The Sun.
London, England, 1832-09-27 00:00:00

A very curious document has been recently pub-
lished, by order of the House of Commons. It is a
statement, drawn up by Mr. Rickman, containing
detail of the number of Acts of Parliament passed
during the last 25 years (28 Sessions), with the
days and hours of sitting in each Session, and the
subject on which the largest division took place:—
In 1806, the Session lasted 125 sitting days, and
at 645 hours, during which 158 Public Acts were
passed, and 226 Private ones. The greatest number
of Members present during the Session was on the
30th of May, when 381 voted on one of the Clauses
in the Mutiny Bill. In 1807, there were two Ses-
sions of 131 sitting days and 706 hours of actual
sitting; the number of Public Acts Wail 134, of Pri-
vate, 286; on the 3d of April, 489 Members divided
on a Motion for the dismissal of the Administration ;
and on the 26th of June, four days after the opening
of the Session, 510 divided on the Address. From
1806 to 1826, the average number of Public Acts
passed is about 120, and in no year are there
less than 100; since that period, however, the
average has not been 70: and in 1831 the
number was only GO. The number of Private
Acts, however, does not suffer a similar dimi-
nution, the average being about 180 each year.
The greatest number of Public Acts passed
in any Session was in 1815, when the number
was 196; and in 1814 it was nearly as many,
being 190. The smallest number in any Session
was in the short one, Ist William IV., when only
27 Public and 80 Private Acts passed the Legisla-
ture; that Session consisted of 90 sitting days, and
of 640 hours of actual sitting. The greatest num-
ber of days on which any Session continued to sit
was in 1812, when the number was 137 ; in 1813
it was 136; and in 1811, 135. The shortest Ses-
sion in sitting days, exclusive of the short ones at the
commencement of? the last and present reigns, was
that of 1807, which consisted of only 45. The
average number of sitting days for the whole period
was 96 and a fraction. The Session which sat the
greatest number of hours, next to that of 1831 (that
of the second Reform Bill) when it was 918, was
that of 1821, when the House sat 8611 hours: it
was during this Session, it will be remembered,
that the discussions relative to the Queen occupied
so much attention ; the largest number of Members
present at a division during that Session was on the
motion respecting the introduction of the Queen's
name in the Liturgy, when there were present 524
Members.

The divisions at which the largest number of Mem-
bers were present during each Session, were the
following :-May 30, 1806, Clause in the Mutiny
Bill, 381. April 3, 1807, Dismissal of the Admi-
nistration, 489. June 26, same year, Address to the
Crown, .510. March 29, 1808, at a Billot, 355.
March 15, 1809, on the Motion [elating to the
Duke of York's Conduct, 497. March 19, 1810,
on the Scheldt Expedition, 509. December 31,
1811, on the Creation of Peers by the Regent, 449.
April 24, 1812, Roman Catholic Question, 519.
May 24, 1813, Roman Catholic Bill, 501. April
22, 1814, Lord Morpeth versus the Speaker, 385.
May 25, 1815, the war against Bonaparte, 428.
March 18, 1816, the Property Tax, 443. June 2,
1817, Election of a Speaker (the Right Hon. Man-
ners Sutton), 470. March 11, 1818, Indemnity Bill
and Suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, 308.
May 18, 1819, Motion fora Committee on the State
of the Nation, .540. Nov. 14, same year, Address to
the Crown, 536. June 22, 1820, Resolution regard-
ing the Trial of Queen Caroline, 520. Jan. 26, 1821,
Resolution in reference to the introduction of the
Queen's name in the Liturgy, .524. April 30, 1822,
Roman Catholic Peers in Parliament, 498. Apt il 24,
1823, Reform of Parliament, 454. June 11, 1824,
Condemnation of Missionary Smith, 344. March 1,
1825, Roman Catholic Claims, 485. April 27,
1826, Reform of Parliament 380. March 6, 1827,
Roman Cat bac Claim% 553. Feb. 26, 182 S, CApo-
ration and 'rest Acts Repeal, 435. March 18, 1829,
Roman Catholic Relief Bill, second reading, 531.
May 17, 1830, Jews' Relief Bill, 398. March 22,
1831, Motion on the Second Reading of Lord John
Russell's first Reform Bill, 608-the greatest num-
ber that every divided in the House on any ques-
tion ; and July 6, the some year, on the Motion for
the Second Reading of the second Reform Bill, 603.
It will thus be seen that the questions which excited
greatest attention, judging from the number of
Members voting, were the Reform Bill, the Catholic
Relief Bill, and the affairs of Queen Caroline.