" His counsel was
heard to this point. They contended, "that the forfeitures in cases of
treason are very great, and therefore they humbly conceived that the
accusation ought to contain all the certainty it is capable of, that the
prisoner may not by _general allegations_ be rendered incapable to
defend himself in a case which may prove fatal to him: that they would
not trouble their Lordships with citing authorities; for they believed
there is not one gentleman of the long robe but will agree that an
indictment for any capital offence to be erroneous, if the offence be
not alleged to be committed on a certain day: that this impeachment set
forth only that in or about the months of September, October, or
November, 1715, the offence charged in the impeachment had been
committed." The counsel argued, "that a proceeding by impeachment is a
proceeding at the Common Law, for _Lex Parliamentaria_ is a part of
Common Law, and they submitted whether there is not the same certainty
required in one method of proceeding at Common Law as in another."
The matter was argued elaborately and learnedly, not only on the general
principles of the proceedings below, but on the inconvenience and
possible hardships attending this uncertainty.
Pages:
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37