used both in ancient and latter Days and upon extraordinary Occasions to send over hither special Commissioners authorized under the Great Seal who have always been Persons of Quality and Learning as Doctors in the Civil Law Masters in Chancery c. whose coming suspends the Ordinary Forms and Procedures of Justice But First they must shew their Commission in Court and have it there Enrolled And then they can in no Case concerning Life Liberty or Estate determine any thing contrary to the Advice and Opinion of the Jurats who are to Sit and Judge and make conjunctive Records of their Proceedings with them My Lord Coke owns that the King's Writ runneth not in these Islands His Commission under the Great Seal doth But the Commissioners must judge according to the Laws and Customs of these Isles The Laws of this Island which are to be the Rule and Measure of the Judgments of the Court differ in many things from those in England The particulars are too many to be instanced in In general our Laws may be reduced under these four Heads 1. The Ancient Custom of Normandy as it stood before the Alienation of that Dutchy in the time of K. John and was contained in an old Book called in the Rolls of the Itinerant Judges La Somme de Mançel or Mançel's Institutes For whatever Changes have since that time been introduced into the said Custom by French Kings or French Parliaments they can be of no force here This is to us what the Statute Law is in England 2. Municipal and Local Usages which are our Unwritten and Traditionary Law like the Common Law in England 3. Constitutions and Ordinances made by our Kings or their Commissioners Royal at their being here with such Regulations and Orders as are from time to time Transmitted hither from the Council-Board 4. Precedents and former Judgments recorded in the Rolls of the Court These last indeed cannot in strict and proper Sense be said to be Laws wanting the Royal Authority without which nothing can be Law Nevertheless great Regard is had to them upon occasion The same may be said of such Political and Provisional Ordinances as are made by the Court or the Assembly of the States like those made by other Bodies Corporate for the good Government of those Societies No Act of Parliament can reach us wherein we are not particularly named It has been often wished that our Laws were collected methodized and digested into a System or Code A work that would be of very great Use in regard that not only all Causes and Suits within the Island whether by the ordinary Judges or extraordinary Commissioners from England but Appeals also before the Council-Board are to be determined secundùm Leges Consuetudines Insulae which Laws and Customs not being so generally known 't is scarce possible but Judgment must sometimes be given contrary to the same Causes are not brought into Court or treated there confusedly For tho' there be but one Tribunal and the Judges always the same Persons yet because matters are of more or less moment or require different Methods of proceeding they have been distinguished into IV Classes or Courts The First is of those that respect the Property of Lands and Inheritance These we decide in a more solemn Assembly call'd La Cour d'Heritage i. e. The Court of Inheritance Which continueth so many days as are necessary to dispatch all Causes of that Nature The first day is kept very Solemnly For then all the Jurats are bound to be present and without seven of them at least the Court cannot be kept that day without absolute necessity which is tied to no Rule The Governor or his Lieutenant useth to assist that day and to answer in the King's Name for such Fiefs as are in His Majesty's hands and owe Suit of Court All Gentlemen holding Fiefs from the Crown by that Service called in Records Secta Curiae are also to answer to their Names or be Fined The Advocates renew their Oaths The Provosts and Sergeants who are inferior Officers belonging to the King's Revenue are to declare all Escheats Forfeitures and other Contingent Profits and Emoluments accrued to his Majesty There also Political Sanctions relating to Order and Government are continued or if need be abrogated and new ones made The Governor in the King's Name or the Receiver by Command of the Governor causeth a solemn Dinner to be prepared where besides the Court those Gentlemen before mentioned holding Fiefs from the Crown have Right to Sit and are therefore said in the Extent and other Records edere cum Rege ter in anno i. e. to eat with the King three times a Year a Custom doubtless older than the Conquest 'T is said Three times a year because we have so many Terms and this Court is the opening of every Term. After the first day the Court is continued every Tuesday and Thursday following till the end of each Term Three Jurats always assisting the XII taking it by turns Matters treated in this Court are Partitions of Inheritance betwixt Coheirs Differences betwixt Neighbours about Bounds new Disseisines and Intrusion upon other Men's Lands Challenges of Propriety Pre-emptions between Kindred which we call Retraict Lignager Retractus Consanguineorum and Jus Protimeseos the Property of Rents due for Lands let out in Fee-farm which we call Rentes Foncieres Reditus Fundiarius and such like The Second Court is that of Catel i. e. Chattels or moveables For tho' at present few Causes purely Mobiliary be determined in this Court as they were before the Extraordinary Court was set up nevertheless as in the Court of Heritage Rents are demanded without Relation to Arrears so in this Court they are demanded principally with reference to those Arrears But the principal Business of this Court is the Adjudication of Decrees Now a Decree with us is this When a man becomes unable to pay his Debts he comes into Court and there publickly makes Cession of his Estate which we call Renoncer i. e. To renounce Whereupon all that have been concern'd with him are by Three Proclamations and a Fourth Peremptory cited to come in and insert into a List or Book made for that purpose their several Demands Which done they are called in Order That is to say the last Creditor first and so on Retrograding The last Creditor is asked whether he will substitute or put himself in the place of the Cessionary and take the Estate paying the Debts that are of an older Date than his Which if he Assents to the Decree is at an end and he is put into Possession of the Estate Such a one we call a Tenant If he says he will rather lose his Debt than take the Estate on condition to satisfie the other Creditors the Judge proceeds to him that stands next in Order of Time and so on Retrograding still and propounding the same Question to all till so many
another Castle called Grosnéz in the West of the Island it is no Garrison but an old useless Fortification of which little remains and noted now only for having been the retiring Place of Philip de Carteret and his Party when he stood out against the French in the latter End of K. Henry VI. For the Security of the Coast against a Descent the Inhabitants have lately in such Places as are most exposed to that Danger raised Redoubts and Batteries planted with good Cannon which his Majesty at our humble Suit was pleased to give us out of his own Stores for that Service Every Parish has moreover two or more small Brass Guns with Officers Gunners and Pioneers to attend them making in all a Train of betwixt 20 and 30 Pieces of Artillery ready to march where there is occasion The Garrison consists of a Battalion of the Right Honourable the Earl of Monmouth's Regiment The rest of his Lordship's Regiment Quarters in Guernezey The Militia or Train'd-bands are formed into 4 Regiments of Infantry and one Troop of Horse making in all about 3000 Men. They are all Fire-Arms Pikes being of no use in this Island CHAP. IV. Civil Jurisdiction WE have shewn in the former Chapter how the Office of Bailly was separated from that of Governor which two Offices were formerly united in the same Person The Bailly under the present Constitution is an Officer of great Dignity He is the Head of Justice and holds immediately by Patent from the King whom he represents in Court where his Seat is raised above that of the Governor He can nevertheless act only in Conjunction with the Jurats who are Twelve in Number of Royal Institution but of Popular Election For K. John being in JERSEY and finding Justice administred there in a manner Arbitrarily by one who had the Civil and Military Power in his hands assisted only by those we call Francs Tenans and that only thrice a Year and he not tied to follow their Opinions neither thought fit to establish such a Form of Jurisdiction here as was used in Gascogne consisting of Twelve Men who are to be perpetual Assistants to the Bailly and Eligible by the People These he called Coronatores Jurati i. e. sworn Coroners as may be seen from the Charter of their Creation Instituit duodecim Coronatores Juratos ad Placita Jura Spectantia ad Coronam Custodienda c. Coronator says the Learned Sir Henry Spelman apud nos Coronâ—e Officialis pervetustus est ad tuendam pacem Dignitatem Regiam in quovis Comitatu populi Suffragiis Constitutus In ancient Times says my Lord Coke it was an Office of great Estimation in England for none could have it under the Degree of a Knight These Twelve Magistrates in JERSEY are now known only by the Name of Jurats or Justiciaries that of Coroners being wholly disused The Manner of choosing a Jurat in JERSEY is this Upon a Vacancy the Court issues out an Act or Writ of Election fixing the Day which is always a Sunday and appointing one from their own Body to collect the Votes and Suffrages of the People The Act or Writ is delivered to the Minister who after Divine Service reads it from the Pulpit setting out usually in a short Speech the Duties and Obligations incumbent on those that aspire to that Magistrature and recommending to the People the Choice of such a one whom for his Knowledge and Abilities his Integrity and Love to Justice his Zeal for the Established Religion and Government and his Interest in the Assection of his Country they know to be of all others fittest for the Place The People give their Voices at the Church-door as they go out and he that has the Majority throughout the Island is declared duly Elected Without the Verdict and Opinion of these Twelve the Bailly cannot pronounce In case of Inequality of Opinions he is bound to follow the Majority But he has the Choice betwixt Opinions equal in Number Besides the Bailly and Jurats there go to make up the Court several other Officers as the King's Procurator and Advocate or the Attorney and Sollicitor The Viscount or Sheriff The Gressier or Clerk Six Advocates or Sollicitors at the Bar Two Denunciators or Under-Sheriffs And lastly the Usher no sworn but a necessary Officer to keep Order The Court thus composed is a Royal Court having Cognizance of all Pleas Real Personal Mixt or Criminal arising within the Island Treason only excepted and some other Casus nimis ardui which are reserved to the King and the Lords of His Majesty's most Honourable Privy-Council to whom alone this Court is subordinate Nor can the Inhabitants of this Island be sued in any of the Courts of Westminster for any Matter or Cause arising as is said before within the same In the latter Days of K. Edward I and throughout the weak Reign of Edward II a great Breach was made in the Jurisdiction of the Court by the Itinerant Judges sent over hither who as the Records of that Time do witness so plied the poor Inhabitants with Quo Warranto's calling into Question not only Publick Grants and Priviledges but also Private Men's Titles and Properties remitting them for further Vexation to the King's-Bench that none was secure of what he possessed Which Troubles continued till the 5th Year of Edward III when upon a Petition of both Islands still to be seen in the Treasury at Westminster that horrid Justice was superseded and the Jurisdiction of the Court as established by K. John with other Publick Franchises and Immunities were confirmed to us by a new and general Charter Appeals may be brought before the Council-Board in Matters of Civil Property above the Value of 300 Livres Tournois But no Appeal is admitted in Matters of less Value nor in Interlocutories nor in Criminal Causes which are judged here without Appeal I cannot but observe that the Case of Treason excepted from the Cognizance of the Bailly and Jurats has scarce afforded an Example amongst Us for these 500 Years last past Geoffrey Wallis or Welch Seigneur of 8t Germain Handois and other Fiefs in this Island was indeed slain in Barnet-Field with the Earl of Warwick his Master fighting against Edward IV for which his Estate was seized into the King's hands But it was afterwards by Henry VII declared no Felony because done in Favour of Henry VI who was then still living in a doubtfull Quarrel and the Estate was adjudged and ordered to be restored to John Fantleroy his next Heir Sir Richard Harliston who was Governor of and had an Estate in this Island siding on the other hand with the House of York in the Reign of K. Henry VII deluded by the Artifices of the Lady Margaret and the Impostures of Perkin Warbeck forfeited also both his Government and Estate in this Island But neither will this Example reach our Case Our Kings have
have Renounced or quitted that the encumbred Estate being sufficiently purged some one be found who may with little or no loss venture to take the Estate paying those Debts that remain Vnrenounced This is our way of sharing a broken Estate betwixt Creditors And few of the Debts are Chyrographal i. e. upon Bond in comparison of those that result from Arrears of Rents and Rents bought for Arrears of other Rents Wherein we have a Custom as old as it is injurious viz. That Arrears of Rents shall have the same Priviledge as the Rent it self and that a Rent bought in payment of Arrears of a Rent-Fonciere shall retain the Nature of those Arrears and consequently of the Rent of which they are Arrears Which absurdities have been so long followed that they have strangely intangled our Practice in Point of Decrees Criminal Causes are also treated in this Court and that usually on the first day or opening of it Where at Seven Jurats at least must be present if the Crime be Capital before which Proclamation is made that Justice Royale i. e. The Pleas of the Crown shall be held that day otherwise Three Jurats may suffice to hold the ordinary Pleas of Catel The Third is the Extraordinary Court called also le Billet because all Causes treatedtherein are heard in Order as they are set down in a Billet or scrowl made for that purpose and affixed to the Court-gate to the end that all Persons concerned may know when their attendance will be required in Court This Court was first brought in Subsidiarily when Causes grew too numerous for Catel and is intended for the decision of Matters of less moment as Arrears of Rents not exceeding ten years Arrests Distrainings and such like Mobiliary things The Fourth is the Saturday Court which is also an Extraordinary and Subsidiary Court and properly but a Branch of the former In Term-time it is appointed principally for the King's Causes and those of the Jurats who are not tied to the common Rule of Billet Out of Term for Causes of Brevity which admit no delay as Causes of Admiralty Contracts betwixt Merchants Breaches of the Peace and other daily Occurrences which require no Solemnity but may be dispatched de plano And note that when Sentence has been pronounced at Heritage or Catel by fewer than Five Jurats or at the Extraordinary Courts by less than Three for Moveables not under the value of 50 Livres Tournois the Party aggrieved may appeal before the Body of the Court consisting of Seven Jurats at the least These Courts except the Saturday Court which may be held upon any Emergency and at the pleasure of the Bailly and Jurats are not held promiscuously at all times and Seasons but have their Terms as in other places The first Term is that of Michaelmas which begins always the Thursday immediately before Michaelmas day but is interrupted during the Month of November that People may attend Husbandry which in JERSEY is much later than in England In the beginning of December the Term goes on and so continues till Christmas-Eve where it ends The Second begins the next Thursday after S. Maurus his day which is the 15th of January and is very short for it shuts up in the beginning of February The Third begins the next Thursday after St. George's day and continues till Midsummer and then the long Vacation follows in which there is no pleading unless some Causes that could not be dispatched during the Term be put off to the first or second week in September and so continue till Michaelmas Term begins if they cannot be ended sooner The Judgment-Hall or Place of Judicature is called La Cohue Royale and stands in the Town of St. Helier 'T is a handsom Building fronting the Market-place Note That the Place of Bailly being lately become vacant by the never too much lamented Death of Sir Philip de Carteret Baronet Seigneur of St. Ouen the late Bailly the States of the Island during the vacancy have according to Custom chosen for Judge Delegate Philip le Geyt Gent. who was before Lieutenant Bailly and who being a Person of great Integrity and exquisite Parts and Learning had discharged that Trust with general Satisfaction CHAP. V. Religion THere are yet remaining in this Island some old Monuments of Paganisine We call them Pouquelays They are great flat Stones of vast bigness and weight some Oval some Quadrangular raised three or four foot from the ground and supported by others of a less size 'T is evident both from their Figure and great quantities of Ashes found in the ground there abouts that they were used for Altars in those Times of Superstition And their standing on Eminencies near the Sea inclines me also to think that they were Dedicated to the Divinities of the Ocean At ten or twelve foot distance there is a smaller Stone set up on end in manner of a Desk where 't is supposed the Priest kneeled and performed some Ceremonies while the Sacrifice was burning on the Altar The Christian Religion was planted in this Island about the Year 565. Of which we have this Account St. Sampson the last Archbishop of Menevia now called St. David's in Wales being forced by the Invasion of the Saxons or as other write by a Pestilence raging in those Parts to abandon his See and retire into Armorica or Bretagne he was kindly received by Hoel II. King of that Countrey In favour of him the See of Dol given him by the King was made the Metropolis of all Bretagne and the Pope sent him the Archi-Episcopal Pall which Honour was transmitted to his Successors Archbishops of Dol and enjoyed by them above 600 years But the Territory of Dol being of small Extent JERSEY and the adjacent Isles on the Coast of Neustria were added to that Diocess by Childebert Son of Clovis King of France to whom they then belonged These Islands being thus become part of his Care he applied his thoughts to the Conversion of them to Christianity but lived not to effect it He was succeeded in the See of Dol by St. Magloire a Britain also his Kinsman and Companion in Exile who resigning soon after his Bishoprick to St. Budic one of his Disciples came over himself into these Islands and landed in Sargia now called Serk where he built a little Monastery or Colledge of Priests which stood in that Island about 800 years viz. till the time of K. Edward III there being yet to be seen in the Remembrancers Office in the Exchequer an account mentioning a yearly Pension paid by the Crown to the Monks of this Convent under the Name of Conventus S. Maglorii in Insul Sarg From thence he sailed to JERSEY where by his powerful Preaching his holy and exemplary living and the mighty Works which God wrought by him in the midst of Us if the Writers of his Life may be credited he laboured so successfully that