700 
On  the  Farming  of  Somerset. 
there  is  no  tradition  on  the  subject.  Rut  many  of  the  manors 
mentioned  in  Domesday  Book  are  known  to  this  day  by  the  same 
names,  such  as  Brent  Marsh,  Huntspill,  Burnham,  Horsey,  and 
lie  in  the  alluvial  district  over  which  the  sea  would  now  How  were 
it  not  for  the  sea-walls  and  river-banks. 
Management  of  the  Water- Sewers. — The  custody  of  the  em- 
bankments and  drainage  has  for  many  centuries  been  in  the  hands 
of  Commissioners  of  Sewers;  and  before  any  suggestions  for 
the  improvement  of  the  levels  can  be  made,  it  is  necessary  to 
advert  to  their  constitution  and  mode  of  proceeding. 
The  first  Commission  of  Sewers  for  the  county  of  Somerset  is 
stated  to  have  been  issued  in  the  reign  of  Edward  I.  The 
principal  Act  of  Parliament  on  which  their  powers  are  founded 
is  the  23  Henry  VIII.  c.  5.  In  the  year  1833,  Mr.  Hodges 
carried  a general  Act  regulating  their  proceedings  (the  3 & 4 
Will.  IV.  c.  22). 
Sewers  law  has  never  been  a very  fortunate  arena  for  the  exer- 
cise of  legislative  skill.  Every  county  in  which  there  are  sewers 
views  with  the  greatest  jealousy  any  attempt  to  overrule  its  own 
traditions  by  imperial  authority ; and,  indeed,  if  sewers  are  regu- 
lated in  other  counties  as  they  are  in  Somerset,  this  jealousy  is 
not  to  be  wondered  at.  Courts  of  Sewers  are  held  at  Wington, 
Axbridge,  Wells,  Glastonbury,  Wincanton,  Langport,  and 
Bridgewater.  In  some  of  these  courts  the  Act  of  1833  is  but 
partially,  in  others  not  at  all,  acted  upon.  Standing  juries  used 
to  be,  and  in  some  levels  still  are,  impanelled,  for  the  purpose 
of  viewing  all  the  public  banks  and  ditches,  to  see  if  they  are  in 
proper  order,  so  as  to  cause  no  public  damage.  They  used  to 
levy  fines  in  defiance  of  all  law,  but  now  they  confine  themselves 
to  viewing  their  level.  There  is  no  legal  power  to  appoint  such 
juries,  and  therefore  no  means  of  compelling  them  to  do  the  duty 
they  undertake.  If,  however,  they  have  viewed  their  level,  they 
bring  up  the  delinquents  before  the  magnates  of  the  Marsh,  and 
then  ensues  a scene  which,  if  not  strictly  legal,  is  at  least  highly 
amusing.  The  defaulter  demurs  to  the  right  of  the  demand  on 
his  labour,  or  tries  to  shift  it  on  his  neighbour.  If  the  court 
quashes  his  plea,  after  a certain  amount  of  vain  struggling,  he  is 
summarily  convicted  and  called  upon  to  submit  himself  to  the 
mercy  of  the  court.  If  he  is  humble,  he  is  at  once  fined  2s.  6 d., 
or  some  other  sum,  according  to  the  will  of  the  court.  If  he 
recalcitrates,  he  is  threatened  with  the  awful  consequences  of 
summoning  a jury  of  the  county  (the  legal  process  authorized  by 
the  Act),  which  are  as  mysterious  as  the  unknown  results  con- 
templated in  the  event  of  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Commons 
putting  on  his  hat.  In  fact,  the  legal  jury  is  hardly  ever  sum- 
moned, and  the  man  is  joked  or  coaxed  into  paying  his  fine. 
