The Sun.
London, England, 1857-04-30 00:00:00

ELECTION OF SPEAKER

Lord H. VANE, in proposing a successor to
Mr. Shaw Lefevre, highly eulogised the con-
duct of that gentleman in the chair; whirl
he said it would be difficult for any one t(
equal, and impossible to exceed. (Cheers.) He
thought, however, they had a member of that
house (Mr. E. Denison) who possessed all the re
quisite qualifications for the discharge of the dutie,
of the office—(chcers)—and he had much pleasur(
in proposing him to fill the office of Speaker of the,
House of Commons. (Cheers.) He entertained
a sure conviction that the house would ratify that
proposition, and tlat experience would show tht
wisdom of the choice. (Cheers.)

Mr. THORNTAY seconded the motion. Mr.
E. Denison first entered parliament thirty
years ago, and haling watched his parliamentary
career, he (Mr. Thornley) had much plea-
sure in seconding the motion from the belief
that he possessed all the requisite qualifications for
a Speaker of that house. He referred to the in-
crease of private and public business of late years
and referred to the numerous improvements
that had been lately made in the forms and proceed-
ings of the house, and expressed a hope that under
the Speakership cf Mr. E. Denison, should he be
elected, the duraton of members' speeches would
be shortened. (Cheers.)

After a short pause, no other candidate being
proposed,
Mr. E. DENIWN rose and expressed his cor-i
dill thanks at the mAnner in which his name had'
been introduced to tae notice of the horse, and the
way in which it lad been received, and he ex-1
pr( seed his fears that should he be elected he would
be found to fall sherbet' the eulogium that hadbeen!
passed upon him, At he had the satisfactioul
of knowing that he would be supported by the,
house, as well as reteive the assistance of the late
Speaker and the cletks of the house. (Hear.)

Th© mover and seconder then conducted the hon.!
member to the (lair where ho thanked the'
house for the distiriguished honour they had con-'

'ferred on hi•-„,, and said that he should rely on the -
I")rf.,rtni co-operation and general support of the AT"‘""
i
1.4` •.4
'house n giving effect to its rules and orders, ---44

land in promoting the various duties which the
lhouse had that day imposed on him (Cheers).

The Mace having been taken from the floor of
the house and placed on the table.
/
Lord PALMERSTON congratulated the Speakeri
on the distinguished honour that day conferred onl
him. He hoped he would equal the ability)
of Mr. S. Lefevre in that chair. It would
be flattery to any man to say he could
exceed him. (Cheers.) He (the Speaker) would
i
'be supported in the discharge of his duties by the
!cordial co-operation of all the members of the house,
--(hear, hear)—without which no Speaker would'
be able to effectually carry them out.
Mr. WALPOLE also congratulated the e7ectioni
of Mr. Denison, and regretted the absence of Mr.l
Di-raeli, which arose from a mistake of the,
time of the meeting of the house. He (Mr.
Walpole) assured the hon. gentleman that the
members on his side of the house would afford him
all the aQsistance possible. (Cheers.)
The house adjourned at five minutes to 3 o'clock.

DEATH OF H.R.H. THE DUCHESS
OF GLOUCESTER.

GLOUCESTER HOUSE, APRIL 30.

Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Gloucesterl
expired, without suffering, at a quarter after five,
Ithis morning.

FRANCIS HAWKINS, M.D.
EDWARD H. HILLS.

(Prom a Supplement to the London Gazette of Tuesday.)
" Whitehall, April 30.
_

'lThis morning, at a quarter after five o'clock, herl
Royal Highness the Duchess of Gloucester, aunt to her'
tost Gracious Majesty, departed this life at Gloucesteri
House, to the great grief of her Majesty and of the Royals
Family,"

EXHIBITION OF DESIGNS FOR THE NEW
OFFICES FOR THE .➢EPARTMENTS OF
FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND WAR.

The following Notice was posted this day in the
lobbies of the two Houses of Parliament :
" Peers and Members of Parliament will be admitted
o view the Exhibition in Westminster Hall on Friday
ind Saturday, the Ist and 2d of May, between the hour:
,f twelve and one.

following :

ution.

" The Exhibition will be open to the public on Mon-
lays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, from ten till six ; and
an Saturdays from twelve till six, until further notice.
" Office of Works, April 30, 1857."

INOTHE.I? MURPHY !-THE WEATHER,

NEWS.

SWITZERLAND AND PRUSSIA.

A letter from Berne," dated 27th April, has Vie

" I can guarantee to you the exactituddof infor-
mation I now send you respecting the proposed arrange
went with Prussia, as I have it from a person who has
read the project.

" The document is drawn up in the form of a treaty
between Prussia and Switzerland, under the express
guarantee of Austria, England, France, and Russia, and
the object of which is to prevent a disturbance of the
peace of Europe.

" The Ist Article of the project is very categorical,
and is couched in these terms :

' 'His Majesty the King of Prussia renounces for
himself and for his successors for ever, all claim to the
Sovereignty which Art. 23 of the ,Treatrof Vienna of
11815 assured to him over the Principality of Neuchatel.'
" This stipulation is forinll, and does not stipulate
lany reserve or restriction.

"The 21 Article qualifies the position of Neuchatel
towards Switzerland and towards foreign States. Noir
Ichatel is recognised a sovereign and independent S ate ;
fit will continue to enjoy the same rights and guarantee-
las any other sovereign State of the Swiss Confe,ierati in,
!as was stipulated in the declaration made at Vienna on
!the 20th of Marcb, 1815.

This article, therefore, confirms the full inlepend-
ence of the canton of Neuchatel, and its right of consti-
i

"The 3d article is thus conceived :—Ths Confe'!era-
tion will pay to the King of Prussia the sum of
,1,000 000f.'

"Nothing is said wky this sum is paid ; and it is
worthy of observation that the word indemnity is not
mentioned, probably purposely, in the treaty.
"The other articles may be summed rp as follows :
The Confederation will proclaim a general amnesty fur
,all political and military offences, and offences of the
'press relating .to the events of September a, 1856.
This amnesty will comprise all militiamen, as well na-
tives of the canton as foreigners, who left the country to
1.-lode joining the last Federal call to arms. No prose.
notion can be commenced in the civil or criminal courts
against persons for being implicated in the events of
September; The Confederation itself will provide for
the expenses caused by the recent events, and the State
of Neuchatel will only have to pay its proportional share
of the money contingent. No special tax is to he im-
posed upon any o of individuals for this purpose.
The church property, which in 1848 was incorporated
with the fortune of the State, cannot be employed for any
other object, and the revenues are to be applied for those
particular objects. The funds of charitable institutions,
, arising from private donations, such as those of Baron
~ie Pury and the Pourtalea Hospital, cannot be employed
for other purposes, and shalt continue to be employed
henceforth according to the intention of the donors.
. .

" Such is the faithful tenour of the project."

FRANCE.

PARIS, WEDNESDAY EVENING.

A letter from Marseilles of the 27th says :
"The change in the plans of the Grand Duke Con-
stantine, who had at first intended to come to this
city from Toulon by sea, was caused by the unfa-
vourable state of the weather, the mistral having
been blowing rather violently for some days. As
soon as it became known by telegraph that the
Prince was coming by land suitable arrangements
were made. About 4 o'clock, the authorities went
out to meet him, and the moment he appeared the
event was announced by a discharge of
,cannon.
The Grand Duke, as soon as be had been received
by the authorities, left his travelling carriage, and
entered that of General Rostolan, accompanied by
that officer, the Marquis de Belmont, Chamberlain
to the Empet or, and the Prefect of the Batches du
Rhone. The carriage was preceded by several out-
riders in the livery of the Emperor of the French,
and by a detachment of Lancers. Several other
carriages followed, conveying the Russian officers
in the suite of the Grand Duke, the May or of
Marseilles, and other civil and military authorities.
General Totleben was the object of general notice.
The 58th regiment formed a line from the Place de
Rome to the Place Castellaue. Immediately after
the arrival of the Prince at the Prefecture he re-
' , ceived the civil and military authorities, and the
different constituted bodies ; and, as soon as these
receptions were over, went to the Hotel d'Orient,
where apartments had been prepared for him. The
Marquis de Belmont, General Rostolan, the Pre-
fect, the Bishop, and the Mayor of Marseilles,
3 General Oaromlelet, the Procureur-General, and
~the Greek Archimandritc, dined with his Imperial
Highness in the evening,"
A l'arla letter in Lilo Nora of Brusseis says :
, " The following are some particulars of what has
been done relative to the government plan for levy-
, ing a duty on transferable securities. The com-
mittee on the budget has proposed an amend-
"tent, which allows the stamp duty, fixed by the
• decree of 1850, to subsist, but establishes in addi-
tion a transfer-duty of 10c. for every 100 fr. of capi-
tal, which is to apply to all industrial shares not to
bearer. The reason why these latter are excluded
is the vast difficulty, or rather the impossibility of
levying a tax on them. In their care, the duty in
question is to be replaced by a regular subscription
(abonnement). When this amendment was brought
before the Council of State, that body, after a first
*. examination, requested the committee to send three
of its members to support its views. This faculty,
for the committees of the Legislative Body to defend
their amendments before the Council of State, is set
down in the constitution, but it is rarely acted on.
Several times the committees have even refused to
:comply with the request made to them by the Coun-
cil of State to send some of their members to eiplain
the motives of their propositions. But on this oc-
:casion the committee charged three of its members
•to support its project. For that purpose it selected
' M. Lequien, its president and MM. Fauguier and Bus-
, son. These gentlemen were heard before the Coun-
cil of State ; and the latter body, in its turn, sent
three of its members to the committee to oppose
the amendment and maintain the government mea-
sure. The observations developed by the Council-
lors of State nei. her modified nor shook the re§olu-
tions of the committee. Without sending any
official communication, it let the Council of State
know in the most positive manner that it was una-
nimously decided on rejecting the article of the
budget of receipts referring to the new tax, unless
the amendment it proposed was accepted. Such is
the state of the affair at the present moment. The
government, it is said, is not very anxious about
this new tax."