to throw out those that do not seem to them
sufficiently supported by the evidence to call
for further hearing. By rejecting an indictment
the grand jury may set free a guilty
man; but it cannot condemn an innocent one.
This is the first chance given to the prisoner,
and a palladium of liberty no longer necessary;
rather unserviceable, perhaps, than
serviceable to the country. The grand jury,
having elected its foreman, is sworn: "You,
as foreman of the grand inquest of this
county, shall diligently inquire and true
presentment make, of all such matters and
things as shall be given you in charge; the
Queen's counsel, your fellows, and your own
you shall keep secret. You shall present no
one for envy, hatred or malice; or leave any
one unpresented for fear, favour, affection or
hope of reward; but present all things as
they come to your knowledge, according to
the best of your understanding. So help you
God! " The grand jury having been sworn,
the judge makes his charge to them. This
consists of general observations on the state of
the county and on the calendar, a list of
prisoner's names, ages, offences and dates of
commitment, with the names of the
committing magistrates. After having heard the
charge, the grand jury retires into a private
room and investigates the evidence on all
indictments. The indictments themselves
usually are drawn up by the clerk of the
peace for the county, with the names of the
witnesses for the Crown written on the back
of each. If a bill of indictment be ignored
by the grand jury, its foreman affixes his
signature on the back of it to the words
"Not found." If, on the contrary, it be held
that the evidence appears sufficient, he signs
his name to the three words "A true bill."
Upon the faith of which the prisoner will be
brought into court and publicly arraigned.

The trial must be public; that is to say,
the court must be open to all comers who
desire to see that there is justice done. Great
is the exigency of space in most of our law
courts; but while the form of public hearing is
maintained the reality is secured by the admission
of reporters and all persons who see for the
public and can bear free witness to the nation
through the press. In the instance of the
prolonged criminal trial recently concluded, a
case watched by the public with great
interest was removed by the desire of the
accused to London from the Staffordshire
Assizes, and was tried at the Old Bailey. It was
impossible to provide room in the Central
Criminal Court—a square half-wainscoted room
which, with its single gallery, will hold, including
judges, barristers, attorneys, witnesses and
jury, not more than about three hundred people.
The spirit of our judicial system was obeyed
therefore by the sheriffs and under-sheriffs,
who have charge of the decent ordering of all
criminal trials: and pains were studiously
taken to secure every opportunity of watching
the proceedings to all persons who went, not
to satisfy their individual curiosity, but as
representatives of sections of the public. The
ordering of the court in this particular case
was as conspicuous an example as the trial
itself of the true recognition of the claims
made on public justice by a nation strict in
the assertion of its liberties.

The prisoner is brought into court, placed
face to face with his judge in the presence of
his country, and then, his indictment having
been read over to him, he is asked formally to
hold up his hand and answer to the question,
"How say you, guilty or not guilty?" Here
again is a form that may wisely be dispensed
with. It is a fragment of a form only, the
other part of it having already been
abandoned. Formerly the catechism began with:

Q. How will you be tried?
A. By God and my country.

Which answer a judicious prisoner once
varied by saying, "Not by God, since He
knows all; but by your lordship and the
jury." The rest of the catechism might also
be spared. To expect the prisoner to plead
not guilty being guilty, and to say that he
does not therein add one more untruth to his
offences because it is not falsehood you ask
of him but only a legal form, is, in truth, the
reverse of a solemn and true opening of a
most true and solemn trial. Upon the holding
up of the hand, Lord Bacon tells a story of a
Welshman who, when the judge told him to
hold up his hand, believed that his lordship
was about to tell his fortune.

The petit jury—that by which the prisoner
is to be tried—is now called in and sworn.
Against any man called on this jury the
prisoner can object; and, if he pleases,
peremptorily, without any assigned reason,
and the man objected against is dismissed.
Crown counsel has also the power of
objecting; but is bound to show a valid reason.
The twelve men must be so far responsible
members of society as to possess ten
pounds a-year in land for life, or twenty
pounds on a long lease, or be assessed for
rates at thirty pounds in Middlesex, or
twenty in another county, the jury—the
word jury meaning sworn men—is then
sworn in the words following:—"You shall
well and truly try, and true deliverance
make, between our Sovereign Lady the Queen
and the prisoner at the bar, whom you shall
have in charge, and a true verdict give
according to the evidence. So help you God."

The case is then opened by counsel for the
Crown. Briefs for the prosecution are
statements of the felony, with their proofs made
out from the depositions. Briefs for the
defence contain not merely matters of proof, but
everything whatever that can be suggested or
alleged in the prisoner's favour. The character
of the two briefs we have seen illustrated
by the arguments of counsel and the
witnesses produced in the case to which we have
been now and then referring. On the part of
the Crown there was produced a close chain