cause comes on to be heard at the next court. It is not usual for the chancellor to pronounce his decree in open court; but in a few days after the hearing, the decree is extended, entered on record, and signed by the chancellor; a copy of which may be immediately had at the rolls office.

With respect to the privileges of natives and foreigners; the Manks jurisprudence, when it justly compels a native debtor to give up all his present and future effects in satisfaction to the creditor, humanely exempts him from the rigours of imprisonment; and its polity has thought fit to give a limited protection to the stranger for debts contracted by him out of the island, for the King's writ does not extend to the Isle of Man; and it must always be remembered, that an English act of Parliament does not bind his Majesty's subjects in the island, unless it is expressly named therein.

By several acts of Tynwald, and the prac tice of the court thereon, so far as relates to a native, he cannot be held to bail or arrested for debt, unless he has obtained the governor's pass, or there is some other just cause; as, for instance, his declaration, or avowed intention, by some clear overt act, that he is in meditatione fuga; and this manifestation must be verified by affidavit. With regard to bankruptcy, as recognized by the English laws, with all its train of legal consequences, it is entirely unknown to the Manks law.

With respect to a stranger, should he be arrested for a debt contracted out of the island, he may immediately petition the governor for

a hearing, which may be granted instanter, on three days notice of the hearing being given to the party; and in Case his effects in the island are forthcoming or delivered up, or on the plaintiff's obtaining the governor's process to summon a jury, for the purpose of inquiring whether the defendant is possessed of ef fects, and their verdict should be, that he is not, he must be immediately liberated: but if the stranger should contract a debt, however small, in the island, he may be arrested, and, on non-payment, or, if sufficient bail cannot be procured, to answer the amount of the debt, or damages and costs which shall be awarded by the court, he may be confined in the prison of Castle Rushen till the plaintiff is satisfied the amount. But if the prisoner for debt under a decree or judgment shall have faithfully and justly accounted for, and delivered up his ef fects on oath, the governor may allow him sixpence per day for his subsistence; and in default of the payment weekly, the governor may liberate the prisoner.

Respecting the law of arbitration, no proceedings under this head are cognizable in the courts of the isle, without a penal bond to his Majesty, or without a rule of court, entered into by consent of parties in court.

The statute of 1736 having exempted a landed man from arrest for debt, it is material to show what was meant or intended by that expression; and this will be clearly evinced by the following opinion of the Keys, which is recorded in the Liber Scaccarii of the year 1719, in these words: "We say, that whoever hath

an interest or title to any estate or holding within the land of Man descending from his ancestors, and doth pay lord's rent, and other suits and services as the natives do, he ought to have all the privileges the natives enjoy by the laws and customs of this island; but this not to be understood to qualify any stranger or incomer to these privileges, by taking a rent of a small value, on purpose to enjoy the benefit hereof, but to such only, as, either by purchase pay the lord's rent of an ancient quarter-land or more, or three pounds or more yearly in intack, which we look upon equiva lent thereto, and occupy and improve the same by himself, family, or farmer, to the end the lord and country may be the better secured that he perform the suits and services the natives do, in proportion to his estate or holding."

OF THE COURT OF GENERAL GAOL DELIVERY, WITH THE FORM OF TRIAL OF A PRISONER, AND THE CONSEQUENCES OF HIS CONVICTION.

THIS is a court of peculiar dignity and splendour: the governor, the bishop, his archdeacon and vicars-general, the deemsters, the clerk of the rolls, the water-bailiff, and attorney-general, together with the twenty-four keys, all presiding therein, for the purpose of trying any crime which, by the law of the island, is deemed capital; those of a subordinate nature being heard and determined before the magistrates, conformably to the statute of 1753.

The proceedings, as directed by the statute of 1777, exemplify all the humane and beneficial consequences which attend the inquiry of a grand jury in the other parts of the united empire, with this difference, that an English grand jury is restricted to the hearing of evidence only on behalf of the prosecution; but, in the Isle of Man, depositions are also taken on the part of the prisoner in his presence, which compassionately affords him a preparatory trial, and gives the jury, as well as the prisoner, the benefit of that excellent maxim, audi alteram partem, and enables them with more certainty and precision to say, by their verdict, whether the prisoner shall be called before the awful tribunal of the general court, or be immediately discharged.

At the trial before the general court, the verdict of the first jury is produced, and previous to the trial, the prisoner may challenge fifty-four of the jury of general gaol-delivery; the constitution requiring that four good men should be summoned out of every parish in the island, amounting in number to sixty-eight men. A jury of twelve being impannelled, they are sworn and charged by the deemster; the prisoner is arraigned on the indictment by the clerk of the rolls, and the prosecution is conducted by the attorney-general. And here again the humanity of the Manks law is conspicuous, in allowing council to plead for the prisoner (which is not the case in England *), although, for time immemorial, it has been permitted by the law of Scotland, who may crossexamine the evidence for the crown, plead for the prisoner, and reply to the attorney-general.

When the pleadings are concluded, and the jury are agreed on their verdict, a very ancient and remarkable ceremony ensues. The deemster demands of the foreman, in the Manks language, “ Vod fir charree soie ?" "May he that ministers at the altar, continue to sit?" If the foreman answers that he may not, it is understood to be the precursor to the verdict of guilty, and the bishop and his clergy immediately retire; but should the answer be in the affirmative, the verdict of not guilty is returned, and the prisoner is instantly discharged.

* If there ever were an instance of innocence being justified by means of counsel, the law which deprives the accused of that benefit is evidently unjust. Marq. Beccaria.