THE LORD CHANCELLORsaid, that on the examination of William Isaacs and John Preston last week, with regard to the manner in which they had got up a petition against the East Gloucestershire Railway Bill, their Lordships had reason to 1403 believe that those two men were the instruments of others, and ordered that those other persons should be called to the bar for examination on the subject. He thought the course which would be wiser and in accordance with precedents would be to refer the whole matter to a Select Committee. He therefore moved that a Select Committee should be appointed to investigate the subject, and that Isaacs and Preston, together with Mr. R. S. Lingwood, solicitor, at Cheltenham, C. W. Maisey, clerk to Lingwood, and Mr. Boodle, solicitor, the employer of Isaacs, should be ordered to attend before that Committee from time to time.
Motion agreed to.
The Order for the Attendance of William Isaacs, Clerk to Mr. Boodle, Solicitor at Cheltenham, and John Preston, Town Crier at Cheltenham, and Robert Sole Lingwood, Solicitor at Cheltenham, and Charles William Maisey, Clerk to the said Robert Sole Lingwood, at the Bar of this House, in reference to their Conduct with regard to the Signatures to the Petition of Barbara Robinson and others of Cheltenham, presented on the 22nd of May last, praying to be heard by Counsel against the "East Gloucestershire Railway Bill," discharged: Then a Select Committee appointed to inquire into the Circumstances attending the Conduct of the said William Isaacs, John Preston, Robert Sole Lingwood, and Charles William Maisey, and also of William Boodle, Solicitor of Cheltenham, with regard to the Mode of obtaining Signatures to the said Petition of Barbara Robinson and others of Cheltenham, presented on the 22nd of May last: The Lords following were named of the Committee; the Committee to meet on Monday next, at Eleven o'Clock, and to appoint their own Chairman:
| L. Steward. | L. Overstone. |
| E. Stradbroke. | L. Churston. |
| L. Portman. |
§
Ordered,
That William Isaacs, Clerk to Mr. Boodle, Solicitor at Cheltenham, and John Preston, Town Crier at Cheltenham, Robert Sole Lingwood, Solicitor at Cheltenham, and Charles William Maisey, Clerk to the said Robert Sole Lingwood, and William Boodle, Solicitor at Cheltenham, do attend the above Committee on Monday next, at Eleven o'Clock, in reference to their Conduct with regard to the Mode of obtaining Signatures to the said Petition of Barbara Robinson and others of Cheltenham, presented on the 22nd of May last.