The Sun.
London, England, 1840-02-22 00:00:00

amendments in the Irish Corporation Act ; and by
Mr. BAIN Es, concerning first fruits and tenths.

A return was ordered of the sums paid by Govern-
ment offices on account of postage, on the motion of
Mr. GOULEUR:q.

Mr. Fox ,MAULE moved for a new writ for Perth-
shire, in the. room of Viscount STORMONT, now Earl of
MANSFIELD.

This motion, which appears a matter of course, was
hotly opposed by the Tories, on the ground that Lord
STORMONT was not yet called to the House of Peers,
that his legitimacy was laot yet proved, that in other
cases, as in that of the Earl of SCARBOROUGH, the writ
had not been issued till he was summoned to the
Hous•S of Peers, and as .in that of Lord DURS-
LEY, whose claim to be Earl Of BERKELEY,
was rejecte*l, the writ of summons never was
issued at all, and on all these accounts the
Tories contended that the House ought not to set a bad
precedent, and therefore moved that the debate be ad-
journed till Monday.
On the side of the Whigs it was contended, and with
high authority, that Viscount STORMONT had, by the
death of his father, become a Scotch Peer, and that he,
as such, could not sit in the House of Commons, and
would incur a penalty if he did so. After a short, smart
debate, the motion to issue the writ was carried by
165 to 136.

In reply to Sir RO 'MET PEEL, Viscount PALMER-
siroN stated tht the unanimous intention of the Five
Powers was to maintain the integrity as well as the in-
dependence of the Otton ian empire, and the question
would be s.Atl.7d es soon as compatible with the inte-
rests of the diff,!rent parti es.
In reply to Captain B.:EaKELEY, Mr. M. OTERRAL
stated that the Mediterranean flea was on the peace
establishment.

Viscount SANDON rn,.rved an Address to her MA-
JESTY, for a Commis.don to investigate the claims
of British subjects on th e Portuguese Government.

Viscount PALMERSTO N was inclined to agree in the
justice of mmy of the olaims on the Portuguese Go-
vernment, and had at first -wished to wait its spontane-

ous justice, but had Istoly pressed on it to appoint a
Commission, half Portuguese and half English, to sit in
London to investigate thin i. If it did not, the Ministers
would address the Crown :to appoint a Commission.
After a few words fro'ns several Members, Viscount
SANDON withdrew his cnotion, being for the present
sltisfied to wait the result. 'of the course adopted by the
Government.
Some of' the Members eompla:ned of the trouble and
expense of sending votes.. They are obliged to send
them from the House or pay, which the ei-devanl
(rankers do not like. Mr. WARBURTON, knowing what
would be the consequet is e of yielding, exhorted the
Chancellor of the Exche q.ner resolutely to adhere to
his plan.
Sir MATTHEW WOOD as ked Lord J. RUSSELL whe-
ther, as the writ of inquiry in STOCEDALE'S case was
postponed for two months,. the Sheriff was to be kept in
confinement all that time

Lord JOHN RUSSELL rf commended the Sheriff to
apply to the House in a _regular manner, by petition.
The assertions that were made on the occasion, that
Mr. HUME was thrown or it of a chair at the Free-
masons' Tavern yesterday, and that the Under-Sheriff
had come in with a rioto us mob, excited some merri-
ment in the House.

In a Committee of Su Triply, Mr. MoRE O'FERRAL
brou4-ht forward the Navy :Estimates. The Hon. Gen-
Veman, in a concise business -like speech, explained the
different items of the estin iu tes.

Sir GEORGE CLERK di d not oppose the vote, but
wished for further discussic on, and entered into a variety
of details as to the dispositi on and efficiency of our fleet,
the number of ships we ha( 1, and other countries had,
both now and in former tii nes. He referred the in-
crease required in the nun iber of men to the policy
of the Government, but acquiesced in the vote.
Mr. MORE O'FERRAL, in a brief reply, stated that
the condition of our ships was most satisfactory, and
that England couli, in a g iven time, send a much
larger fleet to sea tt (en any other Power,
and nearly as large as any two Powers. We
believe this is true as to. the number of ships, but
how men could be got no person can tell. So unjust
and horrible has been our
„policy towards our seamen,
that they never will enter .the navy, and to impress
them again will be impossible. As to officers also, we
have plenty of them—too n is ny—for the sons and rela-
tions of the aristocracy are: quartered on the navy as
another Pension List ; but we do not believe that we
abound in efficient officers- Promotion has been so
slow, because the list is so. long, that it is thirty-four
years since our youngest Mr airal was made a Captain,
so that the youngest of .our Admirals verges on
sixty years of age—an age to retire and be
nursed, not to command fleets. So the majority of
captains entitled to comman d line-of-battle ships are old
men, and whatever may be ate state of our naval mate-
rid, our personnel, we are rafraid, is not flattering. The
State has done something l'or the wood and iron of the
navy, nothing for the officekm, and it has been like a
pestilence to the men.
Mr. HUME regretted to see the concord on both
sides of the House in voting money, and objected to
our whole policy, which kep'.: up in peace a war esta-
blishment. The Hon. Member entered at some length
into the Eastern question, and disapproved of the con,
duct of the Ministers.
Lord INGESTRIE compared our navy to that of
France, and stated that our best men go, as usual, to
the United States.
Admiral ADAM, Captain A'CouRT, and Sir THOMAS
COCHRANE took part in the debate, and discussed at
considerable length the subject of ships and seamen.
A smart discussion, tow/Ards the close of the evening,
took place on our foreign policy. Viscount PALMERSTON,
in consequence of the remarks of Mr. HOME and of
Sir G. CLERK, was induced to enter a little into the
question, and to boast of the success of Ministers.
Sir ROBERT PEEL took the opportunity of
attacking them, and taking up the Quadru-
ple Alliance, intended to establish a prepon-
derance in the West of Europe, the Right Hon. Baronet
proceeded to show by examples that the country had
no influence in Portugal, Spain, or France, while France
had influence sufficient in Spain to procure an island
(Port Mahon) for her own use. Fie adverted with
regret to the altered state of Feeling betwixt this
country and France, and attr.'outed th necessity for
keping fifteen sail of the line in, or in the vicinity of, the
Mediterranean, to our 'uneasy ap,)rehensions of France.
The Right Hon. TLaronet spoke well ; his words were
good, but his r.,enceptions were mean, and his observa-
tions concei,ed in a poor and paltry spirit.
VISCOVaIt PALMERSTON made a short, pithy, and ex-
cellent reply to the Right Hon. Baronet, very properly
saying that his observations were of so minute a charac-
ter that he was, on such a question, almost ashamed to
notice them ; the Right Hon. Baronet had adduced only
trifling and petty details, which, however, were not in-
dicative of any lessened influence of England compared
to the times of the Tory Administration. The Noble
Viscount pointed to the success in establishing Consti-
tutional Governments in Portugal and Spain, in accom-
modating the differences between France and the United
Skates, and between France and Mexico, and
the having settled the Belgian question, as proofs
of a successful foreign policy. He referred to our
commercial treaties with Holland, Austria, and
Turkey, as proofs that we had not forfeited the friend-
ship of our ancient allies. He denied that there was
any alienation between France and England, though
such alienation might be justified by the language used
in Parliament, and in the Press, by the Tories. The
Noble Viscount effectually vindicated his policy, and
made Sir R. PEEL'S observations appear futile and
petty.

The Right Hon. Baronet made a smart reply, but
did not attempt to get rid of the imputation of dealing
in contemptible trifles. He retorted that the alienation
of France was caused by writings in the Press under
the control of Ministers. We may console ourselves,
therefore, by the contempt statesmen sometimes heap
on us by these counter-assertions of these two eminent
statesmen, which imply that the Press can preserve or
distract the peace of the world.

After a few words from Lord SANDON and Captain
PECHELL, the vote for the number of seamep was
agreed to, and the House resumed.
Mr. PAKINGTON persuaded the House afterwards to
resolve itself into a Committee on the Beer Act, when
he obtained the pro Artiza passing of a resolution
which will enable him again to bring his impudent
quackery of a property qualification to sell beer before
the House.

The HJUSC adjourned at a Quarter past One, to
Monday.

We yesterday drew attention to the fact, that the
ungallant Post had made another attack on her MA-
JESTY through Prince ALBERT, and we informed our
Contemporary, that if, instead of adopting the tales of
lacqueys, it would consult the Principals of its party, it
would learn the truth. It seems to have done so, and
yesterday underwent the mortification of admitting the
falsity of its statement of the previous day. It said—
" It is very gratifying to us to announce that the Mem-
bers of the House of Commons who constituted the depu-
tation of that assembly, appointed to convey to Prince Al-
bert its congratulations on his marriage, received from
his Royal Highness, on Wednesday, the most gracious
eexplanavon of the awkward occurrence of the pre-
cthitir'gthedgaye:
to advert.
gentlemen of
we yesterday thought it our
duty
His Royal Highness expressed his regret
nof the deputation should hare been