534 
qualified persons resident in each ward, shall 
be'made out, with ‘the proper quality ‘or au" 
dition and abode, by the partiéS wlio have 
heretofore been accustomed to make oat the 
sane ; provided also that tio person shall be 
impanelled or returned to setve on any jury 
forthe trial of any capital offence in any 
county, city, or place, who shall not’ be 
qualified to serve as a juror in civil causes 
within the same; and the same matter and 
cause being alleged by way of challenge, and 
so found:shall-be taken, as_ a principal .chal- 
lenge, and the person so challenged shall be 
examined on oath of the truth of the matter. 
Ani by the 51st clause, that courts of nisi 
ptius, oyerand terminer, gaol delivery, and 
sessions of the peace held for the city of 
London may fine jurors, talesmen, or view- 
érs for any default of attendance, in the same 
manner as the other courts. 
/° The 52d clause. enacts, that jurors on in- 
quests: or inquiry shall be qualified in the 
games manner as jurors. on trials. at nisi 
prius; butjurorsjon coroner’s inquests re- 
quie no, other, qualification than they did 
befare. the, passing of this act. And by the 
53d. clause, persons summoned as jurors on 
inquests defaulting in attendance may be 
fined in, any sum not exceeding 5/. by the 
sheriff, coroner, or commissioners, who are 
respectively to transmit a certificate of such 
fine, and the cause thereof, to the clerk of 
the peace, “on or before the first day of the 
quarter sessions next ensuing, to be certified 
omtke roll, . But persons making default 
ofiattendance,in the inferior courts, forfeit 
any sum. from 405., to 20s. unless the court 
be.satisfied of the cause of absence, Sect. 54. 
oobhe., 55th clause’ enacts, that fines and 
penalties. imposed by this act, if not paid, 
shall be levied by distress and sale of the 
offender’s goods and chattels; and for want 
of sufficient distress, the offender shall be 
éommitted to prison for any term not ex- 
ceeding six calendar months. The 56th 
prescribes the form of conviction. The 
57th provides, that the conviction shall not 
be, quashed for want of form. The 58th, 
that persons sued for any thing done in pur- 
suance of the act, may plead the general 
issue... The 59th requires the venire to be 
laid in the county where the fact is com- 
mitted. The 60th abolishes all attaints and 
‘inquests against juries or jurors for the ver- 
dicts giventhem. The 6lst provides, that 
embracers and corrupt jurors shall be pu- 
nished by fine and imprisonment. The 
‘62d énacts, that those parts ofthe act which 
relate tothe .issuing of warrants and pre- 
Gépts ofor;,the, return ,of the jury lists, the 
preparation,.production, reformation, and 
allowance of these Hsts, the holding of the 
petty, sessions for those purposes, the forma- 
tion oP a, juror’s, Book, ‘and the delivery 
ne to’ the’ shériff, and the preparation’ of 
a list’ of spédial’ jurors, and of parchment ‘or 
tard§ 7'the ‘manne’ before’. mentioned, 
‘dhall/*eommericé and take .effect. so soon 
VS 
. 
Consolidation and Amendment of the Jury Law. 
after the passing “of this ‘act''ad' the pros 
per’ periods for doin those! thihgs "shall 
occur ; and that’ the fest “of thé’ 
3t° Shiai!’ 
commence and “take “effect on Januuty 
Ist 1826; and ‘thieh ‘the’ latige,248" Siege 
before said, repeals’ such parts of fhe'statntés 
from 43 Hen. 3'to 3Geo. 4c. 106;"a8 Fee" 
late’ to. jurors and -jiiries: “The the. 63¢° 
clause provides ‘that the’act Shall not dHedt’ 
the acts relating to Quakers and Moravi- 
ans. And lastly, the 64th clause enacts, 
that nothing ,in, this-act sppisieey shall ex- 
tend to alter, abridge, or affect any power 
or authority which any court or judge; pow 
hath,or any practice, or form, in. regard 
trials by jury, jury process, juries or jurors, 
except only where repealed or altered by. 
this act, is or shall be inconsistent With ifs 
provisions, nor to abridge or affect any’ pri- 
vilege of Parliament: PGT BSLV 
From the most cursory view of the above 
statute, it must be considered as cone of ithe 
noblest and. most. patriotic, legislative enact- 
ments on record, and pregnant with)the 
most beneficial effects. to. the Jiberty,.and 
well-being of the community, , In, fact, it 
may be hailed as a foretaste of the exertions 
of an enlightened and a wise government 
to infuse light and order into the’ clidds “of 
our judicial system, and’ digest ‘that’ con 
fused mass into limit and order, and inipart 
to it some degree-of clearness, unity, and 
precision. _ Among the improyements, how- 
ever, introduced into our jury.system, by this 
statute, we cannot but lament that, some pro; 
vision has not been made for the administra~ 
tion of the oath to the jurors in a solemn and 
impressive manner. .‘ The hurried, sloven- 
ly, and indecorous mode,” as Mr. Williams 
well observes in a well-penned note ‘to the 
third volume of his edition of Blackstone’s 
Commentaries, “in which oaths aré adminis- 
tered to jurymen, asalso in all proceedings iti 
English courts of judicature, has longybeen 
the subject of regret to every, considerate 
mind, and must be acknowledged to haye,a 
wonderful tendency to diminish men’s vene+ 
ration for their sanction, and to give occasion 
for frequent perjury. ‘To prevent Neti 
dalous prostitution of these solemn appeals 
to the Deity, it isto be regrette: ah ‘Some 
device, similar to that of our par he 4 
tors, is not adopted; ‘who; ‘td ‘awaken’ 'thé 
conscience, and keep alive'thé religious-fears 
of mankind, couched their/oaths«ih the:most 
awful form of words that could -bejinvented ; 
and, that these. forms! might. not-Jose, their 
1¥F S9710E 
oS 
: , cea) 
si as-est et ab fost docarts,; W458, BEYER #P QNY 
instance, more. evident th an, from a com- 
parison of the calm, solenin, and fr pasate 
procedure of this institation under 
lutionary governmént “of? tlfe Nate euleet 
“France with! that? of' the» Bnglish! method, 
The! overweening/ spartialities,, {and yhohest, 
prejudices of Englishmen will, -no doubt, 
be wounded by a compatison of French laws 
PN en aha al and 
