rendered permanent, by an order of council; but with respect to points already established by council, no alteration can be made, unless the same sanction be obtained.

Though there is but one tribunal, and in that the judges are always the same persons, yet, on account of the great variety of causes, requiring different methods of proceeding, the court is under the necessity of assuming four distinct characters; and is called either La Cour d'Heritage; La Cour de Catel; La Cour du Billet; or, La Cour extraordinaire, or du Samedi.

La Cour d'Heritage, as its name implies, takes cognizance only of hereditary matters, as partitions of estates, differences about bounds, invasion of rights, &c. La Cour de Catel was principally for chattels, rents, and decrets.* La Cour, du Billet is a court chiefly for arrears of rents, and for small debts. La Cour du Samedi is a subsidiary court, in which all personal matters are adjudged, election causes, and those which require to be immediately decided; it is also in this court that debts and penalties due to the crown are sued for, and before which the ordinary police business of the Island is transacted.

Besides the officers attached to the court already noticed, there are others that regulate the police. In every parish, the principal magistate is Le Connetable. This officer is chosen by the same inhabitants who elect the jurats. His office is triennial, and he may be re-elected. The office of constable is of a more honourable character in Jersey than in England. His post is more like that of the mayor in a corporate town, and is generally considered as a step to the magistracy. He is one of the members of the States;

*This term means what in England is called "bankruptcies;" but in consequence of a recent change in the law respecting decrets, the Cour de Catel has very little business to perform.

and he presides in all parochial assemblies, for secular affairs, even though a jurat be present; but in all meetings relative to the affairs of the church, the minister presides. The civil establishments, in the different parishes, is thus regulated:

The principal officer is Le Connetable.

Under the Connetable are two Centeniers: these were formerly prefects over one hundred families. In the absence or indisposition of the Connetable, the senior Centenier performs his duty, and represents him in the Assembly of the States.

There are likewise several Vinteniers, each of whom has the charge of a particular vintaine, into which the parishes are divided; also Officiers du Connetable, whose duty is subordinate to that of the other officers, and is nearly similar to that of an English constable. There are besides two Procureurs du bien public, whose office is to conduct any lawsuit, or attend to any legal business relating to the parish, similar to a vestry clerk in England. Every vintaine has its own procureur.

In all criminal cases the Procureur du roi is the prosecutor.

Contrary to the order of procedures in England, every accusation is first examined by a petty jury, termed l'enditement, which is composed of the parochial constible, and twelve of his officers. To find a prisoner guilty seven of these must agree. In this case he may appeal to a grand jury, called la grand enquete, composed of twenty-four persons, taken from the parish where the offence was committed, and the two neighbouring parishes. The person accused may, in prosecuting his appeal before la grand enquete, on substantial grounds, object to any of the jurors: the validity of the objection is

decided by the court: five out of twenty-four are sufficient to acquit a prisoner.

In all cases the prisoner is entitled to the gratuitous assistance of an advocate, who is assigned to him by the court.

A prisoner is not, as in the English criminal courts, found guilty, or acquitted: the verdict of the jury is either, plutot coupable qu'innocent, or plutot innocent que coupable; and the punishment is awarded accordingly.

When sentence of death is pronounced, it has been usual for the bailiff or his lieutenant, and the jurats, all of whom were before uncovered, to put on their hats; and the criminal kneels to receive his doom.

Not only are the proceedings favourable to a prisoner, but the royal court has always shown itself disposed to mercy.

There were formerly three terms in the year, but one was abolished by the code of laws, confirmed in 1771: at present there are only two terms,-the first commencing on the Saturday next after the 11th of April, and ending on the 5th of July following; the second beginning on the Saturday next after the 11th of September, and ending on the 5th of December.

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CHAPTER VIII.

Laws and Peculiar Privileges.

Ir will not be expected, in a work of this kind, to give more than a summary of the laws: and those will be selected that may be considered interesting to the visitor, or which may concern the trader.

The laws of Jersey are derived from five sources.

1. The antient laws of Normandy.

2. Municipal and local usages, similar to the common law of England.

3. Constitutions and ordinances, made by the crown in former times.

4. Acts, passed by the States, either provisionally for three years, or made perpetual, when confirmed by the sovereign.

5. Such orders as may be transmitted from the council board, and sanctioned by the reigning monarch.

Former decisions and judgments, although not of equal force with laws enacted by the authority above stated, like precedents in England, are seldom departed from, except in very urgent cases.

LAWS CONCERNING INHERITANCE.

The custom of gavel-kind prevails in Jersey: but with this difference, that in Kent and other counties, males are preferred to the exclusion of females, whereas in Jersey, females may get a small share of the inheritance.

Primogeniture as a principle is, however, more prevalent: a man cannot devise his real property; it must follow the law of succession. If there is a house on the estate, the eldest son takes it, with a certain portion of land, with other privileges, to enable him to pay off the rents that may be due: this generally amounts to nearly half the estate. The remainder of the property is then divided: two thirds go in equal proportions among the sonsthe eldest having his proportion of this division-and the remaining third to be equally divided among the daughters: there are other minutia which belong to the division of property, but which are only interesting to those immediately concerned.*

Personal property may be devised: a will must be attested by two witnesses, whether in real or personal property, and must be made forty days before the testator's death, otherwise it is null and void. If the husband dies intestate, the wife takes one half, as in England, if there are no children, and one third if there are; the other two thirds are equally divided among them.

Settlements previous to marriage are not usual, nor indeed necessary; a wife is invested with one third of all the property of the husband, on her marriage; and of all he may subsequently possess by inheritance, and which he cannot alienate without her consent; nor is it affected by a bankruptcy; but she has no right to any proportion of what he may otherwise acquire.

If a man has a wife or children, he cannot alienate from them by will, more than one third; if he has neither, all his property may be disposed of as he pleases: furniture, plate and linen, are considered the property of the wife.

* In each parish, six appraisers are appointed, at the parish meeting: their business is to value the lands that are to be divided.