§ LORD ROBERT MONTAGUsaid, he desired to raise a question of Order with reference to the second Notice of Motion on the Paper, which was for the appointment of a Committee to consider and advise the House whether a particular Petition from foreign subjects should be received by the House. The Petition was one which the House had already declined to receive. The Question he desired to ask was, Whether there was any precedent, first, for appointing a Committee to consider the case of a particular Petition; and, second, for the appointment of a Committee to consider whether the House should receive a Petition which it had already declined to receive. He wished to guard himself against misunderstanding; he did not for a moment doubt the power of the House to appoint a Committee to consider the abstract question whether a Petition from foreign subjects should be received; the question applied only to the Motion before the House; and therefore it was, whether the Motion was in Order with regard to this Petition which the House had declined to receive.
§ MR. SPEAKERIn answer to the noble Lord, I am not prepared to say whether there is any precedent or not for the appointment of a Select Committee to consider a Petition of this kind; but there can be no doubt, if the House thinks fit to appoint a Select Committee to assist the House to determine whether a Petition of this character should or should not be laid on the Table of the House, such a proceeding would be in accordance with the usages of the House, and, as a matter of Order, would be quite regular.
§ LORD ROBERT MONTAGUgave Notice that when the Motion came before the House, he should oppose it by moving that the Committee should be appointed to consider whether, and in what cases, a Petition from foreign subjects should be received by the House.