The Westport Times AND CHARLESTON ARGUS. MONDAY, MARCH 23, 1868.

Westport Times, Volume II, Issue 201, 23 March 1868, Page 2

The Westport Times AND CHARLESTON ARGUS. MONDAY, MARCH 23, 1868.

Evert age has produced some man of note, whose far seeing wisdom, has established some institution, or has perpetuated some public good, by which his name has been handed down to posterity, and has left as Longfellow so beautifully expresses it" Footprints on the sands of time," by which Ave are even now guided, and by which we are incited to good actions, even though they may entail some amount of trouble, and labor on ourselves. One of these stepping stones of history was King Alfred the Great, who, judging him by the standard of the age in which he lived, was by far the greatest r.-oiiarch England ever produced. Living at a time when it demanded the price of a goodly estate, to purchase a book, and when wars throughout the southern portion of England, engaged his attention both as prince, and King, we find that he had time to introduce a desire for learning throughout his dominions, and to inaugurate reforms in.the literary, and legal world which to this day are lasting monuments of his genius. The greatest work of his> reign however, and the one which has conferred the greatest boon on Englishmen, was the institution by him of the trial by jury. The old city of Winchester, so famous in the early annals of English history, possesses no more interesting relic to an Englishman, than the barn-like building where the first trial by jury was held, and where the first of the many birthrights of his country was launched on the world. The duties of a juryman are of the highest order, and nothing we possess theliberty of thepress included is such a bulwark of freedom, a noble inheritance, or such a glorious privilege as the trial by jury. "We do not dispute that many thick-headed and obstinate, nay even dishonest jurors are to be found, who by their stupidity or chicanery nullify the good effects of the law, but they are the exception—not the rule, and any man who has to stand his trial knows that his fate depends, not on his counsel or his judge, so much as on the twelve men who are deciding his fate, and by their impartiality and right-mindedness prevent bias or injustice. The right of a prisoner or otherwise to challenge a juror is well known, and one has the satisfaction of knowing, that the men comprising the jury are socially of no better standing than one's self. The list of jurors for Westport, now hangs on the Court-House door, and next month the first Court with trial by jury will be held here; many days have passed by, and history has recorded many strange events since the first jury met in Winchester, but the principle of the institution is the same, and every trial by jury is but another poean in honor of King Alfred, the founder of the institution. We are led to these remarks by the indifference—nay, dislike, by which the generality of people in the colonies receive the tidings that their name is on the jury list. The fact of their being chosen to exercise this important function of citizenship is an unpleasant one, and every kind of sub-

terfuge is tried, to rid one's self of the necessity of serving. We admit that it is irksome to be called away from business, and as it will frequently happeu at the most inopportune time, still it is for a necessary duty, and if we find the task a bore, let us bear it for the good it has done to others, may do to ourselves, and will ultimately do to thousands of our fellow creatures. But above all, we would impress on those men whose position entitles them to serve in the jury, that it is by their uprightness and fearlessness that the sufferings of their fellow-man is ameliorated, and by their painstaking trouble that justice is meted out. In our recollection in a murder case in these colonies, some of the members of the jury who brought the man in guilty, boasted afterwards that they had given in their verdict against their convictions, to enable them to get home to their business, and their families. Fortunately, in the case referred to, the Crown thought fit to commute the sentence, and the man still lingers in gaol. Do these dishonest jurors ever feel compunction at this crime; we hope they do, and that those of ourselves who will have the privilege of ssrving on the jury, will act uprightly, and let neither fear or favor bias us in arriving at our conviction, which must be on the evidence at the trial, and not on what the world wishes, or as our own private feelings will often dictate. In a few weeks, the privilege will be ours for the first time in Westport, and let us conjure those whose names are on the list, to try and put aside all outside policy, and with truth and impartiality mete out to others that justice which they hope to have meted to themselves; and whilst convicting the guilty, be sure to remember that the poor are not always wrong, and that the defendant in a civil action is not always a rogue, and that it rests with them whether truth or falsehood, might or right shall prevail.