PHI LOS 0 P H Y . - Classic Works of Apologetics Online

378 Of the Admimstratirm of Justice.
( 1\ fourth re.qui~ite in the conl'titution of 2 court of
. justice, and eqci\·alent to many check~ UpOll the discretion
of judges, is, that its proceedings be carried
on in pubiic, apertis foribus ;/ not only before a promiscuous
concourse of b,{~tanders, but in the audience
of the whole professi~n of the law. The opinion
of the Bar concerning what passes will be impartial;
and will commonly guide that Of9 the public.
The most corrupt judge \vilJ ftar to indulge his dishonest
wishes in the presence of suell an assetnbly :
he must encounter \\1hat fe\v can sUPI)ort, the censure
of his equals and companions, together with the indignation
and reproaches of his coun!"~y.
} Something is also gained to the public by appointing
t\\"O or tllree courts of cone Jrrent jurisdicticlII,
that it may remain in the option of the suitor to
which he ",ill resort. I By this means a tribunal, wJlich
may happen to be occupied by ignorant or suspected
judges, will be deserted for others that possess more
of the tonfidence of the nation,
( But, lastly, if several courts co--ordinate to~ and independ~nt
of each other, subsist together in the country,
it seems necessary that the appeals from all of
them should meet and ternlinate in the same judica.
ture; in order that one ~uprell1e tribunal, by \\1hose·
final sentence all others are bound and concluded,
may superintend and pl·eside over the rest« rrhis con.
I stitution is necessary for two pU1·po~es :-to preserve
an uniformity to the decisions of inferior courts, and
. to maintain to each the proper limits of its jurisdiction.
Without ,1 comrnon superior, different courts
might establi~h contradictory rules of adjudication,
and the contradiction be final and without ren1cdy ;
the same question might receive opposite determina ..
tions, according as it was brought before one court
or another, and the deternlinatioll i~l eacll be uiti ..
nlate and irreversible. A comnl0n appellar.t jurisdiction
prevents or puts an end to this confusion~
For when the judgments upon appeals are consistent,
which may be expected, whilst it is the same court
which is at last resorted to, the different courts, from