§
A Petition from the Common Council of London was presented setting forth,
That the mode of proceeding by appeal in criminal causes is one of the oldest parts of the common law of this kingdom, and hath been pronounced by those eminent lawyers chief justice Holt and lord Ashburton, to be a most noble birthright of Englishmen, and a great pillar of the constitution; that, as appears to the petitioners, the right of appeal in case of murder hath become of vital importance to the security of the people, as a check on the abuse of military power; and that a legislative abolition of this right would leave it at the discretion of the government to prevent in any case the cause of judicial inquiry, as well as to dispense with the execution of the law; that the continuance of the mode of trial by wager of battle hath tended to prejudice the subject in his possession of this ancient right, and to frustrate and pervert the ends of justice; that the freemen of the city of London, and of divers other the cities and towns of the kingdom, are exempted by their charters from all obligation to trial by battle; and therefore, as wager of battle is not essential to process by appeal, the petitioners respectfully submit, that no argument against its continuance can be founded on the impolicy or injustice of such a form of trial; and the petitioners therefore humbly pray, That the House will take the premises into their serious consideration, and that in any act for removing the trial by wager of battle, the House will not take away from the people of this realm their ancient and undoubted right of appeal in criminal causes.
§ Ordered to lie on the table.