The Sun.
London, England, 1865-10-28 00:00:00

The Swiss Constitution.

(REUTER'S EXPRESS.)
BERNE, OCT. 24.
The National Council of the Swiss Confederation
assembled yesterday, in extraordinary session, to
deliberate upon the revision of the constitution. The
sitting was opened by a long speech from the Pre-
sident, M. Planta, in which he expressed his indi-
vidual opinions upon the revision, the budget for
1866, and the Alpine railway, which last was not
one of the subjects upon the paper. He dwelt upon
the surprise with which the revision question had
been received by the people, which had taken up an
observant rather than an active position. He then
alluded to the many apprehensions and fears the
revision occasioned, and concluded with the warning
to be careful, considering the material tendencies of
the age, lest Switzerland should sink entirely into a
commercial republic, and suffer the same fate as
formerly had overtaken Venice.

Previous to entering upon the order of the day
Dr. A. Escher, of Zurich, the reporter of the com-
mission, moved that the question should first be
decided whether a revision of the constitution were
required. Two members, Messrs. Legesser, of
Lucerne, and Acklen, of Aargan, spoke against the
measure. Revision of the constitution, they con-
tended, must always proceed from the generally
expressed popular will, but in the present instance

this was not the case. The question was only
brought forward on account of the French com-
mercial treaty, in order to grant a few Aargan Jews
the same right of settlement as the French. For
the Bernese the matter was not pressing enough to
require a more extensive reform.
M. Klein, of Basle, Federal Councillors Dubs
and Howegger, of Zurich, M. Vay, of Geneva, and
M. Girard, Neufchatel, opposed this opinion. It
was certain that the present constitution contained
many prejudices, and the Council considered it the
more advisable course to eliminate these before being
urged to do so by the people. A speaker, M.
Legesser, had said that every constitution must be a
serious fact. This was the case with the constitu-

tion of 1848, which had been the offspring of a great
popular movement. Such an act had not, however,
always to be sought in marching battalions against
each other, but also in sitting down in cool blood to
remove deficiencies before they gave rise to disturb-
ance. A chief necessity of every good constitution
wag that it should afford the Means of making
material progress.

The result of the long debate was an almost
unanimous resolution to enter upon the proposed
revision, and to recommence it at the ensuing sitting
in accordance with the report brought in by the
commission.

Deaths of Prime Ministers.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR,—Trusting to your kind courtesy in inser
_ _

ing in your valuable journal my different remarks ox
public events, I now beg leave to give you the dates
of the deaths of the four Prime Ministers who have
died within the last GO years as Premiers, i.e., since
tho commencement of the present century. In
January, 1806, the:great William Pitt died, and was
buried in Westminster Abbey. In May, 1812, Mr.
Percival was shot in the lobby of the House of

Commons, by Bellingham. In August, 1827, died
the immortal George Canning, after having been
Premier only a few short months. He, too, like
the two immortal Pitts, was buried in Westminster
Abbey, and last, not least, the great man whose
loss all England now deplores, and who, ere this

letter of mine finds a place in the columns of your
journal, will be interred by the side of the
great men above alluded to, in October,
1865, having died nearly to a day sixty
years after the memorable and decisive battle
of Trafalgar, 21st October, 1805. " 'Tis sixty
years since" Lords Liverpool, Grey, Melbourne,
Aberdeen, the Duke of Wellington, the Earl of
Ripon, and last, not indeed least, the immortal Sir
Robert Peel, whose sad and premature death the
country will have to bewail and deplore for many
and many a long year to come (and he, without
wishing in the slightest degree to detract from the
merits of any of the Ministers I have mentioned, was
the greatest man and Minister England or even
the world ever saw). Lord Liverpool, although he
did not die actually as Premier, resigned in conse-
quence of ill health, and not from or by reason of
defeat. In April, 1827, he was overtaken by a fit
of apoplexy, whereupon his Ministry (which had
existed for 15 years, ever since the death of Percival

in 1812), came to an end (he was succeeded by
George Canning, who, as I have stated above, died
the August following). Ile, however, did not die
until quite the end of the year 1828, nearly two
years after he had ceased to be Premier, and while
the great Duke of Wellington was first Lord of the
Treasury. Trusting to your usual kind courtesy to
give insertion to my letter, and apologising for its
length—l remain, sir, your obedient servant,
A LOVER OF HISTORICAL DATES AND FACTS.

THE MELTON SEASON.—Mr. Butler-Johnstone,
M.P., and Mr. Westley Richards, are among the new
comers; Sir Frederick Johnstone and Mr. Chaplin have
taken Coventry-house ; and Mr. Craufurd, with a splendid
stud, joins Mr. Gilmour; at the Ilarborough Arms. Lord
Wilton has built 10 additional boxes at The Lodge, Where
there is now stabling for about 40 horses.—Stamford
Mercury.

A PORPOISE NEAR lIAMMERSMITII-BRIDGE. —A
fine porpoise, about 4ft. long, was seen on Sunday
morning last as high up the Thames as Barnes, and since
then ho has been disporting himself between Barnes and
the Bishop of London's grounds near Putney-bridge. On
Monday, men in boats, with nets and rifles, endeavoured
to capture him, but without success. A fisherman named
Ribbens caught him in his net, but the net was so weak
that almost as soon as the porpoise felt himself entangled he
broke away with the greatest easo. Yesterday the pursuit
was renewed, and, as there was no netting tackle at hand
strong enough, attempts were again made to shoot him, but
he baffled his pursuers, rising here and there up and down the
river where ho was least expected, affording excellent sport
to those who happened to be on the banks or in wherries on
the water. Just before dusk ho made a plunge, and was
not again seen until near Putney, and thence he passed
under the bridge and down tho river, leaving his pursuers
far behind. It is between 14 and 15 years since a porpoise
was seen so high up the river as Barnes.
Gov. Brownlow, in his message to the Legislature
of Tennessee, opposes the extension of thoright of suffrage
to the negroes, except in case tho rebels were allowed to
have it ; is in favour of the present franchise law ; advo-
cates pardon for the masses, and no mercy for the rebel
leaders ; strongly urges the encouragement of emigration ;
advocates the colonisation of negroes, either in Texas or
Mexico, after the French are cleaned out is in favour of
granting the negro the right to testify in the courts, of
replacing the school fund stolen by rebel officials, of pre-
serving the hermitage property, of passing laws on the
subject of intemperance, amounting to prohibitio,n of sale,
aid endoms President Johnson's course.