The Sun.
London, England, 1868-07-13 00:00:00

THE WEATHER.

The long-continued drought has at last in 'the neigh-
bourhood of London been relieved by a thunderstorm and
a copious downpour of rain. Throughout the whole of
Saturday the weather was sultry, although there was
an occasional breeze from the north-east. The
wind at night changed to the south-west, and then
the sky became overcast, and gave every indication of an
approaching storm. Flashes of lightning were followed
about half-past eleven o'clock by loud peals of thunder
and a heavy shower. The storm continued for some hours,
but it had ceased at daybreak, when the sky was again
clear. There was a second shower about one o'clock on
Sunday, which, however, lasted only a few minutes, after
which the storm again seemed at an end. At sunset, how-
ever, the sky once more became overcast, and between
nine and ten o'clock there was a return of the lightning,
vith sight peals of thunder and rain, which continued to
fall in heavy showers throughout the night.
Early on Sunday morning a heavy thunderstorm broke
over the Castle and town of Windsor. The lightning was
incessant, and the heavy rolling of the thunder awoke
most of the inhabitants from their sleep. The rain, too,
poured clown in torrents, completely washing the struts
and roads, and for the time flooding the gutters and water-
courses. While at its height, the storm was something
fearful to contemplate. The heavy rain has laid much of
the cereal crops in the district, and for the present put a
stop to harvest operations, which had commenced earlier
than usual. Rain fell in heavy showers throughout
Sunday.

One of the correspondents at Wimbledon writes from
the camp on Sunday evening as follows :—" The heavy
' rains of last night and to-day have left but little
trace upon Wimbledon Common. Here and there small
pools .of stagnant water may be seen, but the broad
ex pause is in the main dry. Thanks to the gravelly soil
and the good drainage, the turf was firm and hard by this
afternoon, and the strollers on it saw but little evidence
of the merciless pelting deluge of a few hours before.
It was very different in camp. Many of the occupants
of the tents suffered severely in the night. Few
among them had had the prudence to dig the necessary
trenches round their bell-shaped summer-houses,
and the result was that the camp was during the small
hours of to-day a scene of considerable discomfort and hard
work. To be roused from your first sleep by a torrent of
water in your face or over your limbs, and to be morally
certain that the said torrent will continue without inter-
mission for an hour or two, is a fact stern enough to rouse
the most sluggish sleeper into energy. Accordingly the
volunteers occupying the ordinary tents were at work
soon after midnight with pick and spade, and a
trench for receiving and carrying off the water now sur-
rounds nearly every tent. 'There were plenty of other
evidences of the stormy weather the camp had gone
through. Coats, mattresses, sheets, and blankets were all
hanging out to dry, and many a volunteer showed by the
soundness of his mid-day slumbers how arduous and ex-
hausting his night labours had been. The fortunate people
who had boarded flooring to their tents— a not inconsiderable
number—were in better case. The rain has had a bad
effect upon the roads, which, having lost the dust of
Saturday, are now ankle deep in the thick black sludge
Crimean men associate with the name of Balaklava. One
of the two tents belonging to Earl Spener, and pitched in
front of the windmill cottage occupied by his lordship,
was blown down in the night, and its d6bris lay helpless
and forlorn upon the grass. We heard of no other
casualty of importance, and the high spirits and unfailing
jocularity of the volunteers we saw awake to-day shewed
that this wetting had had no ill effect upon their spirits or
their hopes."

LIE PENSION TO SIR ROBERT NAPIER. —TIIO.
amount of the pension to Sir Robert Napier has been
criticised as being inadequate to sustain the dignity of a
member of the House of Lords. There are, however, pre-
cedents for this grant of £2,000 a year. A like sum was
awarded to Lord Gough for his services at the battles
of Moodkee, Ferozeshah, and Sobraon ; and Lords
Raglan and Seaton have now each a pension
of 22,000 in consideration of the military services
of their fathers. Lord Harding° was awarded £3,000
to be continued to his two successors in the title. But in
comparison with the pensions granted to those who have
served the State out of the army, these sums do not shew
to advantage. An ex-Lord Chancellor gets .5,000; a
retiring puisne judge £3,400, and an ex• Cabinet Minister,
whether peer or commoner, £2,000. The abolished office
of Auditor-General in Ireland has for years secured Lord
Roden a pension of £2,700. These pensions, however, are
for life only.—Daily News.

SUNDAY 02ENING OF TUE CRYSTAL PALACE.-
A contest on the Sunday opening of the Crystal Palace
took place last week between the Woi king Men's Lord's
Day Rest Association and the Sunday League, in conse-
quence of a proposal made at the last half-yearly meeting
of the company, that each shareholder should have foui

tickets for the admission to the Palace on certain Sundays
of four friends free of charge. This proposal was carried at
the meeting, and a ballot was demanded by the majority.
On Monday the ballot took place at the Palace from
eleven to eight o'clock. The number of votes was as
follows :—ln favour of shareholders being allowed to take
four friends to the Palace on Sundays free of charge,
5,217; against the proposal 23,423 votes. This decision
confirms the ballot taken last December, when, by 20,087
votes against 4,853, the proprietors refused to admit on
Sunday any persons except shareholders. The proposal
to close the Palace against shareholders on Sundays re.
caved 17.8a8 votes. but was opposed by 20.460.