in open court before a judge or judges thereof, and every final
order which may be made upon such petition shall be under the
hand of the court and entered in full upon a record kept for that
purpose, and upon such final hearing of such petition the applicant
and witnesses shall be examined under oath before the court and in
the presence of the court.
Attention needs to be drawn especially to the following section,
which, however innocuous in appearance, has given rise to a vast
deal of vexation and injustice, and has caused the exclusion from
citizenship of a large number of persons otherwise perfectly
qualified and desirable: