An Essay On The Trial By Jury - Lysander Spooner (epub e ink reader .TXT) 📗
- Author: Lysander Spooner
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Having Thus Examined The Language Of This Chapter Of Magna Cart,
So Far As It Relates To Criminal Cases, Its Legal Import May Be Stated
As Follows, Viz.:
No Freeman Shall Be Arrested, Or Imprisoned, Or Deprived Of His
Freehold, Or His Liberties, Or Free Customs, Or Be Outlawed, Or
Exiled, Or In Any Manner Destroyed, (Harmed,) Nor Will We (The
King) Proceed. Against Him, Nor Send Any One Against Him, By Force
Or Arms, Unless According To (That Is, In Execution. Of) The Sentence
Of His Peers, And (Or Or, As The Case May Require) The Common Law
Of England, (As It Was At The Time Of Magna Carta, In 1215.)
[1] Hume, Appendix 2,
[2] Crabbe's History Of The English Law, 236.
[3] Coke Says, "The King Of England Is Armed With Divers Councils,
One Whereof Is Called Commune Concilium, (The Common Council,)
And That Is The Court Of Parliament And So It Is Legally Called In
Writs And Judicial Proceedings Comanche Concilium Regni
Anglicae, (The Common Council Of The Kingdom Of England.) And
Another Is Called Magnum Concilium, (Great Council;) This Is
Sometimes Applied To The Upper House Of Parliament, And
Sometimes, Out Of Parliament Time, To The Peers Of The Realm, Lords
Of Parliament, Who Are Called Magnum Concilium Regis, (The Great
Council Of The King;) [4] Thirdly, (As Every Man Knoweth,) The King
Hath A Privy Council For Matters Of State. * * The Fourth Council Of
The King Are His Judges For Law Matters." 1 Coke's Institutes, 110 A.
[4] The Great Charter Of Henry Iii., (1216 And 1225,) Confirmed By
Edward I., (1297,) Makes No Provision Whatever For, Or Mention
Of, A Parliament, Unless The Provision, (Ch. 37,) That "Escuage, (A
Military Contribution,) From Henceforth Shall Be Taken Like As It Was
Wont To Be In The Time Of King Henry Our Grandfather," Mean That A
Parliament Shall Be Summoned For That Purpose.
[5]The Magna Carta Of John, (Ch. 17 And 18,) Defines Those Who
Were Entitled To Be Summoned To Parliament, To Wit, "The
Archbishops, Bishops, Abbots, Earls, And Great Barons Of The
Realm, * * And All Others Who Hold Of Us In Chief." Those Who Held
Land Of The King In Chief Included None Below The Rank Of Knights.
[6] The Parliaments Of That Time Were, Doubtless, Such As Carlyle
Describes Them, When He Says, "The Parliament Was At First A Most
Simple Assemblage, Quite Cognate To The Situation; That Red
William, Or Whoever Had Taken On Him The Terrible Task Of Being
King Of England, Was Wont To Invite, Oftenest About Christmas
Time, His Subordinate Kinglets, Barons As He Called Them, To Give
Him The Pleasure Of Their Company For A Week Or Two; There, In
Earnest Conference All Morning, In Freer Talk Over Christmas Cheer
All Evening, In Some Big Royal Hall Of Westminster, Winchester, Or
Wherever It Might Be, With Log Fires, Huge Rounds Of Roast And
Boiled, Not Lacking Malmsey And Other Generous Liquor, They Took
Counsel Concerning The Arduous Matters Of The Kingdom."
Chapter 2 (The Trial By Jury As Defined By Magna Carta) Section 2 Pg 34
[7] Hume, Appendix 2.
[8] This Point Will Be More Fully Established Hereafter.
[9] It Is Plain That The King And All His Partisans Looked Upon The
Charter As Utterly Prostrating The King's Legislative Supremacy
Before The Discretion Of Juries. When The Schedule Of Liberties
Demanded By The Barons Was Shown To Him, (Of Which The Trial By
Jury Was The Most Important, Because It Was The Only One That
Protected All The Rest,) "The King, Falling Into A Violent Passion,
Asked, Why The Barons Did Not With These Exactions Demand His
Kingdom? * * And With A Solemn Oath Protested, That He Would
Never Grant Such Liberties As Would Make Himself A Slave." * * But
Afterwards, "Seeing Himself Deserted, And Fearing They Would Seize
His Castles, He Sent The Earl Of Pembroke And Other Faithful
Messengers To Them, To Let Them Know He Would Grant Them The
Laws And Liberties They Desired." * * But After The Charter Had Been
Granted, "The King's Mercenary Soldiers, Desiring War More Than
Peace, Were By Their Leaders Continually Whispering In His Ears, That
He Was Now No Longer King, But The Scorn Of Other Princes; And That
It Was More Eligible To Be No King, Than Such A One As He." * * He
Applied To The Pope, That He Might By His Apostolic Authority Make
Void What The Barons Had Done.* * At Rome He Met With What
Success He Could Desire, Where All The Transactions With The Barons
Were Fully Represented To The Pope, And The Charter Of Liberties
Shown To Him, In Writing; Which, When He Had Carefully Perused,
He, With A Furious Look, Cried Out, What! Do The Barons Of England
Endeavor To Dethrone A King, Who Has Taken Upon Him The Holy
Cross, And Is Under The Protection Of The Apostolic See, And Would
They Force Him To Transfer The Dominions Of The Roman Church To
Others? By St. Peter, This Injury Must Not Pass Unpunished. Then
Debating The Matter With The Cardinals, He, By A Definitive Sentence,
Damned And Cassated Forever The Charter Of Liberties, And Sent The
King A Bull Containing That Sentence At Large." Echard's History Of
England, P. 106-7
These Things Show That The Nature And Effect Of The Charter Were
Well Understood By The King And His Friends; That They All Agreed
That He Was Effectually Stripped Of Power. Yet The Legislative Power
Had Not Been Taken From Him; But Only The Power To Enforce His
Laws, Unless Juries Should Freely Consent To Their Enforcement.
[10] The Laws Were, At That Time, All Written In Latin.
[11]"No Man Shall Be Condemned At The King"S Suit, Either Before
The King In His Bench, Where Pleas Are Coram Rege, (Before The
King,) (And So Are The Words Nec Super Eum Ibimus, To Be
Understood,) Nor Before Any Other Commissioner Or Judge
Whatsoever, And So Are The Words Nec Super Eum Mittemus, To Be
Understood, But By The Judgment Of His Peers, That Is, Equals, Or
According To The Law Of The Land." 2 Coke's Inst., 46.
[12] Perhaps The Assertion In The Text Should Be Made With This
Chapter 2 (The Trial By Jury As Defined By Magna Carta) Section 2 Pg 35Qualification That The Words "Per Legem Terrae," (According To The
Law Of The Land,) And The Words "Per Legale Judiciun Parium
Suorum," (According To The Legal Judgment Of His Peers,) Imply That
The King, Before Proceeding To Any Executive Action, Will Take
Notice Of "The Law Of The Land," And Of The Legality Of The Judgment
Of The Peers, And Will Execute Upon The Prisoner Nothing Except
What The Law Of The Land Authorizes, And No Judgments Of The Peers,
Except Legal Ones. With This Qualification, The Assertion In The Text
Is Strictly Correct That There Is Nothing In The Whole Chapter That
Grants To The King, Or His Judges, Any Judicial Power At All. The
Chapter Only Describes And Limits His Executive Power.
[13] See Blackstone'a Law Tracts, Page 294, Oxford Edition
[14] These Articles Of The Charter Are Given In Blackstone's
Collection Of Charters, And Are Also Printed With The Statutes Of The
Realm. Also In Wilkins' Laws Of The Anglo- Saxons, P. 350.
[15] Lingard Says, " The Words, ' We Will Not Destroy Him Nor Will
We Go Upon Him, Nor Will We Send Upon Him,' Have Been Very
Differently Expounded By Different Legal Authorities. Their Real
Meaning May Be Learned From John Himself, Who The Next Year
Promised By His Letters Patent,... Nec Super Eos Per Vim Vel Per
Arma Ibimus, Nisi Per Legem Regni Nostri, Vel Per Judicium Parium
Suorum In Curia Nostra, (Nor Will We Go Upon Them By Force Or By
Arms, Unless By The Law Of Our Kingdom, Or The Judgment Of Their
Peers In Our Court.) Pat. 16 Johan, Apud Drad. 11, App. No. 124.
He Had Hitherto Been In The Habit Of Going With An Armed Force, Or
Sending An Armed Force On The Lands, And Against The Castles, Of All
Whom He Knew Or Suspected To Be His Secret Enemies, Without
Observing Any Form Of Law." 3 Lingard, 47 Note.
[16] "Judgment, Judicium. * * The Sentence Of The Law,
Pronounced By The Court, Upon The Matter Contained In The Record."
8 Blackstone, 895. Jacob's Law Dictionary. . Tomlin's Do.
"Judgment Is The Decision Or Sentence Of The Law, Given By A Court
Of Justice Or Other Competent Tribunal, As The Result Of The
Proceedings Instituted Therein, For The Redress Of An Injury."
Bouvier's Law Dict.
"Judgment, Judicium. * * Sentence Of A Judge Against A Criminal. *
* Determination, Decision In General." Bailey's Dict.
"Judgment. * * In A Legal Sense, A Sentence Or Decision Pronounced
By Authority Of A King, Or Other Power, Either By Their Own Mouth,
Or By That Of Their Judges Andofficers, Whom They Appoint, To
Administer Justice In Their Stead." Chambers' Dict.
"Judgment. * * In Law, The Sentence Or Doom Pronounced In Any
Case, Civil Orcriminal, By The Judge Or Court By Which It Is Tried."
Webster's Dict.
Chapter 2 (The Trial By Jury As Defined By Magna Carta) Section 2 Pg 36
Sometimes The Punishment Itself Is Called Judicium, Judgment; Or,
Rather, It Was At The Time Of Magna Carta. For Example, In A Statute
Passed Fifty-One Years After Magna Carta, It Was Said That A Baker,
For Default In The Weight Of His Bread, " Debeat Amerciari Vel Subire
Judicium Pillorie;" That Is, Ought To Be Amerced, Or Suffer The
Punishment, Or Judgment, Of The Pillory. Also That A Brewer, For
"Selling Ale Contrary To
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