Whether the cause should be tried with or without a
jury, would depend, in a great number of cases, on the accidental
situation of the court and parties.
But this is not, in my estimation, the greatest objection. I feel a deep
and deliberate conviction that there are many cases in which the trial
by jury is an ineligible one. I think it so particularly in cases which
concern the public peace with foreign nations -- that is, in most cases
where the question turns wholly on the laws of nations. Of this nature,
among others, are all prize causes. Juries cannot be supposed competent
to investigations that require a thorough knowledge of the laws and
usages of nations; and they will sometimes be under the influence of
impressions which will not suffer them to pay sufficient regard to those
considerations of public policy which ought to guide their inquiries.
There would of course be always danger that the rights of other nations
might be infringed by their decisions, so as to afford occasions of
reprisal and war. Though the proper province of juries be to determine
matters of fact, yet in most cases legal consequences are complicated
with fact in such a manner as to render a separation impracticable.
Pages:
844
845
846
847
848
849
850
851
852
853
854
855
856
857
858
859
860
861
862
863
864
865
866
867
868