29 July 1806

Evidence │ │ Scotch Reform

Facienda

Jury

No Jury at first

Appeal to Jury

In considering to this purpose the constitution of a Jury I mean to view it to the best advantage. I consider it accordingly as pure /clear/ from those superstitions and abominations with which in England /by the barbarian ancestors of Englishmen/ it has been defiled, and from in Scotland it is free. Your illustrious father my Lord, when he pleasured[?] a jury he did not employ torture to force them to committ perjury. He did not subjugate the impartial to the inflamed or the corrupt or violent, the infirm to the robust: he did not lodge the power of the whole in the hands of the most obstinate. As little do they in Scotland now where they make use of Juries, a majority decides, and to ensure a majority they provide an uneven number. No superstitious adherence to number 12. From 9 to 12 or 13 are the numbers proposed by Lord [...?] for his Juries