The Sun.
London, England, 1857-06-06 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS.—(YEsTERDAy.)
The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the woolsack
at five o'clock.

Earl COWLEY took the oaths and his seat upon hia
elevation to an earldom. He was iutroduc&d by the Earl

of Clarendon.

The Duke of NEWCASTLE presented a petition
from the civil servants of the Crown employed in the
department of the Wools and Forests, praying for an
alteration in the system of administering the superan-
nuation fund. The noble duke also presented a similar
petition from the civil servants of the Crown employed
at the General Post-office, and two other public depart-
ments.

The Earl of WINCHELSEA presented a petition
from a place in Kent praying for an alteration in the
law of marriage.
Viscount DUNGANNON presented a petition from
Denbigh, against the abolition of church-rates without
an equivalent.
SECOND READINGS.
On the motion of Lord REDESDALP, tbo Hereford
Cathedral R-Kteration Bill, and Meriton's and Hagen's
Sufferance Vharf Bill were read a second time.
TRE PRINCESS ROYAL'S ANNUITY BILL.

This hill was brought up from the House of Corniwns
and read a first time.

MINISTERS' MONEY.
This bill was read a fret time.
THE MERCHANT SHIPPING ACT.
The Earl of A L_BEMARLE presented a petition
from the merchants, shipowners, and others in-
terested in the shipping trade of the port
of Bristol, comp'aining of certain clauses in
the Merchant Shipping Act, and praying that
the said act may be referred to a select committee. The
noble earl at,ked her Majeay'e Government whether they
intended to introduce any measure to meet the require-
ments of the shipowners, and if not, in what other
way they meant to grant relief. The noble earl
rtferred at some length to the act in question, which,
instead of being short and concise, was of a totally op-
posite nature. It occupied upwards of three hundred
pages, and contained more than five hundred
clauses, consequently it would occupy nearly the whole
of the life-time of an ordinary seaman to become
acquainted with the whole of its provisions. The noble
call then referred to the hardships shipowners laboured
under, in consequence of the liability they incurred by loss
of life occurring on board ship. The shipowners strongly
objected to the Coin t of Inquiry instituted by the act.
They considered this tribunal a very arbitrary one. After
a few other observations the noble lord resumed his seat.
Lord STANLEY of ALDERLEY said he bad lis-
tened attentively to the observations of the noble
and one of the grievances complained of,
',vas the extreme 1,-ngth of the Merchant
Shipping Act. Now, when it was considered that
this Act was a consolidation of no less than
128 Acts relating to the shipping, he did not
think it was surprising that it occupied so large a
space. He thought, looking to the whole facts of the
case, no consolidation of the law upon any point bad
been effected with such consummate ability as the pre-
sent one. The noble lord having replied to the other
observations of the noble earl, said there was no ground
whatever for any alteration in the law as it at present
existed.

The Earl of HARDWICKE said that the petition
that had been presented by the noble earl opposite W/%3
a very important one, and he thought the grievances
complained of by the shipowners ought to be investi•
gated by a selmot committee.