The sources of An Essay on the Trial by Jury

1. History of England Lingard 10 authority · 4 neutral 14 citations · 21 passages

   ch. 7 6 passages anchored here · ch. 8 · ch. 9 · ch. 12 · ch. 13 4 passages anchored here · ch. 20 2 passages anchored here · ch. 23 6 passages anchored here

   Lingard is explicitly named and quoted as an authority on the Witena-gemote's role in legislation.

   “It was necessary that the king should obtain the assent of these (the members of the Witena-gemotes) to all legislative enactments;

2. Magna Carta King John of England 8 authority · 1 neutral 9 citations · 22 passages

   ch. 2 · ch. 6 · ch. 7 · ch. 8 2 passages anchored here · ch. 14 5 passages anchored here · ch. 15 4 passages anchored here · ch. 16 2 passages anchored here · appendix.↩, taxation.↩

   and 1 more chapter

   ch. 23 5 passages anchored here

   Magna Carta is repeatedly invoked as the authoritative charter confirming pre-existing jury rights.

   In such cases, the principle of Magna Carta unquestionably is, that the uniform judgments of successive juries shall prevail over the opinion of the court.

3. Commentaries on the Laws of England William Blackstone 6 authority · 1 neutral 7 citations · 30 passages

   ch. 7 · ch. 8 3 passages anchored here · ch. 9 8 passages anchored here · ch. 20 3 passages anchored here · ch. 23 15 passages anchored here

   Blackstone's Commentaries is quoted repeatedly as the leading authority on English court structure and the courts of conscience.

   “Among the most remarkable of the Saxon laws we may reckon * * the election of their magistrates by the people, originally even that of their kings, till dear-bought experience evinced the convenience and necessity of establishing an hereditary succession to the crown.

4. Mirror of Justices unknown medieval author 6 authority · 1 endorsed 7 citations · 19 passages

   ch. 5 · ch. 7 4 passages anchored here · ch. 8 3 passages anchored here · ch. 9 2 passages anchored here · ch. 15 6 passages anchored here · ch. 16 2 passages anchored here · ch. 23

   Explicitly named as a source Coke relies upon, itself treated as an authority.

   The Mirror of Justices, (written within a century after Magna Carta,) in the section “Of Judges”—that is, jurors—says:

5. David Hume 4 authority · 2 neutral 6 citations · 15 passages

   ch. 4 · ch. 9 2 passages anchored here · ch. 20 6 passages anchored here · ch. 23 6 passages anchored here

   Hume's account is explicitly quoted to corroborate the claim about royal legislative power.

   Hume calls the trial by jury “An institution admirable in itself, and the best calculated for the preservation of liberty and the administration of justice, that ever was devised by the wit of man.

6. View of the State of Europe during the Middle Ages Henry Hallam 3 authority · 1 refuted · 1 endorsed 5 citations · 25 passages

   ch. 7 3 passages anchored here · ch. 8 3 passages anchored here · ch. 23 19 passages anchored here

   Hallam is quoted twice as a confirming authority on medieval court composition and legal simplicity.

   “In the succeeding reign of John, all the rapacious exactions usual to these Norman kings were not only redoubled, but mingled with outrages of tyranny still more intolerable.

7. History of English Law Crabbe 4 authority 4 citations · 11 passages

   ch. 8 8 passages anchored here · ch. 9 · ch. 23 2 passages anchored here

   Crabbe's history is quoted twice as authority on jury practice in different historical periods.

   “The sheriff presided at the hundred court, * * and sometimes sat in the place of the alderman (earl) in the county court.

8. History of Great Britain Robert Henry 3 authority · 1 endorsed 4 citations · 7 passages

   ch. 7 2 passages anchored here · ch. 8 2 passages anchored here · ch. 23 3 passages anchored here

   Henry is quoted as authority describing jurors as sworn judicial assessors.

   “As the aldermen, or earls, were always chosen” (by the people) “from among the greatest thanes, who in those times were generally more addicted to arms than to letters, they were but ill-qualified for the administration of justice, and performing the civil duties of their office.

9. Rise and Progress of the English Commonwealth Francis Palgrave 4 authority 4 citations · 13 passages

   ch. 8 3 passages anchored here · ch. 23 10 passages anchored here

   Explicitly named and quoted at length as a source of legal-historical authority.

   It was the practice of appointing justiciars to represent the king’s person, to hold his court, to decide his pleas, to dispense justice on his behalf, to command the military levies, and to act as conservators of the peace in the king’s name.

10. Dictionary Bailey 3 neutral 3 citations

    ch. 23 3 passages anchored here

    Bailey's dictionary definition is simply reported as one authority among several.

    ”—Bailey’s Dict.

11. Institutes of the Laws of England Coke 1 authority · 2 refuted 3 citations · 10 passages

    ch. 23 10 passages anchored here

    Coke's Institutes are cited repeatedly as authoritative legal commentary on Magna Carta's terms.

    Coke, in his exposition of the words legem terræ, gives quite in detail the principles of the common law governing arrests;

12. Law Dictionary Bouvier 1 authority · 2 neutral 3 citations · 5 passages

    ch. 23 5 passages anchored here

    Bouvier's dictionary definition is simply reported as one authority among several.

    Tomlin says, “The ancient practice was, when any such fine was imposed, to inquire by a jury quantum inde regi dare valeat per annum, salva sustentatione sua et uxoris et liberorum suorum, (how much is he able to give to the king per annum, saving his own maintenance, and that of his wife and children).

13. George Crabbe 2 authority 2 citations

    ch. 20 · ch. 23

    Crabbe is quoted as an authority for the claim that the charter contained only confirmatory common law.

    Crabbe says, “It is admitted on all hands that it (Magna Carta) contains nothing but what was confirmatory of the common law and the ancient usages of the realm;

14. James Mackintosh 2 neutral 2 citations

    ch. 23 2 passages anchored here

    Named directly as a reference source in p-8d09bb.

    Mackintosh’s Hist.

15. James Tyrrell 1 authority · 1 neutral 2 citations · 7 passages

    ch. 8 6 passages anchored here · ch. 23

    Tyrrell is quoted twice as authority on early Saxon judicial organization and law.

    in which, the freeholders being judges, such causes were brought as could not be determined in the Hundred court.

16. Blackstone's Commentaries Blackstone 2 authority 2 citations · 3 passages

    ch. 12 2 passages anchored here · ch. 15

    Introduced with 'Blackstone also says' and quoted as authoritative evidence.

    “It is agreed by all our historians that the Great Charter of King John was, for the most part, compiled from the ancient customs of the realm, or the laws of Edward the Confessor;

17. Cabinet Cyclopaedia Dionysius Lardner 2 neutral 2 citations

    ch. 23 2 passages anchored here

    Named directly as a reference source in p-8d09bb.

    45 Lardner’s Cab.

18. Commentaries on American Law James Kent 1 authority · 1 endorsed 2 citations · 3 passages

    ch. 5 · ch. 23 2 passages anchored here

    Explicitly cited by name and volume/page as adopting the interpretation.

    Kent, describing the difficulty of construing the written law, says:

19. Constitution of the United States Framers of the United States Constitution 1 authority · 1 neutral 2 citations

    section ii.↩ · ch. 14

    Explicit citation of named constitutional clauses to support the argument.

    This right of resistance is recognized by the constitution of the United States, as a strictly legal and constitutional right.

20. De Republica Anglorum Sir Thomas Smith 2 authority 2 citations · 5 passages

    ch. 8 2 passages anchored here · ch. 9 3 passages anchored here

    Sir Thomas Smith is quoted as authority contrasting the civil-law judge with the English jury of twelve men.

    “The clerk giveth the juror an oath to go uprightly betwixt the prince and the prisoner.

21. Glossary Henry Spelman 2 authority 2 citations

    ch. 9 · ch. 23

    Named directly among the sources for the earliest oath.

    The earliest oath that I have found prescribed by law to be administered to jurors is in the laws of Ethelred, (about the year 1015,) which require that the jurors “shall swear, with their hands upon a holy thing, that they will condemn no man [86] that is innocent, nor acquit any that is guilty.

22. Historical View of the English Government John Millar 2 authority 2 citations

    ch. 23 2 passages anchored here

    Millar's work is quoted directly on the origin of circuit judgeships.

    These judges of the circuit, however, never obtained an ordinary jurisdiction, but continued, on every occasion, to derive their authority from two special commissions:

23. History of the Common Law Matthew Hale 2 authority 2 citations · 4 passages

    ch. 9 2 passages anchored here · ch. 23 2 passages anchored here

    Named directly as author of the quoted oath statement.

    “Then twelve, and no less, of such as are indifferent and are returned upon the principal panel, or the tales, are sworn to try the same according to the evidence.

24. Laws of the Anglo-Saxons David Wilkins 1 authority · 1 neutral 2 citations · 3 passages

    ch. 9 · ch. 23 2 passages anchored here

    Named directly as a source for the Ethelred oath.

    For all these codes see Wilkins’ Laws of the Anglo-Saxons.

129 sources are named once. Each stands in the run of its own chapter, below — in the order of the text.