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

PERSIA.

A letter from Constantinople, says the Constittc-
tionnel, gives fresh details of the attempted assassina-
tion of the Shah of Persia. There has existed in
Persia for the last three or four years a religious sect,
called Babis, who believe in the transmigration of
souls, and who neither recognise the authority of the
Koran, of Mahomet, nor of the 12 Imans. Their
wily authority is that of the Twelfth Iman, Jaheb-
Zeman, of whom Bab, the chief of the sect, is only
the representative. 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 immortal, and consequently set no value
on life. The number of these Babis is estimated at
50,000. They have been in open revolt in the pro-
'vince of Mazanderan against the authority of the
Shah of Persia and have maintained a siege of several
months. Eight Babis, who had been brought to
Teheran, refused 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 Babis, re-
solved to avenge the death of their Master, the
famous Bab, who has already been the cause of several
sanguinary actions in Persia, fell on the Shah at the
moment when he was preparing to mount on horseback
to go hunting. They fired two pistols at him point
hlapk, but fortunately only wounded him very slightly.
One of the assassins was immediately cut in pieces by
the guards of the Shah, and the other two were thrown
into prison to be tried. It is said they have 300 ae-
corn plices, who have sworn to take the life of the Shah.
This attempt has thrown the country into great con •
s:eroatron. 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.

Yesterthy, at half-past two o'clock, a deputation,
consisting of the 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'Donnei, Hon. G. Hand-
cock, Hon. J. P. Vereker, Sir Robert Kane, Lundy
E. Foot, Lq., and Mr. John C. Deane, assistant
secretary.

The Chairman, having introduced the deputation
to the Lord-Lieutenant proceeded, after a few prefa-
tory observations, to lay before his Excellency the
following resolution, which had been unanimously
agreed to at the last committee meeting :
" That this committee appreciating the great import-
etre of obtaining the countenance of her most gracious
Majesty to this second great effort to develop the indus-
trial resources of her empire in arts and manufactures,
aed recollecting the gratification which it gave to her
subjects to witness those articles which she graciously
contributed to the Exhibition of all Nations in 1851, do
respectfully solicit 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 subjects in Ireland if she would entrust to
the executive management of the Great Industrial Ex-
hibition of 1853, some of the articles which she was
pieaged to exhibit in 1851." _ _ _

hlis Excellency, having heard the resolution read,
at once promised 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 every respect.
His Excellency then intimated to the gentlemen
present his desire to visit the building during its
course of construction, iirid it was at once arranged
that he should be 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.
Bv command of the Lieutenant-Governor,
S. B. GORDON, 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. Morewocd, Esq., about forty miles from
D'Urban.
In this inspection, I have availed myself of the
valuable assistance of Messrs. Madigan and Turner.
The vein of coal 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
sencibly diminishes. I have seen the coal used in a
smithy at Compensation, where every process of
heating and welding iron is performed with the
grer test 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.
dips inland,
acnativ,e , a
nhdo
wwietvhera,
setnhe.
A'sl
mthoefeelolatflainscseeeonf tao dsi
ssitbraleuincrease 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 wore probable that below the first