Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1921-08-12

prepared by the National Geographic So
ciety, Washington. ID. ca
The Channel islands, one of the
most picturesque portions of Great
Britain, are geographically not part
Of the British isles at all. Victor HUI
go, who wrote some of his best-known
works in the islands, spoke of them
as "bits of France fallen into the sea
and picked up by England" But real
ly they were in effect the home of
conqueror of Britain. They were
part of the Duchy of Normandy from
which William the ConquerOr went
forth and to which he added the Brit
fish Isles. All the remainder Of Nor
mandy finally reverted to France, but
the little Channel islands remain to-
day a reminder that England was
conquered.
These tiny islands hug the shore OF
France. Jersey is barely twenty miles
from the French coast, and 100 miles
from England French is generally
spoken in the islands; and not English
law, but the old Norman law, largely
abolished on the neighboring coast Of
Normandy, governs the actions Of the
islanders.
Norman In race, In language, and In
laws, 1t can be imagined what q
wrench 1t must have been to the is
landers to be forcibly severed from
Normandy. Many of the feudal lords,
who held land both on the mainland
and in the islands, took the side of the
French king, and therefore their lands
In the islands escheated to the king
of England and formed the Fief lie
Roi, for which he still appoints re-
ceiver general in each bailiwick to
collect his feudal rents, and these are
still paid, either In quarters of corn
or their equivalent in money, for his
"rents," or in fowls for his "pOulage."
But among the Norman mobiles the
de Carterets, then among the largest
landowners in Jersey, and Pierre de
Preaux, governor Of all the islands,
remained faithful to England. The
alone Of all King Johns continental
possessions, should remain English,
and they were ratified to the crown
of England by the treaty of West
minister of 1859, which was again con-
firmed by the treaty of Bretigny OF
1860.
So the Channel islands have never
passed under the crown of France, but
have been inherited continuously by
the kings Of England as successors of
the dukes of Normandy, in spite of
continual invasions by the French.
Jersey Faithful to Charles.
In the Seventeenth century, as the
days Of the commonwealth drew near,
a great cleavage between Jersey and
Guernsey took place.
Guernsey, impelfed to the popular
cause by its more pronounced Presby-
terianism, by the feeling Of betrayal
which the Stuart regime in that is
land had produced, and strongly in
f1uenced by three prominent islanders,
Peter de Beauvoir James de Havi-
Gland, and Peter Carey, declared for
the parliament. Jersey, as strongly
influenced by its great feudal family
of de Carteret, remained loyal to the
royal cause, and in 1916 the Jersey
states proclaimed their continued adj
herence to the king.
In the following year the prince Of
Wales afterwards Charles I'D sought
refuge in Jersey, arriving from the
Sicily islands; and Jersey, after the
execution of Charles I, was the one
place in the United Kingdom to pro-
claim him. king of England. Shortly
after his proclamation he again visited
the island, and was supported both
with men and money by Sir George
Carteret and the majority of the
islanders.
Although 1t Is nearly three hundred
years since Jersey and Guernsey were
at open war, yet the old rancor still
fingered until the World war swept
away all smaller misunderstanding
and all Channel islanders, with the
rest OF Britain'S sons, became broth
ers-in-arms.
Beauties and Artists of Jersey.
Jersey, with its wooded valleys, its
winding lanes, overarched with foil
age; It's orchards, its miles Of glisten-
fng sand, its quaint old churches and
picturesqu. granite farmhouses, and
dominated always by the magnificent
ruins of Mont Orgueil castle, gives the
impression Of unbounded prosperity
and fertility. Its lands having been
owned always by race Of peasant
proprietors, the country shows that it
has been cultivated for it's own sake
by men who loved it and not by hire
lings.
Naturally enough, so much beauty
has bred race Of artists, the most