Angliæ, vel aliâs legitime competentibus, habeant et teneant, nec eis sine impedimento vel molestatione nostri, heredum, vel ministrorum nostrorum quorumcunque, plenè gandeant et utantur, pront ipsi et eorum antecessores, habitatores dictarum insularum eis usi sunt rationabiliter et gavisi, quæ jam eis in forma prædicta, generaliter, confirmamus.

"Volentes ea, cum super his plené informati fuerimus, pront justum fuerit specialiter confirmare.

"In cujus, &c.

"T. R. apud Turrim London X die Julii.

"Per petitionem de cons' in Parliamento."
Note 65, p. 95.

Their Commission is registered, in the First Book of the States, 5th of August, 1607. It is in English, and but for its great length, would have been very properly inserted in this work. The registered copy is attested in the Book of the States by the autograph signatures of the two Commissioners. They came over to allay dissensions, and to reform abuses which had grown during the reign of Elizabeth, and the long administration of our Governors the three Paulets. They staid but one month in the Island, and in addition to their other merits they must have been most laborions and indefatigable men, as during that short time they drew up a long Extent or Rental of the King's Revenues, and a voluminous Report of the separate complaints of the Governor, the Jurats, and the People,besides which they sat as judges to hear appeals, two or three hundred of which they decided, many indeed about matters of no great value, but which were all registered in a book for that purpose, which now forms a valuable part of the Records. These Judgments were by their Commission to be final, and from the learning and integrity of the Commissioners themselves, they are nearly as valuable for precedents, as Orders of Council. Their proceedings were approved of by an Order of Council of the 30th of June, 1608, but for some reason or other, it does not seem to have ever been registered. These Commissioners had also a Commission for Guernsey, of which Island Amice De Carteret of Trinity Manor in this Island was then Bailiff. The proceedings of Gardiner and Hussey have every appearance to have been the produce of wise, enlightened, and impartial men, whose visit was calculated to do incalculable good to the Island. As many of our readers cannot have access to the originals which have never been printed, we would refer them to Shebbeare's History, vol. I, from page 230 to p. 240. That writer evidently derived his information from some of the Le Geyt Manuscripts, and except a few of his usual virulent expressions, he may be read in that part with advantage.

Note 66, p. 96.

The tower of the Cathedral of Coutances is visible to the naked eye from several elevated spots, on the East and on the North coast of Jersey. It has even been said that men have been distinguished walking along the sands on the French Coast, and indeed it is not impossible, that black or dark coloured substances may be traced by the naked eye moving on those sands. All along

that coast in the neighbourhood of Carteret and Portbail, the sea leaves a large extent uncovered at low water. It is this passage which runs between the French coast and our own Ecrêho Rocks, which the Abbé Manet calls the Canal de la Déroute, from Cape La Houge to St. Malo. According to Captain Martin White's Chart, the soundings at high water from Regneville to meet le Banc du Violet off La Rocque in Jersey,are not at the deepest part,more than 80 feet: but as the tides rise there about 40 feet, it reduces the depth to not more than 40 feet at low water. This is a striking fact, and strongly supports the hypothesis of the learned Abbé Manet concerning the immense incroachments of the sea in that neighbourhood. As to Jersey, I have little doubt, that at some distant, and probably now undiscoverable period, it was joined by the Banc du Violet to France, and that, judging from the present state of the soundings, Grosnez Point in this Island was a promontory of the continent, forming a bay with the opposite coast, which then reached as far as the Ecrêhos, and was bounded by the land which then existed from La Rocque to Regaeville.

Note 67, p. 97.

The quality of the soil cannot be altered by its sloping either to the North or to the South, though its productive powers may be materially affected by it. It is remarkable that in this small Island, some of the parishes, and even some small local districts, within a few hundred yards of each other, are often a fortnight, or even a month, sooner or later, in bringing their produce to maturity, according to the nature of the soil and exposure. A light and dry soil with a southerly exposure is favourable to early produce, and for that reason, the harvest in St. Ouen's parish and on the sandy southern coast of Jersey, is nearly a month in advance of the parishes of St. John, and St. Mary. The former land is not however the more valuable for its precocity, as it is afterwards parched up and unproductive through the heats and droughts of Summer. For some years past lucerne has been extensively cultivated with success on those light soils. As to the difference of air in both Islands, it cannot be material, though the exception in favour of Jersey, might be as being less out in the Channel, and nearer the Continent, it is better wooded and more sheltered.

Note 68, p. 98.

There is much obscurity in the manner in which our historian expresses his dissent from Mr. Poingdestre. It is evident that a country swelling up with hills, and depressed with valleys, will have a larger surface than a level one; but it does not follow that it will be more productive in proportion as it is more expanded. That is however rather a geographical than a mathematical question, which can be resolveď but by the nature and climate of the soil. The point is therefore, if Jersey was a low level Island, would it be as productive as it is now with its hills and dales? The uneveness of its surface renders it more capacious, and in our climate that causes it to be better watered; while from the variety of soils, there is also a greater variety in the quality and quantity of its produce. But a hilly

country, however, in a temperate climate, will have more tracts of barren land, than a level one; so that after all, the advantages of a moderately hilly country and of a level one, nearly balance each other.

Note 69, p. 98.

The Historian might have more fully explained himself. The low grounds and valleys are the most valuable tracts and are naturally very rich. The largest of these follows the South Eastern line of coast, and extends from the Town of St. Helier to Mount Orgueil Castle. It is the best in the whole Island. Another description of lands are the slopes (or côtils, as they are technically called,) which line the narrow valleys in every direction. They are not much elevated, but generally steep, and of a light soil, and unfit for the plough or pastures. Some are rocky, and produce nothing but furze. The better kinds of those slopes are planted with forest trees, which grow there with little or no trouble to the owner. There are very few coppices. These slopes surround extensive plateaux of table land, not so rich indeed as the low lands above mentioned, but fit for all the purposes of Agriculture, These plateaux form the largest part of the Island. A stranger on entering the town of St. Helier may see at once this conformation of the country. The town is inclosed by those hills, with their tops surmounted by those table lands at a distance, on one of which the tower of St. Saviour's Church, and Government House are prominent objects.

The declivity of Jersey is from North to South, which rounds off and is continued on the South East and South West sides. That declivity is broken and ramified into innumerable small valleys with their streams flowing towards the sea. The descent towards the sea on the North is not more than a mile wide, in some places not even so much, the waters being discharged through the steep and romantic glens, which divide the over hanging cliffs. A narrow strip of land between the North and South Coasts separates the course of the waters, and in that direction one may go on nearly level ground from Mount-Orgueil Castle to Grosnez Point, by the Churches of St. Martin, Trinity, St. John and St. Mary. The Island though hilly is not much elevated, and Mont-Mado, in St. John's Parish, which is the highest land, is not more than between three or four hundred feet above the Sea.

Note 70, p. 99.

The Quenvais are a small district, which in the midst of a country of the highest fertility present the image of an Arabian sandy desert, Attempts have been made to bring it into cultivation, and under a proper system of Agriculture, that does not seem to be impracticable. The late Sir George Don formed a farm there of about 50 vergées, which at this very moment is still flourishing. The great secret of cultivating the Quenvais is to have recourse to those plants that will thrive in a sandy soil, such as lucerne, rye, &c. Lucerne will secure a sufficient supply of green food as well as hay. It is true that the Quenvais have been covered with drifts of sands, and that the subsoil may be a rich mould, but the expence of uncovering it would be immense, besides

that these drifts of sand would reuder that an endless and therefore ineffectual labour.

The sand is brought up by the westerly gales, and is hurled over the first land that comes in its course. It is evident to any one who views the coast and the line of hills, that the wind has the power to carry the sand from the beach in a suspended state only to a certain distance, when from its own gravity, it falls and covers the land that comes within its range. It is therefore evident that the whole tract can never be productive but of saline and arenaceous plants; but it is equally obvious, that under ajudicious system, its sterility might be removed, and the whole be rendered valuable to a certain extent.

There is a tradition that the Quenvais were not always thus desolate, and that they were overwhelmed in ancient days for the inhumanity of the inhabitants, who plundered five Spanish vessels wrecked there on St. Catherine's Day, the 25th of November. It is further asserted, that the subsoil is a vegetable mould, and that even remains of buildings have been discovered in some places, where the sand has been removed. It is unnecessary to have recourse to the wonderful legends of ignorant ages, when the phenomena of nature may be accounted for by natural causes. If the Quenvais were ever uncovered with sand, (and I believe it to have been once the case), it was when the coast of St. Ouen's Bay, projected farther out to the westward, and that the high winds were not able to raise the sand from the then line of coast, and to keep it suspended long and far enough,to fall like a shower on the since devoted district. It is impossible to fix the precise date when the encroachments of the sea happened on that coast, though that such a catastrophe has happened, is evident, from the circumstance that the stumps of oaks are still seen at low water at l'Etac in St. Ouen's Bay. (See Note 97 and 98).

The traditions attached to those oaks are a further corroboration of the supposition, that when the tract off l'Etac was submerged, the Quenvais, in consequence of the coast having been altered and straitened, were overwhelmed by the sand.

Mr. Falle wrote about 1734, and 250 years before that, the date would be 1484, when he says the Quen vais were overrun with sand, in consequence of the divine vengeance having fallen on the inhabitants of that tract, But according to the Jersey Chronicles, chap. iv. p. 12, while half of the Island was in the possession of the French from 1461 to 1467, Philip De Carteret while fishing in St. Ouen's Pond was surprised by a party of the enemy, who came along the beach, and escaped almost miraculously by the fleetness of his horse.

"Le Seigneur de Saint Ouen était un jour à sa mare, proche la baye de St. Ouen, pour y prendre du poisson d'eau douce, les Français vinrent secrettement entre le gallé et la mer le long de la grève, le pensant surprendre et l'emmener prisonnier."

Now if the coast had not yet been encroached upon; and the beach had been two or three miles from the pond, Philip De Carteret could not have been thus surprised. On the contrary, if the pond was then as at present

separated, but by a narrow sand ridge from high water mark, it was very easy for an enemy to have crept unseen along the shore. Indeed I am of opinion, that the catastrophe had happened some centuries before, and that the story of the Spanish wrecks, as far as the marvellous part of it is concerned, is a mere fable.

Note 71, p. 99.

The proportion of barley to wheat now cultivated, is much less than in the days of Mr. Falle, nor is there much now converted into bread. What is consumed on the farm, is ground into meal with beans, and used to fatten swine. The general prosperity of the country, or rather the good effects of the economy and industry of the population,have placed them above having recourse to such a homely fare. And indeed barley bread would now be as little heard of in Jersey as in the South of England, were it not for a few individuals, who still have some made either from choice, or from curiosity.

Note 72, p. 100.

It is not improbable that at some former period, when the Island was less populous, and the town of St. Helier inconsiderable, it might occasionally have produced a small surplus of corn for exportation. It must also be ob served, that barley was then universally made into bread,that the cultivation of potatoes did not yet exist, and that many patches of inferior land, which are now either planted with timber, or turned into pasture, were then under tillage. This appears from many parcels of land, mentioned as the déserts or novals of the clergy, which have ceased to be tilled from time immemorial, but which would not have been mentioned as tythable, had they been totally unfit to be tilled. The exportation of corn has sometimes been allowed, and sometimes prohibited. An Act of the Court of Catel, 18th June, 1534, and an Order of Council, of the 26th of October of the same year, encourage its exportation. The History of Jasper Penn and the Spanish Mer. chauts, mentioned in the Jersey Chronicles, Chap. XVIII, is also of the same nature, as well as the Report of the Royal Commissioners, Gardiner and Hussey. Complaints of the Inhabitants, Art. 16.) But instead of multiplying examples, we subjoin Mr. Dumaresq's authority: Chap. I.-"The Island that could heretofore not only maintain its inhabitants with corn, but also export some, as by the often prohibitions may be read in our ancient Roles, is now bliged to depend upon foreign corn."

Note 73, p. 100.

It would be difficult to ascertain the rise and progress of the stocking manufactory. It must have been already very considerable more than a century before Mr. Falle, as the States of that time seem to have been seized with the same panic as the worthy historian, that this thriving manufacture was prejudicial to agriculture. We quote part of an Act of the States of the 21st of April, 1608. "Pour aultant que partie de l'occasion de l'escarcité des bla eds provient du deffault du labouraige, en ce que les laboureurs ne sont point pourveus d'aide aux saisons nécessaires de leurs