The Sun.
London, England, 1865-02-15 00:00:00

Naval Intelligence.

The iron screw steamship Black Prince 41, Capt.
Lord Frederick R. H. Kerr, was towed yesterday
from the moorings in Hamoaze to the sheer hulk,
preparatory to her being placed to-day in the
Prince's dock in the Devonport yard.
The artisans at Devonport are actively engaged
in preparing the screw steam-frigate Narcissus, 39,
for the reception of a flag-officer. She is under
orders to be undocked and placed alongside the hulk
in Hamoaze to receive her masts, after which she
will go into Keyham steam-yard.
The iron screw steamship Defence, 16, Capt.
Augustus Phillimore, was towed on Monday from
her moorings in Hamoaze to the Devonport dock-
yard. She was placed in No. 1 dock to be over-
hauled and repaired.
The paddlewheel stearasloop Geyser, 6, Com-
mander A. Thrupp, which accompanied the iron-
cased screw steamsloop Enterprise, 4, Commander
Charles J. Rowley, to Gibraltar, returned yester-
day morning to Plymouth Sound.
The gunboat Jackdaw, 2, having been partially
repaired, was removed yesterday from Keyham
steam-yard to Hamoaze. After a trial of her machi-
nery she will be replaced to complete her repairs.
Her Majesty's screw corvette Niger, 12, recently
commissioned at Woolwich by Capt. J. C. Byng for
the North American and West Indian stations, was
yesterday hauled out of the fitting basin in readi-
ness for sea.

Her Majesty's steam storeship Fox, Commander
Moriarty, with returned stores from Malta, yester-
day entered the outer basin at Woolwich, in pre-
paration to ship steam gear for the iron-cased ship
Lord Warden.

Public Petitions.

An interesting return moved for by the late Mr. Samuel
Gregson has just been printed by order of the house. The
object of the return is to give some information as to the
growth of the practice of petitioning, and to set forth the
number of petitions brought annuallyunder the cognizance
of the Public Petitions' Committee. Thus, by way of con-
trast, it is stated that 200 years ago, in the year 1664, the
number of petitions presented was 21. One hundred years
later the number had but slightly increased, being in 1704
only 47 ; while in the last year, 1864, the number of peti-
tions amounted to 10,222. Even at the commencement of
the present century there was no rapid increase, for in tho
five years ending 1804-5 the average number was but 205.
A marked change, however, took place in the year
1812-13, when the number rose to 1,699, the average for
the five years ending 1814-15 being 899.

From the year 1828 the annual numbers are given con-
tinuously to the present time. In the five years ending
1832 the average number was 4,656.
In the five years ending 1837 the average number was 7,436.
In the five years ending 1842 the average was 14,014.
In the five years ending 1847 the average cumber was
16.397.

In the five years ending 1852 tho average number was
12,449.

In the five years ending 1837 the average number was
10,352.

in tho fivo years ending 1862 the average number was
12,600.

In 1863 the number was 12,583.
In 1864 the number was 10,222.
The two heaviest sessions were in 1843, when the enor-
mous number of 33,898 petitions were presented, and in
1860, when there were 24,279 petitions.
It is curious to observe that although the average number
of petitions remains about the same the number of signa-
tures diminishes. In former times. the number of signatures
was swelled by the monster :petitions for the people's
Charter ; the discovery of the gigantic imposition sought
to be practised upon the house in the case of the petition
presented by Mr. Feargus O'Connor in the year 1848 ope-
rated as a salutary check upon the practice of concocting
huge petitions, with millions of names attached, for the pur-
pose of intimidating the house ; and the supervision of the
committee, who invariably report to the house the cases of
petitions that appear to them to be " fictitious," has gradu-
ally brought petitioning into a much more satisfactory state.
It is also satisfactory to learn that although the number of
petitions has nearly trebled since the year 1832 the expense
of printing and publishing them has actually diminished.
In the five years ending 1832, the average expense is
stated at £1,162 15s. 11d., 23,2;83 petitions having been
presented in those five years ; while in the five years ending
1862, during which period 63,003 petitions were presented,
the average expense is set down for £1,002 12s. 6d. This
result has been partly obtained by a reduction in the charge
for printing, but it has been principally caused by the care-
ful selection of petitions for printing by the committee,
and by the system the,-/ have adopted of comparing peti-
tions, so that when hr.Lndreds of copies of a petition are
sent about the couritry for signature only one copy is
printed, as a rule, and a reference is made from all the
others to that petit lon.

A summary of the labours of the committee is given at
tho end of the re' 'cum.

In 32 years tt ley have had before them 389,056 petitions,
ofwhicla they b .ave selected 37,234 for printing. The num-
ber of slgnab dres in that period was 81,851,510, and the
number of in 'orts made by the committee, 1,597.

There havij been seven chairmen in the 32 years, who
served as f•aillows :—Mr. Littleton, one year; Sir Robert
H. Inglis, crhe year ; Mr. Oswald, three years ; Mr. G. W.
Wood, six, years ; Mr. Thornely, ten years ; Mr. J. Bon-
ham-Cat-4-x; five years ; and Mr. Gregson, seven years.
The c oommittee have just experienced a great loss by the
sudden . death of their late chairman, Mr. Gregson. Arrived
at a t .me of life when ho might fairly have claimed exemp-
tion from. active duties, he nevertheless continued to the
very lar,t day of his existence to give unfailing attention to
the• clv ties of chairman of the committee. So seldom was
he at ,sent from his post that in some Sessions ho attended
eve' ey meeting of the committee ; in others he was absent,
jm unavoidable causes, only once or twice. During the
Sven years that he served he attended no less than 280
r neetings of the committee, and had under his cognizance
85,808 petitions. His conciliating and obliging manners
will long be remembered by all who knew him, while in
the discharge of his public duties his sound judgment and
perfect impartiality secured for him the confidence and
I respect of the House.

t 4 BEATRICE." By Julia Kavanagh, author of
!
" Nathalie," &c.—" Miss Kavanagh is a writer of consider-
able and uncommon ability. Iler novels never fail to in-
t %rest. They are thoughtful books, and bespeak a highly
tooled and cultivated mind. 'Beatrice' is a very interesting
s tory, admirably constructed. It is calculated to increase
A Liss Kavanagh's reputation as a novelist in several mac-
e ma points, and will assuredly not disappoint her readers.
I tis very much superior in power and in skilful construe-
ti on to any of the author's former works ; and the interest
ci mated by Beatrice Gordon is vivid and unflagging.
B eatrice is the finest female character Miss Kavanagh has
y et drawn."—Morning Post.

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