§ Mr. Hunt134 presented a Petition from J. J. Stockdale, complaining of the difficulty he found in obtaining the consent of any hon. Member to present his petition against the late Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, which he (Mr. Hunt) supposed was owing to their being prejudiced against that person himself.
Mr. Humesaid, he had been applied to to present this petition, but because it would be an interference with the proceedings of a Court of Justice, he declined presenting it. He was as ready as any man to punish acts of oppression; but he would never take any proceedings upon unauthenticated statements. This petition was offered to him for presentation nearly eighteen months ago, and it was now, he thought, too late in the day to attack the conduct of the learned Judge, the present Lord Wynford.
§ Mr. Burgesaid, that no earthly object could be gained by the presentation of this petition, and he regretted that the hon. member for Preston had not acted with the same caution as the hon. member for Middlesex.
§ Mr. Huntsaid, he should never follow the example of the hon. member for Middlesex, of not presenting a petition, unless it were of that nature that a future motion could be grounded on it if necessary. He, however, had not presented this petition without first communicating it to Lord Wynford.
§ Petition laid on the Table.