them,—seem to prove that nearly the whole of one side wall of the edifice was taken down, and sometimes the other. This, apparently, must have been the case. The pillars could not have been left between the places hollowed out, and afterwards moulded into their present form; because every arch must, necessarily, have had its hances and its spandrels, together with its squares or parallelograms, to sustain the superincumbent pressure. some churches, even the additional aisle had pilasters and bands, which have been broken by the formation of subsequent arches. In With the exception of St. Helier's church, there is hardly one that possesses any monumental memorials worth noticing; and even the few in that temple are comparatively modern. The ancient inhabitants of Jersey were in general too poor, or too unambitious to affect "The storied urn, or animated bust." Their utmost attempt at sepulchral fame was confined to a flat stone, or a low sarcophagus, with the rough effigy of a human being engraved on it, and a plain legend, berinning with the old Norman Cy gyst, or with hic jacet, ound the edges. How vain soever, during life, of their petty feudal disnctions, they wisely thought, with the French poet, "Qu'un jour dans le monde vaut mille ans dans l'histoire.” In fine, what is worldly grandeur? Solomon says, "One generation passeth away, and another generation "cometh." "All go unto one place: all are of the dust, ❝and all turn to dust again." A celebrated modern author* says, "On jete un peu de terre sur la tete, et en voila pour jamais." "Let vanity adorn the marble tomb, "With trophies, rhymes, and scutcheons of renown, I may say, with Dr. Pope, in his celebrated moral song, "If a thousand years hence here lies W. P, "Be found on my tombstone, what is it to me!" Sic transit gloria mundi ought to be a memento mori to every human being. Happy are they who consider this solemn truth, and act accordingly! PRIVILEGES. Mr. Falle says, "there would be no living in this island, "for English subjects, without great freedoms and im"munities." His observation is very just: Jersey is situated in the very grasp of France. Chateaubriand. + Beattie's Minstrel, The annals of history show how exposed the island is to constant attacks from enemies. In war time, its regular foreign trade is materially injured: the internal commerce cannot be very considerable,* in a country where so many live on their own inheritances. Its manufactories are few, and extremely limited in extent. Every man is a soldier, and the inhabitants are frequently under arms. The coast round the island is guarded by them nightly throughout the year; and they are summoned to assemble, completely accoutred, on every alarm. Frontier places are usually favoured with particular privileges, to counterbalance their various inconveniences; and no country ever merited distinguished marks of royal beneficence more than Jersey. There is not any existing record respecting the privileges of this island before the reign of King John; it is, therefore, impossible to ascertain those that it possessed under the preceding monarchs, or under its more ancient sovereigns. That monarch gave to Jersey and Guernsey a body of constitutions, consisting of eighteen articles. Two great privileges are therein granted; one, that no process, in either of the islands, commenced before any magistrate of that island, can be transferred out of it, but must be decided there. The other, that no person, * See COMMErce. convicted, out of the said islands, of felony, is to forfeit the inheritances he may have in them, so as to deprive his heirs of their natural possession. This does not however extend to crimes committed in either island, and decided there. The two foregoing articles seem to have been inserted to show how completely independent these islands always were of the English courts of judicature. Few provinces indeed enjoyed, at one time, privileges so great and so favourable as Jersey. The preambles of its several charters recite the motives that induced the kings of England to grant them: as--to recompense the steady and zealous loyalty of its inhabitants;—to engage them to pursue the same course; and to ameliorate the disadvantages of their situation. Jersey enjoys the benefit of being a free port, the restrictions in this respect being more properly regulations. There were, until the late peace took place, only a few duties* on the imports, but no prohibitions. The island is also protected from the impress act. There are not any taxes; unless we consider as such the parochial rates for the indigent, and for the highways: these have of late They have, of late years, been increased, but are still inconsiderable. + Since the conclusion of the war, the States have prohibited the importation of foreign living horned cattle. been raised; but they are still very moderate, when compared with similar assessments in England. Levies are, however, sometimes made, for the purpose of defraying any extraordinary expenses. The expense of constructing new military roads, in different parts of the island, must necessarily bear heavy for the moment; this however is a burden which, it may naturally be presumed, will, in the course of a few years, be lightened, as the materials for keeping the highways in repair are readily found, in almost every quarter. A difference in opinion has arisen respecting the utility of the new roads, in a general point of view; it is not our business to enter into the question: we may indeed observe, that the increased facility of communication, throughout the island, occasioned by good roads, will tend to produce a more general and social intercourse: this pleasurable circumstance will, at the same time, diffuse a knowledge of the English language, which we have already considered as highly desirable in a political sense. The only restraint on the foreign commerce of Jersey, relates to the British West-India islands, with which there is not any direct intercourse. The inhabitants of these islands are for ever exempted from all taxes, imposts, and customs, in the towns, mar |