The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1877-05-03
Trial by Jury.

SUPPOSE most of US are familiar with
traditional stories Of the inimitable sang
fr0id of barristers. I am glad to be able
to say that this admirable quality is not q
lost feature of the bar. l have just heard
an instance of it which will compare with
even the best examples on record. On a
popular circuit, the other day. bombara
der of the royal artillery was put on trial
for perjury. The evidence was clear and
conclusive, and the detected countenance
of the prisoner showed that he felt the
game was up" and that a long course of
"toke and skilly" was in store for him.
The learned counsel for the prosecution
sat down on the conclusion Of his case,
confident that the doom of that. perjured
bombardier was sealed. Up rose the
counsel for the defense, q junior of some
three months standing, and thus adj
dressed the jury: MAY it please your
neutrality-suspicious. of the jury, ap-
pear before you on behalf of the gallant
soldier in the dock. 1t is not my inten.
ton to call witnesses and to trespass
further upon your valuable time. shall
content myself with inviting your special
attention to what l consider the main
point at issue. Gentlemen, you have
heard full particulars of the charge against
the prisoner from my learned friend and
his witnesses; you will hear q second and
able and lucid statement of the case from
my Lord, whose turn to address you will
come next. In the meantime, it is my
duty to lay before you the real issue,
and it is this: On the eve of great
European war. the extent and duration of
which no one can predict, are you, as al
ready overburdcned ax-payers, or are you
not, prepared to consign the prisoner at
the bar to long period of Imprisonment,
and pay for probably less efficient sub
stitute to take his place and perform his
military duties:" The learned Judge
here interposed, and said that he really
could not sit upon the bench and allow
such a prcposterously false and irrelevant
issue to be put to the jury. The un-
abashed young counsel, however, limited
TO his Lordship that they could not both
address the jury at once, and, in the words
OF Solomon, suggested that there was a
time for everything, and that his Lord
ships had not yet come. The Judge gave
way, and the counsel for the prisoner pro-
ceeted: "Gentlemen, appeal to you as
rate-payers whether the real issue is not
what have stated. Will you lose the
services of trained, able bodied soldier
duu P0y AOl pOoSiUlx MIclAOI SuOSGlutc,
or will you not: That is the question
I ask you to answer, and leave it
confidently in your hands," I need
not say that in his subsequent charge
to the jury, I'M lud" ridiculed this
extraordinary appeal to the jury,
and told them that what they had
to consider was whether or not
the prisoner was guilty of the perjury
with which he was charged, charging
upon the serious extent to which the
crime of perjury affected the interests
of society. His Lordship ceased, and the
jury turned round in the box to consult.
After less than five minutes consulta-
ton, the foreman pronounced the ver-
dict "Not Guilty." The Judges pen
fell from his hand, and his wig almost
rose from his head with horror as he
stared at the counsel for the prosecution,
while the counsel for the prosecution
stared in his turn at the Judge. The
witnesses stared at one another, and the
perjured bOmbardier stared at the Court
in general with an amazemcnt which no
words can adequately describe. No one
seemed to believe his own senses as he
heard this astounding verdict. But there
was the foreman smiling blandly, and his
fellow jurors blinking complacently at
the prisoner, so it gradually dawned
upon the gallant bombardier that he was
free; that jury of his enlightened coun.
trymen had acquitted him. Thereupon
he briskly stepped from the dock and left
the Court gayly with his friends to drink
to the health of that noble institution,
that palladium of British iberty-trial by
jury.-Sporting Gazette.