The Sun.
London, England, 1860-12-08 00:00:00

countrv, so nitich so, that Sir M. Seymour, in a letter to
the Admiral, says, 'lam . doing all I can to moderate the
expectations of my countrymen, and to explain to them
that a fleet cannot sail on the ice, or take Cronstadt by the
wasp's nest process ; and that even if Cronstadt were taken,
the winters palace is too large to be packed up for erection
in Trafalgar-square.' The issue might have been foreseen.
' EnormonSexpEctations—all the essential means of fulti!ling
them bedeziiedr—were met by an enormous disappointment.
. Yet there is no one at present who will not promptly ac-
knowledge that'. Napier did all that it was possible for him
to do in the Baltic: The highest naval authorities ha.e
iexpressed that . opinion ; Lord Palmerston has very eel-
phatically expressed it; his successor to the command of
the fleet, mord 'amply furnished • with means, effected less
than he did; but his complete justification lies in this
that the Admiralty have felt the absolute necessity of
/adopting all the measures Sir Charles called for, both with
respect to men, vessels, and armaments, the which, had rhpy
---,when he required them—been forthcoming, would have
enabled him to add another splendid chapter to the naval
history of En Zland.
"As it is he rendered important services to the country,
in the Baltic expedition. 'He caused,' says his cousin, Sir
Win. Napier, ' 0 sail, comprising the powerful 11u2,eau
fleet, to shrink like rats into their holes; he took Bomar-
sund, caused Hauge to be blown up ; interrupted the Rus-
sian commerce; and for six months kept in a state of
inaction 80,000 or 90,000 good troops. He restored and
enlarged the knowledge of the Gulf of Finland to naviga-
tion; ascertained What large vessels can do there, and what
they cannot do. lie carried out an ill-manned, undis-
ciplined fleet ; he brought unharmed a well-organized, well-
disciplined one, with crews exercised in gunnery and
seamanship—in fine, a fleet now really what it was falsely
c•Alled when it started—that is to say, one the most irre-
sistible that ever floated on the ocean for the legitimate
purpose of naval warfare.'
" When on his return from the `Baltic, through an incom-
petent and dishonest naval administration, he was offered
the Grand f .ross of the Bath, he indignantly refused the
proffered ' hush-money' bribe, and the blunt old sailor is
said to have indignantly exclaimed, ' I'll have none of their
honours; to screen themselves, they would have disgraced
and.hanged me, if they could, like Byng; they may bestow
on others their G.O B.'s—l'll have none of them.' This
may be considered one of the most brilliant tuitions of Sir
Chas. Napier' life."
We find a full account of the formation and organi-
sation of the Austrian army, but what is far snore
gratifying is to find also a French view of our
military institutions, written in a fair and im-
partial manner, and that, too, by• a Frenchman,
for our Outremanche neighboun in general take a
very one-sided view of us and All that belongs to
us. ' The general Naval and Military Intelligence
is as usual furnished.

Baily's illagazide of Sports and Pastimes.
This magazine furnishes us this month with a
portrait of the celebrated Mr. Gully, and in the
biographical sketch we have a history of how, by
perseverance and integrity, he rose from being a
member of the P.R. to. that of an M P., also becom-
ing one of the most fortunate members cf the
Jockey Cltib. In fact, we know of no one who has
obtained so many, valuable prizes. From " Oxford
to St. George" is continued, and the following
notion of a cabman's rules for general guidance are
novel, but are nevertheless pretty correct :
"No I the race of cabmen is a practical race, pursuing
a course which it follows with undeviating firmness, and
which is based on twu very simple rules : the first of which
is, 1,760 yards is a mile and a quarter ; 13 minutes by a
fare's watch is hover • the 'alf 'our, which I ticklary
watched the clock when we started, to be twenty-five
minutes to two, and it is now seven minutes past three by
your own watch, as well as the clock over there.' In these
two rules consist all their law and profits.'

" An Account of Bear Shootingiu Russia" gives a
vivid description of wild sports in the North. The
" Experiences of Sydney .GodolphinYahuo" are
continued, but the tale is too protracted. There is
not much plot, and the author does not improve
matters by extending the romance to excess. "'Par
Van" recapitulates the events of the past month and
other•general information. •

One of Them. By Charles Lever, has ,reached.

the thirteenth. number.

The O'Shea is again before the public, as is also
Charies Heat hcote. Mrs. Morris has given up the
baronet and taken up with an Irish adventurer,
the ex-M.P. The poor O'Shea ,is astonished at
his supposed good fortune. Mrs. Morris is playing
a deep game, but the three in chase ere on the right
track, and her identifijation with Louisa Hawke
has been discovered. There is nothing particular
in the present number, but the conversation
between The O'Shea and young Argineourt are
highly amusing.

CHARLES TOWYSHEND AND 1 GOOSE FEAST

It was in the second week of August when the school
at Musselburgh was publicly examined, and when the
magistrates gave what was called the Solin Goose Feast.
I took this opportunity of inviting Mr. Townshend to visit
the school, and to dine with the magistrates, as he was tutor
to his Grace the Duke of Buccleuch, the lord superior of
the tewn. Mr. Townshend sent them a fine haunch of veni-
son, and Mr. Cardonnel, who was magistrate at this time,
took care to assemble a brilliant company of men of letters
to meet Mr. Townshend, among whom were Home, Robert-
son, Ferguson, and William Wilkie. There was a nume.•
reus Company, and the best dinner they could make. Car-
donna in his anxiety to have the venison properly roasted,
had directed the cook to put a paste round it; but she
not having given it time enough, it came up to the table
half raw, to the great disappointment of the company, but
chiefly of a Col. Parr, whose serious affliction made the
rest el the company quite easy on the occasion, for he lite-
rally wept and shed bitter tears, and whined out what an
unfortunate fellow he was, that the only haunch of veni-
son he had met with in Scotland, and the only one he had
any chance of seeing while here, should bs served up raw !
This set the whole table in a roar of laughte; and recon-
ciled them to their fate. After a little time, the Colonel
recovered from his disaster by the use of the gridiron to
the venison, and having got up his spirits with half a dozen
glasses of good claret, began to talk away with some effect ;
for excepting his effeminacy about venison, he was not
bad fello w. He was unlucky, however, in one of his
topics; for, Wilkie having begun to open, Parr, ad-
dressing himself to him, said something rude about the
professors of St. Andrews (of which university Wilkie had
very recently been chosen a member), and wished they
would keep their students and professors within their walls,
for that his corps had lately enlisted one of them, who was
not only the most awkward beast, but the most unruly and
debauched rascal that ever wore a red coat. Wilkie, who
was indignant at this attack, and a very great master of
horse-play raillery, and in scolding feared neither man
nor woman, replied with witty and successful tart-
ness, which, however, did not silence the Colonel ;
when the company took sides, and there ensued a brawling
conversation, which lasted too long. Mr. Townshend had
interposed, with an intention to support Wilkie against his
countryman ; but Wilkie, being heated, mistook htm, and
after two or three brushes on each side, silenced him as he
had done the Colonel ; and the report afterwards went that
Wilkie had completely foiled the English champion at his
own weapons—wit and raillery. But this was a mistake,
for Mr. Townshend had not the least desire to enter the
I lists with Wilke,
but whispered to me, who sat next to

hint, that as Wilkie grew brutal, he would put an end to
the contest by making no answer.—From the " Autobio-
graphy of the Rev. Dr. Alexander Carlyle."

At a meeting of the Bristol hairdressers, it has
been resolved to close their shops on Sundayrnon and
the
the first Sunday of next year, an
local magistrate to render itedemalpsulo to
aorymeto close hair-
dressers' shops during Sunday.
IMPORTANT SALE OF SCOT
hndp(iirt,t Cil BEASTS IN WIND-
t
sou GREAT FAIR.—The
an sale of Scotch oxen
the park meadows, near
took place at the Homes
Flemish Farm, under the hammer
Land Revenues, on Tilos-
mer of Messrs. Buckland and
Son, by order of her 3,nidajiey
ng
rho unfavourable state of the
day last. Notwithstanding
of buyers were attracted, and the
prices realised were° hi
weather, a large c,..h. There were 40 old Scots (some
,„
,„ averaging upwards of £24 per head, 10
realising £2B each)
v raging £2O each, a proof of their being first-class
an
young;a averaging
beasts have been feeding on cake for six
months
under the superintendence of Mr. Gravatt.
iu
past,
It is well known that the season has been very unfavour-
able to the fattening of stock. these beasts being an ex-
ception, is the cause of their realising such high prices, as
they were of the finest quality and in the highest condition.
They were chiefly bought by the royal butchers of Wind-
sor, for supplying the Christmas beef.

RISE IN THE VALI)EOI7I:4.NI) IN SCOTLAND.--
Land still sustains the advance in. value it has shown
ofor
years. This is particularly the case with hill farms, as is
well exemplified by the let of Knockgray and other farms
in
the parish of Carpsbairn, belonging to Major Clark
Kennedy, recently advertised in our pages. • These were
Knockgray and Marshalloch, and the two Carminnochs—
the entire rental of which, during the current leases, has
been £360 for the former, and £lBO for the latter—in all,
£5lO. There were a great number of offers, and the highest
were understood to be very close on each other. Knockgray
has been let separately, to Mr. John Mitchell, Townhead,
Closeburn, at £471; Marshalloch, to Mr. Dryfe, Sauqu.
har, at £191; and the two Carminnochs, to Mr. Campbell,
Laight, Dalthellington, at £3ll. The entire rental has
thus advanced from £5lO to £1,003. The farm of Drum-
n ess, also in the parish of Carsphairn, belonging to Mr. J.
W. Byrne, the present rent of which is £6O, has been let
to Mr. Bone, near Dumfries. The rent, under the new
lease, is understood to be upwards of £l3o.—.alyr
Adver-

user.
GROUSE IN r 4A-scF..—The Minister of the Inte-
rior has addressed the following circular to the prefects :-
4, Monsieur le Prefet,—Seveal dealers in game, have soli-
cited permission to import, during the time when sporting
is interdicted in France, grouse, a bird bred in Scotland,
and which is not to be found in France. As the sale of
this bird cannot interfere with the enactments relative to
prohibited sporting, and may have besides the effect of
increasing, without inconvenience, the supply of food, I
have, after consulting my colleagues of the Departments
of Justice and Finance, decided that grouse ma y be im-
ported and sold at any time of the year on the ti 4rritory of
the empire. I request you, therefore, to give • the neces-
sary instructions that no impediment may be put in the
way of the free circulation of this foreign gay 121: in your
department."