mined, either by his lordship in person, or by his vicars-general, who are in the nature of chancellors to the bishop.

The proceedings in the spiritual courts, where, not otherwise noticed by the local laws, are regulated in conformity to those of England; the archdeacon is the second spiritual officer in the island, and has, in all inferior cases, alternate jurisdiction with the bishop; he holds his court either in person or by his official: the usual appeal, in all matters purely spiritual, lies from the insular court to their metropolitan, the archbishop of York, but in temporal and civil affairs to the staff of government.

Marriages may be contracted by banns or licence aliens cannot marry till they have been three months resident in the island. Marriage is, in fact, considered here as an act of partnership, giving no exclusive right to property. A man who marries an heiress, enjoys only onehalf of her lands during his life; if she dies without children, and he continues unmarried, the same law invests the female with equal rights as to property of inheritance during her widowhood; but of his acquired possessions, she has power even during his life to devise one-half to any child of her own, and this will is in force immediately on her decease. No man or wo

man, being married, can sell or lease but by mutual consent. If a man marries a second wife, having issue by his first, the second only takes one-fourth part of his estate of inheritance, nor can any will or deed of gift invalidate these singular rights, except by the joint act of both parties, yet the husband incurs the same liability respecting his wife's debts as in England.

In the Isle of Man, children arrive at the age of majority when they have completed their fourteenth year, so far as relates to personal property, to which they then become entitled, and are also liable to debts thenceforward contracted by them; but must attain the age of twenty-one before they can enter in possession of landed estates, or make any disposition by way of sale.

A marriage contracted between the parties, within three years of the birth of a child, renders such child legitimate, if the character of the female is otherwise unimpeached. A woman convicted of adultery loses her wife's or widow's right, and is entitled only to such alimony as the ecclesiastical court thinks proper to allow.

Executors may proceed in the ecclesiastical court for the immediate recovery of debts due to deceased persons, and their decree having once

passed, and the order given out, subjects the defendant to instant imprisonment, till satisfaction is made by payment in full; on the other hand, no claim can be enforced against the effects of the dead under a year and a day; or if they had any money transactions out of the island, the law allows to the heirs or executors the extended term of three years for the settlement of the whole concerns.

The mode formerly adopted for making proof of a demand for or against the estate of the defunct, was very curious: the person charging or denying such debt was obliged to visit the grave of the deceased, with two witnesses, and stretching himself at length on the same, with an open bible on his breast, he there pronounced a solemn oath, which, in the absence of other proofs, was accepted as positive confirmation or denial of the matter in dispute; but this process was abolished by Bishop Barrow.

As to the penal laws their defects being admitted, and the code at this time under the actual consideration of the legislature for the express purpose of amendment and elucidation, it would be useless to enlarge on their present state; and it is to be hoped, when the promised alterations do take place, a stricter police will be establish

ed, and the impunity now afforded to crimes, for want of definition in the existing power, will no longer remain a just subject of complaint.*

There is one particular, which seems to have escaped observation, and yet calls imperiously for attention, which is, the manner of conducting coroner's inquests, in cases of sudden deaths, and the slovenly style in which they proceed when summoned.

To prove that this charge is not unfounded, I shall select two anecdotes from the number that have fallen under my observation. In one case, the captain of a Norwegian vessel, after receiving a considerable sum of money, was found dead without any previous illness! the cause assigned was intoxication, but attended by circumstances so suspicious as at any rate to demand a strict investigation; great part of his money had disappeared, and the body immediately after death turned entirely black, and exhibited many symptoms inducing a belief that poison had been administered; on this matter no inquiry took place, or if any, certainly not with the assistance of any medical man. The other affair was yet more extraordinary. A man wholly unknown

* For the new Penal Statutes, see Appendix, 8.

being found in the river apparently drowned, an inquest was taken, and the verdict to this effect being given, he was consigned to the care of the undertaker, when, behold, on stripping the body, it appeared that his throat had been cut, and the neck cloth replaced, all which, with perfect sangfroid, the foreman of the jury declared, he had no doubt the deceased had done himself, so that there was no need to revise the former decision, on account of these new circumstances!