M'arthur Democrat. (McArthur, Vinton County, Ohio) 1853-1865, 1863-05-07

peers, and to be condemned only by
tue laws Of the land, should be- de-
ended as the last hope Of freedom to
man on Garth. When this great
principle, 80 carefully and thoughtful
y guarded by both. Federal and State
constitutions, shall be abandoned or
destroyed, then all is lost civil liber.
ty, constitutional government, public
morality, the highest type of political
civilization the world ever saw, will
have sunk in the blackest darkness Of
anarchy and despotlsm ,
Having said thus much upon tho
spirit and character of q Grand Jury.
as legal institution, and of the gen.
ersl moral and political duties which
IapPertain to you as its membors, I
now proceed briefly to charge you
upon some OF your more especial du.
ties, The oath you have taken is
well calculated to express the duties
ofa Grand Jnry. 1t proceeds to de.
clare that leaving yourself and fellow
Jurors, you, as foreman of this grand
inquest, shall diligently inquire, and
true prescntment make, of all such
matters and things as shall be given
lyon in charge, Or otherwise come to
your knowledge, touching the pres,
ont service" The meaning of tho
ltlrSt clause is, that, in accordance
with a general principle of law, you
are not bound to criminate yourselves.
Ia the application Of the general oath
to each individual juror, il goes a step
further, and means, that although
some Of you may have information of
Il criminal iniraction Of the laws by a
fellow member, yet you are not bound,
rs a jury, to fnd an Indictment; but
may properly leave the matter for
the action OF q subsequent jury
The oath goes on further to provide
that "the counsel of the State, your
own and your fellows, you shall keep
secret, unless called on iua court OF
Justice 10 make disclosures Tho
object Of this provision is 30 paIpablo
as scarcely to need explanation; aud
yet, perhaps, no part Of the oath of %
Grand Juror is more frequently vio-
lated by the oafelsss- and -ineonssi6er.
ate. This Branch of the oath has a
two-fold object: The first is to pre-.
vent knowledge to the criminal, for
fear of hiS making az escape TEo
second is, to prevent injury and wrong
to the reputation of the accused,
should the charge turn out not to be
well founded in truth. The mex.
branch Of the oath provides that t"you
9ha', present no person through NAL.
ice, hatred or ill.wi,l; nor shall you
leave any person uupresented through
fear, favor, or affection, or for any
reward or hope thereof" have al
ready commen ted upon tbis part of
your duties; but l can not refrain
from adopting the forcible ideas of an
American law writer upon this branch
Of your oath
"lf, instead Of truth aud the laws; the on.
IL Constitutional ground Of decision, grand
jureS will suffer themselves 10 be inauen.
ced by popular opinions, motives of conve-
nience, or avorite prejudices, | repeat my
assertion, jury trial is lost, for it's princi-
pies are completed; and our liberty falls with
it. If jurors once consider themselves at
liberty 10 violate its principles, for any rea-
sen, they must be the judges of the sutfi.
cheney Of the reason. Reason will vary,
from the Infinite variety Of opinions and
times. Ii they be violated, for one reason,
to day, they will be violated. for one reason,
to morrow; Till, at last, the violation will
become 80 frequent, and from so many caus
eI. that there will be precedent, to Justify
their violation for any cause Whatsoever
Courts aud jIries are solemny sworn, and
strongly bound, judge and determine ac-
cording to truth. and according to law. If
any circumstances, foreign to these, seem to
require Indulgence, out constitution has
provided for them, by an application to the
supreme power But Judges and Jurors can
not justify themselves, by any reason, what.
ever, for breaking down so sacred tie OF
and 50 essential pillar of our
government,
Justly, then, does the oath of Graud Ju.
ry, with unusual, heightened, ind repeated
care, incuIcate a conscientious discharge Of
this sacred trust the diligence of their in
quiry, the truth OF their pressntment, their
entire freedom from hatred, envy. love, fear,
favor or reward and the utmost exertion of
their unbiased judgment and understanding,
in all the matters which may come before
Them, or be within their knowledge Nsis
thera hasty or careless, nor timid or par
tial discharge ofthis duty will correspond
with the strong obligations laid OH the con-
science by this oath" 'A<'
These views, gentlemen Of the Ju.
ry, are commended to yonr considar.
alton as sodud and conservative, and
as the expression Of Judge o. large
experience in the administ ration Of
the law, at an early petio'. ii The his.
tory OF our Governme' Il. In times
like these, you aye called upon by
every sense of Gut ,-by every feeling
OF patrto'tllsR ft('tl 20 40 discharge yo'
duties 70 ,lrselves, to the PEI
ana 70 ~ e government under