sides retarding field labour, they have also injured the
wheat crop, which in all parts of the country is repre-
sented as covering an unusually small breadth. Upon
some farms which are thoroughly drained, the usual
breadth has been sown, but such cases are extremely,
limited. Anxiety is also now felt concerning the inju-
rious effects which these heavy rains must have on the
general fertility of the soil, especially where drainage is
defective.— Scotsman.

DEATH OF THE PROVOST OF ETON.—The Rev.
Francis Hodgson, 8.D., provost of Eton College, expired
at the lodge of that place on Wednesday last, Dec. 29th,
in the seventy-second year of his age. Mr. Hodgson
was educated at Eton, where he became an assistant
master for a short time, and King's College, Cambridge,
of which he was classical tutor. While at the university
he formed an intimacy with the late Lord Byron, equally
honourable to both, and which was only put an end to
by the death of the noble poet. The appointment of
provost, which carries with it the rectory of Eton, and
is worth about 2,000/. per annum, is in the gift of the
crown, and is the first piece of ecclesiastical patronage
placed at the disposal of the new ministry.
THE CARD-CHEATING CASE AT BRIGHTON.—Richard
Sill, the attorney whose name has so often appeared be-
fore the public in reference to the card-cheating case at
Brighton, and who was convicted and sentenced to a
long term of imprisonment at the Central Criminal
Court, has been liberated from the House of Correction,
Coldbath-fields' a writ of error having been allowed in
his case, which will be heard in a superior court at some
distant period.
DISTURBANCE AT HOLYWELL.—The men employed in
the lead mines work in sets for six hours, at a weekly
wage of 12s. Recently a paragraph has appeared in a
local Welsh paper to the effect that the men employed
in the Merllyn mines, on which Mr. Mitchell is the
manager, had consented to work in sets for eight hours,
instead of six at the game rate of wages. The miners in
the neighbourhood were determined that no infringement
should be made upon their usual customs, and on Friday
morning about 1,500 men, from Halkin, Tal y'r Goch, and
Glan y'rAfon, went en mane through Holywell to Merllyn
and prevented the men at the latter place proceeding with
their work. Matters now began to assume a serious
aspect, and the military from Chester were sent for.
A detachment of the 23d regiment left Chester, but
meanwhile the miners had had an interview with the
magistrates and Mr. Mitchell at Holywell. One of the
men proposed to set Mr. Mitchell before them and run
him out of the country, but the majority were more
peaceably inclined, and refused to take this course.
Mr. Mitchell ultiMately promised that the six-hour sys-
tem should continue for. another month, during which
time he would see the_ prpprietors, and the decision
should be given at the end of that period. The men
then quietly returned to -their work, and the services of
the military were happily not required..
THREATENED COLD.—"Notwithstanding the mildness
of the season," says a letter from Valenciennes " er-
mines have been seen in the neighbourhood of this
place. Recently Count de Fourmestraulx killed one on
his property of Gussignies. The fur was just as white
as that of the same kind of animols in Norway and
Russia."