JURY 



a£Hons,- except upon penal" ilatutfs : and upon thofe alfo 

 by the 24 Geo. II. cap. ifi. t!ie jury being now only to 

 come, tU corppre coniitalus, from the body of the county at 

 large, and not di iHCinelo, or from the particular ncighbour- 

 liood. It is. alfo cnaC.k'd by 28 Edw. III. cap. 13. en- 

 forced by 8 Hen. V"I. cap. 2(j. that where either party is 

 an alien born, the jury fliall be one half aliens, and the other 

 denizens, if required, for the more impartial trial. But 

 y.'here both parties are aliens, the whole jury arc directed to 

 be denizens, by 21 Hen. VI. cap. 4. For other grounds of 

 challenge and qualification of jurors, fee Cif.M.i.KNOE. 

 Jurors in London .uid Weftniinilcr mull not only be houfe- 

 keepers, but have lands or goods uorlli one hundred pounds ; 

 and they may be e.\aniincd on oath as to that point. 

 (3 Geo. II. cap. 2) ) All cities, boroughs, and corporate 

 towns, are excepted out of the aft that fettles the qualifica- 

 tions of jurors flir county alii/ces or fefTions ; and triers of 

 felons in corporations may ba men worth 40/. in goods, 

 though they have no freehold. Jurors in the torn (Iiall have 

 20J-. a-year freehold, or ids. 8./. copyhold. Any perfon 

 V hatfoever is capable of being put upon the jury in a court- 

 leet, and upon the coroner's jury. The qualifications of jurors, 

 with regard to ellate, depend upon a variety of Itatutes. But 

 by the lall (latute 3 Geo. II. c. 25. any leafe-liolder .*br 

 the term of joo years abfolute, or for any term determinable 

 upon life or lives, of the clear yearly value of 20/. per annum, 

 over and above the rent referved, is qualified to ferve upon 

 jiiries. By the common law every grand-juryman ought to 

 be a freeman (i Hawk. 255); and a freeholder (2 H. 

 H. 155.) But in Yorkfhire, they ought to have 80/. 

 a-year, freehold or copyhold. (7 & 8 W. c. 32.) Perfons 

 excufed from ferving on juries are thofe that are fick and 

 decrepit ; thofe not commorant in the county, and men 

 above feventy years old, by 13 Edw. I. c. 38. and by 

 7 & 8 V/ill. III. c 32. infants under twenty-one. This 

 coemption is alfo extended, by divers ftatutes, cuftoms, and 

 charters, to phyficians, and other medical perfons, counfel, 

 attornies, ofHcers of the courts,_ and the like ; all of whom, 

 if impannelled, mull (Tiew their fpeclal exemptions. Difient- 

 fng teachers, qualified under the toleration acl, are exempted, 

 and alfo quakers. Clergymen are aifo ufually excufed ; but 

 if they are feifed of land and tenements, they are ftriftly liable 

 to be impannelled in refpetl of their lay fees, unlefs they 

 be in the fervice of the king, or of forac bifliop. 



If, by means of challenges or other caufe, a fufficient 

 number of unexceptionable jurors doth not appear at the 

 trial, either party may pray a tales. When the legal num- 

 ber of twelve is obtained, they are then feparately fworn, 

 well and truly to try the ifTue between the parties, and a 

 true verdift to give,, according to the evidence ; and hence 

 they are denominated theyary, jiirata, and jurors, fc. jura- 

 tares. Pleadings are then opened to them by counfel on 

 that fide which holds the affirmative of the quellion in iflne ; 

 the nature 01 the cafe, and the evidence intended to be pro- 

 duced' arc next laid before them by counfel alfo on the 

 fame lide ; and when their evidence is gone tiirouyfi, the 

 advocate on the other fide opens the adver."!; cafe, and fup- 

 ports it by evidence ; and then the party which began is 

 heard by way of reply. See Evidknck. 



As to fuch evidence-as the jury may have in their own 

 confciences, by their private knowledge of facts, it was. an 

 ancient doftrine, that this had as much right to fway their 

 judgment as the written or parol evidence which is delivered 

 in court; and, therefore, it hath been often held, that 

 thoU:,'h no proofs be produced on either fide, yet the jury 

 mi^ht bri<ig in a verdift. But this doftrine was gradually 

 exploded, when attaints began to be difuled, and new trial* 



introduced in their ileaJ. And if a juror knows any thin!» 

 of the matter in iffue, he may be fworn as a witncfs, and give 

 his evidence publicly in court. When the evidence on both 

 fides is gone through, the judge, in the prcfence of the parties , 

 the counfel, and all others, fums up the whole to the jury ; 

 who, unlefs the cafe be very clear, withdraw frtmi the bar 

 to conlider of their vcrdift ; and, in order to avoid intempe- 

 rance and caufelefs delay, they are to be kept without meat, 

 drink, fire, or candle, unlefs by permiffion of the judge, till 

 they are all unanimoully agreed. And if they cat or drink, 

 or have any eatables about them, without coHfent of the- 

 court, and before verdict, it is finable ; and if they do fo 

 at his charge for whom they afterwards find, it will fct afidc 

 the verdict. Alfo, if they fpeak with either of the parties 

 or their agents, after they are gone from the bar, or if tliey 

 receive any fredi evidence in private, or if, to prevent dif- 

 putes, they call lots for whom they fliall find, any of thefe- 

 circumfiances will entirely vitiate the verdift. And it has 

 been held, that if the jurors do not agree in their verdiA 

 before the judges are about to leave the town, though they 

 are not to be threatened or i.Tiprironcd, the judges are not 

 bound to wait for them, but may carry them round the cir- 

 cuit from town to town in a cart. When they are all unani- 

 moiilly agreed, the jury return back to the bar ; and before 

 they deliver their verdid, the plaintiff is bound to appear iiv 

 court, by himfclf, attorney, or counfel, in order to aiifwcr 

 the amercement, to which by the old law he is liable, in 

 cafe he fails in his fuit, as a punifhment for his falfe claim ; 

 a form which is llitl continued, though the amercement is 

 difufed ; and if the plaintiff does not appear, no verdicl can 

 be given, bat tiie plaintiff is faid to be nonfuit. But in 

 cafe the plaintiff appears, the jury by their foreman ^Ielivcr 

 in their verdicl. When the jury have delivered in their 

 verdidl, and it is recorded in court, they are then difchargcd. 

 Such is the procefs of trial by jury in civil cafes ; a trial 

 which, befides the other vail advantages winch altend it, i;; 

 as expeditious and cheap, as it is convenient, equitable, and 

 certain. On thefe accounts, fays judge Blackilone, " the 

 trial by jury ever has been, and I trail ever will be, looked 

 upon a-, the glory of the Englilh law." It is " the moll 

 tranfccndent privilege which any fubjecl can enjoy, or wifh 

 for, that he cannot be affedcd either in his property, his 

 liberty, or his perfon, but by the unanimous coiifent of 12 

 of his neighbours and equals. A conllitution, that I may 

 venture to affirm, has, under Providence, fecurcd the julk 

 liberties of this nation for a long fucceffion cf ages, and 

 therefore a celebrated French writer ( Monti: fquieu), wJio- 

 concludes, that becaufe Rome, Sparta, and Carlhagej have 

 loll their liberties, therefore thofe of England .muft in time- 

 perifh, fliould have recolleftcd, that Rome, Sparta, and. 

 Carthage, at the time when their liberties were loll, wer---. 

 llrangers to the trial by jury." This trial by jury, which 

 is the grand bulwark of our liberties, as Enghfhmen, is 

 fecurcd to us !)y the great charter, .^Heu.IlI. c. 19. The 

 anticpiity and excellence ofthis trial, for the fettHng of civil. 

 pro;)erty, have been already- brielly fiated. But if it has f * 

 (Treat advantage in regulating civil property, how much mnit 

 that advantage be heij'htcned, when it is applied to criminal 

 cafes 1 " In times of diflicidty and danger," as Blackiloiur 

 has wellobfervcd, ." more is to be apprehended from tho 

 violence and partiality of judges appointed by the crown, 

 in fuits between the king and the fubjec^,- than in difputes 

 between one individual and another, to fettle the me-tes and 

 boundaries of private property. Our law has therefore 

 wifely placed this llrong and twofold barrier, of a pn-fent- 

 ment and a trial by jury, between the liberties of the people, 

 and the pretogalive of the ctowu," — «' The founders of tho 

 ^ " Eiighfl^ 



