The Sun.
London, England, 1859-07-21 00:00:00

the more bitter is the disappointment produced by MURDER A
the failure of every reasonable hope.
Other advantages, were mentioned in the address
to the army, to which the Emperor does not now
refer. In that manifesto Napoleon spoke of the
liberation of Piedmont and Lombardy, although we
did not understand the nature of the peril from the
pressure of which the former state had been relieved.
The French soldiers were moreover assured that
" the union of Lombardy to Piedmont creates for us
on this side of the Alps a powerful ally, who will
owe to us his independence." Now we cannot con-
ceal the fact that this was somewhat in the bombastic
style of Lord John Russell's despatch to the Prus-
sian Government. How could it be said that France
had gained a new ally in the King of Sardinia; and
what particular need had she of a powerful ally in
this peculiar position ? Nobody doubts the valour
of the Sardinian troops, the chivalrous character of
their King, or the advantages of their aid in any
encounter. But France is surely strong enough to
feel Secure even without this alliance.
Francis Joseph, in spite of reverses and humilia-
tion, certainly appears in the best light in these
peace transactions. His manifesto is truthful and
dignified, and he does not shrink from an avowal of
failure. " Unhappily," says the Emperor of Aus-
tria, " the result has not corresponded with the
general effort, and the fortune of war has not been
favourable to us." This manly avowal is infinitely
preferable to attempted explanations of defeat or
high-sounding apologies for disastrous events. On
one point the Emperor Francis Joseph and the
Emperor Napoleon contradict each other. The
former states that he withdrew from the contest
because the neutral powers would render no assist-
ance—the latter declares that, sooner than provoke
a European war, he made proposals for peace.
There can be no mistake about this startling con-
tradiction in the statements of the two monarchs,
and it is impossible for both statements to be cor-
rect. Napoleon says—" I found myself in face of
Europe in arms, ready either to dispute our suc-
cesses or to aggravate our reverses." And in another
sentence of the address he alludes to the chance of
being compelled to " accept a conflict on the Rhine
as well as on the Adige.' Napoleon complains of
the hostility of Europe; Francis Joseph laments
that he could not obtain support from other
European powers. The words of the Emperor of
Austria are quite as decided respecting the deser-
tion of his cause by his natural allies as those of his
brother Emperor's are respecting the probability of
a European war. The Emperor Francis Joseph
says—" In spite of the ardent sympathy worthy
of acknowledgment which the justice of our cause
has inspired, for the most part, in the journals and
peoples of Germany, our national allies, our most
ancient allies, have obstinately refused to recognise
the great importance of the grand question of the
day. Consequently Austria would have been
obliged, all alone, to face the events which were
being prepared for, and which every day might
have rendered more grave." When such authori-
ties disagree, to whom shall we refer for a deci-
sion ? Napoleon declares that the risk of a Euro-
pean war induced him to offer peace ; Francis
Joseph states that he retired from the conflict be-
cause no European power would render the slight-
est aid to Austria in this terrible encounter.
Although the present Government have, by the
sudden cessation of the strife, managed to escape a
damaging discussion in Parliament, the peace of
Villafraca is to them a source of peril and embar-
rassment. They have repeatedly. declared that
Austria ought to be expelled from the Italian pen-
insula, and that the power of the Bishop of Rome
ought to be annihilated. How can they approve
of a treaty of peace which destroys their long-
cherished illusions ! Was it for this Lord Minto
stirred up revolution in 1848, or that British offi-
cers were ordered to sympathise with the disturbers
of public tranquillity ? It is well known that the
real authors of the treaty of Villafranca are to be
found in the English Cabinet. In his anxiety to
get the neutral powers into a scrape Lord John
Russell busied himself about an ultimatum, and
some kind end candid friend gave the French Em-
peror information of what was going on. Thus
fortified, Napoleon easily conquered the obstinacy,
of the young Sovereign of Austria. Had the Eng-
lish Government maintained their neutrality such
a disastrous close to a disastrous war would have
been impossible. On the first announcement of the
peace Lord John Russell sought to take credit for
the Emperor Napoleon, because he had not annexed
any portion of the Italian peninsula. His words
were, " I may state further, because there has been
a rumour for some weeks past that whenever peace
came to be signed Lombardy would be ceded to
her, that I am happy to be able to inform the house
that the Emperor of the French has made no de-
mand of that kind, and that there is every reason
to suppose that he does not intend to make any
addition whatever to the territory of France. This
is most gratifying, because any addition to the ter-
ritory of France, however insignificant, following
on the war, could not but raise the jealousies of
other countries." This is in the same strain as the
ignominious dispatch addressed to Prussia. Lord
J. Russell says nothing now of the expulsion of the
Austrians or of the independence of the Italian peo-
ple, but rises in the British House of Commons to
pour out fulsome flatteries upon the Emperor Na-
poleon because he bas not annexed certain territory
I on which he is supposed to have cast a longing eye

THUNDERSTORM&

The metropolis was yesterday morning visited
by a somewhat severe thunderstorm, accompanied
by lightning and a heavy, shower of rain. It com-
menced between four and five o'clock, and did not
entirely pass off until between ten and eleven
o'clock, when the sky became clear, and the sun
shone forth with brilliancy. About three o'clock,
however, the sky again became greatly overcast,
and some heavy claps of thunder were heard—the
wind suddenly rising with great violence. It, how-
ever, soon cleared up, and the atmosphere for the
rest of the day was much more agreeable.
The storm which visited London on Monday
night seems to have been much more severe in
various parts of the country, some districts having
suffered greatly.from its violence, and loss of life
in one or two instanees occurred. At Oldham, a
mill occupied by Mr. D. Mills, Lower Moor' was
flooded, and damage to the extent of about £2OO
was inflicted. At Middleton the rain and hail came
down in torrents for about forty minutes, and the
storm is said to have been the most severe one which
has happened here since 1829. The highway pass-
ing through the centre of Middleton presented the
appearance of a large river; planks and chrildren's
carriages were swimming down the town. Tho
reservoir, near to Mr. Burton's old mill, now occu-
pied as a silk manufactory, by Mr. Joseph Chad-
wick, was flooded, and the lower room, occupied by
the warpers, was a considerable depth in water.
The railway was under water for a considerable
distance, and considerable damage has been done in
the neighbourhood. At Bury and Rosendale the
storm was very destructive, while at Haslingden a
woman was killed by the electric fluid. The town
of Malton presented an extraordinary appearance
during the height of the storm, the inhabitants of
the streets on the lowest levels being compelled to
turn out and by dint of sweeping endeavour to
keep the water out of their houses. A terrific thun-
derstorm also visited the Channel Islands on Mon-
day. The General Hospital at Jersey was set on
fire by lightning, and the whole of the centre of
Ithe building gutted; no lives were lost.

The town of Windsor was also visited yesterday
afternoon with a violent tempest, which, at first,
took an easterly direction, then suddenly changed.
north-west; the.lightning and thunder were not so
alarming as the heavy shower of hailstones, which
were of a large size. Tiles and slates were swept
from the roofs of houses, large; limbs torn from the
trees, and the corn-fields appear as if a roller had
passed over them, as all the crops are beaten flat on
the ground ; nearly all the glass of the houses in a
westerly direction has been broken. Upwards of
one thousand squares have been broken at the In-
fantry Barracks, and Spital Cavalry Barracks.
The Military Church of the Holy Trinity suffered
severely from this cause.
A double fatality occurred from lightning on
Monday night at Ince, near Liverpool. A young
female named Hass-am, the daughter of a farmer
residing there, was in the kitchen of her father's
house when she was struck by the lightning and
killed. The fluid passed from the kitchen into a
stable adjoining, struck a horse, and knocked down
Mr. Hassam, who was standing near. The animal
was killed, but Mr. Has3am was fortunately
uninjured. These are the only fatalities in the
neighbourhood of Liverpool yet reported, though
the thunderstorms, which have been frequent since
Sunday, have done a good deal of damage to houses
and other property.
A thunderstorm, with rapid flashes of sheet
lightning, occurred' at Birmingham yesterday
(Wednesday) afternoon, abourt four o'clock. There
was a continuous roll of thunder, with heavy rain,
for more than half an hour, after which it partially
subsided, but continued for nearly two hours. The
atmosphere was in a vey close and heated state.

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