The Scandinavian jurists have been holding a Congress at 'Christiania,
and the principal question brought before them was the advisability of trial by jury. Most Englishmen will be sur- prised to hear that this institution is unknown in Scandinavia, though the right to be so tried is inserted in the Danish Consti- tution; and that, according to the Times reporter, the Swedish and Norwegian delegates were entirely opposed to its introduc- tion. The Danes were anxious to try the experiment, but no Bill to secure the object has, in the past thirty years, obtained a majority in the Danish Parliament. As the Commons are all- powerful in Norway, and sufficiently powerful in Sweden, this fact would seem to indicate widespread and well-founded con- fidence in the Judges. The Jury system in England owes its popularity more to the extreme badness of the Stuart Judges, and the strong Toryism of most Judges under the House of Hanover, than foreigners are aware of. We doubt if Coroners' juries, which are not needed to shield the subject, are protected by opinion.
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