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Petition   Listen
noun
Petition  n.  
1.
A prayer; a supplication; an imploration; an entreaty; especially, a request of a solemn or formal kind; a prayer to the Supreme Being, or to a person of superior power, rank, or authority; also, a single clause in such a prayer. "A house of prayer and petition for thy people." "This last petition heard of all her prayer."
2.
A formal written request addressed to an official person, or to an organized body, having power to grant it.
3.
Specifically: (Law), A request to government, in either of its branches, for the granting of a particular grace or right, or for the legislature to take a specific action; in distinction from a memorial, which calls certain facts to mind. The petition may be signed by one or any number of persons.
4.
The written document containing a petition (senses 1 or 2).
Petition of right (Law), a petition to obtain possession or restitution of property, either real or personal, from the Crown, which suggests such a title as controverts the title of the Crown, grounded on facts disclosed in the petition itself.
The Petition of Right (Eng. Hist.), the parliamentary declaration of the rights of the people, assented to by Charles I.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Petition" Quotes from Famous Books



... sign of eager assent, and John Effingham prayed in a voice that was distinctly audible to the other. The petition was short, beautiful, and even lofty in language, without a particle of Scripture jargon, or of the cant of professed devotees; but it was a fervent, direct, comprehensive, and humble appeal to the Deity for mercy on the being who now found himself in extremity. A child ...
— Homeward Bound - or, The Chase • James Fenimore Cooper

... the translation an awkward appearance. Thus the final sentence above, which means literally "they shall never become blue instantly," signifies "Grant that they shall never become blue", i.e., shall never fail in their purpose, and grant our petition instantly. ...
— Seventh Annual Report • Various

... be thus, at a blow, destroyed. He pictured to himself the dean disowning him; and even the Pope, who had already sent the pontifical dispensation permitting him to be ordained before the required age, and the bishop of the diocese, who had based the petition for the dispensation on his approved virtue and learning and on the firmness of his vocation, all appeared before him ...
— Pepita Ximenez • Juan Valera

... graciously satisfied and returned the paper with a gesture that Victoria might have used in restoring a granted petition, though her next words rather marred the effect of the regal ...
— Work: A Story of Experience • Louisa May Alcott

... 1759, we find him living at Sandwich, a staymaker and a married man. In 1761, he was a widower and an officer of the excise. From this position he was dismissed, for some reason which escaped both Cobbett and Cheetham, and eleven months afterward was reinstated on his own petition. In the interval, he found employment in London as usher in a school, at twenty-five pounds a year. His leisure moments he devoted to lectures on Natural Science. In 1768, he took a second wife at Lewes, the daughter of a tobacconist; and the father dying soon ...
— Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 4, No. 25, November, 1859 • Various

... declining copper prices and a prolonged drought hurt the economy. Elections in 1991 brought an end to one-party rule, but the subsequent vote in 1996 saw blatant harassment of opposition parties. The election in 2001 was marked by administrative problems with three parties filing a legal petition challenging the election of ruling party candidate Levy MWANAWASA. The new president launched an anticorruption task force in 2002, but the government has yet to make a prosecution. The Zambian leader was reelected in 2006 in an election that ...
— The 2007 CIA World Factbook • United States

... fragrant smell of tobacco, where the cruets on the sideboard were usually absorbed by the skirts of the box-coats that hung from the wall; where awkward servants waylaid us at every turn, like so many human man-traps; where county members, framed and glazed, were eternally presenting that petition which, somehow or other, had made their glory in the county, although nothing else had ever come of it. Where the books in the windows always wanted the first, last, and middle leaves, and where the one man ...
— Speeches: Literary and Social • Charles Dickens

... bore it bravely, and, when possible, lent the aid of his own high, sweet tenor, to the nasal clamour. After the hymn came a short prayer, delivered as though the speaker really believed that his God was at hand, and would instantly listen to any petition humbly proffered by frail creatures. At the end of a short pause, Walter Musgrave stood up to speak. He broadened his chest and straightened himself, unconsciously hinting at his physical power. He then read his text in a low voice: ...
— The Romance of the Coast • James Runciman

... Chester County court laid it down as a principle that the mingling of the races was not to be allowed. In 1722 a woman was punished for promoting a secret marriage between a white woman and a Negro; a little later the Assembly received from the inhabitants of the province a petition inveighing against cohabiting; and in 1725-6 a law was passed positively forbidding the mixture of the races.[1] In Massachusetts as early as 1705 and 1708 restraining acts to prevent a "spurious and mixt issue" ordered the sale of offending Negroes and mulattoes ...
— A Social History of the American Negro • Benjamin Brawley

... means of destruction, however terrible they may be. We cannot do otherwise; but we do not hate the individual human beings.... The true, beneficent hatred applies to things, not persons.—The Fifth Petition in the Lord's Prayer and England, by PASTOR J. LAHUSEN, quoted in ...
— Gems (?) of German Thought • Various

... in a four-post bed. Do you understand that?" Foul-weather Dick understood it perfectly, and begged with great eagerness to hear what the gentleman's adventure really was. The dame, who had been listening to our talk, backed her son's petition; the two girls sat down expectant at the half-cleared tea-table; even the farmer and his drowsy sons roused themselves lazily on the settle—my husband saw that he stood fairly committed to the relation of the story, so he told ...
— After Dark • Wilkie Collins

... nevertheless, I was disposed to hope for the best. "Oh, no!" continued he, with good-humoured raillery, "you won't get in. I don't suppose you really expect it. But there is a fine career open to you. You will spend (pounds)1000, and lose the election. Then you will petition, and spend another (pounds)1000. You will throw out the elected members. There will be a commission, and the borough will be disfranchised. For a beginner such as you are, that will be a great success." And yet, in the teeth of this, from a man ...
— Autobiography of Anthony Trollope • Anthony Trollope

... the threshold, for a voice was heard within, low and sweet; yet they heard the words of the kneeling form, in deep petition, saying, "Give me, O Father, my daily bread; forgive me my trespasses, and lead me not into temptation. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ...
— Allegories of Life • Mrs. J. S. Adams

... of her youth: they seem to come back to her in her eighty-second year very vividly. Her grandfather, Gavin Hunter, could write, while most common people were ignorant of the art. A poor woman got him to write a petition to the minister of Shotts parish to augment her monthly allowance of sixpence, as she could not live on it. He was taken to Hamilton jail for this, and having a wife and three children at home, who without ...
— The Personal Life Of David Livingstone • William Garden Blaikie

... felt that my business was now done; for Budja was appointed to escort us to Unyoro, and Jumba to prepare us boats, that we might go all the way to Kamrasi's by water. Viarungi made a petition, on Rumanika's behalf, for an army of Waganda to go to Karague, and fight the refractory brother, Rogero; but this was refused, on the plea that the whole army was out fighting at the present moment. The court then broke up ...
— The Discovery of the Source of the Nile • John Hanning Speke

... smiled pityingly when I said I felt better, but she assured me the children only wanted to look at me. I refused her petition, but, on my ultimatum being announced to them, they set up such a roar that, to quiet them, ...
— The Speaker, No. 5: Volume II, Issue 1 - December, 1906. • Various

... young lady's notion of the "function" of Prayer was, to say the least peculiar, in thus addressing her petition to the earth ...
— Supplemental Nights, Volume 3 • Richard F. Burton

... kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for thirty days, save of thee, O King, he shall be cast ...
— Heroes Every Child Should Know • Hamilton Wright Mabie

... though. Would be, anyway, if them rusty Kays would be doing anything for the industry. They're building piers enough for the trippers, but never a breakwater the size of a tooth-brush for the fishermen. That's reminding me, Phil—the boys are at me to get you to petition the Tynwald Court for better harbours. They're losing many a pound by not getting out all weathers. But if the child doesn't cry, the mother will be giving it no breast. So we mane to squall till they think in Douglas we've ...
— The Manxman - A Novel - 1895 • Hall Caine

... substituted in later tradition as being more romantic." A letter from Lady Nithisdale herself, {139} written to her sister, settles the whole question, and of course Lord Stanhope immediately adopted this genuine version. Lady Nithisdale tells how at first she endeavored to present a petition to the King. The first day she heard that the King was to go to the drawing-room, she dressed herself in black, as if in mourning, and had a lady to accompany her, because she did not know the King personally, and might have mistaken some other ...
— A History of the Four Georges, Volume I (of 4) • Justin McCarthy

... get to my business without delay. I thought it might interest you to know that I propose to bring a counter-petition against my wife, and ...
— The Magician • Somerset Maugham

... could be made the happy instrument of saving the souls of those poor men, though I were never to get my foot off this island or see my native country any more. But since you will honour me with putting me into this work, for which I will pray for you all the days of my life, I have one humble petition to you besides."—"What is that?" said I.—"Why," says he, "it is, that you will leave your man Friday with me, to be my interpreter to them, and to assist me; for without some help I cannot speak to them, ...
— The Further Adventures of Robinson Crusoe • Daniel Defoe

... under the autumn sun without hoping that hailstones would not pound off the rich clusters; could not see a youth leave his home to seek his fortune without praying that he would return to his mother laden with rich treasures; could not see a bride go down the aisle of the church without sending up a petition that many years might intervene before death's hand should touch her white brow. Sympathy in the heart so fed the springs of thought in the mind that it was easy for the poet to put himself in another's place. And so, while his pen wrote, his heart felt itself ...
— The Investment of Influence - A Study of Social Sympathy and Service • Newell Dwight Hillis

... of these strangers, who were Mohawks from the Indian woods upon the Bay of Quinte, and they brought along with them a horse and cutter. The night was so stormy, that, after consulting our man—Jacob Faithful, as we usually called him—I consented to grant their petition, although they were quite strangers, and taller and fiercer-looking than our friends ...
— Roughing it in the Bush • Susanna Moodie

... Somerset, and he had a skirmish with the royal troops at Wincanton. In connection with Somerset's share in the events of James's reign, it deserves to be mentioned that Bishop Ken, of Bath and Wells, was among the seven prelates who presented the famous petition against ...
— Somerset • G.W. Wade and J.H. Wade

... Her rejected petition to her husband for an allowance of money, on the day in Wales, became the vivid memory which brings out motives in its glow. Her husband hated her brother; and why? But the answer was lighted fierily down another avenue. A true husband, a lord of wealth, would have rejoiced ...
— The Shaving of Shagpat • George Meredith

... to. Now this is my plan: You get up a petition and get the clerks to sign it and then you go yourself to old Forbes to-morrow. He'll be worse than a brute if he dares to refuse you! Meanwhile I'll see my father at home to-night. He's a little soft on me yet, even if he is a ...
— For Gold or Soul? - The Story of a Great Department Store • Lurana W. Sheldon

... state legislature passes a law that the people do not approve of a petition may be signed by a certain number of voters which will require the law to be referred to the people for their ...
— Citizenship - A Manual for Voters • Emma Guy Cromwell

... Hannah with the means of living, without sacrificing his hopes of school, he suddenly hit upon a plan. He quickened his footsteps to put it into instant execution. He arrived at Brudenell Hall and asked to see Mrs. Middleton. A servant took up his petition and soon returned to conduct him to that lady's presence. They went up two flights of stairs, when the man, turning to the left, opened a door, and admitted the boy to the bed-chamber ...
— Ishmael - In the Depths • Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth

... the following petition was instrumental in securing the adoption in Massachusetts of a law prohibiting the wearing of song and insectivorous birds on women's hats. It is stated that the interesting document was prepared by United States Senator Hoar. The foregoing verse of Scripture might have ...
— Birds, Illustrated by Color Photography, Vol. II, No 3, September 1897 • Various

... Prue! what a warfare exists between her name and her character. She should petition the legislature to allow her to be called—Mrs. Echidna! My son, I think modern civilization will remain incomplete, will not perform its mission, until it relieves society from the depredations of ...
— Infelice • Augusta Jane Evans Wilson

... latest advices from Mexico, after dinner, and, it may be, fall asleep over them both. What is the price-current of an honest man and patriot to-day? They hesitate, and they regret, and sometimes they petition; but they do nothing in earnest and with effect. They will wait, well disposed, for others to remedy the evil, that they may no longer have it to regret. At most, they give only a cheap vote, and a feeble countenance and Godspeed, to the right, ...
— Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience • Henry David Thoreau

... heartiness he expected. To make the appeal appear as much in favour of poetry as of a single poet, Mr. Taylor, in his letters, asked assistance for Keats as well as for Clare, wording his request in terms more dignified than persuasive. There was only one response to this petition, which came from Earl Fitzwilliam, who forwarded L100 to Clare and L50 to Keats. The liberality of the kind nobleman was scarcely appreciated as it deserved. One of the friends of Keats, in a loud article in the 'London Magazine,' of December, 1820, disclaimed his intention ...
— The Life of John Clare • Frederick Martin

... of the Confederation. The slave-trade was hardly touched upon in the Congress of the Confederation, except in the ordinance respecting the capture of slaves, and on the occasion of the Quaker petition against the trade, although, during the debate on the Articles of Confederation, the counting of slaves as well as of freemen in the apportionment of taxes was urged as a measure that would check further importation of ...
— The Suppression of the African Slave Trade to the United States of America - 1638-1870 • W. E. B. Du Bois

... quite the same organization prevailed in the courts of Quiche and Atitlan. The chiefs of the latter province forwarded, in 1571, a petition to Philip II, in which they gave some interesting particulars of their former government. They say: "The supreme ruler was called Atziquinihai, and the chiefs who shared the authority with him, Amac Tzutuhil. These latter were sovereigns, and acknowledged no superiors.... The sovereign, ...
— The Annals of the Cakchiquels • Daniel G. Brinton

... first place, where is Mount Faunus? The authors do not point it out. The natives know nothing about it. It would be necessary to devote themselves to excavations, and with that view they forwarded a petition to the prefect, to ...
— Bouvard and Pecuchet - A Tragi-comic Novel of Bourgeois Life • Gustave Flaubert

... having assisted her husband, especially during his sickness, when nearly the whole work devolved upon her. Most of the village people were in favor of having her retained, but the local influence of Squire Walsingham and his nephew was so great that a petition in favor of the latter secured numerous signatures, and was already on file at the department in Washington, and backed by the congressman of the district, who was a political friend of the squire. Mrs. Carr was not aware that the movement for her ...
— Do and Dare - A Brave Boy's Fight for Fortune • Horatio Alger, Jr.

... of two-and-twenty days is taken up in this book; nine during the plague, one in the council and quarrel of the Princes, and twelve for Jupiter's stay among the Ethiopians, at whose return Thetis prefers her petition. The scene lies in the Grecian camp, then changes to Chrysa, ...
— The Iliad • Homer

... so good as to take off the heavy malediction he laid me under. I must be now solicitous for a last blessing; and that is all I shall presume to petition for. My sister's letter, communicating this grace, is a severe one: but as she writes to me as from every body, how could I expect it to ...
— Clarissa, Volume 7 • Samuel Richardson

... long time he is unsuccessful. At last, however, he resolves to make a mighty effort—to besiege the Lord with his prayer, to wrestle with him, as Jacob did of old, and not to release him, until he has granted his petition. While he lies thus before the altar calling upon the Lord in sacred rapture, a tremendous avalanche sweeps down the mountainside, but divides, leaving the church and parsonage unharmed. The rumor of this new wonder spreads like fire in withered ...
— Essays on Scandinavian Literature • Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen

... Jonas and Anna Bering, whom a petition describes, in 1719, as "old, miserable, decrepit people, no way able ...
— Vikings of the Pacific - The Adventures of the Explorers who Came from the West, Eastward • Agnes C. Laut

... sandwiches, two plates of chicken, and an extra drumstick in his hand, a whole pie, and she couldn't count the cake. There were also some empty beer bottles at his feet. He said he was perfectly ashamed of Fanny's appetite, and would have to petition the Bishop for an allowance from the mission fund, if she was going through life at the ...
— Two Knapsacks - A Novel of Canadian Summer Life • John Campbell

... scandalous destruction. Now in place of the boisterous Yamkas is left a peaceful, humdrum outskirt, in which live truck-farmers, cat's-meat men, Tartars, swineherds and butchers from the near-by slaughterhouses. At the petition of these worthy people even the designation of Yamaskya Borough itself, as disgracing the inhabitants with its past, has been named over into Golubovka, in honour of the merchant Golubov, owner of a shop dealing in groceries and delicacies, ...
— Yama (The Pit) • Alexandra Kuprin

... foe, and had not the elements come to the aid of Japan the issue of the affair might have been serious for the island empire. While the soldiers were fighting the priests were praying, and the mikado sent a priestly messenger to the shrines at Ise, bearing his petition to the gods. It was noonday, and the sky perfectly clear, when he offered the prayer, but immediately afterwards a broad streak of cloud rose on the horizon, and soon the sky was overcast with dense and rolling ...
— Historic Tales, Vol. 12 (of 15) - The Romance of Reality • Charles Morris

... down upon himself, there is no doubt but that he would have been earnestly petitioned to remain at his post. The greatest enemy of Cromwell, if he had been a lover of his country, would have joined in such a petition; would have besought him to remain at the helm, now he had thrown all other steersmen overboard. No; he must not quit it now. He is there for the rest of his life, to do battle with the waves, and navigate amongst rocks and quicksands as ...
— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 61, No. 378, April, 1847 • Various

... "I have your petition, but since I have just been appointed here, I am not very familiar with routine matters." Here he smiled slightly. "Yours is a routine matter, I should say. How long have you waited for an answer—four months? We'll see what can be done. ...
— Trapped in 'Black Russia' - Letters June-November 1915 • Ruth Pierce

... his stand; which he accordingly did, introducing him into a hall, where the duke was to pass through soon. He had not been long there before the duke came in, upon which he clapped his knee to the ground, and very graciously offered a paper to his hand for acceptance, which was a petition, setting forth that the unfortunate petitioner, Bampfylde Moore Carew, was supercargo of a large vessel that was cast away coming from Sweden, in which were his whole effects, and none of which he ...
— The Surprising Adventures of Bampfylde Moore Carew • Unknown

... influence, in Paris or Versailles. Yet their opportunities for doing good or harm were almost unlimited. Their executive command was nearly uncontrolled; for where there were no provincial estates, the inhabitants could not send a petition to the king except through the hands of the intendant, and any complaint against that officer was referred to himself for an answer.[Footnote: For the intendants, see Necker, De l'administration, ii. 469, iii. 379. Ibid., Memoire au roi sur l'etablissement ...
— The Eve of the French Revolution • Edward J. Lowell

... kings vse; vnto which request, the archbishop and other the prelats would in no wise consent: [Sidenote: Abr. Fl. out of Thom. Walsi. Hypod. pag. 167.] thus by the stout diligence of the archbishop Arundell that petition of the commons, touching the spiritual temporalties, came to none effect. [Yea the knights themselues, who verie instantlie had stood in this error, acknowledging their maliciousness & guiltinesse herein, besought the archbishop of Canturburie to pardon them; and gaue thanks that by ...
— Chronicles (3 of 6): Historie of England (1 of 9) - Henrie IV • Raphael Holinshed

... we put up our beggars' petition: "Good-day, madame; you haven't got a little corner where we could feed? We would pay, of course, we ...
— Under Fire - The Story of a Squad • Henri Barbusse

... BIRMINGHAM.—On Monday a deputation waited on the Mayor of Birmingham, with the requisition requesting him to call a public meeting to petition the Queen to dismiss her present ministers. The requisition was signed by nearly one thousand merchants, manufacturers, and shopkeepers of the town. There was not the name of a working man attached to it. The mayor, however, declined calling the meeting, observing, that although ...
— The Economist - Volume 1, No. 3 • Various

... too much taken up with his own bodily and spiritual condition to be deeply mindful of others. He carried the note requesting the prayers of the congregation in his pocket all day; and the soul in distress, which a single tender petition might have soothed, and perhaps have saved from despair or fatal error, found no voice in the temple to plead for it before the Throne ...
— Atlantic Monthly Volume 7, No. 40, February, 1861 • Various

... augment the expenses of government; to deprive the people of the advantages of an appeal to the elder colony, and of participation in that more liberal system of government a larger community could demand. A public meeting was, however, summoned, and a petition adopted by acclamation. The sole dissentient present, Mr. Murray, was ...
— The History of Tasmania, Volume I (of 2) • John West

... orders from his Majesty to go their ways next day; and went. In behalf of old President von Schaffgotsch, a chief of the Silesian Nobility, and man much loved, the Breslau people, and men from every guild and rank of society, made petition That, he should be allowed to continue in his Town House here. Which "first request of yours" his Majesty, with much grace, is sorry to be obliged to refuse. The suppressed, and insuppressible, weak indignation of old ...
— History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Vol. XII. (of XXI.) • Thomas Carlyle

... natural tone, as with mock humility he offers up a thanksgiving for having been successful in his efforts, and having been permitted to rescue one sinner from the path of evil. He sinks back into his seat, exhausted with the violence of his ravings; the girl is removed, a hymn is sung, a petition for some measure for securing the better observance of the Sabbath, which has been prepared by the good man, is read; and his worshipping admirers struggle who shall be ...
— Sunday Under Three Heads • Charles Dickens

... polluted court, or the pamphleteer whom one of our dramatists has described so admirably, or the hoarse murmur of the crowd execrating the pusillanimous murder of Raleigh—whosesoever the voice might be, whatever shape it might assume, petition, controversy, remonstrance, address, impeachment, libel, menace, insurrection, the language it spoke was uniform and unequivocal; it demanded for the people a share in the administration of their government, civil and ecclesiastical—it expressed ...
— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXVIII. February, 1843. Vol. LIII. • Various

... 'The humble petition of George Duke of Buckingham was this day read. Resolved that George Duke of Buckingham, now prisoner at Windsor Castle, upon his engagement upon his honour at the bar of this House, and upon the engagement of Lord ...
— The Wits and Beaux of Society - Volume 1 • Grace Wharton and Philip Wharton

... complaints the estates had to make, and offering to remove, if possible, all grievances which they might be suffering. The states' commissioners replied that they desired nothing, in the first place, but an answer to the petition which they had already presented to the King. This was the paper placed in the hands of Saint Aldegonde during the informal negotiations of the preceding year. An answer was accordingly given, but couched in such vague and general language as to be quite without meaning. The estates ...
— The Rise of the Dutch Republic, 1555-1566 • John Lothrop Motley

... arrangements to render men more secure and free from trouble. One of these was the posting of a notice confirming all gifts bestowed upon any person by the former emperors. This also enabled him to avoid the nuisance of having people petition him individually about the matter.—Informers he banished ...
— Dio's Rome, Volume V., Books 61-76 (A.D. 54-211) • Cassius Dio

... forward as a pretext for persecuting the Established Church, for trampling on the fundamental laws of the realm, for confiscating freeholds, for treating as a crime the modest exercise of the right of petition. If a bill had then been drawn up granting entire freedom of conscience to all Protestants, it may be confidently affirmed that Nottingham would never have introduced such a bill; that all the bishops, ...
— The History of England from the Accession of James II. - Volume 3 (of 5) • Thomas Babington Macaulay

... in part what had worked the change in Basil's ideas and prompted his request, she was too wise to say so. His petition for six lessons more was granted ...
— A Christmas Posy • Mary Louisa Stewart Molesworth

... Attorney General of Leichardt's Land, in whose following he had been while sitting in the Legislative Assembly, and whom he had consulted in reference to the Divorce petition. This gentleman informed Colin that proceedings were already begun in the case of McKeith versus McKeith, and that notification of the pending suit had been sent to Lady Bridget at Castle Gaverick, in ...
— Lady Bridget in the Never-Never Land • Rosa Praed

... the Spanish governor at Baton Rouge, and declared West Florida a free and independent state, appealing to the Supreme Ruler of the world for the rectitude of their intentions. What their intentions were appeared in a petition to the President for annexation to the United States. This was an opportune moment for the realization of the hopes which Madison had cherished ever since the acquisition of Louisiana. On October 27, 1810, he issued a proclamation, ...
— Union and Democracy • Allen Johnson

... the natural result of separation that caused the Irish Parliament, upon two separate occasions, to petition for that union with England which was delayed for over a century. The action of Grattan and his supporters in wresting the impossible Constitution of 1782, from the harassed and desperate English Government, began that ...
— Against Home Rule (1912) - The Case for the Union • Various

... Bitter, was to have for "presenting the case" before the Board of Aldermen. I went back to lunch at the Boyne Club, and to receive the congratulations of my friends. The next week the Riverside Company was formed, and I made out a petition to the Board of Aldermen for a franchise; Mr. Bitter appeared and argued: in short, the procedure so familiar to modern students of political affairs was gone through. The Maplewood Avenue residents rose en masse, ...
— The Crossing • Winston Churchill

... and adequately set before you these relations between the great painters of Venice and her Senate—relations which, in monetary matters, are entirely right and exemplary for all time—by reading to you two decrees of the Senate itself, and one petition to it. The first document shall be the decree of the Senate for giving help to John Bellini, in finishing the compartments of the great Council Chamber; granting him three assistants—one of them ...
— Aratra Pentelici, Seven Lectures on the Elements of Sculpture - Given before the University of Oxford in Michaelmas Term, 1870 • John Ruskin

... mercy of God. Therefore we must fear because of the works, but comfort ourselves because of the grace of God, as it is written, Psalm cxlvii: "The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear Him, in those that hope in His mercy." [Ps. 147:11] So we pray with perfect confidence: "Our Father," and yet petition: "Forgive us our trespasses"; we are children and yet sinners; are acceptable and yet do not do enough; and all this is the work of faith, firmly ...
— Works of Martin Luther - With Introductions and Notes (Volume I) • Martin Luther

... clerk and two gendarmes, to witness that his wife refused to receive him. Having, one fine morning, "found her desk forced and all her papers taken," she returned to Falaise, obtained a judgment authorising her to live with her brother, and lodged a petition ...
— The House of the Combrays • G. le Notre

... twenty-nine years of service (twenty-four of them in the Indias)—and no favors have been granted me for the offices of president and captain-general, and the successful outcome of the difficulties that I experienced therein—I petition your Majesty to grant me the reward of certain pensions equivalent to the salary taken from me, or what reward your Majesty may be pleased to order given me, which will be in excess of what my ...
— The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898: Volume XVIII, 1617-1620 • Various

... General of the Army, after he had past his Accounts before the Grand Council of the Nation, with a general Applause, found his Patrimony so impoverish'd by his Charity to Soldiers Widows, he was oblig'd to turn Merchant for his Support; but being unfortunate, he petition'd ...
— A Voyage to Cacklogallinia - With a Description of the Religion, Policy, Customs and Manners of That Country • Captain Samuel Brunt

... a letter which he received from Mr. Knox. "I think if you were to go up to London and see your brother it would have a good effect," said Mr. Knox. In fact Mr. Knox's letter contained little more than a petition that Lord George would pay another visit to the Marquis. To this request, after consultation with his sister, ...
— Is He Popenjoy? • Anthony Trollope

... in the Parliament of 1628-29; the Petition of Right Parliament; a most brave and noble Parliament, ending with that scene when Holles held the Speaker down in his chair. The last Parliament in England for above eleven years. Notable years, what with soap-monopoly, ship-money, death of the great Gustavus ...
— The World's Greatest Books, Vol IX. • Edited by Arthur Mee and J.A. Hammerton

... schoolboys, if when Black Rod appeared they should be in the lobby instead of attending the Speaker to the other House. But as the members seemed very much inclined to act like schoolboys, the Secretary of State had to speak against time on the subject of baking. He analyzed the petition, which he said he would not read through, but the last paragraph was of ...
— Lord George Bentinck - A Political Biography • Benjamin Disraeli

... positive orders to preserve it, and keep it from the natives of the country. Petitions were addressed to me from all quarters, from every corporation and body of men in the whole empire. The majority of the people instructed their constituents, and the parliament presented a petition, praying that I would be pleased to take the state of the nation under consideration, and give orders to satisfy the people, or the most dreadful consequences were to be apprehended. To these requests, at the entreaty of my council, I made no reply, ...
— The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen • Rudolph Erich Raspe

... as the honored possessor of house and land. There and elsewhere should the people, who had counted him among the proletariat, learn to know him as a gentleman, that is as a member of the lesser nobility.... In the year 1596 his father, apparently at his instigation and with his support, entered a petition at Heralds College for the bestowal of a coat of arms. The granting of the coat of arms signified the ceremonial entry into the gentry." The ambition of the small child is to become as great as the father, and ...
— Sleep Walking and Moon Walking - A Medico-Literary Study • Isidor Isaak Sadger

... The speeches of these gentlemen are not without merit, not without interest, not without grace; yet if I may he excused I will take my leave. I thank you for the great favour which you have shown me in granting my petition. I ask the Chair to keep the sack for me until to-morrow, and to hand these three five-hundred-dollar notes to Mr. Richards." They were passed up ...
— The Man that Corrupted Hadleyburg • Mark Twain

... near. At one time it threatened to strike still nearer, for that spring the Chartists made their great demonstration, or rather announced one. It was expected that they would assemble at a given point and march, several hundred thousand strong, on Parliament, bearing a monster petition. What such a mighty body of men might do, what excesses they might commit in the capital, nobody could tell. The Queen was packed off to Osborne with baby Louise, to be out of harm's way, and 170,000 men enrolled themselves as special ...
— Queen Victoria, her girlhood and womanhood • Grace Greenwood

... that—quite setting aside every consideration of honour and of conscience, and of the highly prejudicial position in which you would place me as a man of business, by taking the very short turn which this young lady, Miss Lake, suggests—your letters amount to an equitable agreement to sell, which, on petition, the court ...
— Wylder's Hand • J. Sheridan Le Fanu

... their freedom. He could only get six or eight negroes to join him, and those at the point of the bayonet. One was shot rather than seek his liberty. At the beginning of the Abolition movement a petition from slaves was sent to Congress in favor of slavery! Women terrorized by such laws as are quoted at the beginning of this chapter, and further terrorized by all the brutal treatment and threats of the slave traders, are not likely to say to the police that they desire liberty. ...
— Fighting the Traffic in Young Girls - War on the White Slave Trade • Various

... Prince prepared a petition to his mother, the Duchess, in favour of Sidonia—Item, of the strange doings of the ...
— Sidonia The Sorceress V1 • William Mienhold

... met; an humble petition that the old churchyard might be used for the railroad was drawn up to be presented to the king. This was unanimously voted; yes, there was even talk of voting thanks to Lars, and a gift of a coffee-pot, in the model of a locomotive. But finally, it was thought best to wait ...
— Stories by Foreign Authors • Various

... available to me fails to furnish any reason why this pension should be specially increased, except the general statement in the claimant's petition that she is in necessitous circumstances and that the rate now allowed her ...
— A Compilation of the Messages and Papers of the Presidents - Section 3 (of 3) of Volume 8: Grover Cleveland, First Term. • Grover Cleveland

... into consideration the great advantages which may arise, both to the Churches and State from the erecting [an] Academy or College in this Province, unanimously Voted that the following Petition shall be preferred to the Governor, desiring him to grant a Charter ...
— The History of Dartmouth College • Baxter Perry Smith

... school was resenting upon him the stigma that had fallen upon Arthur. Not the whole school; but quite sufficient of it. Not that they openly attacked Tom; he could have repaid that in kind; but they were sending him to Coventry. Some said they would not sign a petition to the master headed by Tom Channing:—Tom, you remember, stood on the rolls next to Gaunt. They said that if Tom Channing were to succeed as senior of the school, the school would rise up in open rebellion. That this feeling against him ...
— The Channings • Mrs. Henry Wood

... Cross I wear—the Cross of Honor it used to be—that I will do all that man can do to obtain your pension for you; even if I have to swallow a dozen refusals from the minister, and to petition the king and the dauphin and the ...
— The Country Doctor • Honore de Balzac

... have gone further and said, "He has answered me," for was not the destruction of the liquor an answer to the petition before it was put up? "Before they call I ...
— The Island Queen • R.M. Ballantyne

... together by their officers, and a more attentive congregation I never expect to address again. As soon as we began to sing there was weeping; and immediately on our kneeling to prayer they all knelt down, and here and there we heard the voice of 'Amen' to our petition for their salvation. I could not solve this till after the service. To my great surprise and mingled grief and joy, several brethren and acquaintances from Canada came and made themselves known ...
— Neville Trueman the Pioneer Preacher • William Henry Withrow

... submarines had been able to bob up in unexpected places and to sink British merchantmen, in spite of the patrols maintained by British warships, caused the captains of merchant vessels to petition the British Government to be allowed to arm their vessels on April 1, 1915. This was not granted, because their being armed would have made the steamship legitimate prey for the submarines, nor was any attention paid to the demand made by the British press that the crews ...
— The Story of the Great War, Volume V (of 12) - Neuve Chapelle, Battle of Ypres, Przemysl, Mazurian Lakes • Francis J. Reynolds, Allen L. Churchill, and Francis Trevelyan

... dispose Agesilaus favourably to me at my trial." Thus instructed, the youth did not shrink from visiting Archidamus, and implored him for his sake to save his father. Now when Archidamus saw how Cleonymus wept, he too was melted to tears as he stood beside him, but to his petition he made answer thus: "Nay, Cleonymus, it is the bare truth I tell you, I cannot so much as look my father in the face; (11) if I wished anything transacted for me in the city I would beg assistance from the whole world sooner than from my father. Still, since it is you who bid me, ...
— Hellenica • Xenophon

... Mellows, pulling off his hat, and making as if he emptied it of the last load of Disgust that had exuded from his brain, before he put it on again for another load; 'what we want, is a Branch. The Petition for the Branch Bill is in the coffee- room. Would you put your name to it? ...
— The Uncommercial Traveller • Charles Dickens

... to say "no" to any petition you make, my dears,' said the kind lady; 'but prudence forbids my granting your request to-day, as misfortunes will happen, and are very likely to happen, where such a young gentleman as you describe ...
— Aunt Mary • Mrs. Perring

... happy as could be in a marshy swamp that just suited them; they went splashing about caring for nobody and nobody troubling with them. But some of them thought that this was not right, that they should have a King and a proper constitution, so they determined to send up a petition to Jove to give them what they wanted. "Mighty Jove," they cried, "send unto us a King that will rule over us and keep us in order." Jove laughed at their croaking, and threw down into the swamp a huge Log, which came down-kerplash-into the swamp. The Frogs were frightened out of their lives ...
— The Junior Classics, Volume 1 • Willam Patten

... "Egad—no! Never petition a selfish man direct, or you'll get a No! Bring him round to the generous, so that he may take all credit for it himself! Do you hold back among the on-lookers till I've told our story o' the north! 'Tis not a state occasion! Egad, there'll be court wenches aplenty ...
— Heralds of Empire - Being the Story of One Ramsay Stanhope, Lieutenant to Pierre Radisson in the Northern Fur Trade • Agnes C. Laut

... was treasonable," said Lord Fairfax to Washington. "A petition to the king, expressing our grievances, and praying for the removal of these oppressive measures would accomplish far more for us in ...
— From Farm House to the White House • William M. Thayer

... immediately, they gain the end: for they can work upon that which works upon the Ministry, namely, on the House of Commons. Firstly, they have not renounced, like the American people, the exercise of their power for a given time; and they are at all times free by speech, petition, public meeting, to endeavor to get it back in full by bringing about a dissolution. Secondly, in a Parliament with nearly 660 members, vacancies occur with tolerable frequency; and, as they are commonly filled up forthwith, they continually ...
— Prose Masterpieces from Modern Essayists • James Anthony Froude, Edward A. Freeman, William Ewart Gladstone, John Henry Newman and Leslie Steph

... does not appear to make a direct petition, but indirectly praises the grandeur of Montezuma and expresses his own ardent love for his native Huexotzinco. The song would appear to be used as a delicate prelude to the more serious negotiations. It is one of the few historical songs in the collection. From the references in verses ...
— Ancient Nahuatl Poetry - Brinton's Library of Aboriginal American Literature Number VII. • Daniel G. Brinton

... to be abashed by his own popularity. He gloried in it, and added to his reputation by taking a prominent part in the proceedings connected with the famous Kentish Petition, which marked the turn of the tide in favour of the King's foreign policy. Defoe was said to be the author of "Legion's Memorial" to the House of Commons, sternly warning the representatives of the freeholders that they had exceeded their powers in imprisoning the men ...
— Daniel Defoe • William Minto

... received, and wisely attended to their remonstrances.—The jesuitical or Machiavelian distinction between citizens in red clothes and in coloured ones, had not yet been thought of—it was considered sufficient to entitle an address or petition to a respectful hearing, if it was substantially the sense of a great body of the property and population of the state, no matter whether they spoke in the character of volunteers associated to defend the constitution, or as freeholders assembled ...
— The Causes of the Rebellion in Ireland Disclosed • Anonymous

... voluntary associations, encourages us to combine our own means and efforts for the promotion of a still greater cause. Hence we shall employ lecturers, circulate tracts and publications, form societies, and petition our state and national governments, in relation to the subject of UNIVERSAL PEACE. It will be our leading object to devise ways and means for effecting a radical change in the views, feelings and ...
— The Book of Religions • John Hayward

... tries to pass off the kitchen-maid as Alfrida: the trick is detected, Dunstan counsels forgiveness, and Edgar generously renounces his claim. There is but one scene of "Kempe's applauded merriments," and this consists merely of a blundering dispute, whether a mock petition touching the consumption of ale shall be presented to the King by a ...
— Shakespeare: His Life, Art, And Characters, Volume I. • H. N. Hudson

... until morning, and improved the long hours of the night in drawing up a petition, which she intended to send to Marshal Bernadotte, in case he should refuse to grant her ...
— LOUISA OF PRUSSIA AND HER TIMES • Louise Muhlbach

... act perhaps I can manage, but if I break my neck I hope you'll murder that fool driver," was Mlle. Zaretti's verdict and petition when the ...
— Horses Nine - Stories of Harness and Saddle • Sewell Ford

... from which circumstance the company who acted, gave themselves the name of THE CONFRATERNITY OF THE PASSION: and in England one single paper which remains on record, proves that the clergy were the first dramatists. This paper is a petition of the clerks or clergy of St. Paul's to king Richard the Second, and dated in 1378 which prayed his majesty to prohibit a company of unexpert people from representing the history of the Old Testament, to the great prejudice of the ...
— The Mirror of Taste, and Dramatic Censor - Vol I, No. 2, February 1810 • Samuel James Arnold

... certainly have been reduced to Ashes again by this Time, if he had not flown over it with the New River on his Back, and happily extinguished the Flames before they had prevailed too far. He would be informed whether he has not a Right to petition the Lord Mayor and Alderman ...
— The Spectator, Volumes 1, 2 and 3 - With Translations and Index for the Series • Joseph Addison and Richard Steele

... to Dr. Robert Child, who, like Michael Scott, had learned "the art of glammorie In Padua beyond the sea," and who is famous in the annals of Massachusetts, where he was at one time a resident, as the first man who dared petition the General Court for liberty of conscience. The full title of the book is Three Books of Occult Philosophy, by Henry Cornelius Agrippa, Knight, Doctor of both Laws, Counsellor to Caesar's Sacred Majesty and ...
— The Complete Works of Whittier - The Standard Library Edition with a linked Index • John Greenleaf Whittier

... Africa have forwarded the Administrator a petition for transmission to President Wilson, claiming permission to erect a republic union with the Republic of Germany. The petitioners claim that they not only represent a majority of the white inhabitants, but interpret the views ...
— Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 156., March 5, 1919 • Various

... president has made an investigation in this matter, trying to shield himself and the guilty ones; and it has been carried on in such a way that it is known that no witness has dared to tell the truth. On this account I presented a petition to the president, asking that he refrain from trying the case, because the witnesses did not speak freely for fear of the power of the guilty, and because I intended to ask your Majesty to appoint a judge who could try the case, since the president could not do so. I also asked that a ...
— The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 - Volume XI, 1599-1602 • Various

... is for each province to send in a separate petition, the draft of which will be made in Peking and wired to the respective provinces in due course. If you approve, you will insert your name as well as those of the gentry and merchants of the province who agree to the draft. These petitions are to be presented one by one to the Legislative ...
— The Fight For The Republic in China • Bertram Lenox Putnam Weale

... you make the trip? You write a little petition for one man, you register somebody else in the citizen class. Some days you'll not bring home half a ruble in silver. I vow, I'm not lying! Then what're you going to live on? Lazar Elizarych, I'll just take a thimbleful. [Drinks] "So," I think, ...
— Plays • Alexander Ostrovsky

... lids brim over with tears,—lest the spy should see And come to fathom my secret,—"My eye is sore," I say. Of old I was empty-hearted and knew not what love was; But now I am passion's bondman, my heart to love's a prey. To thee I prefer my petition, complaining of passion and pain, So haply thou mayst be softened and pity my dismay. With the tears of my eye I have traced it, that so unto thee it may The tidings of what I suffer for thee to thee convey. God watch o'er a visage, that veileth itself with beauty, a face That ...
— The Book Of The Thousand Nights And One Night, Volume IV • Anonymous

... mother of four | |children, two of whom are older than their | |stepfather. | | | |Bates is still in school, and became acquainted with| |the widow when he went to her home to call on one of| |her daughters. According to the petition, young | |Bates made such a hit with the mother of his best | |girl that she herself fell in love with him, and was| |soon a rival of her own daughter. The older woman | |knew many tricks with which the daughter was | |unacquainted, ...
— News Writing - The Gathering , Handling and Writing of News Stories • M. Lyle Spencer

... of Candidates. Section I. Of the Moral Qualifications of Candidates. Section II. Of the Physical Qualifications of Candidates. Section III. Of the Intellectual Qualifications of Candidates. Section IV. Of the Political Qualifications of Candidates. Section V. Of the Petition of Candidates for Admission, and the Action Thereon. Section VI. Of Balloting for Candidates. Section VII. Of the Reconsideration of the Ballot. Section VIII. Of the Renewal of Applications by Rejected ...
— The Principles of Masonic Law - A Treatise on the Constitutional Laws, Usages And Landmarks of - Freemasonry • Albert G. Mackey

... of discalced Augustinians in Spain petition for leave to go to the islands in 1605. The petition granted, a number of them set out; and, after waiting at Sevilla for some time for vessels, reach Mexico, where they are entreated to found a convent. Refusing this request, however, ...
— The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume XXIV, 1630-34 • Various

... Sherpur, on the plea that their lives would not be safe were they to return to the city. They were far from being welcome guests, for I could not trust them; ostensibly, however, they were our friends, and I could not refuse their petition. I therefore admitted them, on condition that each Sirdar should only be accompanied by ...
— Forty-one years in India - From Subaltern To Commander-In-Chief • Frederick Sleigh Roberts

... believe he was an honest man. Besides, if he hadn't, how could he have got rid of his stock as he did. Do you recollect," she proceeded with increasing asperity, as became a Cowfold matron, "as it was him as got up that petition for that Catchpool gal as was going to be hanged for putting ...
— Miriam's Schooling and Other Papers - Gideon; Samuel; Saul; Miriam's Schooling; and Michael Trevanion • Mark Rutherford

... unwonted place and hour, must have appeared the beautiful vision to the king, while courtiers and attendants stood in silent amazement. There was but one anxious moment before the sceptre was extended; the trembling queen touched it, and thus was encouraged to prefer her petition for any favour that the royal hand could bestow. The presence of Esther seems to have revived at once the fondness of the monarch, and all his coldness and indifference vanished like the mist before the rising sun. All the arts of Haman ...
— Notable Women of Olden Time • Anonymous

... His profits from the fur trade of the West were truly stupendous for that period. He, himself, might plead to the Government that the company was in a decaying state of poverty. These pleas deceived no one. It was characteristic of his habitual deceit that he should petition the Government for a duty on foreign furs on the ground that the company was being competed with in the American markets by the British fur companies. At this very time Astor held a virtual monopoly of fur trading in the United States. One need not be ...
— History of the Great American Fortunes, Vol. I - Conditions in Settlement and Colonial Times • Myers Gustavus

... the Ribierist authorities in Tonoro. They had come to offer him a free pardon and the rank of colonel from General Montero in consideration of joining the rebel army with his mounted band. No notice was taken at the time of the proposal. It was joined, as an evidence of good faith, to a petition praying the Sulaco Assembly for permission to enlist, with all his followers, in the forces being then raised in Sulaco for the defence of the Five-Year Mandate of regeneration. The petition, like everything else, had found its way into Don Jose's hands. He had showed to Mrs. Gould ...
— Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard • Joseph Conrad

... coachman of the King's to the losse of one of his eyes; at which the people of the Exchange seeming to laugh and make sport with some words of contempt to him, my Lord Chamberlin did come from the King to shut up the 'Change, and by the help of a justice, did it; but upon petition to the King it was ...
— Diary of Samuel Pepys, Complete • Samuel Pepys

... not merit to receive wisdom from God while he was asleep. He received it in token of his previous desire. It is for this reason that his petition is stated to have been pleasing to God (3 Kings 3:10), as Augustine observes (Gen. ...
— Summa Theologica, Part II-II (Secunda Secundae) • Thomas Aquinas

... Vice-Principal and Professor of Classics, the Rev. F. J. Lundy, mainly because of the allegations he had made before the Royal Institution. His dismissal caused further trouble, not, however, without its lighter side. Dr. Lundy appealed to the Royal Institution from the Governors' decision. In his petition he suggested that the Governors who dismissed him were not a representative body and that their action was illegal. He stated that "the Chief Justice of Montreal and the Rev. John Bethune, two of the Governors ...
— McGill and its Story, 1821-1921 • Cyrus Macmillan

... II episcopacy was restored in Scotland, upon the unanimous petition of the Scottish parliament. Had this been accompanied with a free toleration of the presbyterians, whose consciences preferred a different mode of church-government, we do not conceive there would have been any wrong done to that ancient kingdom. But instead of this, the most violent means ...
— Famous Reviews • Editor: R. Brimley Johnson

... apartment. They took a stand at the remote end of the room, and our host, opening a large, well-worn family BIBLE, read the fifty-fourth chapter of Isaiah. Then, all kneeling, he made a short extemporaneous petition, closing with the LORD'S Prayer; all present, black as well as white, joining in it. Then Heber's beautiful hymn, "From Greenland's icy mountains," was sung; the negroes, to my ear, making much better music ...
— Among the Pines - or, South in Secession Time • James R. Gilmore

... Billings. And, also, that an application had been made to the legislature to have his name changed to Beauchamp, his mother's family name. As an inducement for him to gratify her pride in this thing, Mrs. Linden had promised William, that, on the very day that the legislature granted the petition, she should transfer to him the whole amount of her property, with the exception of about twenty thousand dollars. Subsequently, Charles learned that the name of his brother had been changed; that ...
— Lessons in Life, For All Who Will Read Them • T. S. Arthur

... each holder. All these abuses were complained of; and one of the deputies even told the nobility that if they did not learn to treat the despised classes below them as younger brothers, they would lay up a terrible store of retribution for themselves. A petition to the king was drawn up, and was received, but never answered. The doors of the house of assembly were closed—the members were told it was by order of the king—and the States-General never met again for 177 years, when the storm ...
— History of France • Charlotte M. Yonge

... Spenser for some time waited, but had the mortification to find himself disappointed of her Majesty's bounty. Upon this he took a proper opportunity to present a paper to Queen Elizabeth in the manner of a petition, in which he reminded her of the order she had given, ...
— The Lives of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland (1753) - Volume I. • Theophilus Cibber

... Indeed, fond as he was of thinking himself a man of emotions controlled by civility, it is not impossible that a greater candour than he knew glimmered through Peter's expression and trembled through his tone as he presented this petition. He had aimed at a good manner in presenting it, but perhaps the best of the effect produced for his interlocutor was just where it failed, where it confessed a secret that the highest diplomacy would have guarded. Sherringham remarked to the minister ...
— The Tragic Muse • Henry James

... is to demand the care and protection of the Federal Government over his life, liberty and property when on the high seas or within the jurisdiction of a foreign government. The right to assemble and petition for a redress of grievances, the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, he says, are rights of the citizen ...
— An Account of the Proceedings on the Trial of Susan B. Anthony • Anonymous

... Todd had been running his bow-legs off all the forenoon securing signatures to a petition of protest that had been inspired by Trustee Silas Wallace. The president pushed away the hand that brandished ...
— The Skipper and the Skipped - Being the Shore Log of Cap'n Aaron Sproul • Holman Day

... petition brought such a gush of earnest softened tears that Marian's face bore evident traces of them, when she rose up, and had to wish Mr. Lyddell good night. She did not speak, but held out her hand. He spoke with difficulty, "My dear," he said, "I have wished to thank you, but I cannot otherwise ...
— The Two Guardians • Charlotte Mary Yonge

... must be aware how impossible it was for me to wait two years. As for Cecily, her one word, again and again repeated on the journey, was, 'How unkind I shall seem to them!' and I know that it was the seeming disrespect to you which most of all distressed her. For her sake, I make it my petition that you will let the past be past. She cannot yet write to you, but is sad in the thought of having incurred your displeasure. Whatever you say to me, let it be said privately; do not hurt Cecily. I mentioned 'business; the word and the thing are equally hateful ...
— The Emancipated • George Gissing

... a little notice of his son, and all this encouraged her in her firm and quiet trust that in process of time, trouble, age, or illness would bring him back to her. Her eyes began to brighten as she wondered whether she could not obtain his liberty by falling at the Queen's feet with a petition, leading her children in her hands. 'They were so beautiful. The Queen must grant anything on the sight of her ...
— Stray Pearls • Charlotte M. Yonge

... should be united under one government and that government should embody the highest ideals of mankind. Such an ideal seemed indeed to many one of the legacies of the Founder of Christianity. The familiar petition in the Lord's Prayer: thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven sounded, in the ears of Dante and Thomas Aquinas and innumerable theologians and canonists, as a prayer and a pledge for the ultimate political ...
— Progress and History • Various

... a correspondent a copy of a petition signed by the principal Somali chiefs in Jubaland, praying that they may be allowed to fight for England. The terms of this interesting document are ...
— New York Times Current History: The European War, Vol 2, No. 1, April, 1915 - April-September, 1915 • Various

... snowed up to the neck with bills. He was courtly, graceful, distingue, And when the scaffold came his way 'He nothing common did or mean Upon that memorable scene.' He had a very taking way And made his taxed up subjects pay; And over taxing it is said This Monarch fairly lost his head. Petition of The 'Petition of Right' a famous Act, Right—1628 The Commons from the King exact; Giving the subject on his own A remedy against the throne. First In sixteen-hundred-twenty-one Newspaper Our first news-sheet began its run; 1621 For twenty years ...
— A Humorous History of England • C. Harrison

... Letter 43, adds to the probability that Swift was referring to one of the sons of Sir Thomas Newcomen, Bart., who was killed at the siege of Enniskillen. Beverley Newcomen (Dalton, iii. 52, iv. 60), who was probably Swift's acquaintance, was described in a petition of 1706 as a Lieutenant who had served at Killiecrankie, and had been in Major-General ...
— The Journal to Stella • Jonathan Swift

... were read, and an adjourned debate was then renewed on a motion to organise public meetings to petition in favour of Parliamentary Reform. The reader must understand that politics in those days were somewhat different from the politics of fifty or sixty years later. Bread was thirteenpence a quartern loaf; the national debt, with a much smaller population, was what it is now; everything was ...
— The Revolution in Tanner's Lane • Mark Rutherford

... and yet again, "Lord, have mercy upon me!" Each time that he said, "Pardon me, Lord, and teach me to do what Thou wouldst have done," he pronounced the words with added earnestness and emphasis, as though he expected an immediate answer to his petition, and then fell to sobbing and moaning once more. Finally, he went down on his knees again, folded his arms upon his breast, and remained silent. I ventured to put my head round the door (holding my breath as I did so), but Grisha still made no movement ...
— Childhood • Leo Tolstoy

... Dopper conviction that to grant the franchise on any terms to this alien crowd would speedily degrade the Transvaal into a mere Johannesberg Republic; and they would sooner face any fate than that; so the Raad, with shouts of derision, rejected the Outlanders' petition as a saucy request to commit political suicide. They felt no inclining that way! Nevertheless one of their number ventured to say, "Now our country is gone. Nothing can settle this but fighting!" And ...
— With the Guards' Brigade from Bloemfontein to Koomati Poort and Back • Edward P. Lowry

... house, and met with an icy welcome from Lady Lundie. Her ladyship repeated her remark on the subject of turning Windygates into a Penitentiary for Blanche's benefit. She received Arnold's petition to be excused from going to see the castle with the barest civility. "Oh, take your walk by all means! You may meet your friend, Mr. Delamayn—who appears to have such a passion for walking that he ...
— Man and Wife • Wilkie Collins

... as long as he chooses, probably. In theory, he remains in until a majority of the voters, which is to say the adult men and women, join in a petition for his removal. Then he will be removed at once. The government will appoint a temporary substitute, and order an ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 20, No. 117, July, 1867. • Various

... disturbance. Suffice it to say, that we divided the money, giving to every one a share according to his place. This happened when we had been two years in Japan. After this, when we had received a positive denial to our petition for having our ship restored, and were told that we must abide in Japan, our people, who had now their shares of the money, dispersed themselves, every one to where he thought best. In the end, the emperor gave to every one to live upon two pounds ...
— A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. VIII. • Robert Kerr



Words linked to "Petition" :   prayer, application, blessing, requiescat, grace, benediction, request, subject matter, supplicate, postulation, thanksgiving, orison, supplication, message, commination, appeal, collect, collection



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