LETTERS FROM A CONTINENTAL TOURIST. 25? 



the parties had justice on his side. This law is frequently observed in 

 Jersey, and in cases of disputed property prevents the trespass being 

 carried to an irremediable extent before the right is decided. 



Every resident, whether native or not, is obliged to serve in the 

 militia. I saw them reviewed by the lieutenant-governor, and though 

 their personal appearance was the reverse of favourable, they per- 

 formed their evolutions with considerable precision and readiness. 

 When the island was attacked by the French, in 1781, the militia as- 

 sisted in the defence not without some loss of life. There is in the 

 church a monument to the memory of Major Pearson, who fell on 

 that occasion, which is beautifully executed ; but the name of the 

 sculptor is effaced, nor could any person whom I had the opportunity 

 of asking supply me the information I required. 



The people of Jersey are, forthe most part, of low stature, in that re- 

 spect being inferior to the natives of the English side of the channel. 

 But they are stout and healthy, and many of them boast pedigrees which 

 would do honour to the most distinguished blood in the empire. The de 

 Carteret family (of which Captain Carteret the circumnavigator was 

 a member) have been so long established in the island that their 

 origin is lost in the darkness which preceded the historical period, 

 and Philippe de Carteret was, in the year 1685, the fifty-ninth seignelir 

 de St. Ouen, all having borne the same name and descended from the 

 same stock. 



The face of the country is agreeably varied, and offers most charm- 

 ing prospects to such as are satisfied with the picturesque without the 

 sublime. There are some remnants, too, of antiquity by no means 

 devoid of interest: the chateau of Mqnt Argeuil, memorable for 

 its seiges, the Fort Elizabeth, at the mouth of the small harbour of 

 St. Helier's, and the Tower of Hogue Bye, which, by the way, has 

 been rebuilt not many years since. From the top of this tower may be 

 seen the greater part of the island, broken as its surface is by valleys 

 and hills of no great magnitude, but enough to relieve the eye from 

 the monotony of a plain, and studded with what appears from that 

 elevation to be forests, but are in reality orchards. I leave to the 

 guide-books and chronicle* particular descriptions and historical 

 anecdotes, and here close an account of Jersey, which I fear you may 

 find somewhat of the longest. The other islands, which I did not 

 visit, are I am told so similar that one description will serve for all. 

 " Ab und disce omnes." My next letter will be dated from Paris. 



LETTER II. 



Paris, August 13. 



I HAVE just arrived here, after the usual troublesome journey by 

 diligence diligence, quotha! it bears no resemblance to its name. 

 Five miles an hour is but sorry pace for one accustomed to English 

 stage-coaches and double that speed. I left the island of Jersey by 

 the Ariadne steamer, wind fair and sun shining, and arrived at St. 

 Malo in four hours. We landed after the usual examination by the 

 douanier, and I found myself on French ground, after eleven years' 

 absence from " the sacred soil," as our neighbours call it. The 

 first thing was to secure a place in the diligence, and none was to be 



