d no more confirm,
than it could abolish, Magna Carta.

These thirty-two confirmations of Magna Carta, which Coke speaks of as
"acts of parliament," were merely acts of the king. The parliaments,
indeed, by refusing to grant him money, except on that condition, and
otherwise, had contributed to oblige him to make the confirmations; just
as they had helped to oblige him by arms to grant the charter in the
first place. But the confirmations themselves were nevertheless
constitutionally, as well as formally, the acts of the king alone.]

[Footnote 110: Under the head of "_John._"]

[Footnote 111: _4 Blackstone_, 349-50.]

[Footnote 112: _3 Blackstone_, 379.]

[Footnote 113: _Hume_, ch. 2.]

[Footnote 114: Page 203, 5th edition, 1721.]

[Footnote 115: St. 1 _William and Mary_, ch. 6, (1688.)]

[Footnote 116: 4 _Inst._, 36.]

CHAPTER XII.

LIMITATIONS IMPOSED UPON THE MAJORITY BY THE TRIAL BY JURY.

The principal objection, that will be made to the doctrine of this
essay, is, that under it, a jury would paralyze the power of the
majority, and veto all legislation that was not in accordance with the
will of the whole, or nearly the whole, people.

The answer to this objection is, that the limitation, which would be
thus imposed upon the legislative power, (whether that power be vested
in the majority, or minority, of the people,) is the crowning merit of
the trial by jury. It has other merits; but, though important in
themselves, they are utterly insignificant and worthless in comparison
with this.

It is this power of vetoing all partial and oppressive legislation, and
of restricting the government to the maintenance of such laws as the
_whole_, or substantially the whole, people _are agreed in_, that makes
the trial by jury "the palladium of liberty." Without this power it
would never have deserved that name.

The will, or the pretended will, of the majority, is the last lurking
place of tyranny at the present day. The dogma, that certain individuals
and families have a divine appointment to govern the rest of mankind, is
fast giving place to the one that the larger number have a right to
govern the smaller; a dogma, which may, or may not, be less oppressive
in its practical operation, but which certainly is no less false or
tyrannical in principle, than the one it is so rapidly supplanting.
Obviously there is nothing in the nature of majorities, that insures
justice at their hands. They have the s