AN ESSAY ON THE TRIAL BY JURY BY LYSANDER SPOONER. BOSTON: JOHN P. JEWETT AND COMPANY. CLEVELAND, OHIO: JEWETT, PROCTOR & WORTHINGTON. 1852. JF Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852, by In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. NOTICE TO ENGLISH PUBLISHERS. The author claims the copyright of this book in England, on Comm Law principles, without regard to acts of parliament; and if the m principle of the book itself be true, viz., that no legislation, in conflict w the Common Law, is of any validity, his claim is a legal one. He forb any one to reprint the book without his consent. Stereotyped by New England Type and Stereotype Foundery, BOSTON. NOTE. This volume, it is presumed by the author, gives what will generally t considered satisfactory evidence, though not all the evidence, of what th Common Law trial by jury really is. In a future volume, if it should be calle for, it is designed to corroborate the grounds taken in this; give a concise vic of the English constitution; show the unconstitutional character of the existin government in England, and the unconstitutional means by which the tria by jury has been broken down in practice; prove that, neither in England no the United States, have legislatures ever been invested by the people with au authority to impair the powers, change the oaths, or (with few exceptions abridge the jurisdiction, of juries, or select jurors on any other than Commo Law principles; and, consequently, that, in both countries, legislation is sti constitutionally subordinate to the discretion and consciences of Common La juries, in all cases, both civil and criminal, in which juries sit. The sam. volume will probably also discuss several political and legal questions, whic' will naturally assume importance if the trial by jury should be reëstablished. 384296 CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. THE RIGHT OF JURIES TO JUDGE OF THE JUS- TICE OF LAWS, PAGE 5 CHAPTER II. THE TRIAL BY JURY, AS DEFINED BY MAGNA 20 . 20 25 SECTION 1. The History of Magna Carta, SECTION 2. The Language of Magna Carta, CHAPTER III. ADDITIONAL PROOFS OF THE RIGHTS AND DU- SECTION 1. Weakness of the Regal Authority, SECTION 2. The Ancient Common Law Juries were mere . 51 51 CHAPTER IV. THE RIGHTS AND DUTIES OF JURIES IN CIVIL SUITS, 110 CHAPTER V. OBJECTIONS ANSWERED, . 123 CHAPTER VI. JURIES OF THE PRESENT DAY ILLEGAL, 142 CHAPTER XII. LIMITATIONS IMPOSED UPON THE MAJORITY 206 APPENDIX-TAXATION, .222 |