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
some Hundred Thousands of innocent People to quit their Habitations and seek in Foreign Countries that Liberty of serving God according to their Consciences which they were not suffered to enjoy at home Whereas by our remaining united to the Crown of England We live under a most easie and gentle Government We are subject to a most mercifull Throne from which we derive infinite Acts of Grace and Favour and to which we are never denied Access under our Pressures We enjoy the best Religion and have Communion with the best Reformed Church in the World May that Great God who presides over Human Affairs and in whose Hands are the Fates of Nations continue these Blessings to Vs the Inhabitants of this Isle and may we ever walk worthy of them May we so long as the World endureth remain united to that Crown from which under God these Blessings flow to Vs May Their Majesties by great and repeated Victories soon reduce their Enemies into a Necessity of Defending their own instead of invading the Dominions and Territories of others And may the whole English Nation be excited into a generous Compassion of those Dangers that surround Vs and be wrought into a Belief that we cannot perish without at least a great Diminution of their Glory ☞ The Reader may take a Character of that Great Man mentioned in the Preface from the following Inscription engraven on a fair Monument set up for him in the Parish-Church of St. Saviour where he lies Interred D. O. M. S. JOHANNES POINGDESTRE Armiger Heîc juxta situs Vir dum viveret In omni Scientiarum genere eruditissimus Utriusque praesertim juris peritissimus Graecanicis litteris ita doctus Ut priscis illis Athenis oriundum natum diceres CAROLO PRIMO Sanctissimo Regi Martyri Diu ab Epistolis Quo caeso Post horrendos Bellorum Civilium motus Quibus Regiis partibus constanter addictissimus interfuit Huc remeans In amplissimum Senatûs nostri ordinem ascitus Olim etiam Vice-Ballivus Multis maximisque exemplis editis Pietatis in Deum Ecclesiam Fidei in Principem Charitatis in Patriam Omnigeni Officii in Singulos Bonis hisce Artibus senescens Ad summam aetatem provectus Maturus Coelo Desideratissimus Terris Placidissimâ tandem morte obdormivit in Domino IV o Non. Sept. Anno Dom. MDCXCI Aetatis LXXXIII Patri Optimo Amantissimo Exiguum hoc Pietatis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Moerens Filius CAROLUS POINGDESTRE P. C. THE CONTENTS CHAP. I. A Short History of the Island CHAP. II. Description of the Island CHAP. III. Military Government CHAP. IV. Civil Jurisdiction CHAP. V. Religion CHAP. VI. Convention of the Estates CHAP. VII Priviledges A New Accurat MAP of their MAJESTIES Island of JERSEY Drawn from the Survey of Philip Dumaresq Esq Seigneur of Samares by Tho Lemprier Philomat The Arms and Seal of the Island and Bayliwick of JERSEY Given by K. Edward I. Anno Regiâ—â— Gules Three Leopards passant gardant â—r London Printed for Iohn Newton at the 3 Pigeons â—veragainst the Inner Temple Gate in Fleetstreet 1694. AN ACCOUNT Of the Isle of JERSEY CHAP. I. A Short History of the Island WE have no certain Account when or by whom this Island was first Inhabited Which will not seem strange to any that considers the great Uncertainties of Primitive Plantations We want not our Legend which may 't perhaps deserve as good Credit as those whereon some of the Greatest Nations build their Fabulous Original This seems to be more certain That this Island was known and in some esteem in the time of the Romans as appears from the Emperor Antoninus his Itinerary where it is mentioned under the Name of CAESAREA tho' 't is uncertain again from which of the Caesars it was so called and as appears likewise from the Remains of Roman Camps and Fortifications yet to be seen in this Island One of those Fortifications being by Ancient Tradition called to this Day La petite Caesarée no doubt because it was a Camp of one of the Caesars The Modern Name of JERSEY GERSEY or GEARSEY is thought to be but a Corruption of that of CAESAREA For ey in the the Language of those Northern Nations which over-run Europe about a Thousand Years ago signifies an Island as in the word Angles-ey i. e. the Isle of the Angles And Jer Ger or Gear is a Contraction of Caesar as in the Name of Cherburg or Gerburg an Ancient Town of Normandy so called from the Latin Caesaris-Burgum JERS-EY is as if one should say Caesar's Island It was also some time known under the Name of AVGIA For so it is called in that Donation which Childebert King of France who reigned from the Year 511 to 558 made of this and the other Islands to Sampson Archbishop of Dol in Bretagne Which Donation is found in the Life of that Bishop an Ancient MSS preserved in the Archives of Dol and attested by Dargentré And so likewise it is called in an old Fragment taken out of the Abby of Fontenelles in Normandy mentioned by Du Monstier in his Neustria Pia and extant in the third Tome of Andreas dn Chesne his Scripto res Coaetanèi Histor Franc. In which Fragment near as ancient as Charlemagne 't is said concerning Geroaldus Abbot of Fontenelles that Is quadem Legatione fungebatur jussu Caroli Augusti in Insulam cui nomen est AVGIA est adjacens Pago Constantino i. e. That he was then discharging the Office and Function of Imperial Legate by Command of Charles the Great in an Island whose name was AUGIA and is adjacent to the Town of Coûtance in Normandy 'T is very plain that this AUGIA where Geroaldus was sent could be no other than JERSEY which lies directly opposite to and within view of Coûtance and is usually known and described in ancient Writers by that very Character Thus Gregorius Turonensis speaking of JERSEY calls it Insulam Maris quod adjacet civitati Constantinae Aymonius Monachus calls it Insulam Maris quae adjacet Constantiae Papirius Massonius Insulam Constantini Littoris and Gaguinus Insulam Constantianae Dioecesis The Learned Mr. Poingdestre is of opinion that the Name of AUGIA is the ancient Name of this Island and that it was so called among the old Natives and Neighbours the Lexobii and Armorici who inhabited Normandy and Bretagne long before the Romans called it CAESAREA and the Normans corruply after them JERS-EY and that this Name was also for some Ages after continued among them However that of CAESAREA or JERS-EY has in length of time quite prevailed and out-worn the other AUGIA has been the ancient Name of other Places In Homer we find 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 i. e. The lovely AUGIA It was a Town of the Locrians in Greece And to this day a part of Normandy is called Normannia Augiaca i. e. Le Pais d'Auge This Island was in Old Time Parcel of
they were before and sent others towards St. Aubin's Bay and towards St. Clement and Grouville meaning to tire and distract our Troops by making a shew as tho' they intended to Land in all those different places at once and accordingly several Companies were detached to attend their Motion The main Body of the Fleet lying still in St. Brelard's Bay together with the best part of the Camp to oppose their Landing October 22. the same day on which the King Landed in France tho' the good News came not to Us till some weeks after a little after Midnight and by Moon-shine the Enemies were observed to ship off in several flat bottom'd Boats which they had brought for that Service ten or twelve Battalions of Foot to the number of about 4000 Men as was conjectured in order to make a Descent which they attempted by break of day under the covert of their Ships which drew as near the shore as the nature of the place would give them leave sparing neither Powder nor Shot on this occasion But seeing themselves beaten from two small Forts that had been raised in the Bay and the Islanders drawn up upon the Sands in a posture to receive them they thought fit to retire to their Ships which forthwith weighed Anchor and returned to St. Ouen leaving only 19 men of War in St Brelard's Bay This obliged the Governor to follow them again to St. Oüen after he had posted some Companies of the Militia his own Company of Fuzeliers and all the Dragoons to observe those that remained at St. Brelard The Enemies being come to St. Oüen directed their Course Northwards to L'Etack the furthest Point of that Bay as if they had designed to Land there whither they were accordingly followed by the Islanders but it soon appeared their Design was only to harrass our Troops for they suddenly tackt about and steered to the opposite Point which Motion was likewise attended by our Forces on shore The Enemies playing all the while furiously with their Cannon which was answered in the same manner as the day before The Night coming on it was thought necessary to send the Troops which had been now three Days and two Nights under their Arms and had been extremely fatigued by so many Marches and Counter-marches and were also very much incommoded by a small Rain that had not ceased to fall since they were in Action to refresh in the neighbouring Villages The noble and indefatigable Governor with a few Horse that attended him not departing all the while from the Shore It must not be forgot that the Enemies were that Day reinforced by a Squadron of fresh Ships which joined the Fleet a little before Night That fatal Night which proved extraordinary Dark and under the Favour of it the Enemies landed a Battalion which as soon as discovered was with great Bravery and Resolution charged by the Governor and those few Horse that he had about him The Charge was bloody and desperate many of the Enemies being killed and mortally wounded but they poured on so fast that the Infantry that was dispersed about the Coast had not time to come up and second that small Body of Horse which certainly did Wonders by the Confession of the very Enemies themselves who have often said that such another Charge would have made them retire and perhaps give over their Design at least for that time And 't is probable they must have done so For the next Day such a Storm arose that had they not by a timely Reduction of the Island secured a Retreat into the Ports a great Part of their Fleet must have perished and been dashed against the Rocks nor could even that hinder one of their biggest Frigats from being so lost with all the Men in her The Enemies being landed marched up into the Island where they committed great Disorders turning the Churches into Stables abusing the Pulpits and Communion-Tables in a manner not fit to be named 'T were needless to mention the Sequestrations Compositions for Estates and other Vexations which the Inhabitants of this Island suffered at that time since they were common to all that adhered to the Royal Interest There was great rejoycing in England for the taking of JERSEY The Parliament did once fear that the Islanders in Despair and rather than own their Power would give themselves up to the French Or that the King urged by his Necessities would sell it to that Crown for a Summ of Money 'T is certain that a Letter came about that time to the Men at Westminster informing them that the late Earl of St. Albans and Sir Richard Greenvil were actually at the French Court treating about some such thing And tho' it proved a Mistake it served to quicken the Resolutions of the Parliament who wisely considered that if this Island with ten or twelve small Privateers and with none or little help from France was able meerly by the Advantage and Opportunity of its Situation to obstruct the Trade and Commerce of the Channel how much more would it be able to do so if by falling into the Hands of the French it should become a Retreat to all the Corsairs of that Nation Tho' the Island was reduced the Castles were not Sir George de Carteret shut himself up in that of Elizabeth with several of the Gentry and Clergy and the Garrison amounting in all to about 350 sighting Men. The Castle was besieged and several Batteries were raised on St. Helier's Hill that did little Execution besides beating down the Parapets which were soon repaired Then came the News of his Majesty's safe Arrival in France Whereupon Mr. Poingdestre was dispatched to his Majesty to acquaint him with the State of the Garrison In the mean while the Enemies seeing no great Effect of their Cannon caused a Battery of Mortars to be raised and threw Bombs into the Castle One of which falling upon the Church and breaking through two strong Vaults under which was laid a considerable Quantity of Powder with other Ammunitions and Stores blew up the Church and the adjoyning Buildings burying above Fourscore Persons of the Garrison under the Ruines thereof This Accident caused a great Consternation in the Garrison and hastned the Reduction of the Place But before the Governor would hearken to a Treaty he sent his Chaplain the Reverend Dr. Durel late Dean of Windsor Mr. Poingdestre not being yet returned to the King to know if he may 't expect Succour promising with a very small Force not only to keep the Castle but to drive the Enemies quite out of the Island The King after many fruitless Applications made to the French Court which was then at Poitiers and had begun by the Intrigues of Cardinal Mazarin to enter into a close Conjunction with the Powers in England sent back this Message to the Governor That he was highly satisfied with his Courage and Conduct in the Defence of the Island Being convinced no man could do
of JERSEY and Garnsey did of ancient time belong to the Dutchy of Normandy but when King Henry I. had overthrown his elder Brother Robert Duke of Normandy he did unite to the Kingdom of England perpetually the Dutchy of Normandy together with these Isles And albeit King John lost the Possession of Normandy and King Henry III. took Money for it yet the Inhabitants of these Isles with great Constancy remained and so to this day do remain true and faithful to the Crown of England AND THE POSSESION OF THESE ISLANDS BEING PARCEL OF THE DVTCHY OF NORMANDY ARE A GOOD SEISIN FOR THE KING OF ENGLAND OF THE WHOLE DVTCHY CHAP. II. Description of the Island THE Island of JERSEY is seated in the Bay of St. Michael betwixt Cap de la Hague and Cap Forhelles the first in Normandy the last in Bretagne both which Promontories may be seen from thence in a clear Day The nearest Shore is that of Normandy to which the Cut is so short that Churches and Houses may be easily discerned from either Coast It lies according to Mr. Samarâ—s his new Survey in 49 Deg. and 25 Min. of Northern Latitude which I take to be right enough But when he gives it but 11 Deg. and 30 Min. of Longitude I cannot conceive where he fixes his first Meridian For to say nothing of the Isles of Azores or those of Cap Verd which are at a much greater Distance if he takes it with Sanson and the French Geographers from the Isle of Feró the most Western of the Canaries it must be a great deal more than he says viz. 18 Deg. at the least Or if he takes it even from Tenarif which according to the best and latest Observations is 18 Deg. from London still the Longitude of JERSEY cannot be less than 15 Deg. 30 Min. It seems to me to have near the same Longitude as Bristol in England In Length it exceeds not 12 Miles The Breadth where it is broadest is betwixt 6 and 7. The Figure resembleth somewhat an Oblong long Parallelogram the longest Sides whereof are the North and South the narrowest are the East and West The North Side is a continued Hill or ridge of Cliffs which are sometimes 50 Fathoms high from the Water and render the Island generally unaccessible on that Side The South side is much lower and in some Places level as it were with the Sea I cannot better compare it than to a Wedge or to a Triangle Right-angle the Basis whereof may be supposed to be the Sea the Cathetus those high and craggy Cliffs which it hath on the North and the Hypothenusa the Surface of the Island which declines and falls gently from North to South according to the following Diagram JERSEY It receives two great Benefits from this Situation The First is that those Rivulets for I cannot call them Rivers with which this Island abounds do by this means run further and receive a greater Increase and Accession of Waters whereby they become strong enough to turn betwixt 30 and 40 Mills that supply the whole Country than they would do should the Island rise in the middle and all the Streams by an equal Course descend on every side to the Sea This Consideration would be of no great Moment to a larger Country but is of unexpressible Use and Advantage to so small an Island The Second Benefit which we receive from this Situation is that by this Declivity of the Land from N to S the Beams of the Sun fall more directly and perpendicularly thereon than if either the Surface was level and Parallel to the Sea or which is worse declined from S to N as it doth in Guernezey For there by an odd opposition to JERSEY the Land is high on the S and low on the N which causes if I may so speak a double Obliquity the one from the Position of the Sun it self especially in time of the Winter Solstice the other from the Situation of the Land and is probably the Reason of the great Difference observed in the Qualities of Soil and Air in both Islands GUERNEZEY This Declivity of JERSEY is not a smooth and even Declivity as some may 't think The Surface is extremely broken and unequal rising and falling almost perpetually For as on the N it is an entire Hill with few and short Vales so on the S SE and SW it is cut into sundry fruitfull Valleys narrow at the Beginning but growing wider as they draw still nearer and nearer to the Sea where they end in several Flats of good Meadows and Pastures Mr. Poingdestre thought that this Unevenness and Inequality of the Surface added much to the Quantity and Proportion of the ground and that the Island was so much the more Capacious and Productive by how much the more the Surface was expanded rising with the Hills and descending with the Valleys But herein I must take the Liberty to depart from so great a Man It being demonstrable that a Country that is exactly level will contain as many Houses and Inhabitants will produce as many Trees Plants c. as another Country whose Surface is as uneven and unequal as can be but whose Basis or Plane is equal to the other Therefore the true Dimension of any Country is not to be taken from those Gibbosities that swell the Surface in one Place or those Profundities that depress it in another but from the true Basis or Plane of that Country The Nature of the Mould and Soil admits great Variety which proceeds from this Difference of higher and lower Grounds The higher Grounds are gritty gravelly and some stony and rocky but others are Excellently good The Lower are deep heavy and rich Those near the Sea are light and sandy yet not equally so in all Places But generally there is little barren Ground in the whole Island almost none that is not capable of receiving some profitable Culture and recompensing one way or other the Pains of the Labouring Husbandman We must except a large Tract of once Excellent Lands in the West of the Island which within these 200 Years have been so over-run with Sands that the Island on that side beareth the Image of a Desart This is said to have happened by Divine Vengeance on the Owners of those Lands for detaining the Goods of Strangers that had been shipwrackt on that Coast though injoyned by the highest Censures of the Church to restore them There must be from time to time such publick Examples of Divine Justice among Men that the Inhabitants of the Earth may learn Righteousness And yet I confess it may 't be also the Effect of a Cause not Preternatural I mean of those high Westerly winds that blow here almost at all Seasons of the Year and which on this side of the Island are daily seen to drive the Sands from the Bottom to the Top of the highest Cliffs The Island produces all Manner of
choicest Plant that grows in our Gardens We call it Vraic in ancient Records Veriscum and sometimes Wreccum and it grows on the Rocks about the Island 'T is gathered only at certain times appointed by the Magistrate and signified to the People by the publick Cryer on a Market-day There are two Seasons of cutting it the one in Summer the other about the Vernal Equinox The Summer Vraic being first well dried by the Sun on the Sea shore serves for Fuel and makes a hot glowing fire but the Ashes are a great improvement of the Soil and are equivalent to a like quantity of Lime The Winter Vraic being spread thin on the green Turf and after buried in the furrows by the Plough 't is incredible how with its fat unctuous Substance it ameliorates the ground imbibing it self into it softning the Clod and keeping the root of the Corn moist during the most parching heats of Summer In stormy weather the Sea doth often tear up from the Rocks vast quantities of this Weed and casts it on the Shore where it is carefully laid up by the glad Husband-man there being particular Officers appointed for the Distribution thereof to all by certain fixed and adequate Proportions The Genius of the Soil is naturally much inclined to Wood and the humour of the People suits with the Genius of their Soil The whole Island especially the more inland Part is so thick Planted that to any that takes a Prospect of it from some higher ground it looks like an entire and continued Forest altho' that in walking through it not a Wood nor hardly a Coppice is to be seen but many Hedge-rows and Orchards Nothing can be imagined more delightful than the Face of this Island when the Trees which are set along the High-ways and in the Avenues of Houses are covered with Verdure and the Orchards are full of Blossoms For as the one affords a pleasant shade so the other recreates the Eye and perfumes the Air with a sweet Fragrancy But still it must be confessed that so much shade is prejudicial to the growth of Pasture and Corn. Tho' we have much Wood we have but little good Timber For almost all our Trees are Pollards which is not so much an effect of Choice as of necessity The Husband-man being obliged to bring his Trees to a Standard by Lopping of those spreading and Luxuriant branches which if let alone would cover his little Plots and Inclosures and suffer nothing to grow under them The ordinary Drink of this Island is Cidar an ancient Liquor since we find it mentioned both by Tertullian and St. Augustine The former calls it succum ex pomis vinosissimum The other writing against the Manichees who objected to the Catholicks that they were men addicted to Wine whereas themselves abstained wholly from the Use of it he answers not by denying the Objection but by telling those Hereticks That altho ' they refused to drink Wine they would quaff very freely of another Liquor made of the Juice of Apples far more delicious than Wine or any other Liquor whatsoever From these Passages of Tertullian and St. Augustine who were both Africanes Cardinal Du Perron who by the way was born in JERSEY of Protestant Parents thinks this Liquor was first known in Africa and from thence passed into Spain among the Biscainers whose Northern Situation and Icy Mountains were too cold for the tender Vine and who therefore improved this hardy Tree that lives and grows under any Climate The Normans who are almost the only People in France unacquainted with the Grape transplanted the Apple from Biscay into their Province from whence we have it in this Island I do not believe there is any Country in the World which on the same extent of ground produces so much Cidar as JERSEY Mr. Samarés his way of guessing at the quantity of Cidar made in the whole Island was to allow one Vergée which is about half an English Acre of Orchard to every house which will amount to 3000 Vergées that being near upon the number of Habitations in this Island Now allowing two Tuns to a Vergée it will arise to 6000 Tuns or 24000 Hogsheads which is 500 Tuns or 2000 Hogsheads for every Parish one with an other 'T is not to be imagined the Island should produce the same quantity every Year The years alternate A good Year is usually succeeded by a bad one But a good Year commonly supplies Us for that and the next ensuing beyond use and necessity even to Excess and Debauchery For this vast quantity of Cidar must be wholly consumed among Our selves little or none being exported abroad tho' it be the onely product of the Island of which we have an Overplus to spare For a remedy to this Evil there was an expedient once found by some of our Merchants which was to buy up this Supernumerary Cidar and distill it into Brandy which they afterwards sold into England But the new Additional impost laid upon those Liquors by Act of Parliament has obstructed that Trade which serv'd to take off from our hands a superfluous Commodity that ministers now only to Drunkenness Many of our Orchards are planted after the manner of the famous Quincunx and all of them in an Order that gives them a Beauty beyond what I have observed in Glocester or Herefordshire where appears little Exactness in the Position and mutual Aspect of the Trees Nor is there better and larger more generous and vinous Fruit than what grows in this Island but we have it in such Plenty that 't is not possible we should use the same nice Exactness in gathering it and improving afterwards by Art such a Sea of Liquor as is drawn out of it which is used in other Parts where there is less Fruit and consequently less Work required about it But were the same method practised here as in England viz to cull the choicest Fruit whereas we mix all confusedly together and then ferment rack and bottle our Cidar I do not doubt but a great deal of it might for Tast and Colour dispute it with the so much admired Red-strake I have often drank some that was not at all inferior to it About 140 years ago there was so little Cidar made in this Island that the Inhabitants were necessitated to apply themselves to Queen Mary then Reigning for leave to transport yearly out of England among other Provisions 500 Tuns of Beer for their Use Custom-free besides 150 Tuns more for the Garrison which she granted in the First year of her Reign Our ancient Drink was Mead. For then this Island abounded with large and numerous Apiaries which thrived exceedingly but since the increase of Cidar they are much decayed tho' to this day Honey made in this Island surpasses all I have Tasted elsewhere Could Men be satisfied with the common Drink of Nature Water I mean no People in the World are more liberally stored with that than
Archbishop Abbot the Lord-Keeper Williams and the Learned Andrews Bishop of Winchester commissioned thereunto by the King received the Royal Assent June 30. in the 21st Year of His Majesty's Reign and were thereupon transmitted to JERSEY to have there the Force of Laws in Matters Ecclesiastical as they have to this Day A Copy of which Canons collated with the old French Original extant in our Records is hereunto added for publick Satisfaction JAMES R. JAMES by the Grace of God King of England Scotland France and Ireland Defender of the Faith c. To our right Trusty and well beloved Counseller the Reverend Father in God Lancelot Bishop of Winton and to our Trusty and well beloved Sir John Peyton Knight Governor of our Isle of JARSEY and to the Governor of the said Isle for the time being To the Bailiff and Jurats of the said Isle for the time being and to the Officers Ministers and Inhabitants of the said Isle for the time being To whom it shall or may appertain Greeting Whereas we held it fitting heretofore upon the Admission of the now Dean of that Island unto his Place in the Interim until we might be more fully informed what Laws Canons or Constitutions were meet and fit to be made and established for the good Government of the said Island in Causes Ecclesiastical appertaining to the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction to command the said Bishop of Winton Ordinary of the said Island to grant his Commission unto David Bandinel now Dean of the said Island to exercise the Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction there according to certain Instructions signed with our Royal Hand to continue only until we might establish such Constitutions Rules Canons and Ordinances as we intended to settle for the regular Government of that our Island in all Ecclesiastical Causes conformed to the Ecclesiastical Government established in our Realm of England as near as conveniently might be And whereas also to that purpose our Pleasure was that the said Dean with what convenient Speed he might after such Authority given unto him as aforesaid and after his Arrival into that Island and the publick Notice given of his Admission unto the said Office should together with the Ministers of that our Isle consider of such Canons and Constitutions as might be fitly accommodated to the Circumstances of Time and Place and the Persons whom they concern and that the same should be put into Order and intimated to the Governor Bailiff and Jurats of that our Isle that they might offer to us and to Our Council such Acceptions and give such Informations touching the same as they should think good And whereas the said Dean and Ministers did conceive certain Canons and presented the same unto Vs on the one part and on the other part the said Bailiff and Jurats excepting against the same did send and depute Sir Philip de Carteret Knight Joshua de Carteret and Philip de Carteret Esquires three of the Jurats and Justices of Our said Isle All which Parties appeared before Our right Trusty and well beloved Councellors the Most Reverend Father in God the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury the Right Reverend Father in God the Lord Bishop of Lincoln Lord-Keeper of Our great Seal of England and the Right Reverend Father in God the said Lord Bishop of Winton to whom We gave Commission to examine the same who have accordingly heard the said Parties at large read examined corrected and amended the said Canons and have now made Report unto Vs under their Hands that by a mutual Consent of the said Deputies and Dean of our Island they have reduced the said Canons and Constitutions Ecclesiastical into such Order as in their Judgments may well fit the State of that Island KNOW ye therefore that We out of Our Princely Care of the quiet and peaceable Government of all Our Dominions especially affecting the Peace of the Church and the Establishment of true Religion and Ecclesiastical Discipline in one uniform Order and Course throughout all Our Realms and Dominions so happily united under Vs as their supreme Governor on Earth in all Causes as well Ecclesiastical as Civil having taken consideration of the said Canons and Constitutions thus drawn perused and allowed as aforesaid do by these Presents ratify confirm and approve thereof AND further We out of Our Princely Power and Regal Authority do by these Presents signed with Our Royal Hand and sealed with Our Royal Signet for Vs Our Heirs and Successors will and command that the said Canons and Constitutions hereafter following shall from henceforth in all Points be duely observed in Our said Isle for the perpetual Government of the said Isle in Causes Ecclesiastical unless the same or some Part or Parts thereof upon further Experience and Trial thereof by the mutual Consent of the Lord Bishop of Winton for the Time being the Governor Bailiffs and Jurats of the said Isle and of the Dean and Ministers and other Our Officers of Our said Isle for the time being representing the Body of Our said Isle and by the Royal Authority of Vs Our Heirs or Successors shall receive any Additions or Alterations as Time and Occasion shall justly require And therefore We do further will and command the said Right Reverend Father in God Lancelot now Lord Bishop of Winton that he do forthwith by his Commission under his Episcopal Seal as Ordinary of that Place give Authority unto the said now Dean to exercise Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction in Our said Isle according to these Canons and Constitutions thus made and established De la Souveraineté du Roy. PRemierement selon le Devoir que nous devons a la Tres-Excellente Majesté du Roy il est Ordonné que le Doyen Ministres ayans cure des Ames seront tenus un chascun de tout leur Pouvoir Scavoir Cognoissance d'enseigner mettre en Evidence desclarer purement sincérement sans aucune feintise ou dissimulation le plus souvent que faire se pourra que les occasions s'en presenteront que toute Puissance Forreine estrangere Vsurpée pour autant qu' elle nâ aucun fondement en la Parole de Dieu est totalement pour bonnes justes Causes ostée abolie par conséquent que nulle sorte d'Obeissance ou Subjection dedans les Royaumes Dominions de sa Majesté n'est deüe à aucune telle Puissance Ains que la Puissance du Roy dedans les Royaumes d'Angleterre d'Ecosse d'Irlande autres ses Dominions Contrées est la plus haute Puissance sous Dieu à laquelle Toutes Personnes habitans natifs dans icelles doivent par la Loy de Dieu toute Fidélité Obeissance avant par dessus toute autre Puissance 2. Quiconque affermera maintiendra que la Majesté du Roy n'a la méme Authoritè en causes Ecclesiastiques comme entre les Juiss ont eû les Rois Religieux les Empereurs Chrestiens en
Ordered that he shall not use his Negative Voice but in such Points as shall concern Our special Interest the rather in regard that such Acts as are made in their Assembly are but Provisional Ordinances and have no Power or Property of Laws until they be confirmed by Vs The great Business of these Meetings is the raising of Mony to supply publick Occasions For as in England Mony cannot he raised upon the Subject but by Authority of Parliament so here 't is a received Maxim that no Levies can be made upon the Inhabitants but by their own Consent declared by their Representatives assembled in Common Council Nor have the States a Power of themselves to Create new Subsidies or Imposts but only upon extraordinary Emergencies when the common Safety and Defence of the Island requires it or Application must be made to the King by Persons sent over at the publick Charge to Levy what they judge sufficient for those Uses by fixed and equal Proportions according to the ancient Rate In these Assemblies Accounts of the publick Revenue and Expences are stated and Audited Differences arising about the Disposal and Administration of the Church-Treasuries are examined and determined Deputies are appointed to represent Our Grievances and sollicite Our Affairs at Court good and wholsom Ordinances against Profaners of the Lord's day Blasphermers of God's holy Name common Swearers and Drunkards and other riotous and disorderly Persons are made and enacted under severe Penalties And in a word all other Matters are transacted therein as are thought to conduce most to preserve the Honour and Reverence that is due to God and to Holy Things the Fidelity and Obedience we all owe to their Majesties and those that Act in Subordination to their Authority the Peace and Tranquility the Wellfare and Happiness of the whole Island And yet it must be confessed that most of these things are of the Competence and Jurisdiction of the Court but Our Magistrates think it Prudential to take the Advice and Council of these Assemblies considering wisely that their Concurrence must add a Force and Vigour to these and the like Sanctions I must not forget to observe that the Constables who make so considerable a Body in these Assemblies and are the true and proper Representatives of the People are Officers of better Account with us than they are in England They are generally Men of the best Qualifications in the respective Parishes for which they serve And the Office it self is so far above Contempt that 't is sought and Ambitioned by those whose Birth and Abilities add at the same time a Credit and a Reputation to it The Office is Triennial tho' some continue in it much longer and to those that discharge it with Honour it is a step to the Magistracy The following Scheme with the Explanatory Table here underneath will shew the manner of sitting in these Assemblies A The Governor or his Deputy B The Bailly or his Lieutenant C C C C c. The XII Jurats D D D D c. The Dean and Ministers E Their Majesties Procurator F Their Majesties Advocate G The Viscount H H H H c. The XII Constables I The Gressier K One of the Denunciators attending L The Vsher of the Court. M The Table N A large Silver gilt Mace carried before the Bailly and Jurats O The Vestibulum The States of the Isle of JERSEY CHAP. VII Priviledges Few Places can boast of greater Priviledges than this Island The Reasons alledged in the Preambles of Our Charters as the Motives inducing Our Kings to grant Us these Priviledges are especially these Three 1. To reward Our Loyalty and Fidelity to the Crown of England We have merited these Priviledges by Our good Services 2. To engage Us to be Loyal and Faithfull still We can have no Temptation while we enjoy these Priviledges to change Our Masters 3. To make Our Condition easie and comfortable which under the Circumstances and Disadvantages of Our Situation would otherwise be most intolerable There would be no living in this Island for English Subjects without great Freedoms and Immunities Which few would envy if they knew at what price we purchase them Our want of Records beyond the Time of King John will not let Us know what were Our Priviledges under Our more ancient Dukes and Kings his Predecessors From him therefore we must date the Aera of Our Liberties and Franchises And forasmuch as his Constitutions are the Ground and Foundation of all Our Subsequent Charters I shall set them down here at large as they are found among the Records of that King's Reign in the Tower of London under this Title Inquisitio facta de Servitiis Consuetudinibus Libertatibus Insul de GERESE Guernese Legibus Constitutis in Insulis per Dominum Johannem Regem per Sacramentum Roberti Blondel Radulphi Burnel c. qui dicunt c. Then follows Constitutiones Provisiones Constitutae per Dominum Johannem Regem postquam Normannia alienata fuit Imprimis Constituit Duodecim Coronatores Juratos ad Placita Jura ad Coronam spectantia Custodienda II. Constituit etiam concessit pro Securitate Insularium quod Ballivus de coetero per Visum Dictorum Coronatorum poterit Placitare absque Brevi de nova Disseisinâ factâ infrà annum de morte Antecessorum infrà annum de Dote similiter infrà Annum de Feodo invadiato semper de incumbreio Maritagii c. III. Ii debent eligi de Indigenis Insularum per Ministros Domini Regis Optimates Patriae scilicet post Mortem Vnius eorum alter fide dignus vel alio casu legitimo debet substitui IV. Electi debent jurare sine conditione ad manutenendum salvandum Jura Domini Regis Patriotarum V. Ipsi Duodecim in quâlibet Insulâ in Absentiâ Justiciariorum unà cum Justiciariis cùm ad Partes illas venerint debent Judicare de Omnibus Casibus in dictâ Insulâ qualitercunque Emergentibus exceptis Casibus nimis Arduis siquis Legitimè convictus fuerit à Fidelitate Domini Regis tanquà m Proditor recessisse vel manus injecisse violentas in Ministros Domini Regis modo á¸ebito Ossicium exercendo VI. Ipsi Duodecim debent Emendas sive Amerciamenta omnium praemissorum Taxare praedictis tamen Arduis Casibus exceptis aut aliis Casibus in quibus secundùm Consuetudinem Insularum merè spectat Redemptio pro Voluntate Domini Regis Curiae suae VII Si Dominus Rex velit certiorari de Recordo Placiti corà m Justiciariis ipsis Duodecim agitati Justiciarii cum ipsis Duodecim debent Recordum facere de Placitis agitatis corà m Ballivo ipsis Juratis in dictis Insulis ipsi debent Recordum facere conjunctim VIII Item Quod nullum Placitum infrà quamlibet dictarum Insularum coram quibuscunque Justiciariis inceptum debet extrà dictam Insulam adjornari