All the
difference between the former courts and the latter undoubtedly
was, that, in the former, the juries had the benefit of the
advice and assistance of the justices, which would, of course, be
considered valuable in difficult cases, on account of the
justices being regarded as more learned, not only in the laws of
the king, but also in the common law, or "law of the land."
The conclusion, therefore, I think, inevitably must be, that
neither the laws of the king, nor the instructions of his
justices, had any authority over jurors beyond what the latter
saw fit to accord to them. And this view is confirmed by this
remark of Hallam, the truth of which all will acknowledge:
"The rules of legal decision, among a rude people, are always
very simple; not serving much to guide, far less to control the
feelings of natural equity." 2 Middle Ages, ch. 8, part 2, p. 465.
It is evident that it was in this way, by the free and concurrent
judgments of juries, approving and enforcing certain laws and
rules of conduct, corresponding to their notions of right and
justice, that the laws and customs, which, for the most part,
made up the common law, and were called, at that day, "the
good laws, and good customs," and "the law of the land," were
established.
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