§ Lord Cloncurrypresented a Petition from a place in Galway, in favour of the Galway Franchise Bill. The noble Lord said, that he had another Petition to present to their Lordships, to which he begged to call their Lordships' attention. The petition was from the Lord Mayor, the nobility, gentry, and inhabitants of the city of Dublin, and it prayed their Lordships to pass the measure of Reform which was now before that House. The city of Dublin, from which this petition came, had long ranked as the second city in the British dominions; but he was sorry to say, that it had fallen from that high station, and that it had become the victim of poverty that had generated discontent and dissatisfaction. This petition had been adopted at a public meeting of the inhabitants, convened by the Lord Mayor, and several thousand signatures had been affixed to it. The city of Dublin, as well as a great part of Ireland, had been long looking forward for some measure to relieve the great distress in which that country was plunged. Some persons called for a Repeal of the Union for that purpose, but the great majority, the moderate, and the well-judging part of the population, and more especially the well educated and the industrious classes, were anxious that the measure of Reform should be passed, in order that justice might be done to their country. They hoped, that after the Reform was passed, that attention would be given to the interests and the affairs of Ireland, which, he was sorry to say, had been long withheld from them. It was their confident expectation, that when the Reform Bill was carried, their Lordships and a reformed Parliament would bring forward immediately such measures as were necessary for the salvation of Ireland, and of the empire at large.
§ The Petition to be laid on the Table.