★ Keep up to date with the latest news - subscribe to the Transcribe Bentham newsletter; Find a new page to transcribe in our list of Untranscribed Manuscripts
JURIES 3 Prelud. declamator
being so deluged by a flood of gibberish, that as not to be capable of being purified from it by
any other than the Judges [who appropriate to themselves] by an of their own: The Indictment therefore after having been
mumbled over for form sake at the opening of the cause is heard no more of; nor are is
the Jury attention of the more directed to permitted to keep in mind that charge which by their verdict it is expected they are
to declare themselves of opinion to be true or false than to any other noise which
Is it to be wondered then, if that having nothing else to no judgment to resort to that pronounces for them the guilt or innocence of the accused, consequent to the determination of the fact,they should be found to resort often to the judgment of their own hearts?
happens in the Court: in vain indeed should they be directed to attend to what
as they will, it is impossible they should understand: Hence then as is often happens that there <add> it is that it will happen </add> after having given
their verdict of Guilty, it no body knows whether the convict is or is not to suffer: Nobody
knows what "guilty" means; for it means nothing of itself - it must be guilty of
something - & what is that something? It is a something in the Indictment viz; all that is in the Indictment and
And if they do it to the prejudice of the accused, there is that which might may control them a new Trial may be granted but if to the prejudice of the public, there is no relief.
the Indictment contains they know not what. But that is not enough - it is of all that
is charged in the Indictment that they find him Guilty - And every body draws
that pleases; & every body provided he will take care to put in what is enough, &
In the meantime, neither then Jury should pronounce that Guilt or that innocence, nor the Judge, but the Law only: and that not afterwards, but aforehand:
some choice stuff which is more than enough but which cannot be spared, may
in what sum he pleases: And the Jury find that to be true which he puts in & if he charges (as he must sometimes do ) that the convict acted by
---page break---
the instigation of the Devil, the Jury find that he acted by the instigation of the devil
tho' neither he nor they thought any thing about the devil: and if the former charges
that he did it without not having the fear of God before his eyes, as he must also sometimes do they find that he did it not having
The verdict comes into the hands of the Judges in form of a Carte Blanche.
the fear of God before his eyes, tho' perhaps they are persuaded perhaps that it was that very fear which put him
Judges get into possession of their verdict like a promissory note signed for a Blank form: over which they write what they please. - They are made to affix the stamp of their authority to that of which they have had no participation.
upon doing as he did - And if the crime consists in writing something and the penner
calls it false which he may do or not as he pleases, they find it false, tho' perhaps very likely
they believe it to be true; & if he does not call it false they do not find it false,
It is a fundamental maxim of the Law As if that a Man was to clap always clapped his Sword on to his side & his Pistols into his Pockets to drop a little Arsenic into a Partridge sport.
which is the same thing; & if he does not call it scandalous they find it scandalous, tho' neither
he nor they know what they mean by scandalous; & if he calls it malicious, they
find it to be malicious, tho' it signifies not [a rash] whether it is it be or be not malicious [or no] ; &
It is a fundamental maxim of the Law, that a man does the same thing when he goes to pick a pocket: at the same time that the characteristic difference between this crime & that of Robbery is, that in the latter he does so in whereas the former he does not. But the Law for one purpose presumes that he does,& for another that he does not - And what is it which the Law may not presume?
if he calls it treasonable traitorous they find it traitorous, tho' it has nothing to do with Treason & tho' they believe it written in the
spirit of a good citizen; & if he find calls it none of all these, they do not find it to be any
of all these; & if he calls it what else he pleases, they find it to be what else he
pleases: & all this they find, though they know nothing of the matter:
It is a fundamental maxim of the Law that a man does the same thing is constantly in the same manner while he sleeps with his neighbours Wife
And tho' they find all this, it sometimes happens that the Judges cannot like what it is they
do find: And the Counsel will ask them the Judges to find for them & it will long be a very doubtful matter.
|
Identifier: | JB/050/171/001 "JB/" can not be assigned to a declared number type with value 50.
|
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
050 |
procedure code |
||
|
171 |
juries |
||
|
001 |
|||
|
text sheet |
1 |
||
|
recto |
c3 |
||
|
jeremy bentham |
[[watermarks::j honig & zoonen [lion with vryheyt motif]]] |
||
|
cc1 |
|||
|
16162 |
|||