The Sun.
London, England, 1830-08-24 00:00:00

TRIAL by JURY in NEW SOUTH WALES.

Upon a former occasion we announce the fact
that his Majesty's Government had deemed it expe-
dient to grant to our brethren in New South Wales
that best safeguard to the administration of justice,
and greatest blessing of our Constitution, " Trial by
Jury." The first opportunity in which this impor-
tant concession was brought into operation was on
the 15th of March last, in an action instituted by
Mr. Hall, the Editor of the Monitor, against Mr.
Rossi and three other Magistrates, for a malicious
summary conviction of him for harbouring a runaway
prisoner of the Crown, in which a Special Jury was
sworn. On this important occasion Mr. Justice
Dowling delivered the following address:—
" Gentlemen of the Jury,—This being the first
occasion that a Judge of the Supreme Court of
Australia has been called upon, by express enact-
ment of the Legislature, to administer justice after
a form and manlier coeval with the most ancient in-
stitutions of Britain, the occurrence is too remark-
able to be passed over without some note or obser-
vation. In the progressive advancement of this re-
mote settlement of the British Croivn in the scale of
colonial importance, it is not possible to regard with
indifference an event so interesting in the annals of
the Southern hemisphere. Accustomed as I have
been from earliest infancy to reverence as holy all
the institutions of my native land, I cannot refrain,
as a man, from congratulating you, gentlemen,
upon the inoculation of this great Southern Con-
tinent with an institution—the proudest, the
most useful, the most venerated of all that the
freest nation on earth can boast ; but even as a
Judge—the frigid expositor of the law, I cannot ab-
stain from hailing with gratulation the introduction
of a system which places the Judges of this Court upon
a proper constitutional footing with their fellow
subjects in the sacred Temple of Justice. I doubt
not that you, gentlemen, and every subject of the
Crown in this country, justly appreciate this im-
portant epoch, involving in some degree as it does
the interests of the British people in this territory,
and influencing, as it undoubtedly must, the character
of those generations of mankind who shall succes-
sively inhabit the shores of Australasia. 'Tis in this
latter point of view that this event claims to be
signalized with something like enthusiastic celebra-
tion. No less interest, however, is attachable to it
in the present age, from its importing, on the one
hand, the parental solicitude of his Majesty for the
welfare of his people in all climates; and on the
other, the ameliorated character of the inhabitants
of this distant settlement. Of the former, no doubt
could ever have been entertained by any man born
tinder the sway of the British sceptre ;—the latter
must, rind 1 sincerely hope and expect will, be con-
firmed by the manner in which this sacred institu-
tion shall be received and preserved. Upon the
conduct of those who are to exercise the office of
Jurymen must depend the character, the useful-
ness, the inviolability of Courts of Justice. Whether
it be regarded as a privilege or a duty to aid in the
administration of justice (and doubtless it must be
esteemed as both by every man who sets a pro-
per value upon himself in society), the preservation
of this faculty can be concurrent only with the
manner of its exercise. Whatever gratification
eligibility for serving this important office may
be supposed to afford individuals in this country,
there it no doubt that the obligation of per-
forming it is not less onerous than imperative.
The only apprehension to be entertained is, that
the privilege conferred may not be considered com-
mensurate with the burthen imposed. But I trust
there may be no occasion to awaken in any man's
bosom in 'this country, whatever may be his station,
a just sense of the duty which he owes to that so-
ciety of which he is a member. Above all, I ear-
nestly hope there may be no necessity for deprecat-
ing disinclination in any man to take his seat in that
box when called upon, from any motive of relative
distinction of persons. The law recognises no dis-
tinction in the individuals who shall be actually no-
minated for this important public service; and it
must occur to the good sense and to the patriotism
of every man, whatever his grade may be, that he
should not suffer his usefulness to be neutralized by
any private consideration of taste or liking. This
suggestion is sufficiently intelligible without farther
explication. It is not, lam sure, necessary to inti-
mate the probability, that indulgence in such a mo-
tive, if it should be found to exist, would deeply
affect the administration of justice. Certainly in
this Court no disposition will, I persuade myself,
be found to relax the obligation which the law im-
poses in this respect; and it would be equally foreign
from the mind of a British Judge to cherish or give
countenance to a feeling so detrimental to the true
end and purpose of this admirable institution. To
preserve pure and inviolable the sources of public
justice, must be a desire common to all men. Upon
the religious maintenance of this principle, the surety
and happiness of men in a civilized state entirely
depend. To this end (to express the sentiment
of the greatest philosopher and philanthropist of
this moat enlightened age *), all human institu-

• Henry Brougloub