trouve point soit en se cachant ou autre Collusion la Citation sera affichée à l'huis du Temple Paroissial d'icelle en cas qu'il n'ayt aucun Domicile ce en jour de Dimanche 49. S'il parvient aux oreilles du Doyen par Relation de gens de bien que quelqu ' un vit notoirement en quelque Scandale il en pourra avertir le Ministre les Surveillâ—ns de la Paroisse afin que s'en estant informés ils Presentent telles personnes qui meritent d'estre punies ou Censurées 50. Là où il constera de la faute commise par quelque Ministre le Doyen aprés Monition réitérée procédera à la Reformation par l'avis Consentement de deux Ministres jusqu'a Suspension Sequestration en cas que ledit Ministre demeure Refractaire le Doyen procédera par le Consentement de la plus part des Ministres presents en l'Isle jusqu'a Déprivation 51. On ne fera point de Commutation pour Pénitence sinon avec grande Circonspection ayant égard à la qualité des Personnes Circonstances des fautes Et sera la Commutation enregistrée ès Actes de la Court pour estre employée aux Pauvres usages pi eux dont Accomptes seront rendus selon ledit Registre 52. Aprés la premiere Defaute la Non-comparence de ceux qui seront derechef cités par Mandat sera reputée Contumace si estans cités par aprés en Péremptoire ils ne comparoissent on pourra procéder à l'encontre d'eux à l' Excommunication Que si dans le prochain jour de Court la Partie ne fait devoir d'obtenir Absolution on procédera à la Publication de la Sentence Mineure Excommunication laquelle sera delivrée au Ministre de la Paroisse pour en faire lecture à jour Solennel à l'oâ—ye de la plus part des Paroissiens assemblés lapartie persistant en son Endurcissement on procédera à la Majeure Excommunication qui forclost le Pécheur à Sacris Societate Fidelium Que si cette Censure ne sert pour l'induire à Obéissance se ranger dans le Terme de 40 jours alors le Doyen parson Certificat authentique donnera Avertissement au Bailly Jurétz de ladite Contumace les requerra en Assistance de sa Jurisdiction de le faire saisir par les Officiers Civils pour le rendre Prisonnier en Détention Corporelle jusqu'a ce quil se soit submis obligé d'obtemperer à l'Ordonnance de l'Eglise devant qu'estre Absous sera tenu de payer les frais Coustages de la poursuite de la Cause 53. En Causes de Paillardise sur la Presentation des Surveillans avec les Probabilités commun Bruit Scandale Presumptions à ce requises la partie sera sujette de subir le Serment de sa Purgation ou autrement sera tenu pour Convaincu 54. En cas d'Adultére à l'Instance de Partie on y procédera meurement par bonnes preuves Informations pour avoir Evidence du faict objecte le sujet Preuve du fait le requerant on pourra conclurre jusqu'a Séparation à Thoro Mensâ 55. Là où il y aura Calomnie ou Diffamation prouvée on fera Recognoissance des Injures selon l'Exigence du cas pourveu que l'Action ne soit prescrite par lapse de temps d'un an entier pourveu que le sujet de l'Action soit de Crimes Ecclesiastiques cy devant Specifiés Des Appellations 56. Les Appeaux en Causes Ecclesiastiques seront oûis définis par le Révérend Pére en Dieu l'Evesque de Winchestre en personne en cas de Vacance de ce Siége par le Trés Révérend Pére en Dieu l'Archvesque de Canterbury en personne 57. Tout Appels interjettera dans Quinze jours aprés Cognoissance de la Sentence sera la partie obligée de prendre exhiber tout le Procés Actes du Registre ou Rolles de la Court lesquels Actes aussy luy seront delivrés en forme temps convenable authentiqués sous le sceau de l'Office sera l'Appellant sujet de le poursuivre dans an jour aut Sententiae latae stare compellitur 58. Il ne sera licite d'Appeller qu'aprés Sentence Définitive de la Cause sinon pour ces deux égards ou quand l'Interlocutoire est telle qu'elle met fin à la Cause ou quand ladite Interlocutoire estant obéie elle apporte tel Damage irreparable à la partie qu'il ne peut estre amendé par Appel de la Définitive Of the King's Supremacy FIrst according to the Duty we owe to the King 's most Excellent Majesty it is ordained that the Dean and Ministers having Cure of Souls shall be obliged to the utmost of their Power Knowledge and Learning purely and sincerely without any Backwardness or Dissimulation to teach publish and declare as often as they may and as occasion shall offer it self that all forreign strange and usurped Power for as much as it has no ground in the Word of God is wholly for good and just Causes taken away and abolished and that therefore no manner of Obedience or Subjection within His Majesty's Kingdoms and Dominions is due unto any such Power But that the King's Power within his Kingdoms of England Scotland and Ireland and other his Dominions and Countries is the highest Power under God to which all Persons Natives and Inhabitants within the same do by God's Law owe Loyalty and Obedience before and above all other Power 2. Whosoever shall affirm and maintain that the King's Majesty hath not the same Authority in Causes Ecclesiastical which Godly Kings had among the Jews and Christian Emperors in the Primitive Church or shall in any manner of way impeach or obstruct the King's Supremacy in the said Causes Moreover whosoever shall affirm that the Church of England as it is established under the King's Majesty is not a true and Apostolical Church purely teaching the Doctrine of the Prophets and Apostles or shall impugne the Government of the said Church by Archbishops Bishops and Deans affirming it to be Anti-christian shall be ipso facto Excommunicated and not restored but by the Dean sitting in Court after his Repentance and publick Recantation of his Error Of Divine Service 3. It is injoyned unto all sorts of Persons to submit to the Divine Service contained in the Book of Common Prayers of the Church of England And for as much as concerns the Ministers they shall be obliged to observe with Uniformity the said Liturgy without Addition or Alteration And no Conventicle or Congregation shall be suffered to make Sect apart or withdraw themselves from the Ecclesiastical Government established in the Island 4. The Lord's Day shall be sanctified by the Exercises of publick
Convoy Which brought so great an Interruption to Trade and Charge to the Nation that it was then understood of what Consequence the keeping of these Islands is to England and a Resolution was taken to spare no Cost for the Reduction of JERSEY This is an example which methinks should never be forgotten and I purposely insist thereon to shew what a fatal Error it would be to suffer the French to possess themselves of these Islands seated as they are in the Channel where instead of their own shallow Bays and Creeks they would find good Roads and safe Harbours if not for their greatest Fleets at least for their Pyracies While matters stood thus in England Prince Charles who was afterwards King Charles II came to JERSEY where he was received with a Joy equal to the Honour we received from his Presence amongst Us tho' even this was not without a great mixture of Sorrow for the Detention of his Royal Father who was then close Prisoner in Hurst Castle a most unhealthy place seated on a Point of Land that shoots far into the Sea destitute of fresh water and annoyed with the Salt and stinking Vapours that arise out of the neighbouring Marshes and for that very reason probably made choice of by the infamous Regicides to weary the good King out of his Life whom they were resolved one way or other to remove out of the World A Project was formed by some of our Loyal Islanders to rescue the afflicted King out of his Captivity and to bring him to JERSEY where the Prince then was The King was priviâ—y acquainted with the Design and was pleased to Consent to his removal to JERSEY But when the thing came to be executed it was unhappily defeated by the vigilancy of his Majesty's Keepers or rather by an unsearchable Providence which had decreed to make of that best of Kings the greatest Example of injured and oppressed Innocence that has been in the World since our blessed Saviour It is nevertheless no small satisfaction to Us that while too many others of his Majesty's Subjects looked unconcerned on his unparallel'd Sufferings we did our honest endeavours for the Preservation of his sacred Life so that at whosesoever door the Guilt of that Blood may lie we of this Island have blessed be God no otherwise contributed to the shedding of it than by our sins in general which added to the heap of the sins of the Nation drew down that heavy Judgment on Us all After the barbarous Murder of that blessed King his Son the undoubted Heir of all his Dominions was immediately Proclaimed and his Title recognized in JERSEY His Majesty was pleased once again to make some residence amongst Us. He came the Second time to JERSEY attended by his Royal Brother the Duke of York and several of the Loyal Nobility that adhered to him in his Exile Neither must I omit a very singular Honour which his Majesty did our little Island during his abode there He himself took a Survey of it and being well skilled in the Mathematicks did with his own Royal hand draw a Map of it so accurately done that to this day it is carefully preserved among a Collection of other noble Curiosities of Art and Nature in the Heer Van Adlershelm's famous Cabinet at Leipsich in Germany where it is seen by Travellers About this time Charles Fort was built which is an Out-work to Elizabeth Castle that commands the entrance and approach to it on the Land-side His Majesty being invited to a Treaty with the Scots he left JERSEY again but so highly satisfied with those many Demonstrations of duty and affection which in his greatest Distress he had received from the Islanders that while he lived he was pleased to retain a gratefull and a generous Sense of them The Treaty with the Scots went on successfully The King was Crown'd at Scoone Jan. 1. 1650 and soon after came into England at the head of a Royal Army to dispute his Right with the Usurpers of his Kingdoms The two Armies encountred at Worcester Sept. 3. 1651 where it pleased God again to give the Rebels such Success that the King not only lost the day but was forced to abscond with great danger of his Person till he found a passage into France where he Landed the 22d of October following In the mean while the Parliament in England was making great Preparations for the Reduction of JERSEY being strangely alarmed at the taking of so many of their Vessels by the Privateers of this Island who continued to annoy the Channel and were grown so bold that they would set upon English Ships in the very Harbours A Fleet of about Eighty Sails increased afterwards to a greater Number was set out for that Expedition under command of Admiral Blake while Major General Hains headed the Forces designed for the Descent The Fleet appeared in sight of the Island October 20. 1651. and the same day came to an Anchor in St. Oüen's Bay The Bay lies open to a Westerly wind which blows in so violently the greatest part of the Year and rolls in such a Sea that 't is very unsafe for Shipping But the same unaccountable Success that used to attend the Rebels in other places attended them here All the time they lay in this Bay they had so smooth a Sea that in the Memory of man the like had not been known at that Season of the year Which was no small Discouragement to our People who thought it in vain to sight against men that seemed to have the very Winds and Seas to sight for them But that indeed which quite dispirited them was the unhappy News they received at that time of the King's defeat at Worcester which came accompanied with a Report tho' false of his being taken in endeavouring to escape This brought such a Consternation amongst them and so sunk their Courage that they who at another time would have most gladly sacrificed their Lives to promote his Majesty's Affairs were ready to have laid down their Arms had not the extraordinary Conduct and Gallantry of their Governor Sir George de Carteret brought them on to fight The first day and the night following nothing was attempted by the Enemy The next day Octob. 21. early in the Morning their Cannon began to play which was answered by several little Forts and Redoubts in the Bay and by twenty four Brass-Field-Pieces which attend the Militia upon occasion Some of the lesser Frigats drew so near the Shore that they made use of their Small-shot which was answered with equal Bravery by our Men who wading into the very water fired briskly upon the Enemies calling them Rebels and Traitors and Murderers of their King The Battery lasted Four hours after which the whole Fleet drew off and went to St. Brelard's Bay distant about a League from that of S. Oüen where being all come to an Anchor they sent back a Squadron to St. Oüen the place where
the Province of Neustria corruptly so called for Westria Westenrick or West-France because seated on the most Western shore of the great Empire of the Franks which extended from the Sea to the Banks of the Danube as the more Eastern part was called Austria Oostenrick or East-France and with the rest of that great and rich Province was given to Rollo and his Normans Originally Danes and Norwegians who from their own Name called the said Province Normandy Given I say by Charles IV sirnamed the Simple King of France in the Year 912 From which time to this this Island never returned to that Crown as the rest of that Province hath since done tho' it was not added to the Crown of England till the Year 1066 when William sirnamed the Bastard and the sixth Duke of Neustria or Normandy from Rollo invading England and Conquering it transferred that Dukedom and with it this Island to the English Diadem By which account it appears that reckoning from this preset time 1693 it is not less than 781 years since this Island was dismembred from the Crown of France by the Donation of Charles the Simple that it hath been 154 years under the Descendants of Rollo while they continued Dukes of Normandy only and that 't is 627 years since 't is subject to the Kings of England This gives the Inhabitants of this Island the Preference in point of Antiquity to most others of Their Majesties Subjects Ireland not being subdued till the Reign of Henry II nor Wales reduced till that of Edward I nor Scotland united till the beginning of this last Century to say nothing of Foreign Plantations which are yet most of them of a later Date I speak not this to derogate from the Honour of Kingdoms and Principalities which do vastly exceed Us in Expansion of Country and have brought a far greater Addition of Power to the English Empire but to shew Their Majesties ancient and indisputable Right over Us together with that long and faithfull Subjection which our Fathers have paid to that Crown which Their Majesties derive from a Succession of so many Royal Progenitors We find but little in ancient History concerning this Island till the coming of the Normans who struck such Terror in all places where they passed that in the publick Litany after these words From Plague Pestilence and Famine was added and from the fury of the Normans Good Lord deliver us By the advantage of their Shipping they ransackt the Maritime Coasts of France burning and destroying all before them They were Pagans and therefore their Fury fell more remarkably on Churches and Religious Houses Persons and Things consecrated to God No place could be more open and exposed to their Incursions than this Island where they committed the same horrid Outrages they did elsewhere leaving Us among others this Monument of their Cruelty There dwelt at that time in this Island a Devout and Holy man famous amongst Us to this day for the Austerity of his Life whose little solitary Cell hewn out of the hard Rock is yet to be seen in a small Islet close by Elizabeth Castle His name Helerius or Helier mistaken by some for St. Hilary Bishop of Poitiers who was never here Him the Normans slew at their coming into this Island adding thereby to other things which this Island Glories in the honour of having given a Martyr to the Church For under that Name we find him Recorded in the Kalendary or Martyrology of Coûtance in these words XVII Kalend. Aug. Constant in Normannia Festum St. Helerii Martyris à Wandalis in GERSEIO Insulâ occisi And the Author of Neustria Pia speaks thus of him and of the place of his Martyrdom GERSEIUM GERSOIUM seu GRISOGIUM vulgò GERSE Insula est ad Mare oceanum Dioecesis Constantiensis in quam S. Praetextatus Archiâ—piscopus Rothomagensis posteà Martyr relegatus est an 582. Illustrior autem haberi coepit ex quo S. Helerius illic à Wandalis Martyrii palmam accepit Nam in honorem hujusce Inclyti Athletae Christi constructa est infignis Abbatia à Domino Guillelmo Hamonis viro nobili antiqui Stemmatis apud Neustrios Heroe in quâ Canonicos Regulares Ordinis S. Augustini posuit ac tandem ipse excessit è vitâ 21 Novembris cujus sic Meminit Obituarium Caesaris-Burgi XI Calend Decemb. Guillelmus Hamonis qui fundavit Abbatiam S. Helerii in GERSOIO These Wandals from whom St. Helier received the Crown of Martyrdom were no other than Normans those Names being used promiscuously But of this famous Abby erected to his Memory there is not a stone left standing It was built in the same place where is now the lower Ward of Elizabeth Castle So much as was left of that ancient Building was pull'd down An. 1691. to enlarge the Parade From this Holy man the chief Town in the Island is called St. Helier His Martyrdom must fall about the Year 857. After that Rollo and his Normans were peaceably settled in Neustria and in these Islands by Agreement with Charles the Simple that wild Nation mixed it self with the Old Inhabitants grew Civilized and embraced Christianity and this Island enjoyed great Tranquility under the Government of those Dukes that succeeded Rollo and who fill up the whole space betwixt him and William the Conqueror in the Order following ROLLO first Duke of Normandy who at his Baptism took the Name of Robert WILLIAM Sirnamed Longue Espée from his long Sword Son of Rollo RICHARD I. the Son of Longue Espée RICHARD II. Son of Richard I. RICHARD III. Son of Richard II. ROBERT Brother of Richard III. This Duke preserved Edward the Confessor from the Fury of Canute the Dane who had invaded England and slain Edmond Ironside Brother of Edeward He set out a powerfull Fleet to restore him to his Kingdom but being long detained by contrary Winds at Guernezey he was forced to return to Normandy re infectâ WILLIAM II. Bastard Son of Robert Sirnamed the CONQUEROR from his Conquest of England While the Conqueror lived he kept England and Normandy as close linked together as their Situation would permit residing sometime in the one and sometime in the other He died in Normandy and lies buried at Caen where I have seen his Tomb. 'T is but a low plain Altar Tomb that has nothing of Magnificence in it It stands in the middle of the Quire of the great Abby Founded by himself and has two Inscriptions on it one on each side The first expressing the Quality of his Person and the Union of England and Normandy under him The other signifying how that Monument had been defaced by the Huguenots during the heat and rage of the Civil Wars and had been repaired by the Monks An. 1642. After the Death of the Conqueror England and Normandy were parted again England falling to the Lot of William Rufus second Son of the Conqueror who in the absence of
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
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
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
I shall begin with that of Edward III who had a particular kindness for this Island and as was said before made great use of it in his Wars with France EDOARDUS Dei Gratiâ Rex Angliae Franciae ac Dominus Hiberniae Omnibus ad quos Praesentes Litterae pervenerint Salutem Sciatis quod Nos gratâ memoriâ recensentes quà m constanter magnanimiter dilecti fideles Homines Insularum Nostrarum de JERESEY Guerneseye Sark Aureney in Fidelitate nostrâ Progenitorum nostrorum Regum Angliae semper hactenùs perstiterunt quanta pro Salvatione dictarum Insularum nostrorum Conservatione Jurium Honoris ibidem sustinuerunt tà m Pericula Corporum quà m suarum dispendia Facultatum ac proinde volentes ipsos favore prosequi gratioso Concessimus c. I shall next mention that of Edward IV in whose time the Inhabitants did that good Service in recovering Mont-Orgueil Castle from the French who had surprized it EDOARDUS Dei Gratiâ Rex Angliae Franciae Dominus Hiberniae Omnibus ad quos Praesentes Litterae pervenerint Salutem Cùm Nobilissimus Progenitor noster inclytae Memoriae Richardus quondam Rex Angliae Franciae Dominus Hiberniae post Conquestam Secundus per Literas suas Patentes datas apud Westmonasterium octavo die Julii anno Regni sui decimo octavo in consideratione benigestûs magnae Fidelitatis quos in Ligeis Fidelibus suis Gentibus Communitatibus Insularum suarum de JERESEY Guerneseye Sark Aureney indiès invenit de gratiâ suâ speciali concessit pro se haeredibus suis quantùm in eo fuit eisdem Gentibus Communitatibus suis quod ipsi successores sui in perpetuùm forent liberi quieti in Omnibus Civitatibus villis Mercatoriis Portibus infrà Regnum nostrum Angliae de omnimodis Theloniis Exactionibus Custumis taliter eodem modo quo Fideles Ligei sui in sao Regno praedicto extiterunt ità tamen quoddictae Gentes Communitates suae haeredes successores sui praedicti benè fideliter se gererent ergà ipsum Progenitorem nostrum haeredes successores suos in perpetuùm prout in Literis illis plenius continetur Nos continuam Fidelitatem Gentis Communitatis dictae Insulae de JERESEY pleniùs intendentes Literas praedictas omnia singula in eis contenta quoad Gentem Communitatem ejusdem Insulae de JERESEY acceptamus approbamus eidem Genti Communitati haeredibus successoribus suis per Praesentes ratificamus Confirmamus Et ulteriùs Nos Memoriae reducentes quam validè viriliter constanter dictae Gens Communitas ejusdem Insulae de JERESEY nobis Progenitoribus nostris perstiterunt quanta Pericula Perdita pro Salvatione ejusdem Insulae Reductione Castri nostri de Mont-Orgueil sustinuerunt de Vberiori gratiâ nostrâ Concessimus c. Queen Elizabeth's Charter begins thus ELIZABETH Dei Gratiâ c. Quùm Dilecti Fideles Ligei Subditi nostri Ballivus Jurati Insulae nostrae de JERESEY ac caeteri Incolae Habitatores ipsius Insulae infrà Ducatum nostrum Normanniae Predecessores eorum à tempore cujus contrarii Memoria hominum non existit per speciales Chartas Concessiones Confirmationes Amplissima Diplomata illustrium Progenitorum ac Antecessorum Nostrorum tà m Regum Angliae quà m Ducum Normanniae ac aliorum quamplurimis Juribus Jurisdictionibus Privilegiis Immunitatibus Libertatibus Franchisiis liberè quietè inviolabiliter usi freti and gravisi fuerunt tà m infrà Regnum nostrum Angliae quà m alibi infrà Dominia Loca Ditioni nostrae subjecta ultrà citráque Mare quorum ope beneficio Insulae praenominatae ac Loca Maritima praedicta in fide obedientiâ servitio tam Nostri quà m corundem Progenitorum nostrorum constanter fideliter inculpatè perstiterunt perseveraverunt liberaque Commercia cum Mercatoribus aliis Indigenis ac Alienigenis tà m Pacis quà m Belli Temporibus habuerunt exercuerunt c. Quae omnia singula cujus quanti Momentisint fuerunt ad Tutelam Conservationem Insularum Locorum Maritimorum praedictorum in Fide Obedientiâ Coronae nostrae Angliae Nos ut aequum est perpendentes Neque non immemores quam fortiter fideliter Insularii praedicti ac caeteri Incolae Habitatores ibidem Nobis Progenitoribus nostris inservierunt quantaque Detrimenta Damna Pericula tà m pro assiduâ Tuitione ejusdem Insulae Loci quà m pro recuperatione Defensione Castri nostri de Mont Orgueil infrà praedictam Insulam nostram de JERESEY sustinuerunt indiésque sustinent non solâ—m ut Regia nostra Benevolentia favor affectus ergà praefatos Insularios illustri aliquo nostrae Beneficentiae Testimonio ac certis indiciis comprobetur verum etià m ut ipsi eorum Posteri deinceps in perpetuùm prout antea solitam debitam Obedientiam erga Nos haeredes successores nostros teneant inviolabiliter observent has Litteras nostras Patentes Magno Sigillo Angliae roboratas in formâ quae sequitur illis concedere dignati sumus Sciatis c. Here followeth the Preamble of a Commission under the Great Seal directed to Sir Robert Gardiner and Dr. James Hussey who were sent to JERSEY in the time of King James I with the Character of Commissioners Royal upon an extraordinary occasion JAMES by the Grace of God King of England c. To Our trusty and well-beloved Sir Robert Gardiner Knight and James Hussey Doctor of the Civil Law and one of the Masters of Our Court of Chancery Greeting Whereas in Our Princely Care and earnest desire for the Establishment and maintenance of Justice and for the security and wealth of our Subjects generally in all Our Realms and Dominions We have been very mindful of the good Estate of Our loving Subjects the Inhabitants of Our Isles of JERSEY and Guernezey and other their Dependances a Portion remaining as yet unto Vs in possession of Our ancient Dukedom of Normandy and have been and are the rather moved thereunto both for their intire and inviolate Fidelity born by them towards Vs and Our Predecessors Kings and Queens of this Realm of England testified and declared by many their Worthy and acceptable Services towards this Our said Crown and also in respect of their Situation furthest remote from the rest of Our said Dominions and for that cause needing Our special Care and Regard to be had of them being thereby exposed to danger of an Invasion or Incursion of Foreign Enemies And whereas We are informed c. For these Causes know therefore that We have nominated You to be Our Commissioners c. I shall only add this notable Passage of that great Oracle of the English Law the Lord Chief Justice Coke The Isles