the witnesses for the prosecution are indorsed. In
England it is delivered to the crier of the court, by whom the
witnesses are sworn to the truth of the evidence they are about to
give before the grand jury. In the trial now pending in the Court of
Queen's Bench in Ireland, a great question was raised as to whether a
recent statute, which, on the ground of convenience, enabled grand
juries in Ireland themselves to swear the witnesses, extended to
trials before the Queen's Bench. This question was decided in the
affirmative; therefore, in that country, the oath, in every case, must
be administered by the grand jury themselves; whereas, in this
country, the witnesses are sworn _in court_, and by the crier, as we
have already mentioned. The grand jury, ever since the days of King
Ethelred, must consist of twelve at least, and not more than
twenty-three. In the superior courts they are generally drawn from the
magistracy or superior classes of the community, being, as Mr Justice
Blackstone expresses it, "usually gentlemen of the best figure in the
county." They are duly sworn and instructed in the articles of their
enquiry by the judge who presides upon the bench. They then withdraw,
to sit and receive all bills which may be presented to them. When a
bill is thus presented, the witnesses are generally called in the
order in which their names appear upon the back of the bill. The grand
jury is, at most, to hear evidence only on behalf of the prosecution;
"for," says the learned commentator already quoted, "the finding of an
indictment is only in the nature of an enquiry or accusation, which is
afterwards to be tried and determined; and the grand jury are only to
enquire upon their oaths, whether there be sufficient cause to call
upon a party to answer it." They ought, however, to be fully persuaded
of the truth of an indictment as far as the evidence goes, and not to
rest satisfied with remote probabilities; for the form of the
indictment is, that they, "_upon their oath_, present" the party to
have committed the crime. This form, Mr Justice Coleridge observes, is
perhaps stronger than may be wished, and we believe that the criminal
law commissioners are now seriously considering the propriety of
abolishing it.

After hearing the evidence, the grand jury endorse upon the bill their
judgment of the truth or falsehood of the charge. If they think the
accusation groundless, they write upon it, "not found," or "not a true
bil