ABSTRACT
W H E N Committees on petitions for Bills reported favourably, and the Bills were introduced, opposing petitioners, according to old practice, might be beard at the bar, in Committee of the whole House, or before Select Committees. Both Houses used their discretion in fixing the stage for hearing, and varied it according to convenience or the circumstances of each case. With other points of procedure, however, this will be more conveniently treated in the next chapter, along with the employment of counsel in Parliament. Here the system of constituting Committees on private Bills will be mainly considered.
