Petitioning

“ Where, in the land of freemen, was the right of petition ever placed on the exclusive basis of morality and virtue? Petition is supplication—it is entreaty—it is prayer! And where is the degree of vice or immorality which shall deprive the citizen of the right to supplicate for a boon, or to pray for mercy! Where is such a law to be found?... And what does your law say? Does it say that, before presenting a petition, you shall look into it, and see whether it comes from the virtuous, and the great, and the mighty. No, sir; it says no such thing. The right of petition belongs to all. ”

“ My workmen were induced thus to petition, in consequence of the information, which I, their master, had communicated to them; and, gentlemen, why should not your labourers petition in the same strain? Why should you suffer them to remain in a state of ignorance, relative to the cause of their misery? The eyes sweep over in this country more riches in one moment [75] than are contained in the whole county in which I was born, and in which the petitioners live. ”

“ Having petitioned our law-makers, State and national, for years, many from weariness have vowed to appeal no more; for our petitions, say they, by the tens of thousands, are piled up in the national archives, unheeded and ignored. Yet it is possible to roll up such a mammoth petition, borne into congress on the shoulders of stalwart men, that we can no longer be neglected or forgotten. ”

“ The judge then compared the words of boundary and description contained in the petition with those contained in the writ or act of possession, and added: 'If, upon comparing these descriptions, you cannot make them agree, you must give the greater weight to the words and descriptions of the petition, for the petition must control the writ. In other words, the writ of possession must conform to the petition, for the grant was made according to the boundaries prayed for in the petition. ”

“ We do not grant or deny these petitions merely according to a majority vote. We always grant the petition when as many as four think that it should be granted and sometimes when as many as three think that way. ”

“ Besides the unimpeachable integrity and piety of many of the promoters of this petition, which render those aspersions as idle as they are unjust, such a way of treating the subject can have no other effect than to turn the attention of the House from the merits of the petition, the only thing properly before us, and which we are sufficiently competent to decide upon, to the motives of the petitioners, which belong exclusively to the Great Searcher of Hearts. ”

“ If there be a person in the crowd trying to present a petition, and working his way through the ranks, the person nearest to him must take the petition and present it to the sovereign in sight of the petitioner himself, so that all may know that the petition presented has reached its destination and consequently that there exists a control of affairs on the part of the sovereign himself. ”

“ Sir, we are now to consider the clause to which the petition relates, which I have now presented, a petition on a subject of so general importance, and offered by men so well acquainted with every argument that can be offered, and every objection which can be raised, that their request of being heard by their council cannot be denied, without exposing us to the censure of adhering obstinately to our own opinions, of shutting our ears against information, of preferring expedition to security, and disregarding the welfare of our country. ”

“ That your petitioner, still actuated by a sincere desire to see his country free and happy, and holding a high character in the world, has lately been using his humble endeavours to assist peaceably and legally in promoting applications to Parliament for a Reform in your Honourable House, that measure appearing to your petitioner to be the only effectual remedy for the great and notorious evils under which the country now groans, and for which evils, as no one attempts to deny their existence, so no one, as far as your petitioner has heard, has attempted to suggest any other remedy. ”

“ If we are to decide when they ought to feel aggrieved, and when they ought to be satisfied, if the tribunal to whom their petitions are addressed may refuse to receive them, because, in their opinion, there was no just cause of complaint, the right of petition is destroyed. It would be but a poor answer to their petitions to tell them they ought not to have felt aggrieved, that they are mistaken, and that, therefore, their complaints would not be received by their servants. ”

“ They can write petitions in the highest style of excellence, as regards composition and penmanship. And they can also write letters on dirty slips of paper, in such a manner as that the homely phrase and the supposed ignorance of the petitioner shall be correctly sustained. They know all the charitable people of the district. They know the species of distress each person is most likely to relieve, and the days and hours they are most likely to be seen. They are in a position to instruct the several members of the fraternity as to the habits and foibles of the “gentlefolks.” ”

“ The duty of the Court chiefly consists in verifying the allegations of the petitioner."
"Nothing can be fairer," replied the Marquis. "Well, then, monsieur, be so good as to tell me what I ought to do——"
"You have only to answer my questions, omitting nothing. However delicate the reasons may be which may have led you to act in such a manner as to give Madame d'Espard a pretext for her petition, speak without fear. ”

“ Article 8. The right of petition, exercised in writing in a peaceful and respectful manner, is inviolable; but in political matters only citizens of the Republic may exercise it. To every petition must be returned a written opinion by the authority to whom it may have been addressed, and the latter is obliged to make the result known to the petitioner. ”

“ On the back of these things, the Legislature last year petitioned Congress that they would not send such men here, but send men that had some claim to decency and propriety. But this is one of the greatest insults considered to be, to petition Congress. What right have American citizens to petition? ”

“ That your petitioner has often heard it said, that the law affords protection to the poor as well as to the rich, and that, if unable to obtain redress any where else, every subject of his Majesty has the road of petition open to him ”

“ Jenkins Williams, who was at the time the Register of the Court of Appeals or Legislative Council, and had been on former occasions employed by Mr. du Calvet as his Lawyer and Advocate, an who therefore might be supposed to be a good Judge of the style in which such a petition ought to be drawn. But, that the readers of this narrative may judge for themselves of the style and manner of expression used in this petition, and determine how far it deserved the harsh answer General Haldimand gave it, it shall be here inserted word for word. ”

“ In such a case the petitioner probably has some friend in Parliament, and his point of view is understood. He can, if necessary, get this friend to attend the committee and introduce amendments. He is therefore a force to be reckoned with; the Bill is perhaps altered to suit him; the petition is at any rate referred to the committee. On the other hand, if the petition comes from cottagers or small proprietors, it is safe, as a rule, to neglect it.
The enclosure histories set out in the Appendix supply some good examples of this differential treatment. ”

“ They show the energy of the instigators of the petition and not of the petitioners. They can be signed by those who have and by those who have not an interest in the matter. The signatures to them can be readily forged. ”

“ That, although the petitioners are fully convinced, that the interests of the commerce of this common country, and of this city, have constantly, but especially in these last years, attracted, and still attract every day, a great part of the cares of the Venerable Regency; nevertheless, having regard to the importance of the affair, the petitioners have thought, that they could, and that they ought to take the liberty to address themselves with this petition to you, Venerable Regents, and to inform you, according to truth, that the moments are precious ”

“ Bliss tells you that we forged petitions, and in only a few moments, as the Court will remember, he had the kindness to say that anybody in the world would sign a petition for anything, and the question arises if people are so glad to sign petitions why should we forge their names. ”

“ The petition is drawn up at great length, and sets forth with feeling and eloquence the wrongs of which they complain; justifies their own conduct, and aggravates that of those whom they call their persecutors; and concludes by saying that they see no redress, unless it is obtained of the Congress of the United States, to whom they make their solemn, last appeal, as American citizens, as Christians, and as men ”

“ The proposition [the right of petition] is almost too plain for argument, that, if the people have a constitutional right to petition, a corresponding duty is imposed upon us to receive their petitions. From the very nature of things, rights and duties are reciprocal. The human mind cannot conceive of the one without the other. ”

“ Perceval to state to you, in reply to your letter of yesterday, that the time for presenting private petitions has long since passed; and that Mr. Perceval cannot encourage you to expect his sanction in introducing into the house a petition which Mr. Perceval thinks is not of a nature for the consideration of parliament. ”

“ I have already kept back for several weeks the petitions committed to me, in order to shape my course according to the deliberate decision of the House; but that decision does not come; it is continually procrastinated for the sake of considering questions, which, in my view, are secondary in time and in principle to the question of reception ”

“ Many men, partly from good nature and partly from political motives, will sign a petition spiced and peppered to tickle the palate of the House of Lords, who will not move a yard, or sacrifice a shilling, on behalf of the object petitioned for. ”

“ Petitioner tells us that the application must be deemed to be in time because 'when a court actually changes its judgment, the time to appeal or petition begins to run anew irrespective of whether a petition for rehearing has been filed.' [6] We think petitioner's interpretation of our decisions is too liberal. ”

“ You say that, if the Government had not culpably omitted to establish a good system of public instruction, the petitioners would have been fit for the elective franchise. But is that a reason for giving them the franchise when their own petition proves that they are not fit for it; when they give us fair notice that, if we let them have it, they will use it to our ruin and their own? ”

“ It is quite true that in a petition for review upon the ground of error in law in the original order, the examination of the grounds of the petition for rehearing is equivalent to a reexamination of the basis of the original decree. ”

“ The progress of a petition is well known. An ejected placeman goes down to his county or his borough, tells his friends of his inability to serve them, and his constituents of the corruption of the government. His friends readily understand that he who can get nothing, will have nothing to give. They agree to proclaim a meeting; meat and drink are plentifully provided; a crowd is easily brought together, and those who think that they know the reason of their meeting, undertake to tell those who know it not. ”

“ The Court does not, indeed it cannot and should not try to, give to the initial question of granting or denying a petition the kind of attention that is demanded by a decision on the merits. The assumption that we know no more after hearing and deliberating on a case than after reading the petition for certiorari and the response is inadmissible in theory and not true in fact. ”

“ Your petitioners are most loyal subjects of your Government. It is not less, the duty of that Government to maintain their religion and customs than to protect their lives and property. Your Petitioners do not pretend to direct your Council, nor have they the power to oppose your designs. ”

“ The motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis and the petition for a writ of certiorari are granted. The Court is of the view that on the record the petitioner is an indigent. Therefore, the judgment must be reversed. ”

“ It must not be pushed aside to make place for the discussion of speculative resolutions, or for debate, on the merits of the question raised by the prayer of these petitions. I maintain that the House is bound by the Constitution to receive the petitions; after which, it will take such method of deciding upon them as reason and principle shall dictate. It should first lend an attentive and respectful ear to the prayer of the People. Whether it can or will grant that prayer, is an after consideration. ”

“ The hearing conducted by the appellate court on the petition, which may be filed many years after the entry of the challenged judgment, is not just a ceremonial gesture. The petition must contain the necessary averments, supported by affidavits or other acceptable evidence; and the appellate court may in the exercise of a proper discretion reject the petition, in which case a bill of review cannot be filed in the lower court. ”

“ The petitioner, my Lords, is a man whose long life has been spent in one unceasing struggle for the liberty of the subject, against that undue influence which has increased, is increasing, and ought to be diminished; and whatever difference of opinion may exist as to his political tenets, few will be found to question the integrity of his intentions. ”