with Notes of a Consultation of a Jury on a late Trial. But I will detain you no longer, having subjoined a paper which, although on a subject foreign to religious persecution, may claim some consideration from Jurors who are called upon to put a criminal construction upon conduct which may possibly, at least, have proceeded from innocent, and even laudable motives. It is founded upon the notes of a Juryman on a late trial, but is not pretended to state the conversation verbatim, or in the exact order in which the sentiments of the different individuals were advanced. No doubt he was the cause of the man's death-of that we are all satisfied. Well, then, I don't see what we have to do but return a verdict of guilty accordingly, for although it was an accident which he could not foresee, it is our duty to abide by the law. Yes, certainly, that is our duty, and I fear we can't do otherwise than find him guilty. Yet it is a hard case, and I really can't help feeling sorry that the lad should be punished. But why should you feel sorry if you are convinced he is guilty? You know the guilty should be punished. Because this was entirely accidental; and it is certainly very unfortunate for the prisoner. 461 to find a verdict of Guilty, and that we are sworn to do. The Judge did indeed say, that if we believed the witnesses, our verdict must be Guilty, but I confess I am not quite satisfied that this is really our duty, notwithstanding he took upon him so to direct us. If the lad intended no harm and was unconscious of the mischief he had done, why punish him? Intend it he certainly did not; in that we are all agreed. Then it appears to me we cannot return a verdict of Guilty. It is contrary to common sense that a person should be pronounced guilty who is not culpable, or that he should be punished for an accident. Persons who have blown up houses by gunpowder, accidentally, are not accounted criminal, although many deaths are the consequence. Well, but here one man loses his life by the act of another, and that is manslaughter, is it not? So the Judge says, at least, and the king's subjects must be protected. If you mean that the terms killing and slaughtering are the same in fact, I admit it for argument's sake; but the term manslaughter implies (according to any reasonable construction of law) a criminal killing, although short of that degree which constitutes murder; and as you all agree, and the evidence proved, that this lad was wholly ignorant of his misadventure until some time after it happened, how can crime be imputed to him, and how can he deserve punishment? He committed the act, he discharged the gun, and the ball killed the man, therefore the Judge has laid it down that he is guilty in law, and we are not to concern ourselves with the consequences. Then allow me to say, you appear to mistake the office of Juror. If we were merely called upon to say whether the act of discharging the piece was committed by the prisoner, the terms of our verdict would be simply Yes or No to that question of fact; but you will recollect the very terms Guilty and Not Guilty shew that the question of fact is not the only subject of inquiry. Every legal offence must partake of moral turpitude-laws being only moral regulations; to pronounce a man guilty, therefore, of an accident or misadventure would be absurd, and to punish him for happening to be the innocent, unintentional and unconscious means of evil to another, the height of injustice. But the Judge quoted an Act of Parliament, and instanced the case of a brick falling on a man's head from the hand of a bricklayer, to shew that he thereby incurred the guilt of manslaughter. He did so; at the same time ours may or may not be a parallel case, and the use and office of a Jury is to discriminate in these matters between good and bad intentions, and between crime and accident. A brick may be thrown with an intention to kill, which would be murder; with a degree of carelessness for the safety of others, which would properly constitute manslaughter, and call for punishment. On the other hand, the brick might drop from the labourer's hod by mere accident; or, by rebounding from a spot of apparent safety, and, flying in pieces, reach a person coming in the way unexpectedly. In either of these latter cases I should acquit, and I, therefore, cannot conscientiously do otherwise in the case before us. Well, I should like to bring in a verdict that will satisfy the court. I trust we shall first think of satisfying ourselves. But you know the Judge said the law is clear, and that our verdict must be Guilty. He did so; but I trust there are not many of us disposed to defer quite so much to his Lordship's directions as to forget the purpose for which we are appointed; viz. to determine for ourselves-this the prisoner has a right to expect of us. There is no need, however, to run counter to the Judge's opinion; for he tells us that all the circumstances shall be taken into account, and that the punishment will be lenient. Very true; and I am glad of this opportunity of discussing the duties and asserting the rights of Juries in a case where the result is not of sufficient importance to influence our decision, and particularly as no political or party feeling is involved in the question, which, with us, seems to be merely whether our own opinion or the Judge's direction is to govern the verdict, for there can be no other motive than deference to the Judge for giving this boy over to be punished, while we are all convinced he does not deserve it. Besides, I have always understood the laws to be founded in reason, and intended to afford protection as well as to inflict punishment; but if substantial justice and the spirit of the laws are to be made subservient to technical constructions, then the Jury should consist of lawyers. You are quite right: it is not necessary that Jurors should be lawyers to enable them to form a correct estimate of evidence, or to come at the true intent and meaning of a plain Act of Parliament; they are, therefore, taken promiscuously from the mass of citizens, on the reasonable presumption that twelve men, so impannelled, must be a fair sample of the intellect and probity belonging to the community; and all that is required of them is, that the guilty conduct of an accused person shall appear from the evidence so plain, as to leave no doubt in the mind of any one of the twelve before they venture to pronounce him guilty. But admitting that the Judge, from his greater experience, may occasionally throw light upon any part of the evidence that may seem obscure, you would not reject his explanations, merely because they came from the bench. Certainly not; but I should always guard against being influenced by his or any other opinion when opposed to my own, and should value his explanations of evidence, and quotations of law, only so far as I myself might be convinced of the correctness of the one, and of the reasonable application of the other. What makes the Judge's directions at present so extraordinary too, is, that he himself allows that no one can impute any criminal design to the lad, and the witnesses give him so excellent a character, that really I for one should be very glad to save him from prison if it can be done. Well, he is in your hands, and if this be your impression, what should hinder you from acting upon it? It is wholly our affair, and surely we who with Notes of a Consultation of a Jury on a late Trial. are appointed to try the accusation should feel no difficulty in saying must not, when it is dictated by our deliberate judgment? I see that is our proper course-the Jury, and the Jury only, are the persons to decide the question of guilt, and had we exercised our own judgment upon the evidence from the first, we should not have hesitated about acquitting him; but the Judge's charge confounded us. The boy thought no more of doing mischief, than as though his piece had been pointed against a rock. His friends should not have entrusted fire-arms in the hands of one with so little experience; and I am persuaded, that if punishment is due any where, it is to them. I cannot help remarking, that if premeditation is necessary to crime, that it was completely disproved in this instance by the witnesses themselves, who proved the fact; and the impression upon my mind, when the evidence closed, was, that we must acquit him; but when the Judge laid it down as the law, and charged us so positively to bring him in guilty, I thought we could not do otherwise. Well, I confess my impression was the same throughout the trial, and the Judge's charge really surprised me; but being in possession of his exposition of the law, I am still not satisfied about acquitting him. Then, Gentlemen, what is the use of our hearing evidence? If that is not to guide us, we may as well wait here during the next trial, and let the Judge send us directions for our verdict when it is over. I would really advise those who are so anxious to please the Judge, to take their hats, tell him they are content to leave all to him, and are satisfied he can do quite as well without a Jury. But are we not to attend to the Judge's construction of the laws? When the Judge quotes an Act of Parliament which he considers applicable to any class of crimes, he addresses himself to the Jury for their information; he being more conversant with the laws of course than we can be, but it is the Jury who are to apply it practically and specifically, and their verdict is to be founded upon their own construction and application of the law to the charge laid in 463 the indictment, always keeping in view that it is malicious intention which constitutes crime in law, as well as in morals and common sense. True; and I am quite of opinion that neither the Act quoted by the Judge, nor the punishment annexed to the crime of manslaughter, can apply to this boy's case, which is one of accident and not of crime. The indictment charges him with feloniously killing, to which the Act and the Indictment relate; now the evidence proves that it was purely accident, which I think you, Gentlemen, will not call felony, however the lawyers may construe the word. I agree with you, and I think it would be doing an injustice to the boy to convict him; he is a well-disposed boy now, but we all know he would get no good in prison. But the law is answerable for that; and, as I said before, we have nothing to do with the consequences. So unreasonable a construction of the law and of the duties of Jurors, cannot excuse us all for subjecting a well-disposed lad (which every witness allowed him to be) to the contamination of a prison, satisfied as we are, that he is not deserving of punishment. Well, as so many are for an acquittal, I will consent to a verdict of Not Guilty; but I am afraid the Judge will not approve of it. He may not; and it would be certainly more pleasant if we could perform what we conceive to be our duty without differing in opinion with the Judge or any one, because his and our motives may be equally good; but I cannot avoid expressing a hope, that this determination to think and act for ourselves will lead him to dispense with the word must in his future addresses to Juries, although the law and the evidence may appear perfectly clear to him; because we are the persons to try, and there are generally individuals in every pannel who will consider such positive language from the bench as derogating from the true character of Juries, and interfering with their province. Viewing the matter in this light, there appears to me an impropriety in the application of the term directions to a Jury. In my opinion there is. As the word is generally understood, nothing is so degrading to a Jury as to have it supposed they are acting under, or that they yield their conscientious judgment to, any directions whatever. SIR, Bristol, rapidly becoming worse; paying the interest of the debt on their church became oppressive to them, and they could offer nothing towards the sup port of a new minister, when one whose merits we can never too highly appreciate, was raised up from amongst themselves. Mr. John Ashworth, a woollen-manufacturer, undertook the WILL you allow me room in office without a prospect of pecuniary your valuable publication, to bring to the recollection of your readers, the very praiseworthy and interesting congregation who assemble to worship one God in one Person, at Newchurch, Rossendale, in Lancashire, and to set before them some particulars of their present situation? It must be fresh in the remembrance of many, that within the last twenty years they were all Wesleian Methodists; but, under the guidance of their honest and inquiring minister Mr. Cooke, were step by step, without being themselves aware of it, led on to more rational, and, as we esteem them, more scriptural doctrines. Though dependent upon his profession for a maintenance, this lover of truth persevered in a careful examination of the sacred writings; and zealously instructing his hearers according to his own convictions, was far on his way towards Unitarianism, though he had not reached it, when called to a severe account, and dismissed from the Methodist connexion. A large number of his flock were attached to him, and to the doctrines they had heard him deliver, and these, separating themselves from the rest, chiefly with borrowed money, erected the chapel at Newchurch. The painful struggle which he had gone through, and the harsh usage he had received, was more than the tender frame of Mr. Cooke could sustain, -he fell into a decline, and died soon after; bearing witness to the last, in the cause for which he had sacrificed his little share of this world's goods, believing it to be the cause of Christian truth; and in full confidence committing his widow and helpless infants to the Almighty Protector, who never forsaketh those who trust in him. The congregation then, as it now does, consisted entirely of persons getting their living by hard labour. Trade, in consequence of the war, was recompence. How well qualified he was for the undertaking, the general good conduct, the increase, and the regular attendance of the congrega tion, together with the high estima tion in which he is held wherever known, will best testify. When he and his people became known to the late excellent Dr. Thomson of Leeds, an annual stipend of 121. was by that gentleman obtained for him, from what is termed "Lady Hewley's Fund;" but with a disinterested libe rality not often equalled, he declared his determination regularly to appropriate the money to the necessary expenses of the chapel, or the gradual extinction of the debt. When this "little flock" of worshipers of Him who is One and his Name One, was made known through the medium of the Repository to the Unitarian public, much interest was excited, and a subscription raised which reduced their debt to less than 1007. Had the times been less unfavourable, it would, no doubt, ere now have been done away. But, notwithstanding the good management of their pastor, the necessary repairs and regular expenses attendant upon carrying on worship, and providing for the early instruction of the young, has hitherto prevented its being brought under half the above-mentioned sum. The case of this exemplary congregation was, in the course of the last year, laid before the members of the Bristol Fellowship Fund, and in addition to the particulars just related, they were informed that a Sundayschool, consisting of 200 children, who were taught reading, writing and accounts, was carried on in the body of the chapel; that not only all things necessary for this were furnished free of expense to the parents, but a library of well-selected tracts, &c., was added for the use of the scholars, many of whom took great delight in reading. Some of the oldest of these State of Religious Inquiry amongst Quakers. it was mentioned, were growing up, had taken sittings in the gallery, and by their conduct did credit to the instruction which had been bestowed upon them. Considering that all this was done by persons who gain their daily bread by the labour of their hands, and who, till within a few past months, could with difficulty procure a sufficiency of the necessaries of life, such exertions could not but be deemed most worthy of encouragement and assistance, and the sum of 10. was unanimously voted towards the liquidation of their debt. A short time before the meeting of our Fellowship Fund in May last, Mr. Ashworth, in a private communication to a friend here, mentioned that the Sunday-school had so much increased, that there was not room sufficient for teaching in the bottom of the chapel, and himself and his friends being convinced that money could not be better bestowed, had come to a resolution of removing this difficulty, though in so doing they must considerably increase their debt. He added, that it was no small proof of the estimation in which the people held the religious instruction of their children, that they had raised more than 301. amongst themselves, towards defraying the expense of the proposed alterations. 465 solved to take down one end, inclose a bit of ground, which is their own, adjoining it, and gallery it across. The expense of doing this (not less than 2001.) he owns is large, when compared with their very small means; but he feels convinced that it ought to be incurred, that the objects in view call upon them to encounter it,-and though disposed most thankfully to accept of assistance, he does not wait for the assurance of it, but has actually begun the work, trusting in the liberality of his brethren, and still more in the blessing of that Great Being, to promote whose holy worship, and more widely to diffuse a knowledge of whose righteous laws, this exertion is made. This statement was most favourably received, and not only unanimously, but I may almost say by acclamation, the sum of 201. was voted to the Rossendale congregation. Should other Funds in proportion to their means, and individuals also, "do likewise," these highly meritorious people will be happily relieved from a heavy load of debt, which must otherwise lie on them, and cripple their praiseworthy and most useful efforts in the noblest of all causes. Few of your readers I am persuaded will hesitate to say with me, that ""Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished." Should it be effected, it will be a cause of heartfelt satisfaction to, Sir, SIR, Yours respectfully, MARY HUGHES. This letter was read at the meeting, and a very general wish to give some further assistance warmly manifested. A sum was mentioned by one of the committee, when another member proposed that the business should be suspended till further particulars were May 20, 1822. obtained, and that if these were suchy hands for perusal, by a very HE following letter was put into as we anticipated, we might then, by setting a liberal example, and stating their case to our brethren at large, hope to induce other Fellowship Funds and individuals who are able and willing to help in so good a work, to come forward and do something effectual for their relief. This plan was agreed upon, Mr. Ashworth applied to, and his answer laid before the next meeting. It informed us that the Sunday scholars then amounted to nearly 300, and that, to make the necessary room for their accommodation, and also to increase the number of sittings in the chapel, which was likewise highly desirable, they had re my respectable member of the Society of Friends, from whom I afterwards obtained leave to copy it, and satisfactory evidence of its authenticity. I withhold the name and residence of the writer, that I might not be the means of exposing him to the inquisitorial visits of busy and injudicious disciplinarians. The Society of Friends is, I trust, nevertheless, gradually learning to estimate more justly the vast importance and real value of those great principles of Revealed Religion which are plainly laid down in the Scriptures, and on which all Christians are agreed, when compared with the pro |