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TO The right honorable the Lords Assembled in PARLIAMENT: The humble Petition of Sir John Gayer Knight and Alderman of London;
THat by the 29 Chapter of the great Charter, all Commoners are to be tryed by their equals; and there are 30 Sessions of Parliament which confirm the great Charter, being a Statute declaratory of the Common Law; especially those e∣minent Laws, wherein your Lordships had your shares in making of them, viz. the Petition of Right in the 3o Caroli, and the Act for abolishing the Star-Chamber, and re∣gulating the Councel Table, in the 17. Caroli, in which many Statutes are enumerated, That Commoners ought to be tryed by their equals, by Bill of Indictment or writ original, and by those of their neighbourhood; And all Decrees and Judgments made contrary thereunto, are de∣clared thereby to be null and void in Law, which bars al Presidents: And by several Declarati∣ons and Ordinances your Lordships have declared, that Ordinances are no Laws, but temporary, during the Wars; and the cause of necessity being taken away, your Lordships have promised the free people of England, that they shall be governed according to the known Laws of the Land, as it appears in the Ordinance dated the 15 of January, 1647. And it is against the Law of God, Nature and Nations, that any person or persons should be Judg or Judges, Examiner or Examiners in their own cause, or to be tryed any otherwise then by a known Law, for where there is no Law there is no transgression. It is declared by Sir Edward Cook that the Parliament cannot make a Law against the Law of Nature, which is custom accord∣ing to Right and necessary Reason. That Presidents are nothing in comparison of the Com∣mon, and Statute Laws, being known Maximes in Law, A facto ad jus non valet Argumen∣tum; Gubernandum est legibus non exemplis: Articles are nothing in Law but meer Innova∣tions and Prerogative extrajudicials, especially when ordinary persons are in question. The old maxime in Law is, Non recurrendum est ad extraordinaria quando fieri potest per ordina∣ria. And your Lordships are not only sworn, but have joyned by your legislative power to impose several oaths upon the free Commoners of England, to defend the fundamentall Laws of the Land. And I am confident your Lordships will be very tender of the preservation of the great Charter, in which is wrapped up our lives, liberties and estates. Your noble Predecessors being so glorious and famous Instruments in assisting the PEOPLE, in pur∣chasing the same.
The Premises considered;
Your Petitioner being a free Commoner of England, according to the known Laws of the Land (de Jure) claims his birth-right, which is to be tryed by God and his Country, in His Majesties Court of Iustice, by the sworn Iudges of the Law, and a Iury of his equals of his own neighbourhood, where the pretended fact was done, the Courts of Iustice being open.
Aprill 19th. 1648 presented to ye Lords by him selfe but Refused—