THE DAILY EVENIKQ TKLKOR A PHPHILADELriH A . FRIDAY, JANUARY 21, 1870.-
THE FEMtUAllY MAGAZINES.
THE ArmTlO."
TiiYmsr A Co. m ud iih tho February number
of tlio -Alliiutk, which 1ms tbe following table
of content: 1 v
"Joseph and bis Friend," II 5 "Ilhyme
' Hlayeth Hbauio ;" "The Pressure upon (!on
Kren;" "Qnaff;" "Winter Woods;" "The
'Value of Accident;" "Father Meriel's Bell;"
"Itihk;" "The Street-Cries of New York;"
"Among tho Isles of Shoals," III t "Tli Way
to King;" "Life in the lirick Moon;" "Wo
Leo, and Lis Kinsfolk 5" "Edwin M. Stanton;"
"lie views and Literary Notices."
From tbe paper entitled "The Pressure
upon CoDgrenH," we quote as follows:
A good deal of precious time is consumod
by Congress in misgoverning the District of
Columbia, or in doing just enough to prevent
the people of the District from governing
themselves. 'Who invented the District of
Columbia? Why a District of Columbia?
It is a joke in 'Washington, that for sixty-five
years, Congress voted fifteen hundred dollars 1
every sewnon for tho salary of tho "keoper of
the crypt," because no member had the moral
courage to confesshis ignorance of the meaning
of tho word. The jokers say thai many mem
bers thought it was some mysterious object,
like the mace, without which Congress would
not be Congress. Certain it is that the money
was voted without question every year, until
in 1808 the item caught the eye of General
Butler, and he asked members of tho Com
mittee on Appropriations what it meant.
No one being able to tell him, he went
down forthwith into the crypt of tho Capitol
in search of its "keeper." No such
officer was known in those subterranean
regions. After a prolonged inquiry, he dis
covered that aoon after the death of General
Washington, when it was expected that his
remains would be deposited in the crypt
nndur the dome, Congress created the office
in question, for the better .protection of the
sacred vault. Mrs. Washington refusing her
consent, the crypt remained vacant; but the
office was not abolished, and tho appropria
tion passed unchallenged until General
Sutler made his inquiry, when it was stricken
otlt. Is not our District of Columbia a
similar case ? The district is , instilled
into the tender mind of infancy, and ire
have all taken it for granted. But what need
is there of depriving a portion of the Ameri
can people of part of their rights, or of com
pelling them to travel across a continent to
vote ? Why use an apparatus so costly, com
plicated, and cumbersome as the Congress of
the United Statos to get a little paving done
in Pennsylvania avenue, or some soup given
out to a few hundred hungry negroes ? Do
California and Oregon send members across
the continent to attend to the lump-posts of a
country town ? Aje honorable gentlemen to
travel all tho way from the extremity of
Florida or the farthest confines of Texas to
order some new boards to be nailed down on
the Long Bridge ?
Unable to answer such questions as these,
or get them answered, I thought that possi
bly there might bo some military advantage
arising from he system, which would serve as
an offset to its manifest inconveniences.
But the jurisdiction of Congress did not pre
vent officers of a hostile army from walking
into the White House one very warm day in
the summer of 1814, and eating Mrs. Madi
son s excellent dinner, while the soldiers
under their command wero ravaging the
town and burning the Capitol. Nor was it
the authority of Congress
the Confederate army on the
of . the Potomao after the
Bull Bun. No harm appears to
that kept
other side
battle of
have come
from giving back to Virginia the forty square
miles which she contributed to the original
hundred; and I cannot think of any evil or
any inconvenience that would result if Con
gress were to restore to Maryland her sixty,
and pay taxes on the property of the
United States, like any other guardian or
trustee.
This is a matter of much importance, be
cause there seems to be some danger of the
Government's repeating the stupendous folly
of creating a Federal city. No less distin
. guished a person than General Sherman ap
pears to take it for granted that there is some
, necessity for the Government to be sove
. reign . in a little principality around the
, public edifices. "In my opinion," he lately
wrote, "if the capital is changed
from Washington to the West, a new place
will be chosen on the Mississippi river, seve
ral hundred miles above St. Louis.
I have interests in St. Louis, and if allowed
- to vote on this question, I would vote against
mrrendering St. Louis city and county, with
its vast commercial and manufacturing in
terests, to the exclusive jurisdiction of a Con
gress that would take these interests subordi
nate to the mere political uses of a Federal
capital. Nor would any National Congress
make tho capital where it had not exclusive
' and absolute jurisdiction for its Own protec
tion and that of the employes of the Govern
ment. Therefore, if the capital be moved at
all, it must go to a place willing to surrender
its former character and become a seoond
Washington City."
This is an appalling prospect for posterity
a second Washington City! I could wish
that General Sherman had given some reasons
for his assumption; for while tbe good re
sulting from the jurisdiction of Congress is
not apparent, the evils are manifest. The
arriving stranger, who usually has the pain of
riding a mile of two on Pennsylvania avenue,
naturally asks why that celebrated street is so
ill paved, so dusty, so ill lighted. It is one of
tne wiaest streets . m tne world; and as
it runs two miles without a bend and without
a MIL the winds rushing along it from the
distant gap in the mountains raise clouds of
dust that are wonderful to behold and terrible
to encounter. At other times the street is so
muddy that people call a carriage to take
them across. In the evening the whole city
is dim, dismal, and dangerous from the short
supply of gas. Ladies who intend to give a
party endeavor to select an evening when
there will be no evening session; because
when the Capitol is lighted the gasworks are
bo overtasked that every drawing-room in the
city is dull. The dilapidation of the bridges,
. the neglected appearance of the public
squares, tne general snaubiness and sprawl
ing incoinplettsncKS of the town, stiike every
one' who comes from tho trim and Vigor
ous cities of tho North. In things of m-r
importance there is equal inefficiency. Since
the war closedWashington has been a poverty
stricken place. The war gathered there seve
ral thousand of poor people, who became in
stantly helpless and miserable when the army
was withdrawn, with its train of sutlers,
storekeepers, embalmers, and miscellaneous
hangers-on. In one of the lost weeks of the
last session I remember the business of the
nation was brought to a stand while a mem,
ber coaxed and begged a small appropriation
from Congress to keep several hundreds of
colored people from starving. I myself saw
. the soup-houses surrounded by ragged, shiver
ing wretches, with their pails and kettles,
Won alter tea in, the matoft Although tlif
sowri yiH nfif jjjulribjfifed until twelve. Wash
ington j hern'g peopled chielly by under-p lid
clerks and tlnnr worse puid chiefs, the
charity 6f Hfe'VOy was even more overtasked
than its gfis works: and there seotned no way
in which those peor people could be saved
from starvation, except by a gift of publio
money national money the property of
Maine, Oregon. Florida, California, and the
other States. The absurdity of the act was
undeniable; but when human beings are
seen to be in the agonies of starvation, con
stitutional scruples generally give way. Con
gress might just as properly have voted thirty
thousand dollars to relieve the sufforing poor
of San Francisco. The accidental proximity
of those perishing people gave them no claim
upon the national treasury which the poor of
other cities did not possess.
The stranger, I repeat, observing these and
many other evidences of iuelficient govern
ment, naturally aidts an explanation. The
explanation is, that the unhappy city has two
governments, namely, Congress, and it own
Mayor and. Aldermen one Very rich and
close, the other very poor and heavily
burdened with expense. Between these two
powers there is a chronic ill-feoling, similar
to that which might exist between a rich uncle
and a married nephew with a large family and
many wants both living in the same house.
The old man is under the impression that ho
makes his nephew a munificent allowance, to
which he adds Christmas and other gifts on
what he considers aJiberal scale.. His -numerous
other heirs and dependants share this
opinion. They even reproach him for his
lavish benefactions. They go so far as to say
that he ought not to have paid that last heavy
plumbing bill for letting the water into the
house. The young man,on the other hand, so far
from being grateful for his uncle's generosity,
is always grumbling at his parsimony; and
every time an unusual expense has to be in
curred there is a struggle and a wrangle be
tween them as to which shall pay it. "Pay it
out of your income," says Uncle Sam. "No,
my dear sir; this is a permanent addition to
your estate," replies the nephew. "You re
quire me," he continues, "for your own con
venience and advantage, to reside in this
huge, rambling, expensive mansion, far away
from towns and markets; and I am thus
compelled to live on a scale which is out of
all proportion to my slender means. It is
but fair that you should help me
out." Tho old gentleman assents to the
principle; but he never can be brought
to como down as handsomely as the young
nephew feels he ought. Hence, the feud be
tween the two.
This state of things a injurious to both;
but to the city government it is demoraliza
tion and, paralysis. After many years of silent
and of vocal strife, there has come about a
kind of "understanding" that Congress is to
"take core" of Pennsylvania avenue, and the
city government is to do all the test. But
the real object of Htrife appears to be, which
government shall most completely neglect
the duty assigned it; and encb excuses its
neglect by pointing to the inefficiency of the
other. The remedy appears simple and
feasible. Lot Congress restore to Maryland
her sixty square miles, and pay taxos on the
national property. By this inexpensive expe
dient, Congress would get rid of tbe trouble
some task of misgoverning a small princi
pality, and the city government would be
put upon its good behavior, and supplied
1 he question-of the removal of the capital
is scarcely ripe, even for serious consideration,
since we cannot know for ten years or more
what effects will be produced by the Pacifio-
rauroadp, built and to be built; nor whether
the country is to extend northward, south
ward, in both directions, or in neither. If
Canada is to "come in," then Mr. Seward
may be right in his conjecture that the final
capital of the United States will be some
where near the city of St. Paul. If Cuba is
to be ours, if the other large islands of the
West Indies are to follow, if we aro to dig the
Darien Canal, and tho United States is to
compete with Great Britain for the commerce
of the world, then the future capital may pro
perly be tin Atlantio Beaport, New York per
haps. If we are to, take upon ourselves the
grievous burden of Mexico, and extend our
empire along the Pacific coast, then some
central city yet to be created may be
the predestined ' spot.' ' 'If none of these
things is'fco .-happen'-''the'- beautiful and
commodious J city, of ' SU' Louis presents
almost every advantage that can be
desired. Many years must probably elapse
before any of these if are out of the way.
In the meantime no reason appears why Con
gress should not gladly permit the people re
siding in the District of Columbia to take
care of tl-eir own municipal affairs. There
would then be one committee the less, one
lobby the less, one whole class of ill-defined and
nndelinable claims the less. It would not re
quire ten years of lobbying, under that sys
tem, to get Pennsylvania avenue paved; nor
would Congress have to spend precious time
in providing soup for the poor.
"PUTNAM'S."
The February number of Putnam's Maya
tine has the following table of contents:
- A woman s itignt, a novel, 11, Mary
1 .a1" 4iri.,.:.in "il l vr.
iiiiui) viu euvi i o j
"The Magic Palace," S.
"Won " 1 1 a una Tin vA i r
II. T. Tnckerman;
Fenimore Cooper;
Davis: "Trial by
Jury, W. x. JJavis;
"Father Hyacinthe's Predecessor," W. C.Wil
kinson; "Concerning Charlotte," II, author
of "Still Life in Paris;" "The Afriean Exo
dus," J. M. Cazneau; "American Railway
Travelling," a Cosmopolitan; "Sketches in
Color," HI, Eliz. Kilham; "Wind of the
Southland," A. W. Bellaw; "The Great Ode
at Passamaquoddy," Sidney Hyde; "The
Death Bell," Alfred Ford; "The Story of
Crazy Martha," Henry Coppee, LL. D.;
"Weapons for Combat with Fire,'' C. W.
Wyckoff; "My Notion About the Human
Ear," George W. Bagby; "Brevities;" "llial
mar Jarl," William Wallace Young; "Table
Talk." Charlton T. Lewis;, "Literature at
Home." It. II. Stoddardr "Literature. Science.
and Art JJxroad,"; Bayard -Taylorj, yCurrenjt
Events, rY B. Perkins.
We quote the following articles:
THE MAGIC PALACK, BY S. 1KNIMOUE COOPXB
In the year 1730 tho Empress Anne, niece
of 1' titer the Great, reigned in llussia. Her
court was a cay one, with the kind of hair
I barbarous splendor which shone in the palaces
! of the Czars at that period. The brief autumn
1 of those extreme northern regions was ranidlv
' passing away, and w hile statesmen were knit
ting their brows over political stratagems, or
! military campaigns, for the new year, the
1 courtiers were eagerly planning amusements
to enliven the heavy gloom 01 the long winter,
already drawing near. Balls, masquerades,
concerts, and other entertainments of the
usual courtly routine, were lightly talked
over. But of these the proud gallants and
jewelled dames were very weary. Honest
labor knows of no fatigue so exhausting as
the satiety of idle pleasure. Courtly gayeties
pften beooiue exceedingly dull and wearisome
a lieavy burden, in fact to those most ire
(jucutly taking art U) hem, There fas
cry for novelty. Something original was
needed to throw.. a fresh interest into the
usual amusements. Suddonly a most brilliant
and novel suggestion was made. "
"Let us set winter at defiance !" exclaimed
tbe noblo Alexis Daninlo witch Tatischchew.
"Let front and snow and ice combine to build
a magic palace for the autocrat of the
North!"
The suggestion was received with acclama
tion. The plan was laid before the Empress.
She graciously smiled, and declared herself
charmed with the idea. Lucky Alexis 1 The
Imperial Exchequer was ordered to provide
the necessary funds, and the work began.
Some years earlier, in the year 1732, a
grand military Rpectacle, on an imposing
scale, had been held, during the severest
frosts of the year, on the Neva, then covered
with ice several feet in thickness. The Em
press Anne had held a review of a military
corps of many thousands of men on the river,
On that occasion a large fortress of snow
and ice had been built, attacked, and de
fended, according to regular military tactics;
artillery had been drawn over the ice, cannon
and mortars of heavy calibre had been dis
charged, and the vast icy field held firm under
all this mockery of war. It was now pro
posed to build the Magio Palace of Alexis
Danielowitch in the same way, over the
frozen waters of the Neva.
The site was chosen, and the workmen
begnn their labors. The purest and most
transparent ice of the Neva was chosen for
the quarry; large blocks were then cut and
squared by rule and compass, then carved
with ornamental designs, as carefully and as
skilfully as if they had been so much mar
ble. Ere the walls had been raised many
feet, however, the alarm was given: the ice
beneath had cracked, the foundation
was breaking away ! The noble Alexis
Tatischchew threw on his robes of fur,
and drove to the spot in his sledge. He found
the report correct; tho Neva refused to bear
the weight of his palace. The fortress of 17.J2
hnd probably been built chiefly of snow. The
difficulty was laid before the Empress. She
ordered her new palace to be built on the
lend, and pointed out a spot between her
winter palace and the admiralty, sufficiently
near the Neva to facilitate the transportation
of the novel building material.
On this more favorable ground the work
began anew. Still greater care was taken in
preparing the blocks of ice, which, as in the
first instance, were all quarried from the
Neva. After they had been cut and carved,
with the greatest accuracy, each block was
raised by crane and pulley. At the very
moment of lowering it to its destined
position, a small quantity of water
was thrown on the block below. The
precise quantity of water was regulated as
if it had been so much mortar; if too much
were used, tbe symmetry of the work would
be injured. As the water froze, the different
rows of blocks became so closely connected
together, that, when completed, the whole
building became one compact mass, looking
as if it were chiselled eutire from one icy
mound. The dimensions of this palace were
not large; it was, indeed, a sort of petit Tri-
aiion. ine iront was ntty leet in lengtn,
simple in character, and divided into seven
compartments by pilasters. In six of these
com purl ments were large windows, the frame
work of which was painted to imitate green
marble. The ice took the paint perfectly,
The panes wero thin sheets of ice, beau
tifully tmoolh and transparent as the most
costly glass. The central divison projected,
to represent a uoorway, snrmountea ny a
Roman arch and appropriate architectural
ornaments. On either side of the door stood
a statue of ice, on a high pedestal, and in
front was an approach of several steps. This
apparent door was in reality, however, but
another and a larger window, level with the
floor. An ornamental balustrade surmounted
the front, with an architectural ornament
rising in the centre, above the doorway and
the window on either side of it. The roof
was sloping, and marked in lines, to repra
sent tiles; there were also chimneys, all in ice.
The height of the building was twenty-one
feet; its depth was eighteen feet.
But the palace itself was not the only won
der: the accessories were very complete, and
all so much frost-work. A handsome balus
trade, apparently of marble, with statues and
architectural ornaments, completely sur
rounded the palaco, being eighty-seven feet
in length and thirty-six in width, enclosing a
sort of garden or court, with two handsome
gateways in the rear. It was through these
gateways that the building was approached.
Orange-trees, nearly as high as the building,
bearing fruit and flower, with birds on the
branches, also adorned this court or garden
tree, flower, fruit, leaf, and bird being all
delicately chiselled out of the same magic
marble as the palace itself.
The front approach was guarded by six
cannons, regularly turned and bored; they
stood before the balustrade, three on either
side of the doorway. These were also of ice.
They were of the calibre which usually re
ceives a charge of three pounds of powder.
In addition to these cannons mere was also
10 a I
large mortar on each side of the entrance, off 1
a size prepared tor shells or etgnty pounds.
In advance of these mortars stood two neatly
carved dolphins on pedestals. Still farther in
advance, two pyramids, nearly as high as the
chimneys, had been erected on carved pedes
tals. Each was surmounted by an orna
mental globe, and had an oval windoy in the
centre.
To the left of the palace stood an elephant,
large as life; on his back was a man in a Per
sian dress, while two similar icy figures, one
bearing a lance, stood near the animal. Thus
it was that the approach to the Magic Palace
was guarded by other magic wonders.
Such was the aspect of the famous palace of
ice, when, early in the winter, the Empress
and her court came to admire the work of that
enchanter, the noble Alexis Tatischchew.
The court itself must have been a very curious
spectacle to foreign eyes, so quaint aud
so gorgeous were the peculiar costumes
collected there from different region of
the ' Empire. In no other oouatry of
Europe was there a pomp so Asiatic in
lavish display of gems and jewels, of
(he richest furs and the costliest manufac
tures. The effect was most brilliant. The
palace itself shone like one vast gem of opal,
so perfect was the transparency, and so pecu
liar tbe blue tint of the fabric. Every part
of the building, the statues, the dolphins,
the elephant, every leaf, flower, and bird,
ay, the solid pyramids, the very cannon, were
glittering with the ever-changing brilliancy
of the many-colored prism, with its crimson,
green, golden lights.
As the Empress approached, wonders
increased. A salute was fired from the
icy cannons, and the mortars threw their
shells high in the air ! Yes, real Are and
smoke issued from the magical artillery; and
at the same moment the marble-like elephant
threw up a watery spray higher than the roof
of the palace.
The enchanted portal opened, and the Em
press entered a handsome vestibule, whence
appeared a lofty room, on either side. In- the
dJwing-looiu stood a table, apparently of
I
marble, supporting a handsome clock, whose
icy wheels, daintily cut, were seen beneath
the transparent caRe. Large statues filled
the corners of the room. Settees and
sofas, handsomely carved, stood on
either side; nor , were chairs, footstools,
and 'other smaller pieces of furniture
wanting, The sleeping-room, or what
appeared such, on the opposite side of
the vestibule, was" even still more luxu
riantly furnished. There was a grand state
bedstead, with its appropriate bod, pillows,
counterpane, and, above all, finely-woven
curtains, apparently of lace! There was a
dressing-table with its mirror, and many
nicknacks, jars and bettles for powders and
perfumes, with cups and boxes for trinkets.
This table was supported by pretty little
caryatides. On the right was an elegantly,
carved chimney-piece, and on the hearth were
laid logs of wood, ready to kindle I Here and
there wreaths of icy flowers hung in festoons.
Conceive the delight of the Empress and her
court at the magical beauty of their toy. There
was no happier man that day at St. Peters
burg than the successful architect, the
noble Alexis Tatischchew. And still the en
chantment increased. At her arrival the Em
press had been received with a salute. At her
departure another salute was fired, with still
greater effect. In the first instance a ball of
Lard tow hud been well rammed into the can
nons; but the imperial lady now desired that
iron balls should be tried. Tho experiment
was made, and the artillery of the Magio
Palace was actually fired with a charge of
powder of a quarter of a pound, and with
iron balls. The salute was entirely successful
the balls piercing a strong plank two inches
thick, at a distance of sixty paces; and the
cannons remained uninjured.
An evening visit followed. By night the
enchantment appeared still greater. All the
windows were illuminated with colored trans
parencies, and nothing could exceed the
beautiful effects of the light which filled not
only the windows, but the transparent walls
of the building itself, with a delicate, pearly
glew, even more beautiful than the opal tint
by day. The pyramids were also illuminated
with revolving transparencies at the
oval windows. The elephant was now
seen spouting a stream of burning naphtha,
afire-like Bpray, high in the air,
while a man concealed within the hol
low body of the creature, by blowing pipes
succeeded in imitating the roar natural to tho
animal. Within the palace the icy candles,
smeared with naphtha, were lighted, without
melting, and the icy logs in the fireplace were
kindled in the same way!
A beautiful moonlight view, on Btill another
occasion, was most charming, from the
crystal-like character of the palace, and its
garden reflecting a thousand silvery rays.
Then again, fresh falls of snow gave a new
charm to the spectacle, as every architectural
ornament, every twig and loaf, was daintily
marked by the soft feathery flakes, of a white
even more pure than that of the ice on which
they fell.
Through the long winter of StJ Petersburg,
from January to the equinoctial days of
March, that icy wonder stood on the banks of
the Neva. Before April it had vanished, and
disappeared again in the bosom of the stream
from whence it arose.
We are not told at what cost to the treasury
this dream of a courtier became a reality
"A scene
Of evanescent glory, once a stream,
And Booivto glide Into a stream again."
The coldest day of that winter at St. Peters
burg was ebruary , wben tne thermometer
stood 30 deg. F. below zero. The same win
ter was very severe throughout Europe. At
London the mercury fell to 8 deg. below
zero.
TRIAL BV JTJBY, BY W. T. PA VIS.
It is common learning to every student of
the law that the right of trial by jury was
guarunteed by the great title-deed of English
liberty, and that by the Constitution of the
United States and the Constitutions of many,
if not all, of the individual States, it is se
cured to all persons, charged with crime, and
to a very large class of civil causes. But tho
origin and nature of the. institution, with its
practical working as an instrument in the ad
ministration of justice, are not generally
Known or thought of among tbe intelligent
end respectable class of citizens who are
oftenest called upon to sit in the capacity of
jurors. The feeling that it is one of the
most effective safeguards against aggressions
of centralized power, together with a rich ex
perience of its salutary influence in time, of
local or national political excitement, - has
brought both Briton and American to cling
to it with uncommon tenacity. The English
man and American have thus learned to re
gard it as a thing too sacred to be tampered
witn, ana nence to view every sug
gestion for its modification with the keenest
jealousy.
If we regard the trial by jury merely as a
political institution, it undoubtedly deserves
the encomium of De Tocqueville, who, speak
ing of it in that character, says: "He who
punishes infractions of the law is the real
master of society. Now tbe institution of
the jury raises the people itself, or at
least a class of citizens, to the bench of
judicial authority. The institution of the
jury consequently invests the people, or
at least that class of citizens, with
the direction of society. The
system of the jury as it is understood in
America appears to me to be as direct and
extreme a consequence of the sovereignty of
the people as universal suffrage. These insti
tutions are two instruments of equal power,
which contribute to the supremacy of the
majority. "
We repeat that this high praise of trial by
jury as a political safeguard is just, for there
has never been invented another such pro
tection of the life and property of the citizen
against the servile judge of a tyrannical gov
ernment. It disposes of the cause of the pa
triot by the sympathetic judgment of twelve
of his peers. They know the wants, the de
sires, and the hopes of the masses; they, par
take of them, and guard it as you will, in the
end they will reflect the popular feeling.
Their verdict will be the verdict of the popu
lace. But however favorably it may operate for
the commonwealth in cases of great and gene
ral publio interest (and in this category we
may include all prosecutions for crime), it
needs no argument to show that neighborhood
prejudices and sympathies will not always,
nor oftener than not, qualify jurors to make
up a satisfactory verdict in matters of pri vate
difference. Indeed, the same susceptibility
which renders the jury the palladium of our
liberties may in a majority of civil causes en
tirely disqualify them from rendering a carefully-considered
and thoroughly-impartial ver
dict. '
This brings us to our main purpose,
namely, to point out some of the defects of
trial by jury as a judicial institution. Upon
this ground the distinguished author, whom
we have already quoted, admits hat its utility
might fairly be contested.' Nevertheless, ha is
an advocate of trial by jury in both civil and
criminal causes. "For my own part," says
he, "I had rather submit the decision of ft
case to ignorant jurors directed by a skilful
judge, than to judges a majority of whom are
imperfectly acquainted with lurinprudence
and with the laws." He would have better
expressed the preference of a very large
number of American lawyers, had he written:
"I would rather submit to the judgment of
a single skilful judge, in a civil cause, than to
the verdict of twelve Ignorant jurors, who
being unaccustomed to the application of the
rules of evidence, and without experience in
analyzing, arranging, and combining masses
of intricate and perhaps conflicting testi
mony, are made the victims of their sympa
thy and impulse, and moulded by the skilful
advocate, as clay in the hands of the potter."
In the trial of civil causes, the objection to
a single judge is not felt to be so foroible as
in criminal trials. It very rarely happens
that the controversies of private individuals
are such as to tempt the integrity of the judge,
who is usually a discerning man, practiced in
sifting the true from the false, and accus
tomed to testing tbe rights of parties by the
cold, inflexible standards of the law. If such
a judge may "direct" or control the verdict
of a jury, there is no good reason why he
may not himself decide the cause at once in
those cases where the public interest is not at
fctake. Nay, there are apparent many reasons
why it w ere better so.
1. For example, jurors, if not always igno
rant, are at least generally unaccustomed to
performing judicial functions, and are as un
trained for and unskilled in that kind of la
bor as the judge who "directs" them is in
building steam engines. Now, there is no ap
propriateness in taking men from every calling
in every woik 01 Jiie to peuorm, witbout pre
vious training, one of the most delicate and
difficult functions of governments, except it
be, ns we have before said, in those cases of
publio concern in which politioal considera
tions outweigh all others. Yet it is often,
nay, generally.
done. On the other hand,
always skilful, are always
standing in a profession
in the study and practice
judges, if not
of respectable
which is trained
of the law; and they are not seldom men of
unsullied honor and profound sagacity.
2. Jurors may be, and often are, imposed
upon and misled by the artful sophistries of
an advocate, if he be a popular favorite.
Judges are rarely deceived by the tricks of
the trade.
3. In theory of law jurors are judges of
fact only: in practice they are many times
judges of both law and fact, receiving the
charge of the court with becoming meekness,
and then deciding according to their own
notions of law and right. This is especially
so in civil causes, where the government or a
great corporation is a party against private
individuals. In such cases it is often
nearly impossible to obtain a fair and
impartial verdict. We could name a
county whrre a railroad company was
never known to win the verdict, no matter
what the law or the evidence might be, or
how often the verdict might be set aside, or
judgments reversed by the superior tribunals;
and railroad cases are of common occurrence
.there. We could name another county in
which verdicts have been set aside and judg
ments reversed by the higher courts no less
than eight times in a single case, and still
the popular clement continues to speak
through the jury against tho solemn judg
ment of some of the purest and boat men on
the bench. Yet this is a mere civil action
for damages, in which tbe publio have no
interest whatever; but there is a popular
jealousy of corporations to be gratified; and
so, right or wrong, the verdict is always
for the plaintiff. Such abuses can only be
come frequent under the jury system, and
could hardly occur with any judge who has
any professional pride, to say nothing of hon
esty. That kind of contumacy amounts to a
species of nullification, and any judge who
should attempt it and persist in it would be
speedily impeached and removed. '
4. Jurors are beyond the reach of impeach
ment becauso their office ends with the find
ing of tho verdict. Not only so, they are prao
tically beyond the reach of any punishment
for a false verdict. In the olden times a writ
of attaint lay to inquire whether a jury of
twelve men gave a false verdict, and if
the grand jury of attaint found the verdict to
have been obtained by corruption of the jury,
tho jurors were outlawed and made forever
infamous, and were also punished by confis
cation and imprisonment. If this remedy was
ever adopted in this country, it long since
fell into disuse. Jurors now sit and deter
mine the rights of parties without any re
sponsibility to the law exoept for perjury and
taking bribes, and these charges, and particu
larly the first, from the very nature of the
case, can with difficulty, and only at rare in
tervals, be substantiated.
The defects which have been enumerated,
and they are not all that could be mentioned,
are not accidental, but essential defects of the
system. They are defects which may well be
tolerated in causes of a publio nature for the
sake of insuring the perpetual sovereignty of
the people; but which in the trial of private
suits are a burdensome and growing evil.
"After all, says Blackstone, "it must.be
owned, that the best and most effectual
method to preserve and extend the trial by
jury in practice, would be by endeavoring to
remove all tne delects, as well as to improve
tbe advantages incident to this mode of
inquiry. If justice is not done to the
entire satisfaction of the people in this
method of deciding facts, in spite of all en
comiums and panegyrics on trials at the com
ruon law, they will resort in search of that
justice to another tribunal; though more dila
tory, though more expensive, though more
arbitrary in its frame and constitution. If
justice is not done to the crown by the ver
diet of a jury, tbe necessities of the publio
revenue will call for the erection of summary
tribunals."
It remains to be noted that trials of civil
causes before a court without a jury is no un
tried experiment even in . this country and
England. The immense commercial and in
ternational interests which are adjusted in the
admiralty courts -are not less wisely nor less
satisfactorily determined because they are de
cided upon without the intervention of a jury.
It is believed that the important and often
times complicated cases which are dooided
in chancery are as conscientiously decided
upon the facts as in the common law courts,
and even more impartially. We have never
heard that tbe safety of our political rights is
endangered by this single judge jurisdiction.
But we are certain that ft is a frequent re
mark among lawyers that it is a good rule to
'submit a righteous cause to the court, and to
try a bad one before a jury. i
fj I R C W O R K.
GALVANIZED and Painted WIRB GUARDS,
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Liberal allowance made to Contractors, Balldeo
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KOBEltT WOOD & OO
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PIANOS.
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Granl Square and Upright Piano,
With thtr ! pataetcd RESONATOR, by whlc
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. BIASITJS BEOS.,
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wt PH ILADKLPHi A.
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1870
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1870
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1870
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HICKORY.
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1870
CEDAR 8HTNGLES. i OA
CVPRES8 SHINGLES. ID U'
HAULS, BROTHER CO.,
-No. S600 SOUTH Street.
"JNITED BTATES BUILDERS' MILIcS
FIFTEENTH STREET, BELOW MARKET,
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WOOD MOULDINGS,
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UMBER UNDER
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OTIS
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lock, Shingles, etc, always on band at low rates,
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DRUGS, PAINTS, ETO.
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XT. E. Corner FOURTH and RACE Sts.j
PHILADELPHIA,
WHOLESALE DRUGGISTS,
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WHITE LEADS AND COLORED PAINTS, POTTY A
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lOUthatnfta
HARDING'S JDXTIONS
OF
THE UOLY BIBLE.
FAMILY, PULPIT, AND PHOTOGRAPH BIB LEV
rea
WEDDING AND BIRTHDAY PRESENTS,
ALSO, PRESENTATION BIBLES FOR
CHURCHES,
CLERGYMEN,
SOCIETIES AND
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I
New and aunerb aHnortment. bound In Rtoh T v.n
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No. 826 CHESNUT 8treet.
6TRBNGTH, BEAUTY, CHEAPNBS3 COMBINED
HARDING'S PATENT CnAIN-BACK
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For Wedding, Bollday, or Birthday Presents, then
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The book trade, and dealers la fancy articles, will
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Also, a large and splendid assortment of new styles
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in
fS7,BRDBURY 8 AND OTHER
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