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to consider the expediency of it, and the very liberal views which are now generally entertained by the Lords of the Upper and the Gentlemen of the Lower House of Parliament, are convincing proofs that a very different manner of thinking prevails in the higher circles upon religious subjects than that which induced our wary ancestors to furnish religion with props and shores, which, while they are no support, are an enfeeblement and a disgrace to it.

The book to which I refer is called “An Illucidation of the Unity of God deduced from Scripture and Reason." It is dedicated to the Society of Unitarian Christians at Montrose, in North Britain, by James Gifford; who resided at Girton, in Cambridgeshire; and was, I am informed, a Lieutenant Colonel in the Line, and an intimate friend of Mr. Lindsey. The dedication is dated July 25, 1787. It is accompanied by a letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury; and the whole of the performance exhibits a deep research into the sacred volume, and serious inquiry into the meaning of its declarations, with an uncommon degree of firmness of manner, yet mildness of expression, a fortiter in re with a suaviter in modo, scarcely ever to be found united in a case of such incalculable importance. The work is published for Rowland Hunter, (late Johnson) St. Paul's Church Yard.

I am desirous of calling the attention of your readers to this very interesting work; and especially to an illustration of the Divine Unity, which I conceive, to many, will be new. After speaking of the grand unity of design which all nature exhibits, and which points our intellectual powers distinctly to a unity of the Divine Nature, he adds,

"God has taken care that we should have more reasons than one to believe that all things were formed by one Great Mind, that all are the effects of the same Great Cause; and I think he has interwoven the truth of his Unity in our very nature, if we would attend to its operations. I shall endeavour to give proof of this by a familiar instance; but I beg leave to introduce it rather as an accessory circumstance than as a fundamental argument.

"Whenever a multiplicity of objects are presented to the mind, we

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find it necessary, in order to contemplate with any accuracy, to confine ourselves to one and drop all the rest. A consequence ever unavoidable while the thinking principle is closely engaged. And hence it happens, that the Unity of God forces itself upon us in the act of devotion, from the indivisibility of thought. For we may observe that, when we address ourselves intently in prayer, we find it impossible to fix our meditation absolutely on more than one object of worship at the same moment. others are neglected in the instant, All and cannot enter the mind without confusing and dissipating the attention. This alone plainly shews, that the mental faculties are not calculated to attend fixedly to more than one object. We three or more different things or perindeed associate may sons in idea, and then consider them in one collective view, but this does not destroy their individuality, and when we would contemplate any one of these objects with precision we must dismiss the combination. we may blend three or more distinct things or subjects together in idea, and then consider them in the gate as one; but, besides that this aggreis the mere work of the imagination, it would be held both dissatisfactory and dangerous with respect to the Trinity: because we are expressly enjoined in our present received doc trines to preserve the distinction of the three persons, and acknowledge them to be, not only separate but also equal objects of prayer and thanksgiving. Notwithstanding this in the solemn acts of devotion, the mind betrays an election for the one or the other; and this preference, we find, is generally given to God the Father Almighty himself, and every other object is excluded from the mind at the time. For He incessantly rises in the collected soul, and fills it. Thus the great truth of the unity of the Deity seems to have been implanted by him in our nature; and the mind of man, with which it is in perfect concord, in its most serious and attentive moments, is necessarily led to acknow ledge it.* In praying to or glorifying

*Notwithstanding the polytheism of the tings and monuments, that the belief of a Heathen, it is certain from their own wriSupreme God naturally prevailed among

New Jury Court of Scotland.

the Trinity in their turns, we still give the precedence to the Father, but by a positive distinction in their persons, and in our worship, we unavoidably destroy the very notion of one only God, and, as I apprehend, overthrow the great basis of revealed religion.

"What will naturally follow from these observations is this: that, as the indivisibility of thought will not permit us to pray fixedly to more than one object at the same time, for the very attempt to divide the attention pelfed, if we hold for the Athanasim confuses therefore we are com

system, to invoke and worship the three persons in a separate manner, as we find is done in the Litany and in many of the Collects. Thus when we worship the Father, we adore a person different from the Son and the Holy Ghost; and when we worship THESE, we adore two persons different from the Father and from each other. For, howsoever they may be connect ed, their persons are to be preserved distinctly in the mind, and their worship of course to be distinct also.

"Now, under these circumstances, it appears impossible, from the very nature of thought, to free ourselves from the idea of their being three distinct Gods. For since we cannot divide our attention, which if we could would be the highest disrespect to the person meant to be adored, it must be always changed with the object of our worship; and then it inevitably follows, that every other must be neglected at the time; and these are exactly the consequences with all polytheism whatsover; from which therefore I humbly apprehend it is extremely difficult to distinguish the present system. But, on the other hand, if we blend the three persons together, and consider them as one and the same intelligent being, then the Athanasian hypothesis is destroyed, and any distinct or discriminating worship appears totally superfluous and contradictory." I am, Sir,

Yours,

J. W.

them, and was sometimes openly testified. See Acts xvii. 22, 23. Most of them, in

deed, conceived that he was too great or too far removed to attend to men or their

supplications. We are obliged to revelation for the complete cure of this most discouraging apprehension.

VOL. XI.

145

P.S. Since writing the above, I have little doubt that the former editions of this work were of the size of a pretty large pamphlet, and that the' present edition was published after Mr. G's. death, by his son, a gentleman also in his Majesty's service, enlarged into an octavo volume by numerous valuable notes, and other additious. Mr. Gifford had three sons,' two in the army, the other in the navy.

New Jury Court of Scotland.
New Jury Ce 22d mustant, the

first time.

the

The Right Hon. William Adam, Lord Chief Commissioner; Allan Maconochie, Lord Meadowbank; and David Monypenny, Lord Pitmilly, the two other Commissioners, being assembled; and the names of the thirty-six Jury men returned to try the issues, being called over, and having answered to their names, the Lord' Chief Commisioner opened the business of the Court in a speech to the following effect

MY LORES-Before we proceed to the cause appointed for trial this day,' I wish to say a few words to the Court. I believe I am justified, according to immemorial precedent, as a newly appointed presiding Judge of a supreme tribunal in this country, in addressing the Court. This has been the uniform practice of all Presidents on their appointment.

I believe I am justified in this Court which is to administer justice by a jury, as in the Criminal Courts of this country, according to the practice of those courts on their circuits, ia saying something to you, Gentlemen of the Jury, upon your being assembled here; and I think I should not be justified at the opening of this new court for the first time, if I did not state what has occurred to me on this occasion; exhibiting a new and an important feature in the judicial system of Scotland.

It may not be unfit, recent as it is since the Act of Parliament passed Creating this court, shortly to retrace the circumstances which have given

rise to the institution of this tribunal.'

In the year 1808, an Act of Parliament passed for improving the ju, dicatures of this country. It empowered and required that his Majesty

should appoint commissioners to examine into that grave and weighty subject, and to report to the King and the two Houses of Parliament. Among other things, the commissioners were to be called upon by the Act of Parliament to inquire into the fitness of introducing trial by jury in civil causes into the Scotch judicial establishment. In the month of May, 1810, the commissioners reported on that subject, stating, that if care was taken" that no alteration of our municipal law was made by such institution, the enabling the Court of Session to direct issues of fact to be tried by jury, might afford a safe foundation on which importaut experiments might be made."

This Report lay untouched for several years. But in the interval between making this Report in May, 1810, and the close of the session of Parliament, 1814, many cases had occurred in the House of Lords, moving entirely on matter of fact, accompanied with long printed proofs, calling upon the Supreme Court of Appeal, which should only be required to decide matters of law, to perform a duty not properly belonging to it, by deciding cases resting upon intricate, difficult, and ill-proved facts. This created observation in the House of Lords, out of which the statute grew, under which this Court sits, and from which it derives its authority and constitution.

It is to be observed then, that the great distinguishing feature of this tribunal is, that it is the first duty of its Judges so to act, as not to disturb in any respect that ancient and admirable system of the municipal law of Scotland, handed down to us by our ancestors, and secured to us by the Act of Union, constituting, as it were, a charter for the preservation of the jurisprudential system of Scotland.

It shall be my peculiar care, as it is my duty, to walk in this course; and however I may distrust my own ability, I feel assured I shall be able to do it with the assistance of your Lordships.

The object then, of the law under which we sit, is to receive and try issues directed by the decisions of the Court of Session, wherein matters of fact are to be proved by the intervention of a jury.

This institution has been long used

for this purpose in all the countries which speak the language we speak. It is of a tradition so high that nothing is known of its origin. It is of a perfection so great for its object and purpose, that it has remained in unabated vigour and purity from its commencement to the present time,

It is the character of all other institutions for the investigation of facts to have become inadequate to their end. It is the character of this mixed tribunal, where a jury decide on the facts under the direction of a court, to have preserved its original perfection unabated. These extraordinary and important features of durability and perfection seem to arise out of causes which it may not be unfit to state upon the occasion of introducing it into the administration of civil justice in Scotland. They are the natural results of its modes of acting.

It is to be observed, first, that it can only proceed by settling of a clear distinct issue to be tried. The advantage of this is manifest, it obliges the directing Court to compel the parties to precision, and relieves the causes at the commencement of litigation from all dispute as to what the questions are between the parties. It enables the proof to be made clearly as applicable to those questions.

It requires no more enlarged statement to enforce the advantages of this effect of the trial by jury.

Secondly. It adds a casual to a permanent tribunal; and, by their acting and re-acting on each other, the natural qualifications of both are improved, and their defects amended.

The great feature of the casual part of the tribunal, The Jury, is its being constituted and assembled, in a manner (as far as human wisdom cau accomplish any end) to secure impartiality and perfect indifference in the causes to be tried by it.

It is chosen from among the people at large, according to a certain qualification, insuring the education and understanding necessary for the duty. A certain number are returned, greater than the number required to try, as you thirty-six Gentlemen are now returned here, to try the appointed issues. The return is made by the sheriff, a magistrate of high rank, unacquainted with, and uninterested in the parties, having no connexion with them; and when returned, the twelve

New Jury Court of Scotland.

jurors to try the cause are selected by ballot, their names being to be drawn by a sworn officer of the court, from the box into which they are put fairly, under the sanction of a solemn obligation.

This is doing all that human contrivance can accomplish towards the attaining a tribunal free from all prepossession.

But the grand and important feature of this tribunal for the examination of fact, is, Sdly, Publicity, or the public and open manner in which its business is conducted.

Every thing is transacted with open doors-every thing, from the commencement of the trial to its close, except when the Jury retire for deliberation, is done before an inquisitive and observing public, who, hearing the evidence, form their judgments of the correctness of the Court and Jury in drawing their conclusions so that they are secured by the responsibility of character, thus openly exposed to criticism, to form a correct and honest opinion in every case. This is aided by the constant presence of an enlightened Bar, whose learning and talents and practice in judicial concerns, are thus made subservient to the ends of substantial justice. In this way, aud before such an audience, the case is sifted to the very bottom, and every part of the tribunal is always subject to the most rigid observation, and so called to the most correct attention to do justice.

This important feature of jury trial is remarkable for its happy influence on all those who administer to justice through the medium of that instition.

First. As to its influence on the witnesses. By public examination they are open to the observation of the tribunal who is to judge of their testimony, and of the value to be ascribed to it as it respects their demeanour, their capacity and intelligence and the manner of testifying. Every witness in an open court, risks his character with the public and with his neighbours, and is kept correct by that influence. The witnesses are fully examined by counsel in chief, then cross-examined by adverse counsel; and, lastly, subject to the examination of the Jury and the Bench. By being examined before a supreme tribunal, the influence of judicial au

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thority has its effect in producing correctness of deportment, and his evidence being submitted to the judg ment of his fellow-subjects, the jury, he must have that circumspect attention to truth which such a situation naturally creates. Besides, in case of prevarication, the authority of a court, with sufficient power to commit, is held over him, to have an instantaneous operation.

Secondly. The effect of publicity is equally important in regard to the jury.

Their exposure to public view and observation, secures, in that respectable body, the casual tribunal, that steady attention, which is not only essential to the appearance, but to the reality of justice; and it is not unimportant to remark, that this solemnity of conduct reflects again on the surrounding audience, and secures in those who compose it, the same attention and decorum when they come to be jurymen.

The justice which they do, as I have already observed, is the subject of consideration by as many as the court will admit, the report of those present at a trial goes forth to the public at large, and the verdicts of jurymen are secured to be just, by the certainty that they must undergo the scrutiny of the whole extended and watchful community.

The evidence of which they have to judge is, owing to this publicity, and to the formation of the court, governed by rules which are calculated to exclude falsehood, and to secure the testimony of truth.

The introduction of a well-regulated law of evidence is a most important result of trial by jury. In order to exclude all evidence from the hearing of the jury, which, from its nature, may be false, and make an undue impression, the judges are called upon publicly to decide upon the admissibility of witnesses, and of questions, upon all objects of competency, as contradistinguished from those of credibility. This they do publicly upon the argument of counsel; and, here again, the subject is secured in a due and certain administration of justice in matter of fact.

This is a result only attainable by this institution, where there is authority and learning to decide, and a cause for decision. It is this which

leads to the exclusion of hearsay, and of all those circumstances in proof where the fact may be false and yet the witness be correctly honest, as well as to all the exclusions of testimony arising out of the various modifications of interest or concern in the cause, or in the question or con'nexion with the parties.

Thirdly. As to the Bar, this institution will have its just and beneficial influence.

When I refer to that most respectable body, the Bar of Scotland, I may safely and justly enlarge upon their great learning, their integrity, their eloquence, and other high attainments; and above all, I can rely on the most rigid honour and pure correctness of their practice in their profession. Yet, great as the learn ing and eloquence is which they bring into the hitherto ordinary practice of their profession, the public and immediate efforts which they will have to make in this tribunal, cannot fail to afford a new scene for their eloquence.

In guiding the course of justice, the Judges will derive assistance from counsel, while the system of jury trial will give new occasions to the Bar of Scotland for acute and masterly dis cussion, by watching and seizing circumstances and emergencies as they arise, as well as by previously preparing themselves upon the important features of the case; and thus these new opportunities for the display of conduct and address, by training them to a mode of exertion to which they have not been accustomed, will give new scope and enlargement to their professional talents, and render them still more useful ministers of justice in all the branches of their practice.

Fourthly. But, above all, this publicity is important, in relation to the Judges who preside-in regulating and preserving correct what i have called the permanent part of the tribunal. This happy composition in judicature, when the functions are publicly and openly discharged, in vigorates all the good qualities of the judicial character of the permanent Judge, and corrects all the defects "to which the judicial character is prone.

On the Bench we must call to aid, semper, forbearance, attention, cir

cumspection, a firmness in forming opinions, a readiness in re-considering them, no pertinacious adherence to first thoughts, and yet a decision calculated to enforce well-considered views, and above all, in this seat, where justice is to be distributed within a period to be measured by the strength of man, dispatch must combine with deliberation, readiness of thought with correctness of opinion.

Our duties as Judges are to be performed before a judicious public, deeply interested in the justice which is to be dispensed, and before a critical and enlightened bar, ready to disseminate with freedom, as they ought, their opinions of our errors, but equally ready to do justice to our motives, and to bestow the just reward of praise when we are right and correct.

The error to which a court, composed of a single judge, is liable, is perhaps an over-weening self-willedness: this is corrected by the dis. charge of the function publicly with the aid of a jury. The necessity of attending to every point for their information-a necessary compliance with those modes of conduct which such interchange of thought as this tribunal requires, and the necessity of the judge weighing well what he is publicly to impart to others, under the controuling effect of their having to decide on the spot on the correctness of his views, secures against such self-willedness.

The error into which the Judges of a Court composed of several is apt to fall is carelessness. Trusting to the efforts of his fellow Judges, the public effort and the duty to impart all that passes, and all his views of it to others on the spot, and at the moment, proves a sure antidote to this propensity in the judges of a tribunal of several.

Thus it may be said that the welldoing of the permanent tribunal is secured, and the administration of justice in matters of fact (that extensive and ever-varying source of litigation) is better regulated by this contrivance of trial by jury, than by any that the wit of man has ever yet de vised.

Such are the leading features of this institution, which we are now to try in this country, as an experiment, and as I have said in the outset, always anxiously attending to this, that it is

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