The Sun.
London, England, 1863-04-20 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT

HOUSE OF LORDS—This Evening.
The Lord Chancellor took his seat at the usual hour.
ROYAL ASSENT.
The Royal assent was given, by commisslcn, to the
following bills :
Salmon Exportation.
Births and Deaths Registration (Ireland),
Mutiny.
Marine Mutiny.
The Lords Commissioners were the Lord Chancellor,
Lord Sydney, and the Earl of St. Germans.
PRIVATE BUSINESS.
The following bills were read a second time :—The Den-
bigh Water—the Market Harborough and Loughborough
R3ad—the Queen's Road (Battersea) Extension—the St.
Asaph Road—the London and North Western end Lanca-
shire and Yorkshire Railway Companies—and the South
Staffordshire Railway.
The Cambridge, St. John's. lane Stoppage, &c., Bill was
read a third time and passed.
THE LOSS OF THE ORPHEUS.

The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH called attention to the
wreck of the Olpheus and the loss of upwards of 200 hands.
The ship was not sailing against the direct i•tns of the Admi-
ralty's charts, but in accordance with them. The telegraph
flag was flying to cross the bar; the ship did attempt to do
so, and was lost. The chart was dated in the year 1853,
but since that time the sands had shifted three-quarters of
a mile, and the ship, instead of going into the
open sea, ran immediately into the sand. He wished
to know what steps the Admiralty had adopted to ascer-
tain the changes that took place in the shoals and sand-
banks, and what means were taken to convey the informa •
tion to commanders of ships.
The Duke of SOMERSET said the subject was indeed a
very painful one, and that feeling would be increased if
any carelessness could be proved against the Admiralty.
The change in the chart of 1853 was brought
under the notice of the Hydrographic officer, and the
necessary corrections were noted, and copies of the notice
was sent to the New Zealand station. Not only was this
done, but the Orpheus had a copy furnished to her, and in
the Hydrographer's Department at Portsmouth there was
a receipt from the ship for it at the time it was furnished.
The noble lord was also understood to say that, from infor••
mation supplied by one of the survivors from the wreck,
the captain had a copy of the corrections of the chart in
his hand when the ship struck. The noble lord made vari-
ous other allusions to the steps taken by the Admiralty
relative to the keeping of commanders of vessela well ac-
quainted with alterations in their charts, and resumed his
seat by paying a very high tribute to the bravery of the
crew who perished with the unfortunate ship.
DRAINAGE OF LAND (IRELAND) BILL.
The report of amendments on this bill was brought up,
and, after a short discussion, agreed to.
ILLEGITIMATE CHILDREN (IRELAND) BILL.
On the motion for the third reading of this bill,
Lord CHELMSFORD objected to the bill, on the ground
that it was merely a declaratory act, which gave an erro-
neous construction to the one that was already the law.
After a short discussion the bill was read a third time
and passed.
COURTS OF INQUIRY.
The Earl of B ARDWICKE rose to put a question to
the First Lord of the Admiralty in reference to courts of
inquiry in her Majesty's service. The noble lord said the.
System of administering justice at present in existence it!
the Royal navy was of the most objectionable nature, and
one which it was of the utmost importance should be im-
proved es speedily as possible.
(LEFT SPEAKING.)

HOUSE OF COMMONS.---This Evening.
The SPEAKER took the chair shortly before four o'clock

THIRD ItEADINGS.

The following bills were read a third time :—Aberga-
venny Roads—Cenral Wales Extension Railway—Cleeve
and Evesham Road—Evesham and Redditch Railway—
Furness and. Midland Railway—Hamilton Water—
Knighton and Central Wales Railway Companies—Lla-
nelly Railway and Dock—Marshland Smeeth and Fen
Drainage—Northampton and Banbury Junction Railway
—and Penzance and S Just Roads.

SECOND READINGS.
The following bills, as amended by the Lords, were read
s second time :—Hoylake Railway Bill, and Yarmouth
Gas Bill.

The following bills were considerEd and ordered to b,
read a third time :—Cheltenham Roads, Rusthall Manor,
Staines and Woking Junction Railway, and Sowerby
Bridge Local Board.