132 
on the borders of Wales as they could 
“ win from the Welchmen.” By these 
means‘he provided for the majority of 
his followers a tolerable portion | of 
territory, and, by a master-stroke of 
policy, prevented the Welch from act- 
ing on the offensive to any very great 
extent. The lands thus obtained were 
denominated~ Lordships or Baronies 
Marches, and were holden, in capite, 
of the King of England, as of the 
crown immediate, by serving the sove- 
reign, in his wars, with a certain num- 
ber of men. The Lords Marchers 
were also bound to garrison their 
castles with sufficient men and muni- 
tion, “ for keeping the king’s enemies 
in subjection.” 
That the Lords Marchers might the 
better govern the people within their 
respective baronies, they were endued 
with such prerogative and authority as 
were considered most fit for the pur- 
pose. To this end a kind of palatine 
court was established in each lordship, 
with the full power to administer jus- 
tice, and to execute its decrees, in all 
the territories dependent upon such 
lordship.. The king being supreme 
lord, reference was made to the Eng- 
lish courts of law, whenever their own 
jurisdiction failed. In consequence of 
this policy, a large extent of territory, 
which had formerly belonged to the 
Welch, became annexed to England; 
and, that it might be securely retained 
by the English, the Lords Marchers 
were inyested with the most absolute 
and arbitrary authority. The power of 
life and death was placed in their hands, 
and they were neither sparing nor mer- 
ciful in the exercise of their powerful 
prerogative. 
At the conquest of Wales, by Edward 
I., the power of the Lords Marchers 
was somewhat restricted; and in the 
reign of Edward IV., the government 
of the Marches was vested in a lord 
president and council, consisting of the 
chief justice of Chester, and the three 
other judges of Wales. In cases of 
extreme importance and emergency, 
other persons were appointed to decide 
the question. The Lords Marchers, 
however, and all their despotism, were 
abolished by the union. statute (26 
Henry VIII.), and their territories be- 
came annexed partly to England and 
partly to’ Wales. The president and 
council were, nevertheless, allowed to 
hold their offices as before, and their 
general: coutt was to be held at~Lud- 
Jow. But, in 1689, their power ceased 
Doubis on the Contagion of the Plague. 
[Sept. I, 
altogether, and the Marches, with the 
other parts, of the: principality, partici- 
pated altogether in the government and 
jurisdiction of Englands’: | 1 
( To be continueds) <0! 
Ch ee. CUNY 
To the Editor of the Monthly. Magazine: 
Sir: 2 4if 
HOUGH I pretend to no aequire- 
ments, or means’ of extended ob- 
servation, that can qualify me to forma 
decisive opinion upon the subject of 
contagion, which has so much agitated 
the scientific, the professional, and’ in- 
deed the public mind of late; yet’ it 
is impossible even to glance’ over 
the adverse arguments of controver- 
sialists, upon any question of such deep 
interest especially, without formingsome 
kind of notion concerning the apparent 
va}idity of the reasonings, and the bear- 
ings of the alleged facts upon the one 
side or the other. Still less can one help 
bringing into recollection the facts, 
however few, of one’s own experience, 
if one has had any, how little soever it 
may have been, that seem to have any 
reference to the theories and reasonings 
by the respective partizans advanced. 
Of the plague, indeed, properly so’ 
called, I have had no experience at all. 
I have had the good fortune never to 
be in any country in which (during the 
two centuries of which you and I have 
seen a part) that horrible pestilence has 
been able to rear its gorgon head. As 
the old spinster politicians of Chester 
said, when reading the terrible deserip- 
tions of certain hurricanes and erup- 
tions which had recently desolated cer- 
tain remote regions, “ Thank God, we 
have the blessing to live under such a 
good king and constitution, that no such 
calamities ever visit us!” And verily, 
Sir, if plague and pestilence, instead’ of 
earthquake and tornado, had been the 
calamities under consideration, your 
learned and eloquent » correspondent, 
Dr. Jarrold of Manchester, has gone far 
to convince me that the loyal old ladies 
of the City of Antiquities would not 
have been quite so much out of the'way 
of reason, in their association of causes 
and effects: for I do very readily be-+ 
lieve, that good government, and>ia 
happy organization and condition of the 
people, with their concomitants, health-. 
ful food and habitation, and saswell- 
cultivated soil, are better physicians for 
the eradication of pestilence than ever 
were bred in the college:of ‘licentiates, 
and better protections’ against its) 1e- 
appearance 
