The Sun.
London, England, 1861-01-03 00:00:00

TUE WEATHER.

The frost has returned to the metropolis with
considerable intensity. Before midnight on Tues-
day the wind changed from the south-west to the
northern point of the compass, when the thermo-
meter fell rapidly, until it had descended two
degrees below the freezing register. The result
was that the streets were by midnight perfectly
dry and every puddle frozen. At sunrise the sky
was quite clear, the atmosphere exceedingly brac-
ing, and the wind keen and brisk, Nor did any
change take place during the day, with the
exception of the appearance, at intervals, of a few
fleecy clouds, the barometer continuing meanwhile
to rise towards " fair," and the thermometer never
sinking below the line marked "freezing," even
where fully exposed to the sun. Mr. Bokenham,
the Controller /of the Circulation Department of
the Post-office, issued in the course of the morning
a notice to the effect that the bags for the follow-
ing post towns had not arrived when the morning
mails outward, and the town letters, were sent out
for delivery, viz., Stowmarket, Needham Market,
Grantham, Port Glasgow, Greenock, Paisley,
Hereford, Leominster, Ludlow, Rhayader, Tenbury,
and Kingston. The whole of the low lands for
many miles in the midland and south-eastern
counties—the mail guards reported—were under
water, and to an extent not witnessed for many
years past. _

Large numbers of persons visited the various
parks yesterday for the purpose of skating. The
ice on the Serpentine, however, had been rendered
so dangerous by the thaw ofoyS..ulndnayuniaanndeMsooncdieaty;
that the officers of tho Royal
endeavoured to prevent persons from venturing
upon it. They were generally successful in this,
though in spite of them some few people were bold
enough to run the risk, being in some cases re-
warded by falls and broken heads. The ice on the
ornamental water in St. James' Park and on the
Long Water in Kensington Gardens, was in a much
better condition, and some thousands of persons
enjoyed themselves upon it during the day, no
serious accident occurring. The ice in the Regent's
Park was dangerous, and the public were not al-
lowed upon it.

FEARFUL SCENE ON THE NORTEUM-

BERLAND COAST.

SHIELDS, Jan. I.—lmmediately after sending my
despatch from here this morning, intelligence came
into the town that a brig was in great distress off
the coast, and was drifting in towards the shore.
Mr. Byrne, the chief boatman of the Coastguard at
the Spanish Battery at Tynemouth, with his crew
and a number of seafaring men, immediately got
out Manley's apparatus,with rockets, Btc., and pro-
ceeded along the coast with them. The sea at that
time was fearful—higher than it has almost ever
been known, and breaking at least five miles from
the shore, and there was every appearance that the
unfortunate vessel would be engulphed with her
crew, before assistance could reach them. The mas-
ter of the vessel, however, with considerable pru-
dence, chose a good beach—Whitley Sands—on
which he ran her to attempt to save the lives of him-
self and crew, but . the vessel being, unfortunately,
coal laden, she struck a considerable distance from
the shore—so far that the rockets would not carry
to her. The Percy lifeboat, belonging to the Na-
tional Lifeboat Institution at Cullercoats, was then
sent for, but some of the fishermen having blocked
the approaches to the lifeboat-house np with cables
and other craft, a delay of half an hour occurred
before the boat could be got away. It was dragged
along the coast by six horses, and launched from
the sands amid great excitement, for by this time
nearly all the fishing population in the district had
gathered upon the sands. The boat was well manned
with an excellent crew of Cullercoats fisher-
men, Mr. Byrne, of the Coastguard, going off with
them. They pulled out bravely through the raging
sea, and got the lifeboat alongside the brig and
hooked her. At the time they did so the sea was
making a complete breach over the vessel, sweeping
her decks and leaping half way up her rigging. The
crew were in the rigging, but as soon as the life-
boat got alongside they came on to the deck. They
had no sooner done so than three of them were swept
off the deck into the water between the lifeboat
and the ship. By the admirable manner with
which the lifeboat was handled and her fine sea pro-
perties the three poor fellows were laid hold of, the
last man by the hair of his head as he was sinking,
and they were dragged into the lifeboat and saved.
Other two of the men got from the vessel to the
lifeboat, but a poor lad remained on board. His
cries were pitiable, and several gallant efforts were
made to rescue him, but none of them succeeded.
The vessel at last began to break up, and the life-
boat crew had only time to cut the rope holding her
to the ship and she was swept under her stern,
when the ship's mainmast fell over into the sea
just where the lifeboat had lain, and the ship broke
in two and drowned the poor lad. The five men
rescued were brought ashore in a very exhausted
condition, and had to be carried to a neighbouring
farmhouse, where they were carefully attended to,
and, though one of them is badly cut about the
head, they are all likely to recover. The vessel
proved to be the Saucy Nancy, of Seaham, a brig
of about 16 keels. She was laden, and it is stated
had two men swept from her decks on New Year's-
eve at sea.

His Danish Majesty's corvette, Hemdal, Capt.
Commander Shulz, from Gibraltar for Copenhagen,
which put into Plymouth Sound on the 29th ult.
for fuel, left on Monday afternoon for her des-
tination.

A STRANGE TEXT.—In one of the Aberdeen
churches, on Saturday, a young preacher somewhat
astonished the congregation by giving out as his text the
lust four verses of the first chapter of the Ist Book of
Chronicles :—" The Dukes of Edom were—Duke Timnap
Duke Allah, Duke Jetheth, Duke Aholibama, Duke Elah,
Duke Pinon, Duke Kenaz, Duke Teman, Duke Mabzar,
Duke Magdiel, Duke Iram. These are the Dukes of
Edom." Though the text was, as an intelligent lady of
the old school remarked, " gey affectit kin," it was very
well handled—the burden of the lesson being—Who were
these men ? what has been the influence of their lives ? and
what will be the influence of your life and mine ?