The principle, then, of the common law, was, that every freeman, or freeborn male Englishman, of adult age, &c., was eligible to sit in juries, by virtue of his civil freedom, or his being a member of the state, or body politic. But the principle of the present English statutes is, that a man shall have a right to sit in juries because he owns lands in fee-simple. At the common law a man was _born_ to the right to sit in juries. By the present statutes he _buys_ that right when he buys his land. And thus this, the greatest of all the political rights of an Englishman, has become a mere article of merchandise; a thing that is bought and sold in the market for what it will bring. Of course, there can be no legality in such juries as these; but only in juries to which every free or natural born adult male Englishman is eligible. The second essential principle of the common law, controlling the selection of jurors, is, that when the selection of the actual jurors comes to be made, (from the whole body of male adults,) that selection shall be made in some mode that excludes the possibility of choice _on the part of the government_. Of course, this principle forbids the selection to be made _by any officer of the government_. There seem to have been at least three modes of selecting the jurors, at the common law. 1. By lot.[84] 2. Two knights, or other freeholders, were appointed, (probably by the sheriff,) to select the jurors. 3. By the sheriff, bailiff, or other person, who held the court, or rather acted as its ministerial officer. Probably the latter mode may have been the most common, although there may be some doubt on this point. At the common law the sheriffs, bailiffs, and other officers _were chosen by the people, instead of being appointed by the king_. (_4 Blackstone_, 413. _Introduction to Gilbert's History of the Common Pleas_, p. 2, _note_, and p. 4.) This has been shown in a former chapter.[85] At common law, therefore, jurors selected by these officers were legally selected, so far as the principle now under discussion is concerned; that is, they were not selected by any officer who was dependent on the government. But in the year 1315, one hundred years after Magna Carta, the choice of sheriffs was taken from the people, and it was enacted: "That the sheriffs shall henceforth be assigned by the chancellor, treasurer, barons of the exchequer, and by the justices. And in the absence of the chancellor, by the treasurer, barons and justices."--_9 Edward II._, st. 2. (1315.)