CHAP. III. Military Government THE Chief Officer in this Island He that more immediately represents the King's Person and that hath the Precedency of all others is the Governor While this Island was subject to the Kings of France of the First and Second Race the Governors were styled Comites and Duces i. e. Counts and Dukes Thus LOYESCON who commanded here in the time of Clothaire and Charibert an 560 is called Comes a Count as we learn from the Compilers of the Life of St. Magloire the Apostle of this Island And AMWARITH who had the same Command about 200 Years after viz. in the time of Charlemagne is called Dux a Duke as appears from that ancient Fragment mentioned before where 't is said concerning Geroaldus Abbot of Fontenelles that is quadam Legatione fungebatur in Insulam cui nomen est AVGIA JERSEY cui tempore illo praefuit Dux nomine AMWARITH Under the Dukes of Normandy and the first English Kings after the Conquest the Government of all these Islands was generally given to one Man who was called sometimes Dominus sometimes Ballivus sometimes Custos Insularum i. e. Lord Bailly or Warden of the Islands But K. Henry VI. gave them together with the Isle of Wight to Henry de Beauchamp Earl of Warwick with a very extraordinary Title viz. with that of KING as is seen from an ancient MS. Chronicle of the Abby of Tewkesbury mentioned by Mr. Selden where this Passage is found Obiit Dominus Henricus Nobilis Dux Warichiae Primus Comes Angliae Dominus le Dispenser de Abergevenny REX de Insulis Wight Gardsey JARDSEY Dominus quoque Castri Bristoliae cum suis annexis 3 Id. Junii A. D. 1446. Anno Aetatis suae XXII apud Castrum de Hanleyâ et sepultus est in medio Chori Theokesburiae When these Islands were separated and particular Governors assigned to each of them they were styled Captains and at last Governors which Title was fixed by a special Ordinance of Council June 15. 1618. This Office has been anciently held by Persons of very great Note and Eminency and we can reckon among our Governors the Sons and Brothers of some of our Kings As 1 John Earl of Mortain afterwards King who had these Islands given him in the Nature of an Appanage by K. Richard I his Brother 2 Prince Edward afterwards K. Edward I. Son and Successor of Henry III who held them in the same Right in the time of his Father 3. John Duke of Bedford and 4. Humphrey Duke of Glocester Brothers of Henry V. I shall only give an Account of the Governors of JERSEY from the time of Edward IV ever since which time this Island has always been a separate Government Sir RICHARD HARLISTON Vice-Admiral of England who assisted Philip de Carteret in the Reduction of Mont Orgueil Castle which had been seized by the French and had thereupon the Government given him for his good Service He died in Flanders MATTHEW BAKER Esq Groom of the Bed-Chamber to K. Henry VII ejected afterwards for Misdemeanors THOMAS OVERAY lyeth buried in St. George's Chappel in Mont-Orgueil Castle then the Residence of the Governors Sir HUGH VAUGHAN who was also at the same time Lieutenant of the Tower of London Captain of the King's Life-guard c. Resigned the Government to Sir ANTHONY UGHTRED whose Wife was nearly related to Q. Anne Bolein He came in by that interest and lies interred in St. George's Chappel in Mont Orgueil Sr. ARTHVRD ARCY who sold the Government to THOMAS Lord VAVX of Harrowdon and he soon after to Sir EDWARD SEYMOVR Viscount Beauchamp afterwards Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector Sir HVGH PAWLET Treasurer to K. Henry the 8th's Army at the Siege of Bologne Governor of Havre de Grace an 1563. that Town being then in the hands of the English Reputed one of the best and most experienced Captains of his Time A zealous Promoter of the Reformation in this Island of which he was Governor about 24 Years was succeeded by his Eldest Son Sir AMIAS PAWLET Privy Councellor to Q. Elizabeth Ambassador in France an 1576 who had also for Successor Sir ANTHONY PAWLET his Son and he Sir WALTER RALEIGH whose very Name is an honour to this Island But the unfortunate Gentleman held the Government not long it being forfeited together with all his other Great Offices and Preferments by his Attainder in the First year of K. James I. Sir JOHN PEYTON Lieutenant of the Tower c. Sir THOMAS JERMYN who in his Life-time did also obtain the Reversion of the Government after him for his younger Son HENRY JERMYN created first Lord Jermyn then Earl of St. Alban's Knight of the most Noble Order of the Garter c. To whom was afterward joyned in the same Patent and with equal Authority Sir GEORGE DE CARTERET who with so great Valour held the Island for the King against the whole force of the Parliament in the late Civil Wars After the Restoration in 1660 made Vice-Chamberlain and one of the Lords of the Privy-Council and lastly created Baron Carteret of Hains in Bedfordshire After the said Restoration the Earl of St. Alban's remained sole Governor but a War ensuing with France an 1665 the Earl was allowed 1000 l. per annum out of the Exchequer And Sir THOMAS MORGAN that renowned and valiant Commander was sent into this Island and made Governor by special Commission After whose Decease the like Commission was directed to Sir JOHN LANIER recalled upon the Earl of St. Alban's Death to make way for The Right Honourable THOMAS Lord JERMYN Baron of St. Edmund's Bury who claimed the Government by virtue of a Grant to him formerly made by Letters Patent under the Great Seal in case he survived his Uncle the said Earl of St. Alban's He holds it as the Earl did for Life This Office has been held sometimes Quamdiù Domino Regi placuerit sometimes Quamdiù se benè gesserit sometimes for a certain and determinate number of Years sometimes during Life sometimes during Life and five years beyond it and at other times again without Condition or Limitation of time For the support of this Dignity the King allows the Governor his whole Revenue in the Island a small part thereof only deducted for Fees and Salaries to the Officers of the Court. In ancient times this Revenue consisted of seven Mannors which were the Patrimony of the Dukes of Normandy These Mannors were by K. Henry II. let out in Fee-farm to several Tenants at the rate of about 460 Livres Tournois yearly which with many other old Money-Rents expressed in the Extent or Register of the King's Revenue made an 1331. amounted to more than 1000 Livres Tournois per annum A Livre Tournois Libra Turonensis being then worth as much as an English l. Sterling is now This together
with several Parcels of Lands and Meadows Wheat-Rents Escheats Forfeitures Fines Services Wardships Customs and other Emoluments not reckoned in Money made up a pretty Revenue for the King in so small an Island But now the Livre Tournois is fallen so low viz. 13. of them for one l. Sterl that the said 1000. Livres Tournois are brought under the value of 100. l. Sterl And many Alienations have been made of the Revenue It consists now chiefly in the Tythes of Ten Parishes of the Island which having been appropriated to several Religious Houses in Normandy in time of Popery were at the Reformation assumed by the Crown As also in several Quarters of Wheat-Rents and other Profits certain and casual estimated all together at about 15000 Livres Tournois per annum Out of which Sum the aforementioned Deductions are made the rest belongs to the Governor who has a peculiar Officer appointed by himself for the Collection of the said Revenue called Le Receveur du Roy i. e. The Kings Receiver Our Kings heretofore did use to dispose of this Revenue more thriftily than they now do laying on it the whole Charge of the Garrison causing the remainder to be accounted for in the Exchequer and out of that allowing a Proportion to the Governor greater or less as he could agree or had an Interest in the Prince's favour Thus Johannes des Roches who was Warden of these Islands in the time of Edward III. had but 40. l. a year allowed him out of the said Revenue The more usual way was for the Governor to receive the whole Revenue paying a certain Sum yearly out of it into the Exchequer Thus Thomas de Ferrariis and Thomas de Hampton who succeeded Johannes des Roches paid 500 Marks yearly The last that had it with these Deductions was Sir Thomas Jermyn Grandfather of the Lord Jermyn the now Governor who paid 300 l. yearly to the King Nor was this without Exceptions For Philip de Aubigny Drogo de Barentin Otto de Grandison c. in the time of K. John Henry III Edward I c. received and enjoyed the whole Revenue as the Governors do now sine Computo So did those Sons and Brothers of our Kings mentioned before who seem to have had these Islands inpurum absolutum Dominium Therefore very properly called Domini Insularum Lords of the Islands The Power of the Governors has likewise been greater or less as their Commission has from time to time been either enlarged or restrained Anciently the Governor here was a Person of a mixt Power I mean that he had the Administration of both the Civil and Military Authority He was Judge as well as Governor had the disposal of all places in Court Church or Garrison Then he was called Bailly which in the Gottish Tongue signifies Custos i. e. a Warden or Guardian For he was both Custos Terrae and Custos Legum Guardian of the Land and Guardian of the Laws In process of time he reserved only the Exercise of the Military and Commanding part to himself transferring the Judicial to another who remained in possession of the Title of Bailly while himself retained the sense and meaning of the Word in the new Name of Custos or Warden which he assumed Thus that Office which at first was but one became two Yet so as that he who had the Judicial part and was now called the Bailly was still dependant and at the Nomination of the other So were the other Ministers of Justice Which was a great obstruction to a free Administration of it since the Court must still be at the beck and devotion of him from whom it derived its Power K. John began and K. Henry VII completed the Establishment of a Jurisdiction in this Island independant from the Governor taking away from him the Nomination of the Bailly Dean King's Officers and Viscount And forbidding him to interpose his Authority in Matters that were purely of the Cognizance of the Civil or Ecclesiastical Tribunals But tho' the Governor has no proper Jurisdiction yet in regard of his Dignity his Presence is often required in Court and is in some sort necessary for the passing of some Acts there viz. Such as concern the King's Service the Maintenance of the publick Peace the Safety and good Government of the Island He has the Court under his Protection being obliged to assist the Bailly and Jurats with his Authority in the Execution of their Judgments He has Power with the Concurrence of two of the Jurats to arrest and imprison any Inhabitant upon vehement Suspicion of Treason No Inhabitant may go out of the Island no Foreigner may come sojourn or settle in it without his Knowledge and Privity No Estates can be held nor any thing therein transacted without his Consent but this with some restrictions of which more hereafter On the other side at his Admission and before he can do any Act of Government he must produce his Patent or Commission in Court and must swear to maintain the Liberties and Priviledges of the Island His more immediate Province is the Custody of Their Majesties Castles the Command of the Garrison and Militia of the Island Which last he models and regulates at Pleasure The Place of his Residence is Elizabeth Castle called also the New Castle in distinction to Mont-Orgueil which is the Old Castle Sometimes again called L'Islet because seated in a small Island in St. Aubin's Bay taking up the whole Ground or Compass of that Island Inviron'd round on all sides by the Sea unless at Low-water at which time there is access to it over the Sands especially over a Beach of Pebbles called the Bridge but neither is this dry above 6 Hours sometimes not 5 Distant from the nearest Land 663 Geometrical Paces Well mounted with Ordnance and stored with all necessary Provisions of War Begun An. 1552 in Consequence of an Order of Council of An. 1551 injoyning the Bells of the Island leaving only one in every Church to be sold and the Mony to be applied to the Building thereof Impregnable by its Situation and on which under God depends the Safety of the whole Island I wish I could give the same account of Mont-Orgueil Castle standing aloft on a steep and craggy Promontory in the East of the Island and as it were proudly overlooking the neighbouring Coast of France But that Noble and Ancient Castle under whose Walls the French have so often digged their Graves falls daily to decay through want of repair 'T is somewhat awed by a Hill that lies too near it on the Land-side f The Fort or Tower of St. Aubin is o good use for the Defence of the Road and for the Security of our shipping which lie safe in the Mole or Peer under the Guns of the Place These are all the Fortresses in this Island where the King keeps Garrison both in Peace and War For tho' the Map mentions
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
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
ea pro Nobis Haeredibus Successoribus nostris quantum in nobis est praefatis Ballivo Juratis ac caeteris Incolis Habitatoribus Mercatoribus aliis tà m Hostibus quà m Amicis eorum cuilibet per Praesentes indulgemus elargimur Authoritate nostrâ Regiâ renovamus reiteramus Confirmamus in tà m amplis modo formâ prout praedicti Incolae Habitatores Insulae praedictae ac praedicti Indigeni Alienigeni Mercatores alii per anteà usi vel gavisi fuerunt vel uti aut gaudere debuerunt Vniversis igitur singulis Magistratibus Ministris subditis nostris per Vniversum Regnum nostrum Angliae ac caetera Dominia Locos Ditioni nostroe subjecta ubilibet constitutis per Praesentes denunciamus ac firmiter injungendo praecipimus ne hanc nostram Donationem Concessionem Confirmationem seu aliquod in eisdem expressum aut contentum temerariè infringere seu quovis modo violare praesumant Et siquis ausu temerario contrà fècerit seu attemptaverit Volumus decernimus quantùm in nobis est quod restituat non solùm ablata aut erepta sed quod etiam pro Dampno Interesse expensis ad plenariam recompensam satisfactionem compellatur per quaecunque Juris nostri Remedia severéque puniatur ut Regiae nostrae Potestatis ac Legum nostrarum contemptor temerarius This is such a Priviledge as can hardly be parallell'd in any Age. Add now to this the concurring Testimony of Writers Strangers as well as English who have treated of the Affairs of these Islands and who all own and assert this Priviledge in its full Extent and Latitude The Book Intituled Les Us Coutumes de la Mer i. e. The Uses and Customs of the Sea Published by Authority and Printed at Roûen An. 1671 speaking of Prizes made against Laws agreed on by the Consent of Nations and consequently to be adjudged Null says that such are those that are made in Priviledged Places en lieu d'Azyle ou de Refuge And such Places he adds are the Isles and Seas of GERSAY and Grenezay on the Coast of Normandy where the French and English whatever War may be betwixt the two Crowns are not to insult or prey upon each other so far as the said Islands can be discovered at Sea The Learned Mr. Cambden owns this Priviledge tho' by a mistake he applies it to Guernezey only Veteris etenim Regum Angliae Privilegio says he Perpetuae hîc sunt quasi induciae Gallis aliisque quamvis Bellum exardescat ultrò citróque huc sine periculo venire Commercia securè exercere licet That profound Antiquary Mr. Selden in his Mare Clausum mentions this Priviledge twice and urges it as an Argument to prove his Hypothesis touching the King of England's Dominion over the Narrow Seas Neque enim facilè conjectandum est undenam Originem habuerit Jus illud Induciarum singulare ac perpetuum quo CAESAREAE Sarnâ—ae caeterarumque Insularum Normannico Littori praejacentium Incolae etiam in ipso Mari fruuntur flagrante utcúnque inter Circumvicinas Gentes Bello nisi ab Angliae Regum Dominio hoc Marino derivetur This Learned Man had taken great pains to search and inspect Our Charters among the Records in the Tower and remained satisfied of the Validity of this Priviledge Dr. Heylin speaks thus of it tho' by a Mistake common to him with Mr. Cambden he thought this Priviledge belonged only to Guernezey By an Ancient Priviledge of the Kings of England there is with them in a Manner a continual Truce and lawfull it is both for French-men and for others how hot soever the War be followed in other Parts to repair hither without Danger and here to Trade in all Security A Priviledge founded upon a Bull of Pope Sixtus IV the 10 th Year as I remember of his Popedom Edward IV then Reigning in England and Lewis XI over the French By virtue of which Bull all those stand ipso facto excommunicate which any way molest the Inhabitants of this Isle of Guernzey or any which resort unto their Island either by Piracy or any other Violence whatsoever A Bull first published in the City of Constance unto whose Diocese these Islands once belonged afterwards verified by the Parliament of Paris and confirmed by Our Kings of England till this Day The Copy of this Bull I my self have seen and something also of the Practice of it on Record by which it doth appear that a Man of War of France having taken an English Ship and therein some Passengers and Goods of Guernezey made Prize and Prisoners of the English but restored those of Guernezey to their Liberty and to their Own The Bull of Sixtus IV is not the Ground and Foundation of this Priviledge as the Doctor misunderstandeth it But on the contrary the Priviledge was the Ground and Occasion of the Bull as appears from the Bull it self For K. Edward IV being informed of a great many Infractions made to this Priviledge by Pyrates and others preying upon Merchants as they resorted to these Islands purely on the Account of Trade caused his Ambassadors at Rome to move the Matter to the Pope whose Censures were much regarded in those Days And thus the Bull was procured and is indeed a Terrible One. The King commanded it to be notified and published throughout his Dominions strictly injoyning the Observation of it to all his Subjects And by Order of Lewis XI and Charles VIII Kings of France it was verified by the Parliament of Paris and proclaimed in a very solemn manner in all the Ports of Normandy as it had been before in those of Bretagne à son de Trompe i. e. with Sound of Trumpet by Francis II the last Duke of that Country We have it still extant in an Inspeximus of K. Henry VIII under the Great Seal of England now in my Custody 'T is a Piece of a very extraordinary Nature and that shews better than any thing I have seen the Style of the Court of Rome in those Days But 't is somewhat too long to be inserted here It remains now that we shew something of this Priviledge upon Practice Anno 1523. A Ship of Guernezey being taken by a Privateer of Morlaix during the War betwixt Henry VIII of England and Francis I of France and carried into Morlaix was by Order of the Count de Laval Governor of Bretagne released upon Plea of this Priviledge Anno 1524. A Prize made by one Pointy and brought into JERSEY because made within the Precincts of the Island and therefore contrary to this Priviledge was in an Assembly of the States the Governor and the King's Commissioners present pronounced Tortionary and Illegal and Pointy adjudged to make Restitution Anno ...... Sir Edward Seymour Viscount Beauchamp afterwards Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector being Governor of this Island some English Privateers