The herald., 1895-08-04
LIFE ON JERSEY ISLES
Seoeeeeeoeeoeeeeooeeeee

ST. HELLER, June 2s 1895. Il Editorial
correspondence to The Herald. )-Jersey
and her sister isles. Guernsey, Alderney
and Sark, are blessed with home rule and
enjoy an autonomy quite as real as that
'imparium in ilnperio" boasted by each
OF the sovereign states of the Great Re-
public. while it is true these islands
have no representation in the English
parliament. neither are they hurdensd
with the necessary concomitant of ma
tional representation. taxation for tha
maintenance OF the monarchy. Indeed.
SO far from contributing to swell the ex-
chequer of the empire upon whose do.
minions the sun never sets. they are
stlpendiaries of Great Britain in many
ways. That such is the case is primarily
due to the fact that the Channel islands
belonged to William the Conquerer before
he made England his own. as part of the
duchy OF Normandy. He would not levy
tribute from his ancient domain to help
support his new acquisitions. In after
times the islands stoutly resisted atte .npts
to tax them, and were IN the main sue
cessfu. When Charles l lost his head
and Cromwell came in. still they escaped
the burden, though friendly to the Stuarts,
and when young Charles ''came to his
own again" he gratefully rememt cred
Jersey for having sheltered him. an exile
and fugitive. There is a magnificent sill
YER mace to be seen in the legislative
hall of ''The States," presented to the
people of Jersey by Charles ii, which
bears Latin inscription to the effect
that it was granted ''as proof of his
royal affection toward the isle Ut Jersey
lin which he had been twice received in
safety when he was excluded from the
remainder of his dominions)." The mace
is still used in botL the high court and
the states. and is pointed to with great
pride by Jerseymen.
Among the quaint institutions of Jersey
must be reckoned it's newspapers. In the
city of st. Heller there are two evening
papers printed IN English and one in the
French tongue. I have steadily pur-
chased the two former at an outlay of
hapenny each, but they have invariably
proved SO nude of news or, indeed OF any
thing worthy perusal, that wonder If
the French journal were more tolera BILE.
bought one and referred the matter to a
competent critic but her report was
gloomily adverse. However, the st Heller
papers are little worse than the London
dailies. The local press has least one
thing to commend it. IL arouses ones
risibles By its absurd phraseology and
gush. while the metropolitan sheets are
deadly dull. ponderous and proper. Last
city, according 10 the Times and British
Press. was the attempted larceny Of ring
from jeweler' shop. The villain was
making Off with his treasure worth all of
$l0-but was seized ana overhauled. The
stolen property was not Immediately
brought to light; but at the last moment.
the prize was oescried by q lynx-eyed de-
teotive among the throng of outraged and
indignant citizens who had collected in
the store. tho culprit having juggled the
ring cleverly under his await. This
affair was headed "a Daring Attempted
Larceny and an account OF ii ran as
serial a IN the papers, for the entire week.
the proceedings in the magistrates court
being set forth IN oxtenso. Inc exumina-
tion was conducted, as all court proceed
ings are, in French, and did not attend.
All .Ierseymen talk French and Eng
llsh with equal facility. The progenitols
OF most OF the people were Huguenots or
noble y, refugees who came later. while the
French revolution was raging. But the
allegiance OF Jersey to England is hearty
and nnwavering, and more than once her
people have been panic stricken by
report THAT the island was to DO sold to
France. In every way her people are
growing English. and her young folk are
eschew the use of it. TO say truth, their
French is not the best
One OF the interesting features of ST.
Heller is the fact that nearly every house
has IL name of its own. They are thus
designated rather than by number. 1t is
Milton House or Maison Victor Hugo or
\ orfolk Lodge or David Place. | am
staying at David Place in apartments.
The apartment arrangement is an excel
lent plah for visitors. You take your
rooms and service goes with them, which
includes cooking You go out into the
excellent markets and order what you
wish sent TO your apartment to be
cooked and served at such hours as you
please ana you get exactly what you