The Sun.
London, England, 1841-11-12 00:00:00

THE DUKEDOM OF CORNWALL.

The county of Cornwall is under peculiar jurisdiction
namely, that of the " Duke of Cornwall." The duchy
of Cornwall was created in 1337, in favour of Edward the
Black Prince, and settled by Act of Parliament on the
eldest son of the Sovereign of England. The Duke
thence enjoyed large revenues arising from the Lordship
of castles, boroughs, and manors, granted to him in Corn-
wall and Devonshire, the profits arising from the "coin-
age " of tin, and various other sources. The annual
revenue from the average of the three years subsequent
to the death of the Black Prince was 2,4931. 7s. 34d. ;
the clear revenue in the 15th year of Henry VIIL
amounted to 10,0951. lls. 911; in the 44th year of Queen
Elizabeth, in 1602, it had fallen to 4,5691. 12s. 2d ; and
at the publication of Messrs. Lysons' " Magna
Britannia," in 1814, the gross amount was esti-
mated at 22,0001., of which 8,5001. arose from
the tin duty in the county of Cornwall, and
3,500/. from the rents of manors, fines, &c., in the
same county. The sources whence the remainder was
derived are not here enumerated. Before the war of
1793, the' tin duty had amounted to 14,0001. per annum.
The immediate government of the county was vested in
the Duke, who still had his Chancellor, Attorney -Gene-
ral, and Solicitor-General, and his Court of Exchequer;
he also appointed his Sheriffs. The mining trade is under
the separate jurisdiction of the Stannary Courts ; the
Lord Warden of the Stannaries and the Vice-Warden are
at the head of this jurisdiction, with a final appeal to the
Duke and his Council. The miners claim to be free from
all jurisdiction, except that of the Stannary Courts, ex-
cept in cases affecting land, life, or limb. The Vice--
W arden's Court is held once a month, and is a court of
eguity.for all matters relating to the tin mines and trade.
-No writ of error lies to the Courts at Westminster, but
there is an appeal to the Warden, and from him to the
Duke in Council; or, when the duchy is vacant, to the
Sovereign in CounciL Issues are frequently directed by
the Vice-Warden to be tried in the Stannary Courts,
which are held at the end of every three weeks, be-
fore the Steward of each of the tour Stannaries, or
mining districts—namely, Foymore, Blackmore, Tywarn-
hale, and I'enwith and Kerrier. In those Courts all
civil actions, in which either plaintiff or defendant is a
privileged tinner, are tried before the steward and a jury.
From those Courts an appeal lies to the Vice-Warden,
and from him as in otheri cases. The stannary laws are
revised, or new ones enacted, by the Duke and his
Council, with the consent of what is called "the Stan-
nary Parliament," consisting of 24 stannators, gentlemen
of property in the mining districts, six being chosen for
each stannary. Those for Foymore are chosen by the
Mayor and Corporation of Lostwithiel ; those for Ty-.
warnhale' by the Mayor and Corporation of Truro ; and
those for Penwith and Kerrier by the Mayor and Corpo-
ration of Helstone. The last Stannary Parliament was
held in 1752, at Truro, and continued by adjournments
to September, 17b3. The stannary laws have been re-
peatedly published. The " Stannary Prison" was at
Lostwithiel, but by the Act of William IV. is now at
Bodmin. _ The ancient records of the stannaries were
kept at Lostwithiel till they were burnt in 1644 by the
Parliamentary army in the civil war of Charles the
First's reign.
An Act was passed in the 6th and 7th William IV.,
cap. 106, entitled " An Act for the better and more ex-
peditious Administration of Justice in the Stannaries of
Cornwall, and for enlarging the jurisdiction and improv-
ing the practice and proceedings in the Courts of the
Stannaries." By the fourth section of that Act the equit-
able jurisdiction of the Vice-Warden is extended to all
matters connected with the working of lead, copper, or
other metal, or metallic minerals within the county of
Cornwall. By the sixth section the Stannary Courts
were consolidated, and were to be held before the Vice-
Warden, who was to have the same authority that the
Stewards had. The Vice-Warden, by section 14, is au-
thorised to make rules and orders for the regulation of
the practice and proceedings of his Court. Such rules as
relate to the equity side of his jurisdiction are to be con-
firmed by the Lord Chancellor ; and such as relate to
the common law side by one of the Judges of the Supe-
rior Courts of Common Law atWestminster. The Vice-
Warden's Court is constituted, by section 21, a Court of
Record, and is held at Truro.

A FORM OF PRAYER AND THANKSGIVING

TO ALMIGHTY GOI),
For the safe delivery of the Queen, and the happy
birth of a Prince ; to be used at Morning and the
Evening Service, after the General Thanksgiving, in all
Churches and Chapels throughout England and Wales,
and the Town of Berwick..upon,Tweed, upon Sunday,
the 14th day of this instant November, or the Sunday
after the respective Ministers thereof shall receive the

same :
" 0 merciful Lord and heavenly Father, by whose
gracious gift mankind is increased, we most humbly
offer unto Thee our hearty thanks for Thy great good.
ness vouchsafed to Thy people, in delivering Thy servant
Our Sovereign Lady the Queen from the perils of child-
birth, and giving her the blessing of a son. Continue, we
beseech Thee, Thy fatherly care over her; support and
comfort her in the hour of weakness, and day by day
renew her strength. Preserve the infant Prince from •
whatever is hurtful either to body or soul ; endue him,
as ho advances in years, with true wisdom,- and make
him, in due time, a blessed instrument of Thy goodness
to this Church and nation, and to the whole world.
Regard with Thine especial favour our. Queen and her
Royal Consort, that they may long live together in the
enjoyment of all earthly happiness, and may finally be
made partakers of everlasting glory. Implant in the
hearts of Thy people a deep sense of Thy manifold
mercies, and give us grace to show forth our thankfulness
by dutiful affection to our Sovereign, by brotherly love
one towards another, and by constant obedience to
Thy. commandments ; so that, passing through this
life in Thy faith and fear, we may 'in the life to come
be received into Thy heavenly, kingdom, through the
Merits and Mediation of Thy Blessed. Son Jesus Christ
'our Lord. Amen.

The present Prince of Wales is understood to be in
every respect as robust and finely-formed a child as
George the Fourth, who even in the third year of his
age, was considered to possess so handsome a form as to
have been selected as a model of early beauty. In the
old Palace of Kew, we believe, there still remains a whole
length figure of his Royal Highness in wax, naked, and
lying on a couch of crimson velvet, as if just undressed.
His left leg is drawn up, and his right extended. He is
holding up his right arm, while the left lies at his side,
holding up a drapery that appears to have been thrown
off in play. The whole is covered with a bell glass, from
the top of which, in the inside, hangs a ring, by a small
gold cord, in which is perched a dove, with an olive
branch in its mouth, as emblematic of the peace which
was then about to dawn upon the country.
This beautiful specimen of art is executed in stained
wax, giving all the animation, tincture, and softness of
nature. The frame of the couch is of silver gilt, wrought
in a very elegant manner, At the back of the couch is
the Prince's name, and the time of his birth, surrounded
by a garland of laurels. The couch stands upon an
ebony support ; and the stand for the whole is a nuts-
sive piece of silver gilt plate, beautifully wrought into
foliage and other ornamental designs ; over which, in
same parts, hangs a drapery, hoed with white satin and
• fringed with gold. On the top of the glass is the Prince
of Wales's coronet.
The Prince of Wales is entitled to form a household
at a very early period. George the Fourth, the last
Prince, appeared at Court, surrounded by the officers of
his household, in May, 1771, being then only in the
ninth year of his age ; and was installed a Knight of the
Garter in the mouth of September following. His bro-
thers, the Duke of York, and the Duke of Cumberland
(the present King of Hanover), were admitted into this
Noble Order at the same time, and their appearance
created no little amusement.