The Sun.
London, England, 1854-06-16 00:00:00

COMMON SENSE

Cheapside, Loudon, Juno, 1854.
P.S.—lf any further advance in the rate of interest
takes place, there will, to a certainty, be public meetings
announced similar to those at the end of May, 1847.

TEE BELISARIUS PICTURE.—ThiS splendid picture, by
Salvator Rosa, which has for so many years been com-
paratively unknown to the public, is now, by the kind-
ness of the present owner, being exhibited, among other
works of ancient masters, at the British Institution.
The picture was given by Frederick the Great to the
first Marquis of Town,hend, and it has lately descended
to Captain Townshend, R.N., M.P. for Tamworth, who
has taken the earliest opportunity of exhibiting it. The
excellence of this picture as a work of art may be esti-
mated by the fact, that 10,000 guineas have been more
than once offered to the family for the picture, and de-

chned.
-,DESIGNS OF RUSSIA ON FINMARK.— Recent advices
from the Norwegian province of Finmark, near the nor•
thorn frontier of Russian Lapland, contain the follow-
ing remarks on the designs of Russia in that quarter :
" The Russians are collecting forces in Finland, appa-
rently to threaten Sweden and Norway. They are also
anxious to get this northern part, which would provide
them with fine shelter for their fleet, with the means of
putting to sea at any season of the year, as our Fiords
here do not freeze unless the water be very shallow."
REPRESENTATION OF THE COUNTY OF ABERDEEN.—AS
was pretty generally expected, Admiral Gordon, who has
represented Aberdeenshire for 35 years, retires on his
acceptance of the post of commanding officer at Sheer-
ness. The Admiral has recently found himself in a
rather difficult position—unwilling to go against a
Cabinet which had his brother for its head, and yet
afraid to vote with the Ministry in opposition to the
views he had previously supported. Hence, during this
session he has not been present at a single division, but on
some questions, where ho was unable wholly to escape,
ho has "paired off." lie now retires, and creates a
vacancy, to fill which Lord Haddo, his nephew, and the,
son of the premier, is to be put forward. Lord Haddo
must be understood as coming forward as a Government
candidate. If accepted by the constituency—and there
is not a whisper of an opposition—the ministry will, by
'the change, gain another vote, on which they may cal-
culate on all occasions. Lord Haddo is in his 38th year,
and has not previously been in Parliament.—Banffshire
Journal.
GAME PRESERVING EXTRAORDINARY.—A correspon-
dent says :—" A novel plan is adopted to preserve the
game on the estates at Westley Bottom, near Newmar-
ket, and very much to the injury and annoyance of the
farmers,. who are not allowed to sport, and sometimes
lose their dogs in a very mysterious manner. An exact
account is kept (the more exact as nearly all are sent to
market) of the number of hares killed on the estates
during the season, and at its termination the men em-
ployed on the farms receive for every hare so killed 2d.,
while the shepherds on the estates receive 3/. 10s., and
this for preserving hares during the breeding season, so
that they may live to eat up the produce of their mas-
Ler's farms. During the last season the enormous num-
ber of 840 hares were killed by the landlord and his
friends on the Westley Manor, and the sum received by
the men for hare money,' besides the allowance to shep-
herds, was 71. is. 6d., the day selected for paying this
money being Good Friday, when the men had what they
term a regular jollification,' and not being able to ex-
pend the whole of the money on that day, they returned
to their revels on the Saturday. Can this system be
justified ? It is reckoned, also, that three hares will
consume as much as one sheep."
The MOORSOIf SHELL.—The Derby illercury pub
fishes a letter from an officer on board the Caesar who
witnessed the bombardment of the Hango Forts. He
says it was beautiful to observe the manner in which
Moorsom'e new shells struck and bursted on the Rus-
sian batteries ; they will prove a most deadly missile
during the present war. The Russians fired with great
precision and with much pluck ; but the Dragon
Was the • only vessel injured to any extent,. I went
on hoard of her atter the cessation of firing, and found
that fifteen shot had penetrated her hull, but, most
providentially, only one man was killed ; a cannon
ball took off his leg, and he died from heinorrage
in twenty minutes. No other man was wounded, if we
except one brave fellow who lost the use of his nose by a
splinter. Jack immediately wiped his nose, and vowed,
in not the most elegant terms, that he would have a
" Roosian" for it; no doubt he exacted ample vengeance.
Speaking of the affair at Eckness, he says a little grape
and Moorsom told with a terrible effect on the Russian
soldiers. I had it from the lips of one of the officers of
the Arrogant that it was melancholy to witness the
manner in which the limbs of both men and horses flew
in the air from the-explosio n of the shells.