114 



THE CENTURY BOOK OF FACTS. 



Draco's Lia^vs. Draco, an Athenian 

 lawgiver and archon, was the author of the 

 first written code of laws at Athens, which he 

 is supposed to have published in the fourth 

 year of the 39th Olympiad, 621 B. C. He 

 was of distinguished birth, honored for his 

 severe manners and his large experience in 

 public affairs, and the people of Athens, a 

 prey to anarchy, besought him to give them a 

 code of laws. These, however, effected little 

 change in the form of the state, but by being 

 committed to writing put an end to the arbi- 

 trary administration of justice on the part of 

 the archons, and resulted in the establishment 

 of a court of appeals that of the Ephetae. 

 The system which he proposed linked together 

 civil and moral duties. He took the citizen 

 at the moment of his .birth, prescribed the 

 manner in which he should be nourished and 

 educated, and followed him with directions 

 through the different epochs of life. His leg- 

 islation had a beneficial and permanent effect 

 upon the political development of Athens. 

 The extraordinary severity of these laws, how- 

 ever, which punished the slightest theft, or 

 even laziness, with death, no less than sacri- 

 lege, murder, and treason, caused them to be 

 often neglected, and made them so hated that 

 Solon was appointed to draw up a new code. 

 Solon, though he softened their severity in 

 some instances, retained that law which pun- 

 ished a murderer with death. Draco, at a 

 later period, went to ^Egina, where, after 

 having introduced his laws, he is said to have 

 been stifled in the theater by the garments 

 thrown upon him as a mark of respect by the 

 people. Extremely severe and sanguinary 

 laws are still called Draconic, and in ancient 

 Greece it was commonly said that Draco's 

 laws " were written in blood." 



Trial by Jury. The form of trial by 

 jury is generally conceded to be derived from 

 the institutions of the Greeks and Romans. 

 There was a custom in the ancient city of 

 Athens whereby a certain number of freemen, 

 selected by lot, heard and decided, under the 

 direction of a presiding judge, every case to 

 be tried at law, each case being heard and 

 determined by a different set of men. A sim- 

 ilar system was adopted in Rome ; and as the 

 Romans always introduced their laws and in- 

 stitutions into all their provinces, it is proba- 

 ble that their mode of judicial procedure was 

 established among the Britains. Another form, 

 called the trial by compurgation, was in use 

 among the Saxons. In this, each party to a 

 suit appeared, with certain of his friends, who 

 swore with him to the truth of his case. As 

 the nttmber of the compurgators was usually 

 8ix OB each side, it is supposed by some that 



we have here the origin of the number of the 

 modern jury. Witnesses were first brought in 

 to aid the jury during the reign of Edward 

 III., but it was not until the reign of Queen 

 Anne that the law provided that those who 

 had evidence to give could not serve as jurors. 

 In Scotland the jury system was established 

 at a very early date, but was soon after discon- 

 tinued in civil cases. A jury in that country 

 consists of fifteen, and a majority may render 

 a verdict. The jury in civil cases was re- 

 introduced in the time of George III. In 

 Ireland the jury is substantially the same as in 

 England ; but the Repression-oi'-Crime bill, 

 passed in 1882, provided for the trial of cer- 

 tain cases without juries. In France a jury is 

 only allowed in cases of felony, where a ma- 

 jority of the jurors can render a verdict. In 

 Germany, trial by jury in criminal cases was 

 introduced early in the century. It was estab- 

 lished in Prussia in 1819, and again by the 

 Constitution of 1848 ; but in 1851 political 

 offenses were withdrawn from its operation. 

 The system was adopted by Austria in 1850, 

 by Greece in 1834, and by Portugal in 1837. 

 It has also been introduced in recent times 

 into Italy, into Brazil, and finally into Russia, 

 where the first trial by jury was held Augusts, 

 1886. In each of these last-named countries 

 a verdict can be rendered by the majority. 

 The jury system has existed in Belgium since 

 that country separated from Holland, and in- 

 cludes within its operations political offenses 

 and those of the press. In Switzerland all 

 crimes against the Confederation are tried by 

 jury, and for other crimes each canton has its 

 own machinery. The form of trial by jury 

 was brought from England to America by the 

 colonists, and is protected by mention in the 

 Federal Constitution and in the Constitutions 

 of most of the states. It is also in use in the 

 South American republics. The origin of the 

 institution as found in England is also ascribed 

 by some to the establishment of Norman law 

 there by William the Conqueror, as the Xor- 

 mans had a form of trial by jury much more 

 like that of modern times than any legal 

 usage of the Saxons. 



Chinese Immigration Law. Ac- 

 cording to the law passed by both houses of 

 Congress and approved by the President in 

 1882, and amended in May, 1884, Chinese 

 laborers are forbidden to come to the United 

 States under penalty of being returned. The 

 law further declares that any master of any 

 vessel who shall knowingly land any Chinese 

 laborer shall be deemed guilty of a misde- 

 meanor, and for every Chinese brought shall 

 be fined a sum not exceeding $500, and may 

 also be imprisoned for one year. Chines? 



