[Communicated.]

Colonist, Issue 25, 15 January 1858, Page 2

[Communicated.]

As We are living in an age of general improvement and developsent,whei^|jhilantiiropists are setting their wits to work fox tHe general good of society • when reformatories arid penitentiaries to reclaim the outcast and ; unfortunate ; lunatic asylumSj hospitals, and infirmaries for" the sick arid distressed, are being built. When ire direct attention to those different institutions-rail good and useful in their way—we believe all will agree with us in saying that it is a step in the right direction; llf we look into the political world, we firid legislators busy at work devising means for bettering the political, and with it the social, condition of the great mass of society. We constantly hear of the ballot, universal suffrage, equal rights, noproperty qualification, et cetera, being agitated. But it. is not our here to discuss the merits or demerits of those questions;—we leave that to other heads. Prison discipline is also agitated, by which young criminals may Have a chance of makirfg a respectable appearance in society, and their career in gaol be not the means of throughly contaminating and making -theni altogether vicious. Indeed, within a few years great improvement has been made, arid there'is room for still greater. The foregoing remarks apply more particularly to the mother-country; but the principle mtfst not be lost sight of even here iri the Antipodes. We have our Parliaments on a small scale, but sufcciently large for odr present wants and requirements. Ddring the present session of the Council, n6 doubt many matters will be fairly and ably discussed, as all questions should be, ew thirown merits,; and we;trust tnat^ however great the dif&rcacf of may be on the various subjects .-£cV;# ,•-;/■•■■.. ■-. ■ ■ ■•■.■•..

under discussion, each honorable member will obtain respect for the sincerity of his views; Sufficient for us to say that it is our conviction, and we belieVe the" conviction of every honest man, that he who maintains a eareei? of honest intention and pui'ose, unswayed and Unbiassed by party considerations, is entitled to the inspect and 1 gratitude of his fellow-eitizetis. But there is a subject to which we wish" to direct serious attention, because it is one on which, to a very great extent, are based the liberties "of our fellow-men. We allude to that of Juries, and it is to be regretted that attention lias hot been, directed to this all-important subjecti To be brief, what we desire is, that public attention be directed to, and agitated upon, so important a topic. Tlie reason is obvious; It appears that qualifications are required from men Who act as -lawyers* doctorr,' clergymen, artizans, and all kinds of professions; yet, strange1 to say, when a irian is put on his trial indicted for crimes he has to stand the chance (a species of toss-up—heads or tails) of who the men may be composing the jury • and it is lamentable sometimes to learn that rrleri have actually occupied the important office of juror and not known the difference between plaintiff and delfendantt, prosecutor and prisoner! Yet such h4s been the case in innocent Nelson! It does appear most inconsistent to have the (supposed) best educated men for Grand Jury, and the (supposed) comparatively ignorant for the Petty Jury—& body that lias to preside over and listen to all the different law technicalities and' phrases'tUat are always used ; and yet there are probably.a niiihber, among them who cannot read or write; The miserable plea that is sometimes used that men who cannot read or write are as acute and sensible as many Who cans is scarcely worthy of noticei But granting it is so in certain casesj hdw much better would those men be enabled to come to an honest and conscientious verdict, had their intellects been expanded by the blessings of education ? We could enlarge on this subject, but it is one which speaks for itself, and winch will, we believe, be brought home to the conviction of every rightthinking manj that if* we watit dur lawa to be duly, fairly, and impartially administered for the punishment of guilt, and the protection of inriddence', truth, and honesty, it can only be done by having every juryman (who is sworn and bound to give a true verdict in accordance with evidence) educated and qualified by character to perform so onerous a duty; .