The word per, in the phrase "per judicium parium suorum," of course means precisely what it does in the next phrase, "per legem terrae;" where it obviously means according to, and not by, as it is usually translated. There would be no sense in saying that the king might proceed against a man by force or arms, by the law of the land; but there is sense in saying that he may proceed against him, by force or arms, according to the law of the land; because the king would then be acting only as an executive officer, carrying the law of the land into execution. Indeed, the true meaning of the word by, as used in similar cases now, always is according to; as, for example, when we say a thing was done by the government, or by the executive, by law, we mean only that it was done by them according to law; that is, that they merely executed the law. Or, if we say that the word by signifies by authority of, the result will still be the same; for nothing can be done by authority of law, except what the law itself authorizes or directs to be done; that is, nothing can be done by authority of law, except simply to carry the law itself into execution. So nothing could be done by authority of the sentence of the peers, or by authority of "the law of the land," except what the sentence of the peers, or the law of the land, themselves authorized or directed to be done; nothing, in short, but to carry the setence of the peers, or the law of the land, themselves into execution. Doing a thing by law, or according to law, is only carrying the law into execution. And punishing a man by, or according to, the sentence or judgment of his peers, is only carrying that sentence or judgment into execution. If these reasons could leave any doubt that the word per is to be translated according to, that doubt would be removed by the terms of an antecedent guaranty for the trial by jury, granted by the Emperor Conrad, of Germany, [17] two hundred years before Magna Carta. Blackstone cites it as follows: (3 Blackstone, 350.) "Nemo beneficium suum perdat, nisi secundum consuetu-dinem antecessorum nostrorum, et judicium parium suorum." That is, No one shall lose his estate, [18] unless according to ("secundum") the custom (or law) of our ancestors, and (according to) the sentence (or judgment) of his peers. The evidence is therefore conclusive that the phrase per judicium parian suorum means according to the sentence of his peers; thus implying hat the jury, and not the government, are to fix the sentence. If any additional proof were wanted that juries were to fix the sentence, it would be found in the following provisions of Magna Carta, viz.: