though a second indictment may be preferred against him; but if, upon
demurrer, the question of law is held to be against him, the judgment
is, that he do answer the indictment. If a plea in bar, either on
issue joined, or on demurrer, be determined against the defendant, the
judgment is in such case final, and he stands convicted of the
misdemeanour.

The general issue, or the plea of "not guilty," is the last and most
usual of those answers to the indictment which we have enumerated, the
others being all of extremely rare occurrence in the modern practice
of the criminal law. By this plea, the accused puts himself upon his
county, which county the jury are. The sheriff of the county must then
return a panel of jurors. In England the jurors are taken from the
"jurors' book" of the current year. It must be observed, that a new
jurors' book comes into operation on the first of January in each
year, having previously been copied from the lists of those liable to
serve on juries, made out in the first instance, between the months of
July and October, both inclusive, by the churchwardens and overseers
of each parish, then reviewed and confirmed by the justices of the
peace in petty sessions, and, through the high constable of the
district, delivered to the next quarter sessions. If the proceedings
are before the Queen's Bench, an interval is allowed by the court, in
fixing the time of trial, for the impanneling of the jury, upon a writ
issued to the sheriff for that purpose. The trial in a case of
misdemeanour in the Queen's Bench is had at _nisi prius_, unless it be
of such consequence as to merit a trial at bar, which is invariably
had when the prisoner is tried for any capital offence in that court.
But before the ordinary courts of assize, the sheriff, by virtue of a
general precept directed to him beforehand, returns to the court a
panel of not less than forty-eight nor more than seventy-two persons,