Algernon Recommends the Sixth Amendment

‘The old jailer scoffed at his request to see Ian Marshall. “Obediah Dopple says it is past the time to be bringing prisoners up here.”
“May I speak to Mr. Dopple?”
‘Aye, you are speaking to him.”
Algernon held up a shilling. “Algernon Bennet says perhaps it is not too late...”

And when Algernon and Ian meet--

“Mrs. Leigh-Perrot,” Ian said. “They talk about her here. She was a gentlewoman accused of stealing black lace found wrapped in a package of white lace she had just purchased.”
“I do not know how long she was in jail, but—-“
“Eight months,” Ian told him. “In court, it was proved the store’s claim was a deliberate fraud.”
“An accused person should have the right to be called to court promptly...Longbourn, Chapter 21

Mrs. Leigh-Perrot was an actual person who did indeed spend eight months in jail on a bogus charge. Her husband remained in jail with her the entire time. Among the relatives who visited them was her sister’s daughter, a Miss Jane Austen. Jane was very fond of her aunt and mentions “her long, disgraceful imprisonment” in a letter.

Algernon Bennet was correct. An accused person should have the right "to be called to court promptly," the Jane era equivalent to "go to trial." Cases like Mrs. Leigh-Perrot's undoubtedly contributed to the drafting of the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States.