the like. In general, the jurisdiction of cases formerly in the
circuit courts was transferred to the district courts when the
circuit courts were discontinued.

The Court of Claims "shall hear and determine all claims founded
upon any law of Congress, or upon any regulation of an executive
department, or upon any contract, express or implied, with the
government of the United States, which may be suggested to it by a
petition filed therein; and also all claims which may be referred
to said court by either house of Congress."[57]

[Footnote 57: Statutes at Large, 612.]

Trial by Jury.--The right of trial by jury in all criminal cases
had been insisted upon by Englishmen for centuries prior to the
formation of our Constitution. There were two branches to the system,
the grand and the petit juries. Each performed the same duties as they
do now. The Constitution provides in Section 2, Clause 1, that

_The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall be by
jury, and such trial shall be held in the State where the said crime
shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, the
trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have
directed_.

This clause was attacked by the opponents of the Constitution in the
State conventions. It was believed that the Constitution did not furnish
adequate safeguards against unjust prosecutions. Because of this
agitation, Congress, in its first session, proposed Amendments V, VI,
VII, and VIII, which were duly ratified by the several States.

Amendment V. _No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or
otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a
grand jury, etc._[58]

[Footnote 58: See Appendix A.]

Authorities have had difficulty in giving an exact definition of an
infamous crime. That given by Judge Cooley is the most satisfactory. He
says: "But the punishment of the penitentiary must always be deemed
infamous, and so must any punishment that involves the loss of civil or
political privileges."

The Grand Jury.--A grand jury consists of from twelve to
twenty-three men. They sit in secret, and no accusation can be made by
them without the concurrence of at least twelve. An indictment is a
written accusation of an offense drawn up by a prosecuting officer on
behalf of the government and laid before the grand jury. "A presentment
is an accusation by a grand jur