ve their evidence in open court, subject to
examination and cross-examination. The testimony of the witnesses,
however, was still merely supplementary. Then in the time of Queen Anne,
about 1707 A.D., it was decided that any person who had knowledge of the
facts of the case should appear as a _witness_, that the jury should
consist of persons unacquainted with the facts, and that the verdict
should be rendered in accordance with the evidence. And so it is to this
day, both in England and America. [Footnote: The best history of the jury
system is probably Forsyth's.]

"It is not true, however, that a man is disqualified from serving on a
jury simply because he has heard or read of the case, and has formed and
expressed some impression in regard to its merits; if it were, the
qualifications for jury service in cases that attract great attention
would be ignorance and stupidity. The test, therefore, is not whether the
juryman is entirely ignorant of the case, but whether he has formed such
an opinion as would be likely to prevent him from impartially weighing the
evidence and returning a verdict in accordance therewith." [Footnote:
Dole's Talks about Law, p. 59.]

In the Officers.--As has been said, there were in the old Saxon courts no
court officers. But quite early the necessity for such officers became
manifest. And several of the offices then established have come down to
us. Some of them, however, have been so modified in the progress of time
as to be hardly recognizable.

CHAPTER III.

PROCEEDINGS IN A JUSTICE COURT.

I. IN ORDINARY CIVIL ACTIONS.

Definitions.--A _Civil Action_ is one having for its object the protection
or enforcement of a private right or the securing of compensation for an
infraction thereof. For instance a suit brought to secure possession of a
horse, or to secure damages for a trespass is a civil action. The person
bringing the action is called the _plaintiff_; the one against whom it is
brought, the _defendant_. The plaintiff and the defendant are called the
_parties_ to the action.

_Jurisdiction._--A justice of the peace has jurisdiction within the county
in most civil actions when the amount in controversy does not exceed a
certain sum, usually one hundred dollars. (See p. 296.)

PRELIMINARY TO TRIAL.

_Complaint and Summons._--In bringing a civil action, the plaintiff or his
agent appears before the justice of the peace and files a Complaint. In
this he states the cau