The Sun.
London, England, 1868-06-02 00:00:00

MR. DISRAELI AT HALTON.

The Prime Minister opened an industrial exhibition al
Halton, near Tring, on Monday. It was promoted by
Lady de Rothschild, who, with the other ladies of her
family, formed themselves into a committee, which was
for the encouragement of home-made articles of all kinds.
The promised presence of Mr. Disraeli invested the pro.
ceedings with some popularity, and amongst those present
were Miss Burdett Coutts, Lord and Lady Essex, Sid
Anthony and Lady de Rothschild, and the other members
of their family, Mr. J. A. Smith, the Bishop of
Oxford, Archdeacon Bickersteth, and Alderman Salomons.
After a few preliminary remarks Mr. DisnIELT said:
Some of you know well that there are many instances of
art and manufacture in which this part of the world has
not only not been deficient, but even has excelled. The
lace of Buckinghamshire, especially of late years, has vied
with that of the Low Countries, and we have shown at
public exhibitions specimens that have rivalled with
success the products of Mechlin and Valenciennes. In
one part of the county there is a department of furniture
in which we have been signally successful, namely, in the
productions that our beechwood permits us, particu-
larly in the chairs which we have sent to most parts of
England, and even to our colonies. Our embroidery will
vindicate its claims to the approbation of those whom
I now address. There is also, lam told, one other
manufacture which I shall myself witness with very great
interest, and which I think we must all observe with no
common feeling, for it is the product of a very ancient
manufacture in this county, though little known out
of it, and not so much as it ought to be within it—l
mean the silk manufacture which now flourishes in
our county town of Aylesbury. To-day we are to witness
specimens of the art which I believe for beauty have
rarely been equalled ; and I have no doubt myself that the
account which has reached me of them is not exaggerated
and over-coloured, because I understand that our silk
manufacturer at Aylesbury competes successfully in the
French market, exports his productions to France where
they are w(leotned, and whence they are re-exported
back to England and bought with admiration in
Regent-street as prime samples of the fashionable
French looms. (Laughter.) Under these encouraging
circumstances, then, I think we need not despair of that
manufacture flourishing more and growing largely in our
good county of Buckingham. To-day there is a very
great effort to recognise success in all these various
branches of industry, to stimulate to future effort and
excellence. There are, lam given to understand, nearly
200 medals to be distributed to-day—one certainly of gold,
very many of the sister precious metal, and a considerable
number which, in enduring material (bronze), will
commemorate the name and achievements of the
successful competitors for each prize. Allow me
for a moment to touch upon the interesting character of
the scene before us. In what can the various classes of
our complicated but admirably-devised society be better
united than for purposes like the present, and for ends
like this which we are all anxious to accomplish ? How
much ly-Ater than meetings merely for some, perhaps,
brutal pastime, are gatherings like this, which fulfil the
purpose of filling a void which all have experienced and
felt, and desired to have filled, but which the generosity
and tastes and intelligence of those who should give a
colour and form to the society in which they live have
hitherto been deficient in affording. (Cheers.) Detaining
you just a moment longer, I will take advantage of the
position which I now unexpectedly occupy, and announce
the complete inauguration of the industrial exhibition of
Halton and its neighbourhood, and I ask you to accom-
pany us to witness the triumph of the industry of the vale
of Aylesbury.

EARLY CORN.—On Monday some fully-grown ears
of wheat, taken from fields at Ditton and Lower Bebing-
ton, near Liverpool, were exhibited on 'Change at Liver-
pool.

Near Cologne, in the circle of Sieg, a tremen-
dons hailstorm, accompanied by a waterspout, three days
back devastated the territories of about twenty villages.
The wind, which was extremely violent, tore up oaks of
more than a hundred years old, and blew down several
dwelling-houses.

Count Irdndas de Zaluski, a Saxon sculptor, has
just died at Dresden of wounds received in a duel. Among
the principal works of the deceased are busts of the
Emperor and Empress of Austria, presented in 1867 to
Napoleon 111. The count engaged in 1836 as a volunteer
in a regiment of cavalry, and was shortly afterwards made
officer for his bravery at Sadowa.

A ILIGoRotTs PENANCE.—A local paper tells a
strange tale about the monastery at Laleham, under the
control of Father Ignatius. A man, supposed to be one
of the " brothers," has been placed in the garden at the
rear of the monastery, and tied up with a rope as though
he were a dog, with an earthenware saucer placed before
him to drink out of. He was there four days and nights,
being obliged to lie on the ground. It is added that the
wretched individual was doing penance for having killed
a swallow.—Pall Mall Gazette.

WHIT-MONDAY.—It is probably some years since
the Whitsuntide holiday-making was so extensive and so
general. The refulgent summer weather, which, coming
before its time, has rendered the month of May in 1868
remarkable in meteorological annals, rendered the
country so attractive that excursion trains to the sea.
side, omnibuses, vans, coaches, steamboats, were all
crowded. At the Crystal Palace there were no fewer
than 36,000 visitors, and that may be taken as a sample
of the attendance at every other point of attraction in the
suburban districts.

THE WEATHER IN IRELAND.—We have never
csoceunntano,3a-ttbitnhgis
ptoerzia(.,lf
ttbleie3.e/a,rre.senitheaoplicilecasrtafnacrine oerf the
s say
that a better prospect never v'as visible of so early and
abundant a harvest. The late rain has done wonders in
forwarding the potato and grain crops. In several gardens
about the town some excellent specimens of new potatoes
—considering the early season of the year—have been
dug. Indeed, they will soon cease to be a luxury should
the present weather continue. The oat, wheat, and barley
crops look exceedingly promising, and the grass crop will
be an exceedingly heavy one. Large sowings have been
made and are making of turnips. Fruit of all kinds pro-
mises to be exceedingly plentiful. All nature wears a
gay aspect, and we have much to be thankful for in re-
ceiving at the hands of a kind Providence suckfivpurable
N4fieason4l* wotheri—gilikznigNint, •

IIMIE TIMID EDITION OF THE SUN,'
-114 4•;v;Iv all the SPORTI Gr N 1-W8 of the day. may be seen
M N'l o''S house, "'t he Swan anti Horse Shoe,"
I..ttle Britain, City, E.C.

rpm.: LATE EinTioN of "TILE SUN" at
-IL JAMES SPEEDY'S, "The Wellington," Wellington-street,
Strand.

THE LATE EDITION of " TIIE SUN " at
J. SMITFI'S, 39, Bow-street, Covent-garden.

riiiE l'E LDITION of " THE SUN "at W. SMITH'S, Camden Stores." 71, Park-street, Camden

to Tll.

r ONDON, TUESDAY, JUNE 2, 1868.

Whit-Monday is always one of the great popular
festivals. It is the last general holiday for some
time, although all through the summer months the
pleasure vans and similar tokens show that Saint
Monday occupies a prominent place in the calendar
of a good many who are apt to forget that winter
weather, short work, and high prices will inevit-
ably come again. Still Whitsuntide is an open and
recognised season,:when parties of pleasure are
arranged, country excursions fixed upon, and fami-
lies and friends meet and share their merry mak-
ings. This year Whitsuntide has certainly been
kept with all the honours. The extraordinary fine-
ness of the weather gave, no doubt, a stimulus to
all pleasure seeking out of doors, but, accustomed
as we all are to talk of the vast population of Lon-
don, it was something really marvellous to behold
the throngs which poured through the great
thoroughfares, and which gathered round every
place where amusements were going forward.
The railways, the omnibuses, the steamboats, be-
sides every other sort of public and private convey-
ance, were from an early hour in the morning
closely packed with holiday excursionists. Never-
theless the chief streets of London were full to
overflowing, and exhibitions, and theatres, and
music-halls, and every other place of popular resort
could boast of large audiences. Islington was in
great favour, though the visit of the Prince of
WALES and the Crown Prince of DENMARK has
been, very wisely, postponed until Wednesday. It
was, however, the first public day of the Horse
Show, and the award of the prizes was completed.
At the Crystal Palace, where there are always at-
tractions enough to summon pleasure-seekers, the
visitors numbered no lets than 36,000, but the
attendance at all other places of entertainment, a
little out of London, was on a similar scale. Busi-
ness was by general consent suspended in most
places very early in the afternoon, and London in
general gave itself up to the unwonted luxury of
wholesale holiday-making. Those to whom such
festivals bring no exceptional and highly-prized
leisure may vote the crowds a nuisance, and 'Whit-
suntide altogether a very unwelcome season, but
such classes can afford for once or twice a year to put
their personal convenience second to the enjoyment
of their fellows; and we grave, plodding English
folks would be all the better for a little more of the
vivacity, the joyousness, the abandon of those
nations who spend their holidays in the open air.
Our climate will not always indulge us with such
opportunities for al fresco entertainments as the
brilliant and unclouded sunshine of yesterday
afforded, and we may be thankful as we pass
through some of the dismal and evil-smelling dis-
tricts in which throngs of our vast population spend