The Sun.
London, England, 1844-04-03 00:00:00

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LONDON, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 1844.

In the House of Lords last night a number of
Bills received the Royal Assent, and, after the pre-
sentation of petitions, and some other business of no
public interest, the House adjourned till Tuesday;
the 16th instant.

In the Commons, Sir R. PEEL moved that tht
House, at its rising, should adjourn till Monday, the
kith. In moving the adjournment, he trusted that
he should have been able to state the order in which
Bills would be brought forward after Easter, hut,
owing to the absence of Sir J. GRAHAM, he was un-
able to give the explanation.
Lord J. RUSSELL took that opportunity of corn.
plaining, that only one ship of the line was to be sta-
tioned in the Mediterranean. They had important
interests to watch in that quarter, and it seemed to
him very injudicious to collect naval forces in the
Channel, while the affairs of Italy, and Morocco, and
other States along the Mediterranean, might demand
our interference.

Sir R. PEEL said the Government thought it right
to have a number of vessels in the Channel for exer-
cise, which should be ready upon any emergency.
The interests of the country in the Mediterranean
would not be endangered because the fleet was off the
mouth of the Thames or in the Channel.
Lord PALMERSTON also blamed the Government
for leaving so few vessels of war in the Mediterranean.
More things might happen there in which British in-
terests were concerned than in any other quarter of
the globe, and he thought it not a wise distribution
of the naval forces to have only one ship of the line
in that quarter, in place of the usual complement on
former occasions.

- -
Mr. Humn approved of the reduction, as the vessels
were generally laid up at Malta, and the discipline of
the fleet neglected.
Sir R. PEEL, in reply to some remarks of Mr.
Wrsz, complaining of the hurried manner in which
the Irish Registration Bill was to be carried on, said
he had no wish to press the second reading against
the wish of Irish Members, and he would postpone
the second reading of the Bill from Monday (the
15th) till Friday.
Sir R. PEEL laid on the table certain documents re-
lating to the treaties lately entered into between
England and China. In laying before the Clouse the
last diplomatic paper from Sir H. POTTINGER he could
not refrain from bearing testimony to the ability, zeal,
firmness, and discretion with which he had performed
so many difficult duties, and which had secured to
him not only the confidence of his own Government,
but also the confidence of the Chinese authorities. It
was impossible to bear higher testimony to the merits
of Sir H. POTTINGER than he could, but he was
aware that a panegyric was weakened by being di..
luted.

Lord PALMERSTON concurred in the sentiments
expressed by Sir R. PEEL, and said, that when he
recommended that gentleman to the notice of the
Government, he did so without any political conside-
rations, and he was happy to find that the present
Government had appointed his successor on the same

principles.
In answer to a question from Mr. EWART, Sir
ROBERT PEEL said he was not prepared to introduce
any Bill to reform the criminal law of the country.
On the motion of Lord ELIOT, the Irish Franchise
Bill was read a first time.
Mr. HusiE gave notice that he would move, after
Easter, for a more free admission of the people to
cathedrals and other public edifices.
On the motion of Mr. DUNCOMBE, a copy of the
notes taken by the shorthand writers at the trial of
the QUEEN v. O'CoNNELL was ordered.
A brief discussion took place between Mr. Smcw
and Mr. F. FRENCH on the Irish Temporalities Bill,
which is too characteristic of the sister country to
be abridged.

Mr. GLADSTONE obtained leave to bring in a Bill
for the registration of joint-stock companies, and for
conferring on such companies certain privileges of
corporate bodies, and also for preventing the estab-