Then in the time of Queen Anne, about 1707 A.D., it was decided that any person who had knowledge of the facts of the case should appear as a _witness_, that the jury should consist of persons unacquainted with the facts, and that the verdict should be rendered in accordance with the evidence.

And so it is to this day, both in England and America.

[Footnote: The best history of the jury system is probably Forsyth's.] "It is not true, however, that a man is disqualified from serving on a jury simply because he has heard or read of the case, and has formed and expressed some impression in regard to its merits; if it were, the qualifications for jury service in cases that attract great attention would be ignorance and stupidity.

The test, therefore, is not whether the juryman is entirely ignorant of the case, but whether he has formed such an opinion as would be likely to prevent him from impartially weighing the evidence and returning a verdict in accordance therewith." [Footnote: Dole's Talks about Law, p.

59.] In the Officers .-- As has been said, there were in the old Saxon courts no court officers.