The Sun.
London, England, 1856-12-06 00:00:00

SPAIN.

The Madrid journals of the Ist have arrived.
The Gautte contains a decree which enacts that,
for administrative and other reasons, the budget of
the present year shall be closed on December 31in-
stead of on the 30th June next, as decided by the
late Cortes. The ovedades expresses surprise that
the chargtS d'affaires of France had done nothing
with respect to certain attacks on the Marquis de
Turgot, the French ambassador, made during the
latter's absence, in the French paper, the Courtier
de Madrid; but the Iloja Autografa says that that
'functionary has taken some steps, though it does
not mention what they are. It was reported some
time back that the 24,000000 reals which Queen
Christina had received at Marseilles when proceed-
ing to Italy had been placed by the Spanish Go-
vernment at her disposal on account of the arrears
of her pension ; but, according to the Hoja Auto-
grafa, the sums which had been remitted to her
Majesty came from the sale of some of her pro-
perty. A number of troops had been collected at
Alicante to be embarked for Cuba, and the Govern-
ment had notified its readiness to enlist young
men 19 years of age for military service in that
island, even without the consent of their pa-
rents. The civil guard in the course of November
arrested 70 deserters from the provincial militia.
Another rise had taken place in wheat in the
Madrid market ; the bushel had fetched as much
as 100 reals. The works for conveying good water
to the capital wore advancing rapidly. A fire,
stated to be accidental, had destroyed the extensive
mills of the canal company at Valladolid, and with
them 3,000 arrobas of flour (the arroba is 4 gallons),
but 4,000 arrobas of flour and 14,000 bushels of
wheat were saved from the flames. A bank of issue,
with a capital of 18,000,000 reals in shares, has
been established at Seville.

A letter from Copenhagen of the 30th ult. says :
—" The Duke and Prince of Glucksburg have ar-
rived here to express their gratitude to his Ma-
jesty for the decision which restores to them their
honours. They are to have an audience of the King
to-day at the Chateau of Fredericksborg. Rear-
Admiral Virgin has been appointed Swedish minis-
ter at this court in the room of Baron de Lager-
heim, now Minister of Foreign Affairs."

THE ST. PAUL'S CATHEDRAL
EXHIBITION.

Mr. E. B. Denison and Mr. Taylor give the following
graphic account of a visit made to St. Paul's Cathedral
to inspect the arrangements of the'hammer of the great
bell :

•
"Thinking it possible that we might learn something I
which might be useful with reference to the arrangement
of the hammer for the Great Bell of Westminster, we
went on Wednesday morning to St. Paul's Cathedral ;
and, after convincing several successive showmen, with
some difficulty, that the bell and clock were the things
we really came to see, and that we were indifferent to
the wonders of the whispering gallery, the geometrical
staircase, and the crypt, we obtained our tickets, and
were passed up a great many stairs, and finally escorted
by a lady into an upper chamber in the south-west tower,
when she said, "There is the bell, gentlemen." We
looked about, wondering where so large a bell could be
hidden, and said, " Where !"--" Up there." And, sure
enough, some 30 feet overhead there was a square hole,
and through the hole there was the end of the clapper to
be seen, and a piece of the bell, but no more ; for that,
it appears, is the nearest access and the best view which
the Dean and Chapter allow to the purchasers of their
bell.and-clock tickets.
"Finding no more was to be got there, we turned into
another room for a view of the clock ; and there,
beyond all doubt, it was, for it was ticking twice as loud
as a good clock ought to do ; inside a strong oak case,
with a single pane of glass in it, through which you get
a view of the end of one of the winding barrels and a
dial, but not one bit more of any of the machinery of the
clock. This, the lady told us, is called seeing the clock ;
and, to do her justice, she regretted she could show no
more, as the exhibition would no doubt be more attrac-
tive if it was better worth seeing.
" We dare say that if we were to apply to the Dean,
stating why we wanted to see more of these things than
is included in the regular ticket, we should receive due
attention. But, in the irst place, we saw enough to
satisfy us that we should learn nothing of any use to us
by seeing more ; and, secondly, we think it fairer to
speak for the public who are seduced into buying these
tickets by the belief that they are going to see the things
professed to be shown, than for ourselves alone ; and
we therefore beg hereby to give notice to all whom it
it
s
present concern that so long as the exhibition remains in
present state they had better save their eightpences and
their legs, and stay downstairs.
" By the way, Sir Christopher Wren's large wooden
model of the far grander St. Paul's Cathedral which he
wi-ihed to build, 34 he did wider streets after the fire,
was thrown in for the money. Surely, as Mr. Petit
says in his book on French architecture, the Dean and
Chapter might spend a few pounds in preventing it from
falling to pieces, as it will very soon if it is not re-
paired."