The Sun.
London, England, 1857-02-02 00:00:00

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~,. __ .

From Adelaide we learn that Dr. 13ardh is midi*
have discovered anthracite coal ou the lan& of
the South Australian Company.
The Geelong papers bring us news of the death
of Mr. John Armstrong, at his residence in Grant
county, on the 17th of Oct. ; while from Adelaide
we hear of ,the death of two colonial. eelehrities4— ,
Capt. W, Allen and Mr. G. Stevenson, ,Justice of
the Peace and Coioner of the city. Captain .A.fleu •
died suddenly, of enlargement of the heart,. on toe
night of the 16th of Oct., and his funeral: was veryo:l",,,---,
„nemerously attended. Mr. 'Stevenson,' Who had
had a long and revere illness, died on 'the morning C's
of Senday, Oct. he 19th. Mr. Steveuson was 'in
his 58th year, and would, if he ba,d' lived wo •
months longer, have been a Sou, h itotraiian colo-
nist of 20 years' standing. •He arrived out from
•
England in her Majesty's.ship Buffalo, As private •
secretary to Capt. Hindmarsey the first, Gover4r
of the colony, and was the first clerk to the Legisla- •
tiva Comicil, the first coroner, and one of the first
bench of magistrates. Before leaving ,Eingland he
had been an extensive contributor to the leading
coluinns of the Globe newspaper, and was devoted
to other literary pursuits. I-30 was. editor And
.part proprietor of the first newspaporin the nolony
11e South Australian Gazette and Colonial Regis-
-ter (now the South. Australian Register),alid was
consequently "the father .of the South 4.ustraliau
press.',' Latterly he had only occasionally contri-
buted to the pr6s, and devoted his attention wore
zvi,eluisively to-horticultural pkiistits.. Tare (who
of George Stevenson- (sayer theAdefctide' Timis)-
" was a household word in all parts of the colony,
and the colonists will universally pronounce that
he deserves to be enrolled among its earliest, its
most attached, and its most assiduous and perse-
vering benefactors."

~~~,

THE LATE INCOME.TAX MEETING IN MAR
LEBONE AND SIR B. HALL.

At the meeting of the inhabitants of Marylebone, on
the subject of the abolition of the income tax, held in
the Marylebone Court-house, on Wednesday night last,
a letter from Sir B. Hall, on the suii!et, was read by
Sir James Hamilton, the chairman, to the meeting, and
the sentiments it expressed upon the subject were re-
ceived generally, at the time of reading, with approba-
tion. Mr. Churchwarden Nicholay, however, subse-
quently moved the first resolution, and, in cluing so,
dkiignated the letter which had been read from the right
hon. baronet as being such a one as ought not to have
be:.n written by the liberal member for for Marylebone.
It wag, he said, "the Jesuitical emanation of a Minis•
ter of the Crown." The reports having reached Sir B.
Hall, through the public press, at Llanover, he has
written the following letter to Mr. Soden, who defended
him at the meeting, accompanying it with the copy of a
letter, which Mr. Nicholay is mid to have had in his
pocicet at the time he made the speech referred to :
" Llanever, Jan. 30, 1857.
" My dear sir, —I observe by the public papers re-
ceived this morning that you were so good as to draw
the attention of the meeting on Wednesday last to the
real purport of my letter, and to express your dissent
from the observations of a previous speaker. I beg to
thank you for this considerati•)n. It is not always that
a public man in his absence has a friend. to say a word
in his favour. At the time that Mr. Nicholay made the
observations to whin I refer he had in his po,session a
letter from me, of which I enclose a copy.
" refrain from any comment up:at anything that
may be said against myself. After representing the
borough, and I believe not inefficiently, for 20 years, I
believe the great mass of the con,titueney will not be
led away by any vituperation such as that referred to ;
butt do sincerely regret that Lard Ebrington should

have been denounced in his absence, when it is well
known that he is suffering from the greatest infliction
that man can endure, and that he became subject to
that infliction in Ile cause of humanity.—With many
thanks, I remain, my dear sir, very truly your,
"J. Soden, Esq." "B. HALL.

The following is the copy of the letter addressed by
,he right hon. baronet to Mr. Nicholay, referred to in
:be previous letter :

"Llanover, Jan. 27, 1857.
" Dear Sir,---Your letter, dated the 24th, addressed
.o Great Sz,4nhope-street, was delivered there yesterday,
and bears the London mark of such delivery (Jan. 26).
It did not, therefore, reach me till this day. I regret
extremely that I cannot possibly leave \Vales in time to
attend the public meeting to-rnorr ,w evening. I should
ave bad great pleasure in being present, but I hope that,
absetlce.nry not be construed into rmy feeling of
Ererence to the object for which the meeting is con-
vened, or a desire to avoid the viva voce expression of
my sentiments in regard to the taxation of the country,
which sentiments are the same as I have ever entertained.
I have now only four or five days in Which.l can trans-
act all that business which must necessarily be attended
to previous to my return to London, when I shall, of
course, be incessantly occupied for many months.
" I have addressed a letter to the chairman of the
meeting, which I hope will be read to the meeting.--I
remain, dear sir, yours truly, "B. HALL.
"J. A. Nicholay, E-q."

"BIG BEN," AND THE GREAT CLOCK

OF WEST.I4INSTER.

On Satur lay afternoon the deep, sonorous sounds of
" Big Ben's" voice was heard for several hours booming
over London, like the reports of some huge musical
cannon. What was the cause of this continued clangour
from the belfry of Westminster remained for some time
a mystery. Some persons conceived that " Big Ben".
was opening his brazen throat to announce the
submission of Persia, or the annexation of China ;
others, that the succession to the throne of England had
been rendered still more secure to the house of Hanover ;
some persona said that the great bell was rung because
" the hinge of the hitch" respecting the reconstruction
of the Cabinet had been finally disposed of ; and others
surmised that the bell was merely summoning members
to the Parliament which is to commence its sittings on
Tuesday next. It was, however, no event of such
interest as any of theqi which caused "Big Ben" to
exert himself with so much energy and vigour, the whole
being merely the workmen engaged in completing the
arrangements for fixing the hammer of the magnificent
tell. It was expected that by the opening of Parliament
the great clock itself would have been ready to peal
fsrth the hours for the benefit of assembled Lords and
Commons. But alas ! for human hopes, generati In will
probably pass away ore that most successful piece of
borelogical mechanism which has been beating and
throbbing to the flight of time for several years past; in
tae workshops of Mr. Dent, will mark the progress of
the hours from its lofty tower at Westminster. The
foundations for the great clock--which weigh many
tons—are not yet laid in the clock tower, and the four
quarter bells are not yet cast ; for "Big Ben," the
Jupiter Tonans of the heavens, has yet to have his four
satellites which ate to bear him company, and to cheer
him in the loneliness of his proud attitude. Mr. War-
ner,-of Jae in-street,wlao has been so successful in casting
the great bell, ba3 just received orders to cast three
smaller bells. They will chime the quarters in the same
musical manner as St. Mary's bells at Cambridge, while
the great bell will alone strike the hours. The great
clock itself has teen kept going constantly since it was
finished by Mr. Dent, and the register of its mean and
daily performance is as near an approach to perfect
a t accuracyion
be tnt sg itb u
ti s
The bands of the clock are to be cf copper,. made
sopinosesibluetveerfratoctio.butaoi
in ,
at hseeuvuaurdi
as light as is
.consistent with the requisite strength
to resist the action of the wind.
. The four dials. are
22 feet each in diameter, being the largest in the
C
world with a minute hand ; the larger dials on the
have only an hour hand. The minute hand,
on account of its greater length, seloc ty, weight, friction,
and the action of the wind upon it, rsquires at least 20
times as mncb force to drive it as the hour hand. The
,ff,e4 of friet.on and wind epos such hands as these
offer difficulties in the way of the clock going oven as
well as an ordinary church clock ; to overcome which
what is called renzontoire work is used, part of the ar-
rangements being for the purpose of giving a visible
motion of
seven
the hands at every half-minute'
when the point
of the minute hand will move nearly
accordingweigl tof theo hammer—originally uulesru—alupigroinpaolileYiolnr,°
liFtehd
a r
t o bi
se 4 cwt
~
the
of ont;
foot—has to be increased to 12 cwt. There is a con-
trcon-
trivancefor stopping inches. The
the winding when the clock is going
to striee, as the winding of each of the striking parts of
the clock will occupy nearly two hours. The clock face
is of cast iron, filled in with a new description of white
,;etat-opaque &Ise, supplied by Gardner, of the Strand.
,
ife dial face will appear entirely opaque by day ; but
will, nevertheless, be available for illumination by night.

THE BURNEY PRIZE.—CAMBRIDGE, Jan. 31.—The
Viet-Chancellor gives notice that the subject for the
present year is—" The discipline afforded by external
events and circumstances, and by i rcooree with other
persons, in formintr, the moral character."
[ADVERTISEMENT,]—Holloway's Ointment and Pills
preferable to all other Medicines for the Core of Bad
Legs.—Mrs. Bayley, of Wheeler's-lane, Great Colmore-
street, Birmingham, had a bad leg for a considerable
time. She obtained the beet medical advice in the town,
and tried a variety of other remedies, but without effect-
ing any good whatever. Holloway's ointment and pills
were then made use of, which in a brief space_ of time
effected a perfect cure. Mr. Hobson, chemist, 45,
Horse Fair, Birmingham,
can testify to the accuracy of
the case.—Sold by all medicine vendors throughout
the world ; at Professor Holloway's Establhihments,
244, Strand, London, and 80, Maiden-lane, New York ;
by A. Stampa, ConstAntinople; E. Guidicy, Smyrna;
and E. Muir, Malta.