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THE ARGUMENTS

Presented before the Court of Chief Pleas after Michaelmas in support of the foregoing Petition, on the 1st of October 1838, when that Court appointed a Committee from its own body to take the subject into consideration.

Some opposition having been made as to whether the Petitioners should be heard by Counsel, and the Court having decided they should :

Advocate JEREMIE spoke as follows :-On behalf of six hundred of your fellow-countrymen, all of them intimately interested in that security which you, as the administrators of the law, owe to property in every shape, on behalf of a Committee appointed by them to defend their just rights by demanding changes in your laws on Wills and Successions, two of the most important branches of the civil law, and at present the most defective,-I come to present to you the most serious reforms upon which either you, or your predecessors were ever assembled to deliberate. Is it too much to require your patience and indulgence for a few minutes, whilst addressing you on a subject so intimately connected with the well-being of the country, and to which, for months together, the laborious researches of men deserving your confidence have been directed,-men who, from their position in life, witnessing the unjust and barbarous results of your present laws, are the most likely to prescribe a remedy, is it too much, I ask, for you to give their petition a few minutes of your patience and indulgence? I flatter myself not; for to what end can your time be better devoted, than to the amendment of the most pernicious and most inhuman system of legislation which ever disgraced civilized man? No one more than he who now adresses you, is aware how delicately the subject of law reform should be handled, how much patience, investigation, judgment and learning, are required of those who are bold enough to enter the hall of legislation with regulations which they would prescribe as at once the most politic and just to govern the actions of their fellow-men. But when such regulations have been maturely considered,-when they are imperatively called for, and when for months past they have occupied the incessant attention of persons appointed by a numerous assembly of their fellow-citizens,in one word, practical men holding official situations, through the honourable discharge of

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which they have deservedly secured public confidence,men looked up to by their fellow-citizens as the most fit to suggest the proper mode of removing some of the most vicious institutions which are still suffered in this small community to mar the best feelings of our nature, and the ruthless execution of which, from time to time, draws forth expressions of disapprobation from the administrators of justice, which indeed command for them public esteem, but which at the same time forcibly denounce the unhallowed source whence your laws derive their origin,it is not too much, I repeat, for you to listen to the sound arguments which such men are enabled to afford. So far do I agree with the Queen's Procureur that the important subject of law reform requires the most serious consideration, that before the Petitioners demand of you to take their prayer into consideration, they request to make known to you their sentiments on the subject; and however skilful and acute a lawyer the Queen's Procureur may be, it is not going too far to state that it is morally impossible he should be as well acquainted with their desires as the person who has assisted at all their deliberations, taken note of all their decisions, and who hopes this day to rivet your attention so completely to the measure, that it will not again be indefinitely put off, as it would appear has been the fate of law reforms at different periods for the last two centuries. To set aside all alarms respecting dangerous innovations which frequently assail, and too often obstruct, the most salutary reforms, to inspire you, as administrators of the law, with that confidence without which these can never be obtained to discharge to the best of my ability, and as far as my humble efforts will allow, the trust confided to my care, it will be my province to lay before your eyes the principles which obtain on the subject of those legal reforms, the nature of which you are called upon to investigate to point out that in reality the measures now required of you are only those concessions which from time to time, and more particularly in the province of Normandy (the reformed laws of which were accustomed to be styled the "wisest of the wise,") the rulers of different communities have of their free will, or through constraint bestowed upon their people. Once convinced of the truth of this assertion, backed by a numerous Committee who are unanimous in their demands for the reform stated in the Petition, no one need tell you Mr. Bailiff and Gentlemen, how, in these days, not unanimity, but even a bare majority

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in favour of any public reform, is difficult to obtain, even in furtherance of the cause at once the most just and most politic: how much, then, must not the particular reforms which are now laid before you be imperiously required, when, in addition to the unanimous assent of a numerous and highly respectable Committee, it is laid on your table backed by six hundred rate-payers, men of all others the most interested in the administration of those particular laws, whose more immediate province it is to protect and guard the rights of property. Yet so difficult is reform in the law to be obtained, that if, in the name of the Peti. tioners, one had on their behalf to present only powerful arguments pointing out the ruinous state of the present institutions, and the excellence of the remedies proposed, one might nevertheless despair of success,-these arguments, even backed by the assent of the greatest legists of gone-by times, at once the ornament of their country and their age -would still be far from ensuring the success they deserve. But if to these criteria of excellence, we add that these remedies have been themselves suggested and adopted, after a far more laborious investigation than even in these enlightened times most rulers would be disposed to bestow,

that they have been found sufficient to govern, not indeed a few hundreds, but millions of our fellow-men arrived at the highest stage of civilization in different ages and in different countries, would it not be the height of human folly and presumption to reject such infallible tests of excellence, and still cling to worn out and degraded institutions, which no men of common sense or honour ought to countenance or support? Animated by these sentiments I shall proceed to examine each individual article of reform proposed; and that the Court may be enabled clearly to follow the course intended to be pursued, the subjects may be classed under the following heads: Lineal, collateral, and ascending successions. Disposal of real property by will. Right of redemption of real property. A proposition that the daughter-in-law and grand daughter-in-law, should no longer, as a matter of course, have a lien on either their father-in-law's real estate, or on that of the grandfather-inlaw, as is the case at present.

LINEAL SUCCESSIONS.

On the 1st Article respecting-The mode of partition in lineal descent of real property situated elsewhere than in

the barrières whereby sons can never take more than double the portion accruing to a daughter, nor a daughter moré than a son.

The whole of this proposition is more consonant to the spirit of the ancient law, than the present custom. The intention of the legislator, in giving two thirds of the real property to the sons, and the remaining third to the daughters, was evidently to secure the former a DOUBLE portion instead of which, according to the custom of the Island, the sons always take their TWO THIRDS when their number amounts to more than double that of the daughters; but will not, on the other hand, allow the same privilege to the daughters, who, however numerous, can never take more than their ONE THIRD between them all. By the proposed reform, the sons will never be allowed to take more than double the portion of real property which may accrue to each of the daughters. As heretofore, a daughter's portion can never exceed that of a son: and it is proposed, and with reason, to abolish the TWENTIETH. In a succession where there are only daughters to divide, the youngest will make the lots, and each will choose by seniority. In this case there is no eldership, and as many well informed persons entertain doubts whether the elder daughter has the privilege of a choice, or whether all should not cast lots, the proposed reform will set that question at rest.

On the 2nd respecting-The extension of the barrières and the equal division of property therein.

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The inhabitants of the Town parish are extremely anxious that this enactment should pass. Even they who live at the Bouët, and other extremities of the parish, who cultivate arable lands and orchards, desire that their property should be equally divided among all their children, and are most anxious to see their property included within the barrières. On the necessity of extending these, there is not a dissentient voice. The only point on which a difference of opinion may arise, will be the extent to which these barrières should be carried, which, as a matter of course, must be left to the discretion of the local authorities, after the legislature have decided on the principle. The proposed enactment, after all, is only keeping up the spirit of the ancient law, which made a difference in the succession of property situated in the town, and that situate in the country; in the former there was no right of eldership, which has always been the main draw-back on successions, though, as in the country, the sons took two-thirds and the

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daughters one-third. Following up the same principle to its legitimate consequences, is only acting in accordance with the spirit of the times, which requires that all the children, of whatever sex, should share alike,-a principle which, after all, constitutes the most just system whenever political considerations do not absolutely oppose it. The argument that boys require a greater share of their parent's succession because their habits are more expensive, is a very poor one to set aside equality, particularly when it is certain they have five times the opportunities and means which girls have to provide themselves with the necessaries and enjoyments of life.

On the 3rd. That the eldest son take his eldership or préciput from one enclosure only.

The préciput here alluded to means the chief mansion or dwelling, which, together with a certain quantity of land attached to it, the eldest son takes as his eldership. The quantity of land given with the house, sometimes in detached places, varies from 15 to 20 perches. As upon this quantity of land several houses may exist, the eldest son begins by taking the portion where there is least naked land and the most valuable dwellings, and generally finishes by taking for the last fractional part, the most valuable dwelling, having perhaps already secured one or two valuable houses. By the proposed change, this injustice will be prevented, as it will be the interest of the eldest son at once to take the most valuable house, and leave the others to his co-heirs : for where he first selects there he must remain; he will not as formerly be allowed to take the greater portion of the real property in detached spots, and reserve the most valuable for the last fractional portion of his préciput. Thus again do the committee act in accordance with the spirit of the ancient law, which provided great privileges for the eldest son, by his préciput, but which was never meant to degenerate into the abuse of serving as a cover for him to take away the greater, and always by far the most valuable, portion of the inheritance. None better than douzainiers, who often make divisions of property among co-heirs, and always grant the portion of land allotted for this privilege, could see the evils of the present system in their most glaring colours. And as most of the members of the committee were taken from these bodies, none were better enabled to guard against those evils which must inevitably accrue from the prevalence of the present antiquated system.

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