who are regularly trained to arms by serjeants for that purpose, till they are admitted at the age of sixteen into the artillery or infantry regiments; and every male inhabitant, not publicly employed by Government, is liable to serve both in peace and in war, till he has arrived at the age of sixty years, or is infirm.

During war, the Lieut.-Governor has his regular staff appointment, with table money allowed; but in times of peace he has only four Aides-de-Camps from the militia officers of the island, and six troopers in rotation to attend for orders, upon days required.

There is a Fort or Town-Major, a Governor's Secretary, with one Clerk, and two Deputy Inspectors of the Militia; a Commissary of the Militia force; a Deputy Judge Advocate, and a Chaplain to the forces. Besides the militia being occasionally called out for drilling, etc., the Lieut.-Governor generally reviews them himself, on stated days, three or four times a year, but generally at Easter and Midsummer.

In the time of war every militiaman, in rotation, is obliged nightly to mount guard at the different batteries round the island.

"It is but justice due to the attention and exertions of the several commandants, officers, and privates, composing this militia force to say (adds a late writer), that they have not only attained a very formidable and military appearance, but in point of discipline, are truly respectable, so much so, that the Lieut.-Governor (General Doyle) upon a late review, good humouredly remarked, that if they would not surprise their enemies, they certainly very much surprised their friends." I. may add, that most of the militiamen are expert marksmen when firing at the target.

1 Berry's History, p. 213.

CHAPTER XI.

And if chance thy home

Salute thee with a father's honour'd name,
Go, call thy sons, instruct them what a debt

They owe their ancestors, and make them swear

To pay it by transmitting down entire

Their sacred rights, to which themselves were born."
Akenside," For a Column at Runymede.”

If the barons of England in the year 1215 obtained by force, from pusillanimous King John, the acknowledgement of the celebrated Magna Charta, those in power about that period procured from the same King the like advantage for these islands; namely, a charter or constitution.

Again by the Precepte Assize, which was signed in the year 1331, in the fifth year of King Edward III, all the privileges formerly allowed to the inhabitants of Guernsey were confirmed. 2

1 Signed in the field at Runymede, 15th of June, 1215. The above original charter for these islands is lost, but the constitutions are extant, in an inquest of his son, Henry III, which recites and confirms them. A copy of the same, in Latin, may be seen in Falle's Cæsaria, Appendix I; also in Appendix V, Berry's History. This deed must have been made postquam Normania alienata fuit: this event happened in 1207, King John died in 1216; between these years it must have been signed.-Edit.

2 Dr. Shebbeare says "That these constitutions were antecedent to those of Magna Charta; each charter sprang from the same cause

The next aid for the proper understanding of the constitution was the collection of the laws, entitled "The approbation of the laws, with alterations and additions to the text, compiled from the Commentaries of William Terrien upon the ancient customs of Normandy, and reformed by virtue of two Orders in Council, one dated the 9th of October, 1580, and the other, the 31st of July following." This regulation was finished at Guernsey on the 22nd of May, 1582, as appears by the preamble; and this compilation was ratified by Council on the 25th of November, 1583, in the twenty-fifth year of Queen Elizabeth's reign.

The above approbation of the laws and customs of Terrien, are still considered as part of the written laws of the island, though they are represented by Warburton and others, as being "somewhat imperfect," like all other human laws. 2

The foregoing constitution of King John, with the extents of Edward III, and the Terrien Commentaries, the regulations also of the commissioners sent to this island at various times, and the orders of the King and Council, constitute the chief written laws which regulate the conclusions of the Court.

though obtained by different means. In Jersey (he says) it was given as a reward of loyalty for courage and allegiance: in England it was extorted by force of arms, and the heroic resolution, either to enjoy the rights and franchises of human kind, or perish in the defence of them." The constitutions, laws, and customs both of England and Normandy, were at that time the same. (History of Jersey, p. 75 and 76.)

1 The Precepte d'Assize is copied in original French, in Appendix to Warburton: Berry has a translation of it in Appendix, No. V. It is a collection of the ancient liberties, usages, and customs, preserved in this isle, made in 1331, before the Itinerant Judges, and approved by the Court, from an inquest according to ancient form : viz. each parish deputing twelve discreet, old, and learned men, to bear witness, upon oath, to the truth of the said liberties, usages, and

customs.

2 Warburton, p. 73. Berry, p. 173. Terrien published his Commentaries, for the first time, in 1574

To which indeed may be added all acts of the English Parliament in which the islands are particularly mentioned, provided the same be here registered in the Royal Court.1

Besides the above written laws, the decisions of the Court are regulated by several customs and usages, upon points not forseen by them; all of which are however founded upon the Norman Law. And lastly, the States and the Royal Court make temporary laws, for the better government of the police, etc., of the island; and which regulations and acts of Court have sometimes become almost permanent, though not authorized by the Crown.

It appears by the above Precept of Assize, and other ancient records, that heretofore all causes within the island were determined by four Chevaliers, or by them and the Bailiff. 2 Two of those Chevaliers residing, and two being sent every year, about autumn, to assist in hearing and determining the law causes; and an appeal lay to the Exchequer of Rouen in Normandy.

This sort of judicature remained till about the time of King John's losing that dominion, when Coronatores Jurati, Coroners, or as now called Jurats, were appointed. These Jurats are to be such as constantly reside in the island, and from the judgment given by them, there always did, and still does lie an appeal. At first their judgments in matters of greater moment and difficulty, being called jugemens replégées, were reserved till the final determination of Judges Itenerant, who from King John's time were constantly sent over every three years; but that has for divers years been laid aside; 3 and in

1 See observations on this at the end of the chapter; and also two letters on this subject in the Star of December 25, 1821, and January 8, 1822, signed Amicus Patriæ; part copied in Appendix, 'as being worth preserving.-Edit.

2 Warburton, p. 69.

3 Since the time of Elizabeth they have been discontinued. Berry, p. 189.

stead thereof, there lies at present an appeal from the sentence of the Bailiff and Jurats, to the Lords of his Majesty's Honourable Privy Council in all civil causes, confined to cases by Order in Council of the 13th May, 1823, "where the object in dispute, if real property, amounts to the value of 10. 14s. 3d. sterling, per annum; or if personal, of 2007. sterling; so that such appeals be prosecuted within six months from the date of the judgment complained of."

When such cases as have been referred are not determined by the Privy Council, a commission (as in the year 1815) is given to two or three gentlemen learned in the law, to proceed to the island, to try such causes as more peculiarly attach to the disputes on real property situated in the island.

There is, however, another Norman custom called doleance, as expressed in their book called Terrien,2 which, upon particular cases, is allowed by the Court for the mode of appeal to the Privy Council, though for a lesser sum than that before stated, where the object of dispute in its effects may include a much larger injury. 3 But then the Doleant must, within twenty-four hours, consign into the hands of the officers of the court a sum of money, 4 for caution, that he will prosecute his doleance within a year and a day; and if he

1 Report of the Royal Commissioners, 1815, published in Guernsey, 1823.-Edit.

2 Terrein, lib. ii. art. 2.

3 Such for instance as the rights of Seigneurs with respect to chief-rents, poulage, etc.; and all such cases where rights are denied which involve a future evil of some magnitude, though the present value be trifling. A case of this sort was decided by the Privy Council respecting the payment of rents reserved in quarters of wheat; the question was, whether the holders of wheat rents could demand the same to be of the entire growth of the island, or whether good foreign wheat should not be received as payment. The Hon. Privy Council determined that good foreign wheat should be thus received as a discharge. Order in Council was registered 7th September, 1815.

"The present practise of the Court is for the Doleant to deposit 107. sterling in the Greffier's hands.”—P. L. C.