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per house consists of the Council, sitting by right of office - namely, the treasurer, or receiver-general, the comptroller, the clerk of the rolls, the water-bailiff, the attorney-general, the bishop, the archdeacon, the vicar-general, and two deemsters, or judges, who, although belonging to the Council, are always named separately. The Keys (or Commons), who constitute the third branch of the legislature, are twenty-four in number, and were anciently styled "the worthiest men in the land;" they were also known as Taxiaxe. Prior to 1765, and as late as 1866, the Keys were nominated by the governor, and whenever a vacancy occurred, two candidates were selected and introduced by the speaker to the governor, who chose one of them to be the new member of the House of Keys; but in 1866 the House of Keys Election Act was passed, and by it the members are elected by the voters of the sheadings and towns, each of the six sheadings into which the island was divided by King Orry electing three, the town of Douglas three, and the towns of Castletown, Peel, and Ramsay one each. The House is elected for seven years, unless dissolved earlier by the governor, who has power to do so whenever he deems it expedient. The governor, Council, deemsters, and Keys together form the Tynwald Court, and the form of passing statutes resembles that of the imperial Parliament. "Bills are introduced into either branch of the legislature, and are then passed to the other. The two branches then meet together in Tynwald, and the bill, having previously been printed on parchment, is signed, and is then sent up to the queen in Council for the royal assent. But even after all this is done, the measure has not the force of law. Before the bill can come into operation, it must be promulgated in the ancient form from the Tynwald mount." †

The qualification for a member of the House of Keys is the possession of real estate of the ratable value of £100 per annum, or of real estate of £50 per annum, together with personal estate actually producing an income of £100 per annum, or the ownership of personal estate actually producing an income of £150 per annum. Under the House of Keys Election Act, 1881, the qualification of a voter is the ownership or tenancy of real estate of £4 per annum, ratable value, or

Thirteen Keys make a House, and that number must concur to render an act valid.

† Deemster Gill, in the Isle of Man Times, September 17, 1887.

the occupation as a lodger of premises of the annual value of £10.

Whether the three Manx legs enable the people to march faster than the world in general we cannot say, but certain it is they have made a forward movement as regards the franchise which other nations might follow with advantage, for this same bill of 1881 conferred the franchise upon unmarried women being possessed of the same property qualification as men. "The Keys proposed to extend the tenancy qualification to women also, but the Council objecting, the Keys were compelled to accept the compromise in order to obtain an admission of the principle of the right of women to vote, but in so doing recorded their protest against their partial exclusion. This act is said to be the only law now existing in Europe recognizing the right of women to vote in the election of a legislative body.'

In other respects also the Manx legislators have shown more favor to women than those of other countries, for as a writer in the Woman's Suffrage Journal says: "Although the wife did not retain separate property after marriage, the common property of the pair was not at the absolute disposal of the husband. The wife retained an indefeasible right to half of the common property on the death of her husband. Out of this right there grew a custom which allowed the wife to make a will leaving her half of the property to whomsoever she pleased, at her own death, during the lifetime of her husband. Thus it happened that many men were reduced to comparative poverty through the death of their wives. A decree was therefore pronounced restricting the power of a wife to make such a will, and limiting her right over the half of her husband's property to cases where she survives him." The same writer quotes a curious custom, which is to be found in the ancient records of Castle Mona, showing that for many centuries Manxmen have had a chivalrous regard for the rights of women. A decree in a black-letter book ordains, "that if a man was proved to have wronged a maid, the deemster was to hand to her an axe, a rope, and a ring, that she might deal with the recalcitrant lover. She had the choice to behead him with the axe, to hang him with the rope, or marry him with the ring. Tradition says the maids were usually lenient." †

The deemsters, of whom there are two,

Constitution of the Isle of Man, Manx Society, vol xxxi., 1882, p. 7, note.

↑ Woman's Suffrage Journal, October, 1887.

one for the northern division of the island, and one for the southern, are the judges, but seem formerly to have had other functions, one of the principal being the proclamation of the laws in Manx and English on the Tynwald Hill. They had also to preside at the gaol deliveries, which, until 1765, took place twice a year, in May and October. Prisoners were tried by a jury of twelve, who must be unanimous, but the prisoner had the right of selecting the jury out of the jurors impanelled. Prior to 1777 treason and felony were punishable with death, and also theft of property above the value of sixpence. In cases of petty larceny, a jury of six was chosen, and on a complaint being made of property lost or stolen, the deemster issued his warrant to the coroner to summon a jury of inquiry. The oath administered to the deemsters is very curious: "By this book, and by the holy contents thereof, and by the wonderful works that God hath miraculously wrought in Heaven above and in the earth beneath, in six days and seven nights, I do swear that I will, without respect of favor or friendship, love or gain, consanguinity or affinity, envy or malice, execute the laws of this isle justly, betwixt our sovereign lord the king and his subjects within this isle, and betwixt party and party, as indifferently as the herring backbone doth lie in the midst of the fish. So help me God, and by the contents of this book." *

This reference to the backbone of the herring seems quaint and provocative of laughter, but it is explained by the fact, that formerly herrings and potatoes formed the staple food of everybody, and therefore the deemster was reminded of his oath as often as he ate his daily meal.

The deemsters, in common with the moars (collectors of lord's rent), coroners, and sergeants of baronies, had a curious privilege, that of yarding, or compelling the service of persons of either sex at a trifling wage fixed by law. An officer, called a sumner, was sent to lay a straw on the shoulder of the person so required, saying, "You are hereby yarded for the service of the lord of Man, in the house of his deemster or coroner," etc., as it might be. Persons refusing to comply with this summons were committed to prison and there kept on a daily allowance of one barley-cake and a pint of water, until they yielded obedience to perform their service, the expense thereby incurred being de

ducted from the wages of the delinquent. By virtue of the statute all instituted parsons and vicars of the thirds were allowed their "bridge and staff," which implied that their servants should not be taken from them by yarding, and the servants of members of the House of Keys were also exempt.

These yarded servants were proclaimed at the parish church or cross, that the farmers might know they had to provide themselves with others. It was ordained that yarded servants should be fed with porridge in which a spoon would stand upright, and the cakes given to them were to be as thick as the length of a barleycorn. In 1561 the wages of a yarded ploughman were fixed at 135. 4d. per annum; those of a driver at Ios. and so on. In 1667 the wages of the ploughman were raised to 15s., and 9s. was fixed as the yearly wage of a strong maidservant. In 1615 it was enacted "that no person should receive any recompense for the good will of his yarded servant," and in 1747 the privilege obtaining servants by yarding was suspended for three years. In 1763 the wages of yarded menservants were raised to £2. and those of women to I per annum, and the custom has now fallen into oblivion.*

ge of

The statute-book of the island contains many other curious laws relating to servants. There existed at one time a "jury of servants" which compelled the service in agriculture of persons whom they considered as unemployed. "If there be a scarcity of servants to work the lord's lands, the former, upon complaint thereof to the deemster, is to have the benefit of a sheading jury of servants, consisting of four in every parish, who are to inquire for vagrant servants, and to serve the greater rent first, and then every farm according to his rent, and if there be no servants to be had, then he who bears a rent of 5s. to the lord, must serve him who bears a rent of 10s. and so on."†

Young persons who were required to attend the old or infirm were exempt from service, and had a certificate to that effect from the jury of servants, and were then known as choice children. A feedman wishing to leave his master had to give him notice on a certain day; but should the master endeavor to get out of the way, he (the servant) might take a competent witness to the place where his master usually sat, at the hearth or at

• See Account of the Isle of Man, by Joseph Train, ↑ Statutes of the Isle of Man.

• Constitution of the Isle of Man, Manx Society, F.S.A.

vol. xxxi.

meat, and there make a nick with his knife | are frequent notices as to the insufficient and Canons Ecclesiastical, highly eulo- to pay it; if over that sum, the whole gized by Lord Chancellor King. Never- division is called upon to contribute up to theless, this good man suffered imprison- £1,000. In 1711, among the taxes raised ment at the hands of the governor of the by the insular legislature for temporary

in his master's chair, or if the door should be shut against him, he may make a nick in the threshold, which shall be authentic in law against such master.

The laws appear to have been very severe, for not only was theft of sheep or other property above the value of sixpence punishable with death, but also stealing or cutting beehives was felony to

death.

Servants who should hire with two masters had to serve the first, whilst the second took his wages, and if the offence was repeated, he was whipped in the stocks. If a person was convicted of propagating a false report he was placed in the whipping-stocks with his tongue in a noose of leather called a bridle. After a certain time the gag was removed, when he was obliged to say thrice, "False tongue, thou hast lied."

It does not seem that the liberty of the subject was much regarded by the kings and governors of Man, before it came into possession of Great Britain by purchase, as the following Orders in Council will show:

1587.- In regard to a dearth of corn. For a jury to inquire into each man's stock of corn, viz., four men to be sworn by the coroner of each sheading, to inquire into every man's store, and present the same, and that the same be brought to market sub pœna; and that all alehouse keepers sell a quart of ale for a penny, sub pæna pred.

1594.- A proclamation that no one do cast reflection on R. Young.

1648. - Against the use of wherns, querns or handmills, as injurious to the lord's grist-mills in subtracting or defrauding the mulctures.

1673.- Order allowing the exportation of corn, on a petition of the Keys, setting forth that in consequence of the prohibition, the people were unable to pay their

rents.

1722. - Order of governor and Council, declaring a paper, exhibited by the bishop and vicars-general, to be a base and scandalous libel. Judicial.

1741.- Order for the sale of corn, and to prevent the making of malt, in consequence of general scarcity.

It will be seen from these Orders in Council that the island has passed through more than one period of scarcity, and indeed the inhabitants seem to have depended almost entirely upon the "harvest of the sea," and when that failed them, they were reduced to great straits. There

amount of attention paid to agriculture, and at one time a law existed forbidding men under twenty-five from going to sea; nevertheless, fishing is still the chief industry of the island, and the Manx fishingfleet numbers between three and four hundred boats, two hundred of which belong to the old town of Peel, famous for its ancient castle and cathedral, the scene not only of many of the most remarkable events in the history of the island, but also of some of those legends which inspired Sir Walter Scott in his romance of "Peveril of the Peak," notably that of the Moddey Dhoo, or spectre dog.

The episcopate of Sodor and Man is of great antiquity, and so intimately connected with the history of the island, that a brief notice of it must be given here. The title Sodor and Man has often puzzled the unlearned, but it seems that formerly the bishopric of Man included the southern Hebrides, and the title Sodor (Sodorenses) means, literally, Southern Isles, the name being retained, although the substance has departed. St. Patrick is credited with the foundation of the Church in the Isle of Man, where he is said to have been driven by stress of weather, on a journey from Liverpool to Ireland; and the ruins of the old cathedral, dedicated to his successor, St. Germain, still stand on the little rocky islet, close to Peel, called St. Patrick's Isle. Another of St. Patrick's followers, St. Maughold, is also identified with the Isle of Man. This saint, like many more, had been a great sinner, until converted by St. Patrick; so in expiation of his sins he caused himself to be bound in a boat and sent adrift. In due time he was cast ashore on the Isle of Man, and there lived in so great sanctity as a hermit, that St. Bridget came over from Ireland to receive the veil from his hands, and afterwards founded the nunnery, which still forms a very picturesque object near Douglas. The prioress of this nunnery was a baroness of the island, holding courts and having absolute power over her tenants.

The ecclesiastical power in the Isle of Man, as elsewhere, has from time to time required curbing; but the bishops have generally been popular; Bishop Wilson, who died in 1755, being still venerated for many acts of kindness and liberality, which caused him to be regarded as a father by the people among whom he labored. He helped to obtain the Act of Settlement, and arrange the Constitutions

island, on refusing to pay an unjust fine imposed on him for suspending Archdeacon Horrobin for a breach of ecclesiastical discipline, but was released by order of King George the First.

purposes, was one for defraying the expenses of persons sent to the English Parliament to procure free trade with Great Britain, and in 1753 a tax was raised for encouraging public industry, in such branches and in such manner as shall hereafter be agreed upon by the governor, officers, deemsters, and Keys, as occasion offers.

At the time of the purchase of the island from the Duke of Athole, the patronage of the bishopric, with fourteen advowsons, of the aggregate value of £6,000, was estimated at $100,000; the customs revenue at £150,000; rents and alienation fees, £34,000; tithes, mines, and quarries, £132,114; making together the sum of £416,114 paid by Parliament to the duke. Since that time the revenue returns have been, - customs: duties on wine, spirits, tobacco, tea, coffee, sugar, and timber, £26,500; mines and quarries, royalties, £3,900; lord's rent, abbey rents, quit rents and fees, £1,300; tithes commuted, £500; total, £32,200; whilst the expenditure has been, - civil establishment: salaries, expenses of government, adminis- to turn sheep out on them, to cut turf and

It is provided by common law that a school shall be built and maintained in substantial repair in every parish, by assessment upon the inhabitants; that every child of proper age shall attend, some free of charge, the rate of payment of the rest being fixed by law; and it is forbidden that any one should be schoolmaster whose qualifications have not been ascertained by a competent authority, and who has not the license of the bishop.

The lands belonging to the crown are subject to a right possessed by the public

tration of justice, etc., £8,000; harbors, preserve highways, turbaries, and water£2,300; collection of customs, prevention courses. The crown lands are 30,788 of smuggling, woods and forests, £3,900; interest on the purchase money (£416,114) at 3 per cent., £11,000; total, £25,200, leaving a surplus revenue of £7,000.

This surplus has been the cause of many disputes between the islanders and the imperial Parliament, the former claiming the whole of the surplus. By Act 16 & 17 Vic. cap., 107, dated August, 1854, it was provided that the payment of the whole customs revenue, except the expenses of collection, and one-ninth for public purposes, should be paid into the consolidated fund, and making the expenses of government, and of the administration of justice, and the annual sum of £2,300 for the harbors, chargeable on that fund, instead of on the revenue.

In 1866 another act, called the Isle of Man Customs, Harbors, and Public Purposes Act, was passed, by which the whole of the customs revenue was devoted to insular purposes, except the sum of £10,000, which may be regarded as the insular contribution for imperial protection.* Amongst the laws still in force, is one providing that in cases of riot, the damages, if under £100, shall be defrayed by the parish in which the riot occurs; if under £200, the sheading is called upon

acres in extent, but much of it is mountain and moor, for the island is distinctly mountainous, Snaefell, the highest peak, rising to the respectable height of 2,024 feet, whilst several others fall little short of 2,000 feet.

Amongst the ancient institutions of the island we must not omit one known as the "setting quests;" these consisted of four of the lord proprietor's tenants, and a setting quest was chosen for every parish in the island, their duty being to find suitable tenants for any of the lord's lands which might fall vacant. The tenant thus chosen was obliged to take the land, and if he failed to pay the rent, the setting quest was liable, for having chosen an impecunious person. These setting quests still exist, but their duty now is to return the alienations and descents of land, with the names of the succeeding owners, to enable the entries to be made on the roll, and the alienation to be collected.*

From what we have said it will be seen that the Isle of Man legislature is in all respects an independent body, and by no means slavishly subservient to the imperial Parliament, although the people

• See Publications of Manx Society, vol. xii. An Abstract of Laws, Customs, and Ordinances. Compiled by J. Parr, Esq., formerly one of the deemsters.

• Constitution of the Isle of Man, Manx Society,

vol. xxxi.

+ It should be said that the laws enacted by the British Parliament do not apply to the Isle of Man unless specially named.

From St. James's Gazette. SECRET CHAMBERS.

No historical novel of the old-fashioned type was orthodox unless it contained plenty of sliding panels, secret staircases, and hiding-places fashioned in the thickness of ancient walls. From the days of Horace Walpole and Mrs. Radcliffe to those of Mr. Harrison Ainsworth the secret chamber and the hidden spring were the commonest properties of romance; and even Scott, in“ Woodstock," has

value the connection with Great Britain | William's College, the island university, most highly, and are exceedingly loyal. we have not space to write, neither can There is not, and never has been, any we say anything of the mineral wealth of idea of national independence, which, in the island, which is considerable; the the case of so small an island, in the posi- Great Laxey and Foxdale mines being tion of the Isle of Man, would be mani- well known. Most of the towns of the festly absurd. It has been, and must al- island are now connected by railways, the ways be, subject to some greater power, commercial advantages of which are much and has been held by Wales, Scotland, appreciated by the inhabitants. Norway, Ireland, and England. Its singular customs and superstitions may doubtless be traced back to one or other of its ancient masters. We have written so largely of the peculiarities of the legislation of this interesting little island, that we have left no space for description of the natural features, archæological curiosities and superstitions, so full of deep meaning to the student of anthropology and ethnology, but to these we shall hope to revert at some future time. Whether the home rule, which has endured for a thousand years in this isolated spot, would answer on a larger scale, we must leave politicians to decide; at all events, it seems to have suited the needs of Manx-made effective use of them. Save in men, of whom the Rev. Mr. Ward, in his "Ancient Records of the Isle of Man," written in 1837, says, “As no people are more blessed, so none are more happy and content than the Manx under their venerable laws, and simple, primitive, I had almost said patriarchal, constitution." Fifty years do not appear to have made much difference, either in the people or in the laws by which they are governed, although the country since that time has become much better known, and is now a favorite resort for tourists and holiday makers from England, Scotland, and Ireland, which is not surprising, for in addition to many natural beauties, the climate is warmer and more equable than even many of our southern seaside resorts, and the people quiet and friendly.

The Manx are undoubtedly of Celtic origin, yet they differ greatly from the Irish, being much more sedate, and, singularly enough, they have a strong antipathy to those with whom they are ethnically most closely allied, and this is expressed in the popular description of the threelegged symbol of the island, which is said to kneel to England, kick at Scotland, and spurn Ireland. Camden gives an amusing account of the way in which it was ascertained to which country - England or Ireland the island belonged: "As the venomous animals that were brought out from England for experiment's sake, would live here, Man was generally thought to belong to Britain." Of King

books for boys, whose appetite for the marvellous is happily perennial, we hear but little of this kind of thing now. The vein has been worked out. Probably many of the novelists who made the freest use of "priests' holes" and trap-doors were unaware of the extent to which their fic tion was justified by facts. There are still in England and Scotland - and probably in Ireland too - a large number of old country houses which contain secret chambers. Time, fire, and demolition have greatly reduced the number, but they may still be counted by hundreds, and doubtless many others exist unsuspected.

It is impossible to ascertain now when the builders of manor-houses and moated halls began to contrive these secret refuges; but they have been known from a very early date. Froissart says that they were not uncommon in the old French castles in his time, and they probably came into use in England very soon after the Conquest. Originally, no doubt, they were contrived as a measure of precaution; and during the Wars of the Roses they must have saved the life of many a hunted man. Long after the last moat had been dug in England secret chambers were constructed; for although the country had then been freed from civil war, the Reformation brought with it a long period of religious persecution. The hiding-places that were made after the middle of the sixteenth century were almost invariably intended, primarily, for the concealment

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