The Sun.
London, England, 1863-06-29 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, JUNE 29, 1861

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR,—At this important season, with regard to the
weather and the crops, which subject will occupy anxious
attention for some weeks to come, I would make the fol-
lowing brief observations:—
Excess and deficiency of temperature in any year are
generally adjusted. in the same 12 months. The wet sum-
mer of 1860, succeeded in December by a frost of almost
unparalleled severity for upwards of 5J years, caused per-
haps the most remarkable devia ion on record.
The mean annual temperature of Great Britain averages
from 47 to 50 degrees; as a rule it comes within this range
when balanced at the end of each year. Ihe mean of 1860
was only 45.5 degrees.
Last winter and spring gave us the heat which would
otherwise in the regular order of things have now come
to us. Calculations therefore made at the end of May last
could hardly lead to the expectation of an early summer
after six months—consequently, excess of temperature and
four months' drought (Feb. to May inclusively).
Upon the whole, for the reasons already given, I do not
expect a very hot summer, and am prepared for the mean
temperature of July to fall short of the average.— I am, sir,
your obedient ter vant,

THOMAS L. PLANT,
iNlember of the British Meteorological Society.
Camp Hill, Birmingham, June 7, 1863.

The Pope, who is now in excellent health, re•
ceived several French cfficers in Rome last week,
officers who were returning to France, and his Holiness
congratulated them, before their departure, cn the taking
of Puebla. The French Ambassador has been seriously
ill, Gut is better than he was, insomuch that hopes are en-
tertained of his speedy recovery.

Wuo NEXT ?—Garibaldi is going to Neris, in
the Department of Allier, for the baths. And, es
Neris is no great distance from Vichy, the question is be-
ginning to be asked if the Emperor Napoleon 111., who
lately granted an interview to Mr. Roebuck, will now
vouchsafe an audience also to this other old reviler of his
ajesty --Garibaldi

Mr. Charles Dickens's last series of Readings
were in every way the most brilliantly successful he has yet
given. The Great Novelist wi 1 not appear again before
the public as a Reader before the next winter season has
commenced.

Victor Hugo's " Life," written by that near wit-
ness of it, his wife, is literally a lite, for it tells oi
the Poet as a son, husband, father, and friend. Besides
every detail concerning him, there are several of his un-
published works introduced into the work—prose, verse,
and a drama. The first edition was sold off in a few hours,
and the second eaition is already published.
Mr. Sims Reeves, we are delighted to see, has
entered into an engagement with the lessee of Her
Majesty's Theatre, where he will make his entree, on the
7th of July, in Donizett's opera of " Lucia di Lammer-
moor." On the 11th the great English tenor will appear
there in " Oberon."

It is rumoured that Captain Sir Robert John Le
Mesurier M'Clure, C. 8., the officer who made the North•
West passage, is likely to be an early recipient of a good-
service pension.—Army and Navy Gazette.

A statement recently published by several Ger-
man journals, and to which the Brunswick Govern-
ment has not given any contradiction, has produced a certain
sensation in the north of Germany, and particularly in
Prussia. The announcement was that the reigning Duke
of Brunswick who has no aired heirs, and whose territory
after the death of the duke will be united to Hanover, has
bequeathed to the Emperor of Austria his immense personal
fortune end considerable estates in foreign countries. The
principality of 0 els, in Silesia, and larg.3 domains in the
district of Galatz, in Prussia, would thus belong, alter the
Lath of the duke, to the Emperor Francis Joseph, who in
this way would again obtain a footing in Silesia, al d then
possess a vast territory under the Prussian sovereignty. If
we bear in mind the fact that the Ducal House of Bruns-
wick was for more than a century in the closest alliance
with Prussia, whose armies were frequently placed under
the command of Princes of Brunswick, who were attached
to Prussia by family ties, here is reason to bo astonished
at a decision which may be regarded as a serious check for
Prussia, Duke William himself was formerly on the best
terms with the Court of Berlin ; he has served in the
cavalry of the Prussian Guard, and was at Berlin when the
events of 18•;0 called him to the throne of Brunswick. It
is only during the last twelve months that his relations
with Austria have become so cordial.

Visitors to the German Gallery in Bond street
will doubtless remember that upon two occasions
we have been delighted with the inspection of paintings by
a transatlantic cousin named Church, whose pencil has de.
servedly earned the appellation of the "American Frith."
We have now exhibiting at the same place a third painting
by the same artist, called the "Icebergs," which are de-
lineated so true to nature and characteristic of the Northern
seas that the very look at them at once imbues the spectator
with a full idea of their majestic and formidable character.
Mr. M'Clure, the gentleman who has brought the picture
to this country, attends at the Gallery and explains to visi-
t \ots the manner in which Mr. Church accomplished his
arduous undertaking, for it could be no easy task to get
over the difficulties that must have beset him to use his
pencil in such regions as Cape Sr. Louis and Cape Breton
hetheopen air. This Mr. Church has accomplished, and
has
produced a scene both awful and grand, trans.
parent and
well-thdined, so much so that we doubt if
• ever a picture of the sa
More BO true to n. me charact©r bale beta exectitcd
Law