The Sun.
London, England, 1853-08-27 00:00:00

LORD PALMERSTON AT MELBOURNE —Lord and
Lady Palmerston being on a visit to their estates at
Melbourne, Derbyshire, the noble lord has consented to
lay the foundation stone of the new Athenaeum at that
place, this day (Saturday.) In addition to the Athenaeum
the building will afford accommodation for a savings-
bank, mechanics' institution, and national school. At
the conclusion of the ceremony a cold collation will be
provided in the national school. Lord and Lady Pal-
merston, Lord Harrington, the Right Hon. E. Strutt,
M.P., Mr. M. T. Bass, M. P., Sir J. Harpur Crewe,
Bart. (High Sheriff of Derbyshire), and Mr. 3. Mess
(Mayor of Derby), have consented to take part in the
proceedings. It will be a gala day, and Melbourne-
gardens, by permission of the noble lord, will be thrown
opal) ; boats will ply on the lake, and several bands of
music and parties of glee singers will be present. His
lordship was invited by the Mayor and corporation to a
public banquet, and his reply has caused much regret
in the town of Derby and the neighbourhood. In reply
to the letter of the Lord Mayor, he says--" My visit to
this place is entirely for local purposes, and will be
limited to a very few days, and under these circum-
stances I am obliged, though with great regret, to say
that I am unable to avail myself of the proposal made to
me in your obliging letter."
TERRIFIC THUNDERSTORM.—BRISTOL, August 26.—
This morning, at half-past 4 o'clock, a terrific storm of
thunder, lightning, and hail passed over this city and
neighbourhood, causing a great destruction of property;
and, although it was brief in its duration, such was the
violence of the gale, or rather tornado, that grave appre-
hensions as to serious casualties being occasioned by it
are excited. At Moorfields, near this city, two trees
were blown down. One of them struck a man who was
passing, and felled him to the ground ; he sustained a
compound fracture of both legs. Between Boulton and
Cambridge-batch, and on the road from Pensford to
Bristol, the utmost damage has been inflicted on the
growing crops, and trees have been blown down in every
direction. From accounts which have reached this city
to-day, it appears that the main force of the storm was
expended at the adjacent villages of Westbury and
Abbot's Leigh. At the latter place no fewer than 50
trees were blown down. The gale appeared to take a
direction up Channel from Portishead, passing over
Shirehampton to Westbury. The peals of thunder
here were most terrific. Near Combe-house, the seat
of Mr. Fripp, seven large elm trees were blown
down, falling across the roadway, and thus obstruct-
ing the ordinary traffic. One oak tree in an ad-
joining field was also shivered to pieces. One of
the elm trees mentioned fell right across the en-
trance to Mr. Fripp's house, so that all exit from it
was barred till workmen bad cleared it away. A field
of wheat, belonging to Mr. Granger, was completely
spoilt, a large mulberry tree in Mr. Fripp's ground was
split in two pieces, and an arbutus tree was torn up by
its roots. Besides this considerable damage was done
to the various gardens in the neighbourhood. In the
same vicinity, too, as a proof of the tremendous force of
the gale, it may be mentioned that a substantial stone
wall was levelled with the ground. The gale, as we
before stated, was short in its duration, but throughout
the day we have been visited with some smart thunder-
storms.

TERRIFIC THIINDERSTOR3I.—EXETER, Friday.—This
morning, between 2 and 4 o'clock, a terrific thunder-
storm, accompanied by heavy rain, passed over Exeter
and the neighbourhood for some miles round, doing con-
siderable damage. The rain was so heavy at Exeter
that it penetrated many houses, and obliged the inhabi-
tants to get out of their beds. We have heard that
serious damage was done to property in several towns in
the neighbourhood, and that three lives were lost off
Budleigh Salterton, by the violence of the storm. A
number of corn and hay-ricks were washed away, trees
were blown down, and a good deal of damage was done
to conservatories. Much injury; it is understood, bas
been done to property in several towns on the south
coast, especially at Dawlish, Teignmouth, and places in
that direction. The storm lasted for an hour and a
half.