WhatIhavehithertosaidappliestoallnations，buttheremarkIamnowabouttomakeispeculiartotheAmericansandtodemocraticpeoples。Ihavealreadyobservedthatindemocraciesthemembersofthelegalprofessionandthemagistratesconstitutetheonlyaristocraticbodywhichcanchecktheirregularitiesofthepeople。Thisaristocracyisinvestedwithnophysicalpower，butitexercisesitsconservativeinfluenceuponthemindsofmen，andthemostabundantsourceofitsauthorityistheinstitutionoftheciviljury。Incriminalcauses，whensocietyisarmedagainstasingleindividual，thejuryisapttolookuponthejudgeasthepassiveinstrumentofsocialpower，andtomistrusthisadvice。Moreover，criminalcausesareentirelyfoundedupontheevidenceoffactswhichcommonsensecanreadilyappreciate;uponthisgroundthejudgeandthejuryareequal。Such，however，isnotthecaseincivilcauses;thenthejudgeappearsasadisinterestedarbiterbetweentheconflictingpassionsoftheparties。Thejurorslookuptohimwithconfidenceandlistentohimwithrespect，forinthisinstancetheirintelligenceiscompletelyunderthecontrolofhislearning。Itisthejudgewhosumsupthevariousargumentswithwhichtheirmemoryhasbeenweariedout，andwhoguidesthemthroughthedeviouscourseoftheproceedings;hepointstheirattentiontotheexactquestionoffactwhichtheyarecalledupontosolve，andheputstheanswertothequestionoflawintotheirmouths。Hisinfluenceupontheirverdictisalmostunlimited。
IfIamcalledupontoexplainwhyIambutlittlemovedbytheargumentsderivedfromtheignoranceofjurorsincivilcauses，Ireply，thatintheseproceedings，wheneverthequestiontobesolvedisnotamerequestionoffact，thejuryhasonlythesemblanceofajudicialbody。Thejurysanctionsthedecisionofthejudge，theybytheauthorityofsocietywhichtheyrepresent，andhebythatofreasonandoflaw。*h[Footnoteh:SeeAppendix，R。]
InEnglandandinAmericathejudgesexerciseaninfluenceuponcriminaltrialswhichtheFrenchjudgeshaveneverpossessed。Thereasonofthisdifferencemayeasilybediscovered;theEnglishandAmericanmagistratesestablishtheirauthorityincivilcauses，andonlytransferitafterwardstotribunalsofanotherkind，wherethatauthoritywasnotacquired。
Insomecases（andtheyarefrequentlythemostimportantones）
theAmericanjudgeshavetherightofdecidingcausesalone。*iUpontheseoccasionstheyareaccidentallyplacedinthepositionwhichtheFrenchjudgeshabituallyoccupy，buttheyareinvestedwithfarmorepowerthanthelatter;theyarestillsurroundedbythereminiscenceofthejury，andtheirjudgmenthasalmostasmuchauthorityasthevoiceofthecommunityatlarge，representedbythatinstitution。Theirinfluenceextendsbeyondthelimitsofthecourts;intherecreationsofprivatelifeaswellasintheturmoilofpublicbusiness，abroadandinthelegislativeassemblies，theAmericanjudgeisconstantlysurroundedbymenwhoareaccustomedtoregardhisintelligenceassuperiortotheirown，andafterhavingexercisedhispowerinthedecisionofcauses，hecontinuestoinfluencethehabitsofthoughtandthecharactersoftheindividualswhotookapartinhisjudgment。