§ Mr. Gregorypresented a petition from Dublin, complaining of the manner in which freemen had been admitted into that Corporation.
Mr. O'Connellsupposed, as this petition was directed against him personally, that he was entitled to say a few words upon it. It complained that he had admitted 1,400 freemen since he had been Lord Mayor of Dublin. That was true; but the petition did not state that he had ad-milted any one of the 1,400 without having proof before him upon oath. If the number of admissions were thought to be large, it could not be said that he had no precedent for what he had done; for it was a fact that his predecessor, the late lord-mayor, had admitted six hundred freemen in one evening. The petitioners did not allege that he had not applied the same rule and given the same facilities to all parties. They did not state, that he had rejected any improperly, or admitted any improperly; so that, in fact, although the petition was designed to operate against him, he thought he might take it as a sort of declaration in his favour.
§ Mr. Gregory,in explanation, begged to observe, that the petitions aid nothing about the number of freemen admitted, and merely prayed that such measures might be adopted as would insure the attendance of some person to superintend the admission of freemen.
Mr. O'Connell:All that the petitioners alleged upon that point was, that he had omitted to attend on one particular day: his attendance on that day was omitted in consequence of illness. If any one of the Gentlemen whose names were attached to the petition had written to him to say that they required his presence in Dublin, or wished a particular day to be appointed for the admission of freemen, he would have gone from London for the purpose.
§ Petition laid on the Table.