Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1879-08-20
[From Our Regular Correspondent
Our European Letter.
LONDON. Ancnst Z Il

LONDON. August Z, 1879.
The outlook for all persons connected
with agricultural operations in this coun-
try is most disheartening; and there is
little prospect for improvement, for If the
res. Of what is supposed to be summer
were to be fine and hot. the change will
almost come too late to he of use to the
fruit or the crops.
june was bad. and it was hoped that
July would set matters right, but it is
worse than its predecessor. The long
days have been shortened by the cloudy
skies, and the warm evenings, so enjoy
able when they do come. must be put of
until next year.
People looked to st. Swithin-or, as
some pedants call him. St. Swithun-and
they were disappointed. 1t is true
that it did not rain on his own day, but it
has rained nearly every day since. The
old adage still counts many believers; but
a meteorological observer now tells us that
we must read the proverb backwards, and
calculate upon rain if St. Swithin be fine,
and rice versa. Thus far the new theory
appears to be justified.
During the long and dreary winter
hopes were entertained for fine and hot
summer, but it has thus far been wet and
cold-the temperature ;much below the
average, and it is not at all unlikely that
next winter will be worse than the one
from which we have hardly escaped, even
in July.
In London we can bear a great deal of
rain, for it keeps the grass and the foliage
green; but for the country it means loss of
crops and bankruptcy. In the journals
specially devoted to farming matters, l
read of hay rotting in the meadows, or
swept away by the floods; potatoes decay
ing, hops failing, corn sckening for want
of sunshine and dry weather. All home
grown vegetables and fruit are late, and
produce is sent prematurely to market be-
cause the gardener wants to utilize his
ground and prepare for other crops.
July is never the driest month in the
year, but the rain usually falls in great
plumps, and then is over for awhile, and a
bright sunshine soon compensates for the
heavy shower, helping to fill out and ripen
the fruit. This year it has assumed the
filldyke" character of February. The
waters are out y in all the river valleys,
highroads and railways are impossible, in
places there is no locomotion possible ex-
cept in boats or in carts.
Barns and haystacks drift away across
the sunken fields, sheep are drowned as if
they were supernumerary kittens, every
thing assumes Il mud-and-watery aspect.
The tired Londoner takes his holiday
sadly. For him there are no walks down
green lanes; his only excitement is to
watch the drops rs they course down the
window pane. 1t is not surprising that
traders of all sorts are heard to grumble.
Storekeepers had no spring trade, and
now they complain of the slackness of the
summer business. Ladies cannot go
about in muslins and other thin attire
when the thermometer is nearer freezing
point than summer heat. 1t is poor con-
ISOLATION that the umbrella trade is brisk,
and that there is great demand for wa
terproofs.
1t is evident that both the government
and the people of England are getting
very sick of the war in Africa, which is
generally regarded as an aggressive war
on the part of the colonial authorities, and
one that could and should have been
avoided. Thus far the British troops have
won no victories to compensate for their
defeats, and they have already sacrificed
twelve hundred European lives and added
five hundred thousand pounds month,
for the last six months, to the national
budget. Cetawayo is shrewd warrior,
brave and cunning as we'll as patriotic,
and resorts to all sorts of stratagems in
defence of his country and his people.
And who can blame him? He is engaged
in life-and-death struggle-in war of
self-defence. He proposes peace only to
obtain truce for harvesting his crops, and
is drawing the British army of nine thou
sand men into the interior, burning the
grass before them to starve their oxen,
while his unknown hordes lie in ambush
to receive them as at Isandula. 1t is not
surprising, therefore, that the people at
home, as we'll as the army in the field, are
becoming heartily disguised with this
miserable war of aggression and of
vengeance in South Africa. General
Discomfort is in command of the British
troops in the field, and General Dissatis.
faction reigns among the people at home.
Should Lord Beaconsfield decide to dissolve
parliament and appeal to the country, as
| am told he now contemplates doing, a
revolution in the ministry is inevitable.
The death of Lady Waldegrave has
thrown n gloom over London society.
She was one of the most popular women
of her time, and since the death of Lady
Palmerston no lady exercised so much
influence in the salon. The Inequalities
of Strawberry Hill were known to all
fashionable and political London, especial
ly among the leaders of the great liberal
party. Lady Waldegrave was married
four times, and achieved an accession of
fortune by the death of each husband.
She used her wealth wisely, and never
played the part of the affected fine lady.
As you doubtless know, she was the
daughter of John Braham, the famous
tenor singer, who occupied the same
position fifty years ago that Sims Reeves
does to- day.
The engagement of Madame Nilsson
having terminated, the role of Mignon at
har tuie he L..