1863.1 221 LPrice. 



conscience and oath of each juror who joins in the verdict, is pledged 

 for its truth and justice to the parties, to society, and to God.- He 

 is bound to strive for the reconcilement of truth, justice, and una- 

 nimity, or to refuse his consent to the verdict, and leave the whole 

 matter to the trial of other jurors, or to acquit the accused, if there 

 be a doubt of his guilt. Each juror in acquitting his conscience of 

 the incumbent duty, must judge for himself, as he will answer to 

 man and to God, and acting under the most solemn sense of duty, 

 his mind must be felt in the result. He cannot acquit himself to 

 himself or his Maker by adopting the opinion of others. He may 

 modify and make concession as his conviction is changed, but not 

 because seven others differ from him. Majorities upon continued 

 effort are often convinced that they have been in error, and join the 

 minority. The rule of unanimity imposes the necessity of an effort 

 to convince, since a wilful majority cannot carry the verdict upon 

 the mere strength of numbers. 



The power of the Legislature to change the number and principle 

 of unanimity in the finding of juries, was submitted to the Judges of 

 the Supreme Judicial Court of New Hampshire, who in June, 1860, 

 in their opinion say, at the date of the adoption of the Constitu- 

 tion, " Such a thing as a jury of less than twelve men, or a jury de- 

 ciding by a less number than twelve voices, had never been known, 

 or ever been the subject of discussion in any country of the common 

 law. Upon these views we are of opinion that no body less than 

 twelve men, though they should by law be denominated a jui-y, 

 would be a jury within the meaning of the Constitution; nor would 

 a trial by such a body, though called a trial by jury, be such within 

 the meaning of that instrument. We think, therefore, that the 

 Legislature have no power so to change the law in relation to juries, 

 as to provide that petit juries maybe composed of a less number 

 than twelve, nor to provide that a number of the petit jury less than 

 the whole number, can render a verdict in any case where the Con- 

 stitution gives to the party a right to a trial by jury. They say that 

 four States by their highest courts had decided in the same way." 

 (23 Law Reports, 460.) These judges and those courts thus em- 

 phatically say, that an institution and a principle which the Consti- 

 tutions of the Union and the States have made fundamental and 

 sacred, for liberty and security, are not lightly to be touched by un- 

 hallowed hands. The former seem, indeed, not to have been aware 

 of the efforts made in former bad times to make available the voice 



VOL, IX. — 2d 



