8-io BAT 
BAT 
RulhwoKth; as likewife in France,'only villeins fought 
with the buckler and batoon, gentlemen armed at all 
points. And upon this, and other circurn(lances, the 
prefident Montefquieu.hath with great ingenuity not only 
deduced the fanguinary cullom of private duels upon Ima¬ 
ginary .points of lionour, but hath alfo traced the heroic 
.mad tie fs of knight-errantry from the fame original of ju¬ 
dicial combats. When the champions arrive within th.e 
dills or place of combat, the champion of the tenant takes' 
hisadverlary by the hand, and makes oath that the tene¬ 
ments in difpute are not the right of the demandant; and 
'the champion of the demandant, then taking the other by 
the hand, fwears in the fame manner that they are. Next 
an oath againft forcery and enchantment was taken 
by both the champions, in this or a fimilar form : “Hear 
this, ye juftices, that I have this day neither eat, drank, 
nor have upon me neither bone, Hone, nor grafs; nor any 
inchantment, forcery, or witchcraft, whereby the law of 
God may be abafed, or the law of the devil exalted. So 
help me God and his faints.” The combatants are bound 
to fight till the liars appear in the evening : and, if the 
champion of the tenant• can defend himfelf till the (lars 
• appear, the tenant lhall prevail; for it is fufficient for him 
to maintain his ground, and make it a drawn battel, he 
being already in poffefiion ; but, if victory fooner declares 
itfelf for either party, for him is judgment finally given. 
This vidlory may arife from the death of either of the 
champions: which indeed hath rarely happened; the 
whole ceremony bearing a near refemblance to certain 
rural athletic diverlions, which are probably derived from 
this original. Or vidlory is obtained if either champion 
.proves recreant, that is, yields, and pronounces the word 
■ of.craven ; a word of difgrace and obloquy, rather than of 
any determinate meaning; for it is the higheft difgrace to 
the vanquilhed champion, lince, as a punilhment for for¬ 
feiting the land of Iris principal by pronouncing that (hame- 
ful word, he is condemned as a recreant, anittere liberam 
legem, that is, to become infamous, and not to be account¬ 
ed liber et legalis homo ; being fuppofed by the event to be 
proved forfworn, and therefore never to be put upon a 
jury, or admitted as a witnefs in any caufe. 
In appeals of felony, tire trial by battel may be demand¬ 
ed, at the election of the appellee, in either an appeal or 
. an approvement; and it is carried on with equal folemnity 
as that on a writ of right; but with this difference, that 
there each party hires a champion, but here they mull 
fight in their proper perfons. And therefore, if the ap¬ 
pellant or approver be a woman, a priell, an infant, or 
of the age of lixty, or lame, or blind, lie or (lie may coun¬ 
terplead and-refufe the wager of battel; and compel the 
appellee to put himfelf upon the country. Alfo peers of 
the realm, bringing an appeal, lhall not be challenged to 
wage battel, on account of the dignity of their perfons ; 
nor the citizens of London, by fpecial charter, becaufe 
fighting feems foreign to their education and employment. 
So likewife, if the crime be notorious; as if the thief be 
taken with the mainour, or the murderer in the room with 
a bloody knife, the appellant may refule the tender of bat¬ 
tel from the appellee ; and it is unreafonable an innocent 
man Ihould flake his life againft one who is already known 
to be guilty, and therefore half convidled. The form and 
manner of waging battel upon appeals are much the fame 
as upon a w’rit of right; only the oaths of the two comba¬ 
tants are vaffly more, linking and folemn. The appellee, 
w hen appealed of felony, pleads not guilty p and throws 
down his glove, and declares he will defend the fame by 
his body : the appellant takes up the glove ; and replies, 
that he is ready to make good the appeal, body for body. 
And thereupon, the appellee taking the book in his right 
hand, and in his left the right hand of his antago.nifl, 
fwears to this effedt: Hoc audi, homo, quern per manum tenco, 
&c. “ Hear this, O man, whom I hold by the hand, 
who called thyfelf John by the name of baptifm, that 1 , 
who call niyfelf Thomas by the name of baptifm, did not 
felonioully murder thy father, William by name, nor am 
any. way guilty of the faid felony. So help me God, and 
the faints ; and this I will defend againft thee by my body, 
as this court lhall award.” To which the appellant replies, 
holding the bible and his antagonift’s hand in' the fame 
manner as the other : “ Hear this, O man, whom I hold 
by the hand, who called thyfelf Thomas by the name of 
baptifm, that thou art perjured; and therefore perjured, 
becaufe that thou felonioully didll murder my father, Wil- 
liam by name: So help me God, and the faints ; and this 
I will prove againft thee by my body, as this court lhall 
award.” The battel is then to be fought, with the fame 
weapons, viz. batoons, tire fame folemnity, and the fame 
oath againft amulets and forcery, that are ufed in the civil 
combat : and, if the appellee be fo far vanquilhed that he 
cannot or will not fight any longer, he lhall be adjudged 
to be hanged immediately ; and then, as well as if he be 
killed in battel, Providence is deemed to have determined 
in favour of the truth, and his blood lhall be attainted. 
But if he kills the appellant, or can maintain the fight 
from funriling till the liars appear in the evening, he lhall 
be acquitted. So alfo, if the appellant becomes recreant, 
and pronounces the horrible word craven, lie lhall lore his 
liberam legem, and become infamous; and the appellee lhall 
recover his damages, and alfo be for ever quit, not only 
ot the appeal, but of all indictments for the fame offence. 
The reafon why, on a writ of right, the battel is waged 
by champions, and not by the parties thentfelves, is, be¬ 
caufe in civil actions, if any party to the fuit dies, the 
fuit mult abate and be at an end for the prefent; and there¬ 
fore no judgment could be given for lands in queftion, if 
either of the parties were Haiti; and alfo that no perfon 
might claim an exemption from this trial, as was allowed 
in criminal cafes. Co. Lit. 294. As this form of trial by 
battel is law at this day, the tenant or defendant in a writ 
of right has it in his election to choofe or demand it. 3 Com. 
431. And it was the only mode of decifion of fucli writ 
of right from the conqueft till the time of Henry II. who, 
by confent of parliament, introduced the grand ajjize ; a 
particular fpecies ot trial by jury, in concurrence there¬ 
with, giving the tenant his choice of either the one or the 
other. See Glanv. lib. ii. c. 7. 
To BAT'TEN, v. a. [a word of doubtful etymology.] 
To fatten, or make fat; to feed plenteourty : 
We drove afield, 
Batt'ning our flocks with the frefli dews of night. Milton, 
To fertilize : 
The meadows here, with batt'ning ooze enrich’d, 
Give fpirit to the grafs ; three cubits high 
The jointed herbage Ihoots. Philips. 
To Batten, v. a. To grow fat; to live in indulgence: 
As at full length the pamper’d monarch lay, 
Batt’ning in eafe, and (lumbering life away. Garth. 
Batten, f A word ufed only by workmen.—A batten 
is a fcantling of wood, two, three, or four, inches broad, 
feldom above one thick, and the length unlimited. Moxon. 
Batten, a town of Germany, in the circle of the Up¬ 
per Rhine, and principality of Upper Heffe : fixteen miles 
fouth-weft of Waldeck, and fixteen north-weft of Marbur^. 
BAT'TENBORCH, or Battenburg, a town of the 
duchy of Gueldres, lituated on the north fide of the Mettle 
nearly oppofite Raveftein. 
B AT'TENS of the hatches, in lea-language, are nailed 
along the tarpaulings, and ferve to keep their edges clofe 
down to the hatches, in order to prevent the water which 
w a flies over the deck from penetrating into the lower apart¬ 
ments of the Hi ip. 
To BAT'TER, v. a. [ battre, Fr. to beat.] To beat ; 
to beat down ; to Ihatter : frequently ufed of walls thrown 
down by artillery, or of the violence of engines of war. 
—To appoint battering rams againft the gates, to call a 
mount, and to build a fort. Ezekiel. 
Be then the naval ftores the nation’s care, 
New lhips to build, and batter'd to repair. 
Dry den. 
To 
