The Sun.
London, England, 1817-11-28 00:00:00

.. . , . . •„.-• % • •, . ,
court ; all that Lw e as desirous of cluing was, to
lay bet Ore the Cooit.thetircunstancea of ne cope;
anti theni Jet 1 utlge ivilether the fair pre-'',
sumplian did Hirt arise,_ that the pO,ver veseed in
'him had peen partially exercised, Whatever
mfglit benaid Oil the tote side or the Other,- eith'e'r
for or againat the Officer, could not reatoYe the'
ne'ossa'rY inference which tnnst Le drawn froni
facts. /t was manifest from the Meitner in
which the AttoineY-Genel-al hid latitiured, to
spew the legality of. the Oflicer'S
.condoct;)
_that it least • the privilegi claimed 6f—initui,T.
nating Special Jurytneii At 'filo free' will and
.pleasure, was at least a doubtful pi-46;100n;
The
,Learned Attorney-General had laid consi-
tleral.le stress upon the right of the Master to no,
mionte and select Merchants, btit he (Mr. W.)
knew of no custom, however ancient, which ctinld
have , the effect of. a Written and express law
And consequently that collid net be assumed as
law, upon which the law was silent. So far
as the definition of merchant went, the'law'
was perfectly silent ; 'and therefore the ItYpco,
`thesis built upon the defined character of a Special
Juryman was without foundation, and all the con
elusions drawn from thence must fall to the ground.
He should not contend againSt the right of the
Master to name the Jurors to form ' the pan-
:ate', nor should he question his impartiality in the.
exercise ot: that power, unless circumstances
would cleat (v lead to a supposition- to the'con:rary.,
73ert the real and important queStion in this case
Was, whether the right , of. nominating Juries
should he taken out of the hands of the Sherifr
(the people's officer), and vested in those of a 8:1-
vont of the Crown, who should be at liberty to
cull and pack such Juries as might suit the put....
poses of his suaeridrs, and thereby enable him to
.become the absolute master of the liberties and the
persons of a tree people, under,colour .of,a.legal
right of nomination. He presumed to think that
tbellefinit inn of Merchant must no be taken as a
mere abstract appellation to be given only to,
such 1)(180114 as should Import and export the
comminlities its which they dwelt,
.but must have
reference tti the condition; the substance, and
the intilligenCe of persons who vl,ete free Citizens
of Landon, and whose claims to serve as Jurors
1111111 have reference to the customs and kivi-
ieges of the community in. which they lived. By
the rules and regulations. of. the Cdrporation of
the City of Londoh,, its the reigns of Henry.
Seventh and Henry • Eighth; certain classes
of persons . were defined as eligible to serVe
-on Jades, and unless the lists from which the
Jurors in this case were made mit, were conform-
able to those rules and regulations, he apprehended
that any other course, adopted, by custom or
usage, could riot be sanctioned by the Court.
Unless the persons desCribed as Merchants
were free Citizens, and resident inhabitants of
London, they could not be entitled to Sit:
as 'Jurors in that jurisdiction ; *and if , tile true
definition .of a Merchant was adverted to, it
Would he found that persons trading in London
were all Merchants, the French word Marchand,
being th-e 'origin of that appellation. This was com-
mon sense, and no legal ingenuity could get over
an appeal to the plain undetstatiling of mankind. It
Might, perhaps, be truly said, that by the custom of
the City of London, aMtech aut Adventurer need not
he a freeman of the city; but if these w.ere to hOld
good in Al cases, there was nothing to preVent
a foreigner frion claiming the privilege of serv•
tug as a Special ittrytnan in London. ,'There,
were cases; however, decided upon this subject,
which the Court would 'find in Browolow.`i Re-
ports, and in. Salkeld, 445.. It was quite ridi-
culous to suppose that the rent character of a.
merchant was attended to in the selections made
of persons to serve on these Juries ; for, io the.
first place, it was obvious that the title Of.,Es-
quire was merely fictitious, which every man
rnight assume; • and it was notorinua. that natty
men assumed the title of merchanti who hadiio)
pretensio::s to that character. In the city of
London, brokers were' known to act as special
Jurymen in the character of merchants, although,
by, the bond:given by brokers to the city, they
were sworn not to act as merchaats.-other
persons acted in this capacity, who were only
_traders in Harlequins
.and' Columbines. For in-
stance, it was well known, that a Gentleman
named. B----t sat as a Merchant Juryman at
Guildhall, without any other pretension than
being a part owner of Sadler's • Welk Theatre ;
and it was also well known that Mr. Samuel
Dixon, a broker, had sat for years as Merchant
'Juryman, in the same place. But widow dwell-
. big upOti these minute particulars, he must insist,
As a constitutional and legal principle, that a ser-
vant of the Crown ought not to 'bet the person
who should chose the tribunal which was to der
cide 'upon the lives and liberties of the people. If
the Coroner had the right to say—" I Will do as
I like iu these matters', because it-is:my will," there
was an end to the boasted privileges.of English-
men. What sec,irity had the public for the, faithful
discharge of so sacred and important a duty ? If
the source of instice was impure what would be
.come of its stream.? Was the shield. of English
. • •
iostice to be broken by a Rule of Court—a Rule,
too, made in 'the reign of Charles 11. (a reign not
the must ans.picious to liberty), and the-defente-
less people lett to the.arbitrary assaults of on Of-
ficer of the CourO—These were considerations
Well d6ervitig the serious attention of their 'Lord-
silips.:' The, Atto*rney •Generat had said, that the
Master of the Crown-01.6ce knew - nothing of the
rag-merchant who bad' been rejected as a man too
Contemptible for -the office of a Juryman:
Lord ELLENHOROUGH—LIe•Saiii no such thing :
lie said 'nothing about contemptible! - • ' - '
Mr. 11rootx.r. resumed, and admitted that that
word had not been used ; but'he ridiculed the idea,
that a man's deisling,,in Whatever article it might
be, should operate as a disparagement of his un-
derstanding, and a disqualification of 'his rational
powers... He had nothing more to' say- than to
deprecate the. po,.ver thus claimed by a servant 'of
the Crown ; for he could only consider' this as a
case whet e• the Minister Was trying 'his cause by
his owtragentS. Unless the soul ces ofjustice were
.kept pnre, the bonds of society .Were gone ; ant!
therefOr'e-it became their LoriMiii,,s to
~rescue
i their eotautryfronobe inip end log peVii With which
it was'threatened.

The Judges then proceetiil to give their jtigig-
thent seriatim, which they diti,ikt considerable