Year: 1863

Ounals ShoWn 70 the government I'M


der which we live, standing as a


shield and arbiter between the Exocu.


tive power of the government and


each individual citizen, from the


highest official dignitary known tc


the law, down 10 the huublest mem


Der oftbe community. It is a tribu


nal digniied us much by its antiquity


as by its important functions and


powers. The right Of trial by Jury


is, indeed, eoevsl with all we know


or can know, Of the history of civil.


zation itself Ii all the efforts which


have been made by historians and


law writer's, to trace its origin, it has


invariably become lost in the dimness


and obscurity Of the remOtest epochs


OF civilization. 1t has been traced


back, by indeIatigable aud curious


anliquarians, to very remote period


in English history, and seems, in


deed, in some form, if not coeyal


with civil government in England, at


least to have been used time out Of
mind in that kingdom. The origin
Of tue Grand Jury, like some other Of
our legal and political institutions,
exhibits most remarkable instance


Of assimilation in the popular will
aud geniuo, in deroga!ion Of ito origin.
al design. 1t 10 not the only social
or political honey which has been
extracted from the poison of despotic
power, 4 Grand Jury vas first in.


tended to be an instrument merely in
the hands Of those who welded the
executive power Of the nation and
under the control Of the law officers
Of the Grown. it was deemed to sit as
q secret inquisition upon the acts and
doing8 OF the people; a most fearful
source OF IT, espOnsible power in bad
timee, and under arbitrary Sovereigns


But that which WAS intended to be a
curse, operated, at leaat, as one Of the
most signal blessings Of the people;
aud furnishes one OF the most Goa


spieuous historical instances of a des.
potic regulation whose remote and
glorious consequences were not fore
seen at the time Of It's inauguration.
The great and salutary benefit to civ.
il society, arising from what is now
the iatetpositj00 Of the Grand Jury
between government and peopla, is
thuS not only totally different, but is
Numerically opposite to that which
was originally intended by it. The
sole and original purpose of the in
stitution, was to assist the Crown in
the discovery, and too often in the
mere allegation of crime, and by that
means to increase the number ofpros-
ecutions among that class or party OIL
men who had made themselves OBJ
noxious to the government. But in
the progress Of civilization, and in a.
more enlightened view Of tho rights
and liberties OF the people, it became
the chief end of the Grand Jury to
guard against the abuse Of the dscre-
tionary power with which the officers
Of the crown were invested in the
prosecution C public and political
otfenses. Thus this noble institution,
as it DOW stands, gradually culmina.
ted to its present dignifed and conser.
vatlve position. through the mere force
Unpopular will, energized by the spirit
Of civil liberty, by giving new di.
TectioD to the legal machinery which
originally put it in motion. Its pop
uIar character was at least established
by the very necessity on the part of
the Grown in procuring the previous
appreciation Of the jury, through some
one oil the forms known to its organi.
zatioD, which was productive of the
the highest advantage TO the people
that Of securing them from ground
less or frivolous accusations. In tue
new character thus assumed, it pre-
seated itself as an independent and
impartial srbiter between the people
and LAe Crown, rebaking alike the
possible factions spirit Of the one, aud
the positive aggressive despotism OF
the other. While crime was sure to
be punished, innocence was equally
certain Of being protected. Thus by
this curious historical fact, a Grand
Jury has been transformed into a.
potent and well recognized break


water between public disorder on the
one side, and official oppression and
usurpation on the other. We, in our
own times, realize all the happy re


suits Of this most extraordinary legal
metamorphosis. While it thus pre-


sents itself, as we'll in our own polit-
lcaL system as III that from which We
borrowed it, we know it has not failed
heretofore in either OF these aspects.
Ii a person is known to have commit
ted crime against any of the laws
Of the country, or lays uuder strong
and rational suspicion of guilt, the
voice Of tue whole neighborhood viii
probably call aloud for justice, and