last, a committee was appointed to report to the house the
number of signatures attached to all petitions presented to that house,
and that they had felt it their duty to make a special report to the
house upon the subject of the national petition, presented on the 10th
of April by the honourable member for Nottingham, signed by subjects of
the British crown. The committee attached the utmost value to the right
of petitioning, and to the exercise of that most important privilege by
the subjects of this realm, and felt deeply the necessity of preserving
the due exercise of such privilege from abuse, and having also a due
regard to the importance of a petition so very numerously signed, had
made that petition the subject of their present report. They felt bound,
in the discharge of their duty, to represent to the house that with
respect to that petition there had been a gross abuse of that privilege.
The honourable member for Nottingham, upon presenting the petition,
had stated that the petition was signed by upwards of five millions of
persons. Upon the most careful examination of the number of signatures
in the committee, with the assistance of thirteen law-stationer's
clerks, who acted under the superintendence of the various clerks of the
committees, the number of signatures attached to the petition does not,
in the opinion of the committee, amount to two millions. It is further
found that a large number of the signatures were consecutively written
by the same hand. It was likewise observed that a large number of the
signatures were those of persons who could not be supposed to have
concurred in its prayer; among these were the name of her majesty,
signed Victoria Rex, the Duke of Wellington, Sir Robert Peel, &c, &c.
There was also noticed a large number of names which were evidently
fictitious, such as "Pugnose," "Longnose," "Flatnose," "Punch,"
"Snooks," "Fubbs," and also numerous obscene names, which the committee
would not offend the house or its dignity by repeating, but which
evidently belonged to no human being. Upon the motion that the report do
lie upon the table, a somewhat angry and personal discussion arose, in
which Mr. Cripps was very severe in his censure of the conduct of Mr.
O'Connor, in alleging that upwards of five millions of signatures had
been attached to the petition. The motion was eventually agreed to. At
the conclusion of the discussion Mr. F. O'Connor left the house; and a
hostile meeting betw