The Sun.
London, England, 1852-10-15 00:00:00

PERSIA.

A letter from Constantinople, says the Constitu-
tionnel, gives fresh details of the attempted assassina-
tion of the ,5 shah of Persia. There has existed in
Persia for this last three or four years a religious sect,
called Babis, who believe in the transmigration of
souls, and wlso neither recognise the authority of the
Koran, of Me hornet, nor of the 12 Imans. Their
only authority is that of the Twelfth Iman, Jaheb-
Zeman, of wh om Bab, the chief of the sect, is only
the represent 'five. It is pretended that they pro-
fess a kind of communism, and even have a com-
munity of 'women. In consequence of their
theory of the transmigration of souls, they think
themselves km nortal, and consequently set no value
on life. The limber of these Babis is estimated at
50,000. They have been in open revolt in the pro-
vince of Matt ;nderan against the authority of the
Shah of Persil I and have maintained a siege of several
months. Eig ht Babis, who had been brought to
Teheran, refus sd the pardon which the Shah offered
to them if they would abandon their doctrines. All
of them perished without making any concession.
On the 15th of August last, three of these Bahia, re-
solved to ave., age the death of their Master, the
famous Bab, w ho has already been the cause of several
sanguinary actions in Persia, fell on the Shah at the
moment when tie was preparing to mount on horseback
to go hunting. They fired two pistols at him point
blank, but forte nately only wounded him very slightly.
One of the tom sins was immediately cut in pieces by
the guards of this Shah, and the other two were thrown
into prison to b' tried. It is said they have 300 ac-
complices, who have sworn to take the life of the Shah.
This attempt s thrown the country into great con-
sternation. Several individuals convicted as ac-
complices have• already been executed, but all the
ramifications of the plot have not yet been discovered,

GREAT INDUSTRIAL EXHIBITION.
DEPUTATION TO THE LORD-LIEUTENANT.

Yesterday, .a t half-past two o'clock, a deputation,
consisting of tlao following members of the committee
of the Great Industrial Exhibition, waited by ap-
pointment on his Excellency the Lord-Lieutenant at
Dublin Castle :--The Right Hon. the Lord Mayor,
George Roe, Esq., chairman ; Major Fairfield, deputy
chairman ; Sir Edward M'Donnel, Hon. G. Hand-
cock, Hon. J. P. Vereker, Sir Robert Kane, Lundy
E. Foot, Esq., and Mr. John C. Deane, assistant
secretary.
The Chairmain, having introduced the deputation
to the Lord-Lieeutenant proceeded, after a few prefa-
tory observation s, to lay before his Excellency the
following resolution, which had been unanimously
agreed to at the last committee meeting :
" That this con smittee appreciating the great import-
ance of obtaining the countenance of her most gracious
Majesty to this t' great effort to develop the indus-
trial resources of her empire in arts and manufactures,
arid recollecting the gratification which it gave to her
subjects to whiles s those articles which she graciously
contributed to the. Exhibition of all Nations in 1851, do
respectfully solid t an interview with his Excellency the
Lord-Lieutenant., to request that he will represent to our
beloved Sovereign the pride it would afford her Ma-
jesty's loyal eubj eats in Ireland if she would entrust to
the executive moo iagement of the Great Industrial Ex-
hibition of 1853, some of the articles which she was
pleased to exhibiit in 1851."

His Excellency, having heard the resolution read,
at once promise d t to forward it through the proper
channel to the Queen, and then warmly assured the
deputation that in so doing he would use his best in-
fluence with her Majesty to induce her to exhibit
some of the articles in this Exhibition exhibited in
1851, and which had proved so attractive in that ex-
position. He further added that no efforts of his
should be wanting to make the Exhibition worthy of
the country in e: very respect. _

His Excellency then intimated to the gentlemen
present his desir e to visit the building during its
course of construction, and it was at once arranged
that ha should he present on the occasion of the raising
of the first pillar, which is expected to take place in
some ten or twelve days from this date.
After a few general observations with reference to
the progress of the building, the deputation with-
drew, highly gratified at the cordial reception they
had met with from his Excellency.

MINERALS AT THE CAPE.
(From the Cape Papers.)
DISCOVERY OF COAL AT NATAL.
GOVERNMENT NOTICE.-(NO. 50, 1852.)
Colonial-office, Natal, July 21.
The Lieutenant-Government directs the publication
of the following report, for general information.
By command of the Lieutenant-Governor,
S. B. Gott D ort, Acting Secretary to Government.
Surveyor-General's Office, July 21.
Sir,—l have the honour to state that, in compli-
ance with the directions of his Honour the Lieute-
nant-Governor, issued in consequence of a discovery
—for the communication of which we are indebted to
Robert Dixon, Esq., agent for Messrs. Chiappini and
Co,, of Cape Town—l have inspected the indications
of coal on the coast, near Compensation, the property
of E. Morewood, Esq., about forty miles from
D'Urban.
In this inspection, I have availed myself of the
valuable assistant a of Messrs. Madigan and Turner.
The vein of call shows itself on the side of the
cliffs overhanging the sea ; it is a distinct and very
remarkable feature.
The outer crust of the coal, exposed as it has been
for ages to the action of the air, is very difficult to
kindle ; at the depth of a few inches this disadvantage
sensibly diminishes. I have seen the coal used in a
smithy at Compensation, where every process of
heating and welding iron is performed with the
greatest facility.
The stratum of coal and the cliff is not more than
about two feet in breadth, and under several super-
incumbent strata of clay, slate, sandstone, &c. This
at once forbids the hope of working it with advantage
in the immediate neighbourhood of the coast.
At the entrance of a small cave, however, the
stratum of coal is seen to dip inland, and with a sen-
sible increase in its breadth. It is, therefore, pro-
bable that at some distance inland the vein may
be of sufficient breadth to be profitably worked—
and it is still more probable that below the first