The juries
no longer represented "the country," but only a part of the
country; that part, too, on whose favor the government chose to
rely for the maintenance of its power, and which it therefore saw
fit to select as being the most reliable instruments for its
purposes of oppression towards the rest. And the selection was
made on the same principle, on which tyrannical governments
generally select their supporters, viz., that of conciliating
those who would be most dangerous as enemies, and most
powerful as friends that is, the wealthy. [6]
These restrictions, or indeed any one of them, of the right of
eligibility as jurors, was, in principle, a complete abolition of
the English constitution; or, at least, of its most vital and
valuable part. It was, in principle, an assertion of a right, on
the part of the government, to select the individuals who were to
determine the authority of its own laws, and the extent of its own
powers. It was, therefore, in effect, the assertion of a right, on
the part of the government itself, to determine its own powers,
and the authority of its own legislation, over the people; and a
denial of all right, on the part of the people, to judge of or
determine their own liberties against the government.
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