Page:England's alarm!.djvu/19

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Carta, it is more than once insisted on as the principal bulwark of British liberties; but especially by chap. 29, "That no freeman shall be hurt in either his person or property, nisi per legale judicium parium suorum vel per legem terræ;" a privilege which is couched in almost the same words with that of the Emperor Conrad, two hundred years before: "Nemo beneficium suum perdat, nisi secundum consuetudinem antecessorum nostrorum et per judicium parium suum." And it was ever esteemed in all countries a privilege of the highest and most beneficial nature. The more it is searched into and understood, the more it is sure to be valued: And this is a species of knowledge most absolutely necessary for every gentleman in the kingdom; as well because he may be frequently called upon to determine in this capacity the rights of others, his fellow-subjects, as because his own property, his liberty, and his life, depend upon maintaining, in its legal force, the constitutional trial by jury." Again, "The trial by jury has ever been, and I trust ever will be looked upon as the glory of the

English