The Sun.
London, England, 1857-06-18 00:00:00

BAPTISM OP THE :GRAND DUKE

BE,IiGIUS.

A letter from St. Petersburg, of the 9th instant,
says:

"The baptism of the young Grand Duke Sergius took •
place yesterday in the chapel of the Palace of Tearskoe
Selo. The members of the diplomatic body, the high
clergy, and the principal State dignitaries were present.
The Russian ladies wore the national costume, and the
men were in grand unif The Emperor and the Im-
perial family went in procession, preceded and followed
by the officers of the household, from their private apart-
mef is to the chape', the Imperial infant being carried on
a cushion by the. Princess Sollykoff, Lady of Honour,
the Grand Chamberlain C mnt Ribeaupierre and the
Aide-de-Camp, General Prince Orloff, supporting the
cushion. At the entrance of the chapel the Emperor
was received by the Metropolittan of St. Petersburg and
his attendant clergy, who presented the holy water.
The Emperor then retired to an apartment near the cha-
pel, the Greek Church forbidding parents to be present
at the baptism of their children. The hereditary Grand
Duke held his infant brother in his arms to the
moment of immersion, which was effected by Father
Bajanof, confessor to the Emperor and Empress. The
godfathers and godmothers were the Empress Dowager,
the Grand Duke of Hesse, the Grand Dukes Nicholas
and Michael, the Grand Duchess Mary of Saxe-Weimar,
and the Queen Dowager of the Netherlands. A n Deum,
was afterwards chanted amid the ringing of the bells
and the roaring of canton. Mass was celebrated by the
Metropolitan, the Emperor being present. On the con-
clusion of the service the Chancellor of the Imperial and
Royal. Orders presented on a gold plate the insignia of
the Order of St. Andrew, and the Emperor invested the
young prince with them. A dinner of upwards of 700
covers was served at 5 o'clock, the foreign Ministers
being present at it. In the evening St. Petersburg
and the town of Tsarskoe Selo were illuminated.
"The ordinances issued during the•war for securing
the circulation of specie and for controlling the rate of
exchange of gold are abolished and the former state of
things re-established: By a recent ukase three generals
and _three superior officers and a number of high civil
functionaries have been added to the governments of
Orenburg and Samara, which are the central points of
the Russian Government for preserving and extending
its influence in Central Asia."

Mr. Knowles, the eminent Queen's counsel, is about
to resign the office of Attornsy-General to the county
Pals.tine of Lancaster, in consequence of his intention to
retire from the Northern Circuit ; it being his intention
in future to confine his practice to the London courts and
the committees of both Houses of Parliament.
A GOOD SHOT.—Mr. Abram Bass, of cricketing cele•
brity, whilst practising with other members of the Bur-
ton-on-Trent Rifle Club, was one day unexpectedly
joined by a bevy of ladies, one of whom requested to see
some of Mr. Base's shooting. A two-inch bull's-eye
being !placed, four successive shots were fired at 110
yards. Every shot went through the same hole, a little
to the left of the centre, without breaking the outer edge
of the paper. On another occasion, when lunch had
been discussed on the banks of the river Trent, and .the
b!ack bottles looked as though their occupation was
gone, employment was found for them. A wager was
laid that the bottles should be recorked and thrown into
the river, seventy yards from the shooter (Mr. Bass),
and that, whilst floating, the cork of each of the six
bottles should be hit to win ; if the body of the bottle
was struck, to lose. Every cork was struck. The
weapon in this case was a pistol of peculiar construction,
with a 10-inch rifle barrel. The staple fixed in the stern
of a flat-hottimed fishing boat, was struck the first shot,
for a wager, at 300 yards. A swan was shot through
the head at 170 yards, and a duck fading upon a weir
at 320 yards, and a bars at 280 yards—both shot dead.
A boy was Teen angling upwards of of 90 yards from the
bridge on which Mr. Bass was standing, with not less
p than two sore lookers-on. Abet was made that. Mr.
Bass would not break through the upper part of the fine
rod the boy was using the first shot. The weapon in
this cage was the pistol before mentioned. The shot was
; made ; the line, with the whalebone mounting, fell from
the rod. Toe boy stood aghast. The wager was won,
, and handed over to the little fisherman.—Kentish l a zette.
• —[Baron Munchauten Secundus !]