The Sun.
London, England, 1861-08-16 00:00:00

711 E HARVEST.

The weather on Wednesday and yesterday was
admirably adapted in the eastern district for the
rapid prosecution of harvest work, the temperature
being only moderately 'high, ,'so that the harvest.
men can work with a will. On Monday the heat
was so great and suffocating from the absence of
wind that many of the men suffered severely, and
instances are reported in which they were cvried
fainting from their toil. The yield of wheat, as
before stated, is generally pretty good, but there
are exceptional complaints of a deficiency ; the
quality is, however, almost universally commended.
The fine genial weather which has prevailed in
Northumberland during the last few days has had
a marked influence upon the crops; Harvest is
everywhere rapidly approaching, and in many
places reaping both by the hand and the machine
has commenced. Throughout the northern division
of the county frequent showers of rain have fallen
since Sunday without inflicting any injury to the
ripening corn, while they have materially benefited
the pastures and young turnips. The generality of
the grain crops in the county are by no means so
heavy as could be wished ; but the samples of grain
already obtained are very fine. No anxiety is felt
as to the scarcity of labourers, as a very large num-
ber of agriculturists in Northumberland now em-
ploy reaping machines, and thus obviate the neces-
sity of having a large number of labourers. On
Wednesday the fine weather which had prevailed
for some days previously was succeeded by a dull
drizzling rain, which began about noon and before
long changed into a very heavy shower, which con-
tinued to fall in torrents throughout the district
during the rest of the day. It is feared that this
untoward occurrence will have done a great amount
of harm to the crops.

FRENCR CRITICISM ON LORD DERBY.

The London correspondent of the Constitutionnel,
who is supplying that paper with a series of parlia.
mentary sketches, gives the following " portrait" o
Lord Derby :

Brave, generous, chivalrous, as a noble of the
purest blood, he disdains all parliamentary shams,
and aims his blows direct at his adversary.
Dis-
raeli patiently and skilfully unravels the tissue of
subtleties in which his antagonists wish to envelop
him. Lord Derby cuts through the same at a blow,
and opposes to all a proud disdain, not to say a
majestic cynicism. He is accused of being proud.
How could he be otherwise ? At twenty-five he
was already illustrious, and now to his pride of
blood is added the consciousness of indisputable
superiority, which he owes to himself alone. See
him in the House of Lords, how he towers above
his colleagues! There are within those walls states-
men better versed than himself in political affairs,
leaders who would embarrass him in any serious
question, legists far superior to him in all matters
of law, and yet he stands head and shoulders above
them all, and in the midst of his brother peers may
bo compared to Richard Coeur-de-Lion surrounded
by his court. His eloquence is impetuous and
sometimes even passionate ; his ideas disdain the
elegant ornaments of periphrase, and go straight to
their native simplicity. When Disraeli speaks his
tone is rapid and sarcastic, his lips are compressed,
the pupil of his eye contracted and scoffino.b. Lord
Derby, on the contrary, with quivering lips and
fiery glance, seems ready to rush upon his antago-
nist and strike him to the ground. The former may
be compared to the knat which kills even the lion
by its exasperating attacks; the latter, to Jupiter
Tonans. Lord Derby is generally reproached, and
we fear not unjustly, with great weakness of cha-
racter. He is accused of suffering himself to be led
by Disraeli, and of being suddenly influenced l-Jv
that deserter of all parties. Unfortunately, this
opinion has been too much confirmed since the last
unsuccessful attempt to form a conservative govern-
ment—yes, conservative of all the fatal tradition
which inflicted on Great Britain the stigma of St.
Helena, but destructive of everything that consti-
tutes the essence of a really conservative govern-
ment at home.

The preparations for building the iron armour-
platedprogess ; the machinery is daily getting into better
working order. During the last day or two a steam
ship Achilles at Chatham, are making good
tehene
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cranethe
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'4he purpose of lifting out ballast, and it is ex=
petted that it will be tested by the chief officers
to-morrow.
The Winchester, old 50-gun frigate, has arrived
at Portsmouth from Chatham, in tow of the Geyser,
paddlewheel steamer, Commander Jackson, and will
proceed to Liverpool as a training ship instead of
the Conway.
The floating battery Trusty, having shipped am-
munition and guns at the Royal Arsenal, will be
s: Themoored
s fu oltff is
Colonel
experiments to test Captain Coles's shot-proof shield.
lookTeadi Shoeburynessforwardioh:
R.A., to-morrow
o thewith foramuc h
newly-appointedsi
interest,
sot,
and the experiments will take place in the pre-
Director of Ordnance, Commodore Sir F.. W. E.
Nicolson, Superintendent of Woolwich Dockyard,
and numerous members of the Ordnance Select
Committee.
The War Department transport Thames was
placed alongside the Ordnance-wharf at Chatham
yesterday, and landed three large lOU-pounder
Armstrong guns, and a number of the ordinary
cast-iron 56 cwt. guns, together with a quantity of
gun-carriages and other war stores. The Thames
will to-day receive on board a number of guns to
undergo alteration at Woolwich. In consequence
of the recent arrivals of numerous transports of the
War Department, a considerable number of the
Armstrong guns have been received at Chatham
for distribution to the Steam Reserve, and the other
vessels of war lying in the :Medway. Strict orders
are issued for no persons unconnected with the Go-
vernment to be allowed to inspect them without
special authority.
Her Ma.iesty's gunboat Speedwell, in command of
Mr. M'lntosh Hall, which went down the river
on Tuesday last from Woolwich on a first trial of
her machinery, made a second trial yesterday, the
first having been unsatisfactory. The engines are
of 80-horse power. The Speedwell was recently
built at Deptford, and is intended to carry five
Armstron ),- guns.
The following appointments were made yester-
day at the Admiralty :—Commander Augustus C.
Hobart, to the Foxhound ; Commander George
Blanc, to the Hibernia ; Lieut. John G. S. Clarke,
to the Impregnable ; William H. Gribben, assist.-
paymaster, to the Plover; and Frederick 1,. N.
Dyer, clerk, to the Centurion.