le influence with his fellows.

2. The next thing is to moisten this material thus trebly sifted, and
mould it into such vessels of tyranny as he can fill with his private
or judicial wrath and then empty on the heads of his personal foes or
such as thwart his ambitious despotism or the purposes of his
government. So he delivers his CHARGE TO THE GRAND-JURY.

By way of introduction, he tells them--

(1.) That they are not the Makers of Law. Legislation is the function
of Congress and the President; even the COURT, the "SUPREME COURT OF
THE UNITED STATES" itself cannot make a law, or repeal one!

(2.) That they are not the Declarers, or Judges of Law. To know and
set forth the Law is the function of the COURT. It is true every man
in his personal capacity, as private citizen, is supposed to know the
law, and if he violates it, of his own presumption, or by the
persuasion of some others who falsely tell him about the law, he must
be punished; for "_ignorantia nemini excusat_," ignorance excuseth
none; the private advice of the full bench of judges would be held no
excuse. But in their official capacity of jurors they are supposed to
know nothing of the Law whatsoever.

It seems taken for granted that though one of the Jurors may be an old
judge of the Supreme Court of the United States, and have sat on the
bench for twenty years; nay, though he may be also an old legislator
of twenty years' standing, and as legislator have made the very
statute in question, and also as judge subsequently have explained and
declared it, yet the moment he takes the oath as Grand-Juror, all this
knowledge is "gone from him" as completely Nebuchadnezzar's dream. The
court is the assembly of magicians, astrologers, sorcerers, and
Chaldeans to restore it. Congress might pass a law compelling
ex-judges, ex-senators, and ex-representatives--who are so numerous
nowadays, and continually increasing and likely to multiply yet
more,--to serve as grand-jurors; soon as they take their oath, they
are in law held and accounted to be utterly ignorant of law, and bound
to accept as law whatsoever the court declares such. The acting judge
may be young, blind, ignorant, ambitious, drunk with brandy or rage,
he may have a personal interest in promoting [Transcriber's Note: for
'promoting' read 'perverting'; see Errata] the law, and may
notoriously twist it so as to gratify his peculiar or familistic
spleen, still the jury to accept the court's opinion fo