The Sun.
London, England, 1860-08-18 00:00:00

souTn WALES IN AUTUMN

BR OAD and LODGING.—A LADY or TWO
SISTERS, wishing for a comfortable Home in a
beautiful and romantic part of South Wales, may be accom-
modated on very favourable terms.
For further particulars apply to Mrs. DURANT, 85, New—
gate-street, City, London.

QENERAL STEAM NAVIGATION
COMPANY (Incorporated by Act of Parliament).

71, Lombard-street, London.
Notice is Hereby Given, That the HALF-YEARLY
GENERAL MEETING of the Proprietors of this Company
will be held at the Company's Offices, 71, Lombard-street, on
TUESDAY, the 28th inst., at two o'clock precisely, pursuant
to the Act of Parliament, to transact the usual business, and
to declare the Dividend for the half-year ending the 30th
June, 1860. MARTIN PRATT, Secretary.
London, August 3, 1860.

FORESTERS' FETE AT TIIE CRYSTAL

PALACE.

The great annual excursion of the Foresters will
be held at the Crystal Palace on Tuesday next, the
21st of August. This day for several years past
has been one of the great days of the Crystal Pa-
lace. The society first held its excursion at the
Palace in 1855, when 28,757 persons were pre-
sent. In 1856 the numbers were 30,754, in 1857
the numbers were 34,855, in 1858, 45,73. Last
year the enormous number of 63,181 pemns at-
tended the annual festival. Of these Elbow 20,000
came by road, the remainder by rail, the greatest
order being maintained throughout the day.
For the present year great exertions ale being
made to increase upon the attendance on the last
occasion. All the railways entering the metropolis
have arranged special excursions. Extending to
the north, nearly reaching to Edinburgh, they em-
brace the entire eastern and ave.s,stcam`districts as well
as the whole of the south coast.
The organisation of the Foresters' Lccal Com-
mittees being very perfect, the members of the dis-
trict lodges are stirred up to great emulation to in-
crease the attendance from each district, and thus
present a popular demonstration of the most exten-
sive character. _

On no occasion does the Crystal Palace appear to
more advantage than on one of these great gather-
ings. The vast number of persons in holiday attire,
or in the quaint costume of the days of Robin Hood
and Little John, the numerous bands of music, all
give life to the scene, and render the occasion one
of the most joyous imaginable.
The doors of the Palace will be opened as soon
after eight in the morning as visitors may arrive,
and will continue open until dark. The entire
series of Great Fountains will be played at half-
past four, and there will be a second display later
in the afternoon. To enable visitors to leave the
Palace gradually, the gas standards used at the
Christmas festivities will be lighted up in the naves
and transepts.
In consequence of the lateness of the season the
general excursions of the Palace have been some-
what delayed this year. They are now, however,
in full swing. Scarcely a day elapses without
numerous excursions of schools, charitable institu-

tions, or large bodies of worknrin. The coming,
weeks•being full of special attractions great num-
bers are likely to visit the Palace. For instance,
the Great Summer Poultry Show, which always at-
tracts large numbers of provincial visitors, takes
place in the last week in August. This is followed on
the 30th August by a special day set apart for amuse-
ments provided by Mr. Strange, the energetic con-
tractor for the refreshments. On the Ist September
the Hollyhock Show will be held. in the follow-
ing week the Touic Sol Fa Association hold a
contest of singing societies, a party of Scotch
vocalists coming expressly from Edinburgh to sing
some of their national airs. On Thursday, the 13th
September, the licensed victuallers hold a great
festival for the benefit of their asylum. A per-
produced at
formance by about 2,000 voices of Mr. Martin's
Eglxeeetse,
rwHhaiclhl
last
terme
nnsotb,suwciclelstsakfuellyp
place on Satur-
day, Sept. 15 ; and on the 19th and 20th of the
same month the autumn Dahlia and Fruit Show ;
and on two of the last days of September Madame
Clara Novello, who is coming to England on her
farewell tour, will sing for the last time in the
" Creation" and " Messiah," two performances of
which will be got up with great force under the
direction of Mr. Benedict.
The issue of season tickets, at half-a
-guinea each,
eNai day 1, 1861, so suc-
cessfulopted.
available
asft'r yonniar,Swepitll.
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IRELAND.

DUBLIN, FRIDAY.

THE HARVEST. -
Prospects certainly look no better since yester-
day. The rain is still falling steadily, and show-
ing no sign of leaving off. Last night and this
morning the rain was accompanied by a gale of
wind amounting almost to a storm, which,
if the
weather mended, would be of vast service to the
prostrate corn crops about Dublin. The Evening
Post, an old authority on these affairs, thus refers

- ,
to the prospect :
" We are now at the middle of August, and our crops in
general are in many places still green, rewiring the heat of
summer to promote the ripening process. There had been,
during the present week, a more favourable
appearance in
the weather, but warmth and sunshine are greatly
wanted to bring the crops to maturity. A few weeks of
fine seasonable weather would effect a
change in that direction, and we might calculate upon a
cereal harvest in Ireland not much below an average re-
turn, if it were seriously deficient at all, But much wi
Septem-
ll
depend on the state of weather until the close of
ber next. In other respects, we fear, much injury has
been done already by the wet season. The potato crop
has suffered in Wexford and some other
counties ; but, so
far as we can learn, this crop has been scarcely affected in
this part of the country. The potato
disease, which corn-
groat virulence for
menced in 1845, and continued with
four years after, has been gradually abating
loss n e sinceten s
ill,
eSsiOn.
Every year since the blight has been,
its range and less injurious in its effect
and we still en-
tertain strong hope that this year, not;td the
wet and inclement weather which has left
us almost with-
out a summer, the potato crop will escape without any
great damage. The crop which has suffe-
red most from the
rain is hay. At the critical moment, and W
'tie When a great pro-
duce was in the meadows, the rain ea ..
crop has suffered in quality; but the down, and the
quantity is unusually
large and some portion had been saved during
of fair weather, in very excellent condition. an interval
A failure of
the hay crop, following the great dearth of fodder for
cattle which had raised hay to so morn-,
months since, would have been very olio a price some
ullfortanate indeed ;
but there is great reason to be thankful for our escape from
such a calamity."
After alluding to the disastrous state of the
weather here, the Post goes on to say that the last
provincial accounts are exceedingly bad, especially
from Meath, Westmeath, and Kildare, in all of
which places the crops have suffered severely
from
the late rains. The glass fell yesterday one inch
and this morning the tendency is still
downward
ILLICIT DISTILLATION

Accounts from the North state . that the de-
moralizing trade of illicit distillation is on the in-
crease in several districts there. Donegal ,
as of old,
leads the way in the manufacture of the forbidden
potheen. The particulars of the capture of a still
on Saturday last are thus described
" At three o'clock a.m. on Sunday morning the
12th inst., the constabulary force stationed at Let-
termacaward, county Donegal, Proceeded on re-
venue duty, in the Government boat, across the
river Guebarra. Landing on the other side, they
ascended to the top of the moultaio of
Glengorth,
when they saw smoke issuing from the premises of
Thady Gallaher, to which they instantly proceeded,
and where they found a still at work in his barn.
Seeing the approach of the constabulary, the dis-
tillers made their escape down the mountain. The
force took possession of the premises, and, on
making search, found a seven-gallon keg full of
spirits, quite hot, concealed near the house. This,
together with all the apparatus, was removed and
carried off, The parties will be prosecuted at the
next Sessions."
The Northern Whig attributes
this last Ulster
revival to Mr. Gladstone's advance in the duty on
Irish spirits, and adds :
" In this country, the increase of the duty beyond a cer-
tain figure has invariably been followed by a revival of illi-
cit distillation; and the knowledge of this fact has caused
us to point out, on all occasions, the undesirability both in
a moral and an economic light, of raisin., the duty on home-
manufactured spirits to a standard which tempts to a breach
of the revenue laws."
If the accounts in the ordinary public channels of
information are to be relied on, there has of late
been a vast decrease in the consumption of home
and colonial spirits, and a proportionate increase in
the consumption of ale and porter.
AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS FOR 1860.
The Registrar-General's return, showing in
statute acres the extent under flax in Ireland in
1859 and 1860, has just been issued, The gross
totals are as follow:—Total acreage in 1R59,136,2-;2;
ditto in 1860, 128,240: decrease in
181;0, 8,042. In
the province of Ulster the decrease way 7,258 acres,
or nearly the whole deficit. In Munster it was 57
acres ; in Leinster, 298 acres ; and iii ("onnaught,
329 acres. The Registrar-General notifies that the
annual abstracts of other corps and live stock in
Ireland are in course of preparation and will be
ready for the press in the ensuing month of Sep-
' tember.

ITALIAN PRO.SPEGTS.

" Italy," says M. Grandguillot, "is now entering
the most critical and most decisive period of her
regeneration. Henceforth she stakes on a single
card either her ruin or her salvation." It is, then,
true, according to the information of the Foreign-
office at Paris, that the programme which has been
passed about for some days in London circles is
about to be put in action. They who ought to be
best instructed in these matters do, then, really be-
lieve that Garibaldi is about immediately to pass
over to the Continent, and to render Italy within
two months "free and completely independent."
These are large words. They seem to comprehend
much more than the mere capture of Naples. They
lend an air of authority to all we have recently
heard of expeditions to proceed from the Legations
and from Tuscany to the frontiers of the Roman
States, of insurrections suddenly to burst forth in
Rome, and of a liberating army at the same moment
to descend in the Bay of Naples. These things,

although well vouched from many separate sources,
seemed to sober men but the dreams of a distem-

pered imagination. It could not be that Italy,
which had in one year acquired more territory
than even the first Napoleon had ever acquired in
a campaign, which had consolidated itself in twelve
months into a kingdom, and had from a geogra-
phical expression taken rank as a palpable Euro-
pean Power—it could not be that this prudent,
successful, prosperous Italy could be found pro-
voking the onslaught or Austria. We could not so
discredit a great cause as attribute to it so great a
madness. Here, however, is a sort of confirmation
of this rumour, signed by a name which carries
with it a higher authority than its own:—"ltaly
will within two months be either free and com-
pletely independent, or Austria will again reign,
and this time from Messina to Turin."

That. any such concerted designs should ever
have been formed would Eall impossible if Gari-
baldi were a man governed by ordinary views of
prudence or probabi'ity. But men who can weigh