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Diets, the French and English Parliaments, &c. first created. These institutions may be termed the truly Grand Juries of the human race. While they preserved their privileges, the people preserved their liberty; They investigated and regulated every momentous transaction with the utmost acuteness, ability, liberality, and patriotism. And the verdicts they gave were commonly the most proper, equitable, and unbiassed.
The British Parliament, my Lord, is the only remaining vestige in the world of those national juries, that now stands upon a stable and unweakened foundation. The jurors it contains are chosen by the people, to fit, hear, and redress every grievance, by their special and general verdict, which they deliver to the Sovereign Judge, for his final declaration. But does he ever question their right to deliver a general verdict in all cafes whatsoever? The Sovereign on the throne is in many respects similar to the Judge on the bench It is his business to declare the law, and he must leave his jurors
