The National Register. — London, England, 1821-08-06 00:00:00

SELECTION OF SPECIAL JURORS. --••-- " If selection be packing," said one of the Judges of the King's Bench (when a new trial was moved for on /account of the Jury hai in.: as was asserted been unfairly taken.) " 1 the Master of inc Crown Office has right to pack," and 31 long as that right be recognized, we con tend that a fair and constitutional " Trial by Jury" can not he looked for—the foliowing Report throws cowl derable light on the present principle, and by it. it ap pears that important refornii are necessary—on the pre srut an administration has interfered to obtain a packed Jury—that they did not succeed was owing to the existence of more honesty on the part of the Master titan his successor may posses.. Report of the special committee appointed to examine the books and lists of persons qualified to serve on juries in and for the city of London. To tile Lund Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty of the City of Loudon, iu Contusion Council assembled. We whose names are hereunto subscribed, your special committee, to whom, on the 17th day of July, It. IT, it was referred to esatuine the Books and Lists of Persons qualified to serve on Juries in and fur the City of London, and to report thereon— __ Do certify, That in pursuance of the above reference, wr felt it our duty minutely to inquire into the composi tion book from which Special Juries have been cluck. as also carefully to investipte the mode in which it has been constituted. the principles of the law upon which it was founded, together with the manner in which the Master in the Crown-ollice, and the Muster on the Pled side on the Court of King's Bench have proceeded to nominate juries therefrom, in causes connected with the Government of the country, and those to which the Clown has been . % party : hat, in order to facilitate their inquiries, your com mit tee requested the attendance of one of the Secondaries of this city, Samuel Collieuridge, Esquire, who produced to acid left with your committee such of the several lists of special juries as were in his possession, which bad been rrtui lied to his office fur the purpose of causing the se%eral jurors, therein mentioned, to be summoned to try the issues joined in the Court of King's Bench and Com mon Pleas, a hick were to be heard and (fetes mined at the sittings after the several terms of Hilary, Easter, and Trinity, last past. That it appeal, to your committee, from the best in foimation they have been enabled to obtain, that the piaLtieu of nominating special juries from a book con taining a limited number of names, has existed fur many year', unsancliened, how( ver, by any statute or pre scriptive custom. It further appears, that the said book has been con sti ncted according to the discretion or caprice of the acting secondary for the lime ill inf.!, who had theretofore claimed and exercised the right of placing upon and re proving from the said list such names as lie thought pro. per, professing to be regulated by the remit 1111 l endation or other special jurymen, of some attorneys, and of the sheriffs t which recommendation, however, he considered himself authorised to follow, or to dispense with at plea sure. And your committee is apprehensive, from the evidence brought before them, that lids power has been sometimes used fur the gratification of prejudices, and not always with that impartiality which ought to charac terize the administration of a public functionary. That your committee have carefully examined the said special jury hook, and for the purpose of better ac quainting themselves a ith the qualifil ations, as jurors, of the several m rsons whose names appeared therein, di- remelt Mr. Town Clerk to send lists of such names to the deputies of the Common Council of the several wards, requesting them to male inquiries as to the residence and profession of the several 'sessions stated to re e therein; mid having received reborn., front the wit h r com mittee now sielnuit the result of the information afforded II such returns, and their inquiries respecting the same ; to which they particularly beg to draw the attention of your honourable court. Although it is obvious, that within the city of London there must he an immense number of persons who are eligible to serve on special juries, you. honourable court wiil be no less surprised than your co 11111 l ill re were, to find that the said book con tains ouly Obi names, from whom all the jurors are se lected. That out of that number there are no leas than 226 who are uot householders %lade ,the city of London, and of • souse disqualified to serve. That the remaining 260 are the whole of the household ers whose names are in the said book. That out of this number or lionseltulders there are of those, hi the modern acceptation of the term, mer chants. tsB Aud of those usually tailed taadesaren, but merclimits 171 239 Your committee bas been thus been particular in stat ing the residence and prole,•sion of the parties, whose statues are tlins plated on the special jury hook, or list so called, not fur the purpose of proving that the accidental distinction between merchants and tradesmen can at all ■elect the illegibility of the patties, but to show that the practice of a special jury being comprised exclusively of merchants, which has been the alleged plea for the past practice, is as unfounded in fact as it a utterly amp ported by any principle of law. That during the siitines after the terms before alluded to, it appear% that by Mr. Colliopides sentry's, that the jurors for the trial of 114 douses were summoned, sin operation uteuptea part of 33 d.tyi ; and that during dust period, out of the bald os U ~, )er of 4n3 w hose Dames were in die book, 474 only were surmount d, cud they isi the .fullowiug pro ps,' tiohnos b 7 but twice 2 23 1 .uca 28 ..• • .... but twice S 24 37 • ••• .... 3 time: 1 23 4 5 1.... .... 3 .... .... 6 7 11 9 .... .... 2 .... .... 6 . 1:3 .... 15 4 .... .... 17 6 .... 18 4 .... .... 19 4 .... .... 20 2 .... .... 21 1 .... .... SI 1.... .... 33 2 .... .... 3$ 1 .... .... 35 and 1 .... .. 65 That is appears by the evidence adduced to your commit tee, that the mater of the Cmnn el Office, and the person officiating as Master on the Plea Side of the Court of King's Welch, have availed themselves of the limited exteut of the Special Jury Book, and of the circumstance of its having tiecu out of the custody of the Sheriff, and held in the hands or the officers of the Court for weeks together, twt as to /lc. qoaint themselves with its C0111( . 1116. ❑s may have etothieti them to make a selection deo ructive of the purity of" Trial by Jur ) ," and highly injurious to time personal liberty of the subject. That your committee hissing understood from one of the clerks of the secondarie,, that solo, important information might he obtained from a Mr. I). Walker, then and fur ninny years previously, a clerk imi the Seeondary's Office, and who was confined by illness so his room, and is now 110 snore, di rected one of its Menthe"; to wait upon' lino. and take a pro rely authenticated report of his dying testimony . ; by which . . it alyears that application bind been ini.ile by the solicitor of the Treasury to kno w the political sentiments of a jury appointed to try a cause to u hick the Crown was a party ; that Mr. Collingridge being then from home, the messenger disclosed to the said Mr. Walker the object of his mission ; and in consequence of this information, your committee again examined Mr. Collingridge, who although he had pre viously denied all knowledge of such or any other commu nication from the solicitor to the Treasury, or any person on his behalf, was compelled to admit that he had received a letter or letters from the said solicitor to the Treasury, re lative to some jury appointed to try an issue jollied between the Crown and an individual for libel: he could not, how ever inform your committee the date of such application, the particular case, Or jury, to which it alluded, 'tor the subject to which it referred; your committee therefore, from the circumstance of the said letter having been destroyed, added to the defective memory of a responsible officer of your Ho. nottrah!e Court, is unable to disclose the contents of a docu ment, as appears to your committee, alike reprehensible and important. . . . butt )our committee have examined various nets of par. liament and other documents relative to the qualifications, the mode of nominating and appointing of jams in general, and of special juries in particular ; and now take lease to submit to }our honourable court the result of their labours, as furnishing the basis of an arrangement w filch 3 out com mittee %sill have to propose to the adoption of" the Coati, at the means best calculated to prcecut t lie ndinotistratinn of the jurisprudence of this city from be4ig pieced in the hands of perbous who may resort to it fur their private emolument; and to present an effectual barrier to the encroachments of the (roan 111100 the liberty of the sul/ject, throu4ll the me dium of the most glorious of our institutions " the Trial by Jury." It appears to your committee that the corporation of th city of London have immemorially exercised the inestimable privilege of regulating the mode of nominating and summon i..g their freemen us jurors to serve in and for the city, without acknowledging ally foreign influence, or being sub ject to any control, excepting as regards the qualification of the per..ib() to be nominated ;tad a ppoilited, a Welt has been froni time to time settled atin determined by divers ac (g' the Parliament of England, as by a reference to the said acts will more fully appear. By an act of the said Parliament made and passed in the llth year of the reign of King Henry VII. , Cie of citiaens to be !returned to serve on trial, of a petty nature in the Courts of the said city, was fixed and determined et 40 marks in lands, tenements, or goods and chattels, and the prelatical' of citizen, to be returned in like mails ner to serve in the said Coatis on actimis in which the question nt issue was of a water value than 40 marks, was fixed at 100 marks al,o in lands, tenements, or goods and chattels; and 1). sin act of Parliament made and passed ill trie tomtit year of the reign of King Henry VIII., c. 3, it was enacted, rr That the Sheriffs of the city of Londuu should return in panels and arrays in all actions depending or to dep• lid in any of the King's courts before himself in his belie', and before his justices of thecommon bench, and 41,0 in his exchequer, person, being citizens, having goods to the value of 100 marks and above, to try the issues joined within the said city, and that such jurors should be duly sworn to try the same ;" which said act was further con• firmed, explained mid enforced, by a certain other art of Parliameut made and passed iu the SIL year of the reign of King /teary VIII, cap. 5, and by a certain act of the may or, aldermen, and commonality of the said city, made and pawed on the tOtli day ofJaituary, in the 11th year of King Henry VIII., divers regulations were made and euricted fur the purpose of giving effect to the said recited act of Parliament, and for time purpose of regulating and enforcing due and proper returns of all the citizens within the said city duly qualified under and by virtue of the said acts of Parliament, to serve on juries in and for the same, and for the regular summoning and empaneling of juries as well for the said courts of the said city, as for the v ials at Nisi Prism, and Unpin it'S for the King, to be had and held within the same, and in and by the ,aid acts in the cuss Itotly of the Town Clerk of the city, will Inure fully and at /age appear. ihat . liy the 7th hod Bth of William 111.. chip. 3V, sect. 41, it was enacted, that all constables and tithing men should make sow:illy, lists of all penults a 'thin their district, qua• lifted to serve aa jurors a 'thin the tawny, and that they should returu them to the blieriff of such county, and that all juries appointed Is itirin the said couuty ►hould be taken therefrom', subject to such penalties fur delimit as therein are mentioned. That this book, so made OR!, and returned to the sherilT, received the auntie of, mid was called, the Frecholdees Book, because the qualifications fur jurors for counties ssas the possession of ten pound. per annum, in freehold or copy. hold property; and that on that accouut, it aasso called, and lots since continued 10 hear we same mune ; although by subsequent legislative enactments, the ram of e. ci taiu leaseholders are inserted iudiseriin moiety wills freeholder,. Lit ere MUONS copious extracts frum 3d Cco7gc 11. cap. 25. on the appointment at Jurors.] That, after an attentive perusal of the said act, your committee can but deduce the following observations as embracing the ma. terial fixtures connected with the subject of the reterence, and as pointing out the only particulars in which the law a, it before existed was altered in relation to the subject of the present in.. gutty. First,—lt increased the number of persons qualified to serve on juries in countless, by adding to the Freeholders' Buuk a class of persons therein designated, who had been before escluded ; and it prescribed certain formalities relative to the construction and versification thereof. 2dly,-4t operated as a restrictive statute in reference to the city of London, by increasing the qualitkations of a juror from Inn marks to lOW. and rendered it essential that lie should be a house-holder within the said city, which was not before necessary. 3dly,—lt gave the institution of special juries, which existed before by custom only, a legislative sanction and made the rule for such jury demandable as a Matter of .iglit, whereas it was betbr., dependent upon the will of the Court, to which an application was male. Your committee is therefore of opinion, that the said act of Parliament made and passed in the fourth year of the reign of king Henry the Eighth, cap. 8, is now valid and elfmtual, and that the qualification of a juror of this city, mentioned in the 24 sect. thereof, is in full force and virtue, save only so far as the same islimited and altered by the 19th section of the act so mace and passed in the third year of King George II ; and that there. fore no person ought to be returned on any jury fur the city of London, to try any issue joined in the superior courts, unlers he be a citizen of London, and a householder within the said city, possessed of lands tenements, or personal estate, to the value of loW. _ . . All of which we submit to the judgment of this honourable Dated this 1I th day of December, 1817. ROBERT WAITHMAN. CHARLES PEARSON. J. II U RCOM BE. SAMUEL FAVELL. Afotion.—That this court do agree with the committee in their said report, and that it be referred back to the said committee, to report if any and what measures should be adopted to rectify the evils complained of. Amendment.—That the consideration thereof be adjourned; and that in the mean time the said report be printed in thetmi. nutes of the proceedings, and a copy thacof sent to every inenibcr of this court. Arneudmerst negatived. Original Minion put and Rerukcd in the affirmative. Accounts have been received at Copenhagen from Christianburgh, the principal of the Danish settle• ments on the coast of Guinea. It appears that Nlajcr Stiffens, the Military Commandant of that station, has recently had occasion to put in force, in a very marked mariner, the rigorous orders he has received from his Government, to prevent every sort of traffic in slaves. A Portuguese slave vessel, supported by another vessel of the same class, but well armed, made its appearance before Thamma, a town under the Danish sovereignty, with the intention of making some purchases there of slaves. Major Staffens im mediately occupied the place with one thousand men, and made the Portuguese captain and a part of his crew prisoners. The Major has sent them to Sierra Leone for trial. We are sorry to add, that two Englishmen were seized at the same time, for participating in the diabolical traffic; they had been delivered to the Commander of the English fort of St. James, and will, it is said, be sent to London to be tried. The Chief of the town is supposed to have had a secret understanding with the slave merchants. —The vessel which aceorapanied the Portuguese trader, and which is said to have been Dutch, effected its escape. TYE ROMAN BRIDGE IN HOLLAND.—The Ito man bridge, which was discovered, at Groningen, in Holland, in 1818, is now wholly cleared from the turf with which it is surrounded. It is three miles long and 12 feet broad. It laid by the fifteenth cohort of Germanieus, over the marshes, in which deep beds of turf have since been formed, and, in all probability gradually sunk under the marsh by its own weight. The ruinous particles which are in the marshy soil have probably contributed to preserve the bridge, which is entirely of wood. Every six feet there were posts to support the railing, as may be judged by the holes in which they were fixed.— This great work, which consists of a judicious number of beams, appears to have been wrought with very large axes ; the workmanship is admirable. Elects of Lighliting.—During a violent storm, which visited the town of Biberbach, in Prussia, on the evening of Monday, July 16, four young pea sants, engaged on an eminence in some agricultural labours, had recourse to the expedient of sustaining a bundle of clover over their heads with a pitchfork, in order to shelter themselves from the rain. The lightning struck the pitchfork, passed along the breast and shoulders of one of the young men, af terwards over the lower part of the belly of the one who stood next him, ran down his right leg till it reached his toes, and there caused a turn about the diem: ter of a 12 Kreutzer piece, without having left any trace of its passage on the outside of his boots, which were carefidly examined. The direction taken by the lightning was marked by a burnt hue both on his skin and on his clothes. Although these two young men were much injured, hopes were entertained of saving their lives;' the two others were not hurt. The most remarkable circumstance in this event is, that the young pan, who suffered the most, and who was a little dhk, has been per fectly restored to his sense of hearing aiisce the sc.. cideut. THE NATIONAL REGISTER 244