ed up in front of the table.
An unusual number of members were present; several peers occupied
the seats allotted to them in the chamber, and the public gallery was
filled. Mr. Smith O'Brien was in his place, and he was the object of
much observation. After the transaction of private business, Mr. F.
O'Connor rose and said--"Sir, I have the honour to present a petition
signed by five million seven hundred and six thousand persons,
and another signed by thirty thousand persons, praying for annual
parliaments, universal suffrage, vote by ballot, equal electoral
districts, no property qualification, and the payment of members. As
I have already received so much courtesy from the house, I will say
nothing further at present, but move that the petition be read at the
table."

The petition having been read by the clerk, Lord Morpeth rose to
apologise for the necessary absence of the homesecretary. The noble lord
said that the secretary of state would have been in his place, only
that he was occupied with the numerous details of his office. It was his
opinion, with regard to the matters of the petition, that he would
not willingly be wanting in proper respect to a petition so numerously
signed.

The petition was then received, and was, with difficulty, rolled down
the floor of the house to the bar.

Mr. Lushington gave notice that on Friday night he would ask the first
lord of the treasury whether he could hold out a distinct hope that,
in the present session, he would introduce himself, or support the
introduction of any measure for the extension of the suffrage, the
abridgment of the duration of parliaments, the formation of electoral
divisions, and the vote by ballot. This motion was hailed with loud
cheers.

The strangers' gallery, and wherever spectators could be accommodated,
was full during this scene, and the public desire to hear what notice
the lords would take of these events was nearly as great; there also
every allowable space was occupied by anxious expectants, to hear the
Duke of Wellington and other ministers express their opinions.

The Marquis of Lansdowne, in reply to a question from the Marquis of
Northampton, stated that the meeting which had caused so much alarm
throughout the metropolis had taken place at Kennington Common that day,
and the multitude had been dispersed by the police without requiring the
aid of the military, and without any difficulty. The petition had, he
believed, been brought t