LAWS OF MARYLAND.— 1794.

308

long as the court, under all circumstances, shall in their discre-
tion think reasonable, any thing in the aforesaid act to the
contrary notwithstanding.
Continued by 1798, ch. 71, to October, 1805, and since continued by the
annual continuing acts.

CHAPTER 45.

AN ACT concerning Petitions to the General Assembly,
WHEREAS it may happen that facts may be disclosed by peti-
tions preferred to the general assembly, of which advantage may
be taken, to the injury of the party petitioning; therefore,

Preamble.

SEC. 2. Be it enacted, by the General Assembly of Maryland,
That whenever any petition or petitions shall be presented to
the general assembly by any person or persons to confirm his,
her or their title to any land within this state, or for any other
purpose whatever, the right or claim of such person or persona,
his, her or their representatives, to any matter or thing con-
tained therein, shall not be invalidated by any means whatever
until the end of the session of assembly to which the same shall
be preferred ; provided, that nothing in this act contained shall
extend, or be construed to extend, to prevent or delay any suit
or suits, execution or executions, against the property of such
petitioner or petitioners.

CHAPTER 40.
Air ACT respecting Writs of Inquiry.

Right not
to be inva-
lidated, &c.

WHEREAS great expenses necessarily attend the executing of
a writ of inquiry issued upon an interlocutory judgment ob-
tained in the general court, or in any of the county coiurts : And
whereas the real merits of the case cannot be fully considered
and examined when intricate questions of law occur in the
course of the inquiry ; therefore,

Preamble.

SEC. 2. Be it enacted, by the General Assembly of Maryland,
That from and after the end of this present session of assembly,
in all cases when an interlocutory judgment is entered in the
general court, or in any of the county courts, whereby the right
of the plaintiff is established, but the damages sustained by him
cannot be ascertained without the intervention of a jury, the
court where such judgment is given may and shall, on the mo-
tion of the plaintiff, or of his attorney, make an order, in the
nature of a writ of inquiry, to charge the jury attending at the
same, or at the next term, to inquire of the damages and costs
sustained by the plaintiff in such action, which said inquiry
shall be made, and the evidence given, in open court, in the
same manner, and under the same regulations, as in other jury
trials ; and after the said jury, charged as aforesaid, shall have
39

In certain
cases court
may make
an order,
&c.