The town and parish of St. Helier's bears the largest proportion, both from its greater population, and from the number of strangers whose families become chargeable.

Besides the great population of the island, considered in relation to its extent, we shall also be struck with the vast increase of that in the town and parish of St. Helier's, during the past century, and the comparative little augmentation in that of the country. The increase of trade is the cause of the former; the division of property, that of the latter. The population of St. Helier's, in 1831, was more than five times greater than in 1734; and that of the country parishes, only more in the former than the latter period. It is principally since the conclusion of the last war, that the town of St. Helier's has so increased in the number of its houses and its population. It is in the recollection of some persons, when the roofs of the greater number of houses in the town were covered with thatch, the streets unpaved, uncovered brooks running through them, and carriages little known. In the code of laws for the island, sanctioned by an Order in Council, dated 28th March, 1771, it was enacted, that from that time to 1781, every house in the towns of St. Helier and St. Aubin, should be covered either with slates or tiles-a plain proof that, at that period, it was customary to thatch the houses in those towns; for, the preamble to the law states, that it was in order to prevent conflagrations.

When peace was proclaimed, it was very generally thought that the ruin of the island would ensue. That opinion has somewhat of a plausible, though unreal, foundation. During the last war, the island derived its principal resources from the expenses of a large garrison, the extent of public works, and privateering. Provisions were supplied both from this island and from England, at an advanced price; the farmers reared oxen, and cultivated much wheat, the demand for which, and for other products of agriculture, for home consumption, caused prices to be elevated, rents to rise, and the value of land to increase. When this source was stopped, the garrison withdrawn, and trade with France re-established, provisions were imported from the latter country at prices much below those which had been usually paid. From this change, much temporary mischief was produced, rents declined, and the value of land, some branches of industry were stopped, and some bankruptcies followed. We may, from this circumstance, be confirmed in the opinion and belief, that latent evils and subsequent misery prevail when the column of industry rests upon a temporary base, when a change in the direction of industry takes place, even though it be a return to a more sound and natural state of things. Since then, industry has been established upon more secure foundations; the wealth and commerce of the island have considerably augmented, the value of land is equal to that in time of war; all classes have been benefitted, however gloomy may have been the prospects of some, especially of the farmers, in 1814; instead of rearing oxen for food, they rear heifers for England; instead of their sales being almost entirely limited to the home market, they export the surplus of their potatoes, their apples, and their cider. The exports have been as follows, during the years:

The foreign commerce of the island has received a great impulse since the war, which has augmented manual arts, and given more employment to

industry. But I shall not dwell upon this now, but reserve a few observations on the home and foreign trade of Jersey, for a future article. I should have remarked previously, that the number of English residents help to swell the bulk of the population.

It is a narrow prejudice to be jealous of the prosperity of other persons or of other countries: an enlarged knowledge teaches us that the wealth and industry of one nation increase proportionally those of the countries with which it has any commerce. This national prejudice that it is the advantage of one nation that all others should be poor-the principles of political economy, founded on a true consideration of facts, and the nature of things, tend to remove: and those persons who reflect will often have to deplore the fatal effects to humanity, which false principles, firmly engrafted in the mind, have produced. It is of importance, that the mind should be furnished with correct first principles, which will enable their possessor to judge with more facility and with more truth. The prejudice of which we are speaking is the more culpable and injurious, when it exists between different parts of the same country, and leads to regulations tending to injure the one to the apparent advantage of the other. It is as in the fable, when the members of a body would not exert themselves to feed it, and consumed away with it. There are those who, hurried away by a blind self-interest, do not or cannot form a comprehensive idea of consequences. The interest of all individuals is immediately or remotely connected with the public welfare, and the latter can certainly not be promoted by the favouring of a select few, or body of men, to the injury of the greater number, or even of the same number. Formerly, there was a strong feeling of jealousy in Jersey, between the country and the town. The prosperity of the one was scarcely believed to be consistent with, or influenced by, that of the other. The country fifteen members in the States would then scarcely vote for an expenditure for the harbour of St. Helier's, or for any improvement in the town, unless a sum was also applied for some work in the country, whether useful or not. The island has, consequently, undergone much expense for undertakings, which are of little if of any utility. We have, therefore, a harbour at St. Aubin, which is usually empty; one at Rozel, for fishing boats, and one at Boulay Bay, for no boat at all, for these are safer at a distance. The prejudice is much stronger in the breasts of the inhabitants of the country than in those of the town, and the remains of it are almost solely confined to the former. It had remained dormant for some time, and it was hoped that, touched by the finger of knowledge, it had vanished in tenui aura, into thin air; but it manifested itself a few months ago in a most egregious manner, and was received by the party against whom it was aimed, -the town-folk and the consumer,-by so steady an opposition, that the measure appears tacitly dropped, for it has not again been brought forward. I allude to a petition to the States, by one thousand six hundred persons of the country, praying for a prohibition of the importation of horses, pigs, pork, fruit and vegetables, from France, on the ground that the agricultural* interests were suffering very considerably, that the grower of potatoes could not obtain a remunerating price, that labour was very expensive, that pigs from France are very inferior to ours, that French horses are generally very defective, and, consequently, sold at such low prices, that Jersey farmers are prevented from attending to the breed of horses, and that fruit brought from France is generally in a bad state, and cannot but be detrimental to the publie health.

I shall not enter into a review of the arguments which may be adduced against this petition, which is totally based upon an error, as my present object is to show the mutual advantages which town and country derive from each other; but I would simply remark, that potatoes were, at the time when the petition was presented to the States, in greater demand and at a higher price than they had been for a long time previously, that the scarcity of labourers is a proof of prosperity; that of French horses, the country people are the principal purchasers, and that if French pigs and horses are

defective and inferior to ours, they cannot come in competition with those of Jersey. There was another measure proposed, arising doubtless from the same motives, to increase the proportion paid by St. Helier's of the public expenses.

The prosperity of the country, in all nations, is principally owing to that of towns. "The greater the number and revenue of the inhabitants of the town," says, very justly, Adam Smith, "the more extensive is the market which it affords to those of the country; and the more extensive that market, it is always the more advantageous to a great number. The town is a continual fair or market, to which the inhabitants of the country resort in order to exchange their rude, for manufactured produce." At a time, when the town of St. Helier's consisted of only a few houses, and its trade was inconsiderable, the people, according to Heylin, were poor; the country people had not an extensive market for their surplus produce; and they could not purchase those materials and commodities which they required, at a reasonable rate. Most of their present means of enjoyment, most of their present sources of comfort and happiness, were therefore not possessed by them. Every thing was really dear, for it cost much more labour and exertion to procure than now. Towns, in large countries, have principally promoted the welfare of the country, by the possession and employment of capital, by manufactures of various kinds, for whose products, which the farmers otherwise could not have procured, except at a much greater expense, if they even could have procured them, were exchanged for the surplus produce of their land. They could consequently enjoy much of the products of industry of which they were before deprived; and their increasing wants stimulated their industry, increased cultivation, and improved the country. The value of the land became greater, and its productions much larger. From the commerce thus begun and continued, the wealth of the community increased; the farmer, deriving larger profits, had a larger capital to employ in the cultivation and improvement of his land, and the merchant to increase industry. The result is that people are better lodged, clad, and fed; and wealth not only increases, but becomes more extensively diffused. The town and the country are both dependent on each other, and the prosperity of both is blended together. The richer the one is, the richer also must be the other; and, with their riches, their productions increase. The produce of the country will always sell more readily and profitably in a neighbouring large town, and the products of the town will find an advantageous market in a neighbouring populous and flourishing country. Some of the capital of the town can also be employed on the country; for "merchants," says Smith, " are commonly ambitious of becoming country gentlemen; and when they do so, they are generally the best of all improvers, an improvement in the social condition thus resulting, more liberal ideas prevail, especially in the towns. These have been mainly influential in the removing of hurtful prejudices, the establishing of liberal institutions, and the overturning of the feudal system. They have fostered the arts and sciences; and the learning there acquired, has spread its genial influence over the country and over mankind.

The proprietors of the country in Jersey have been vastly benefitted by the wealth and intelligence acquired in towns, not only by their affording them a more extensive market, and supplying them with the products of manufacture, but by combating and overthrowing some of those narrow prejudices and errors, principally injurious to the farmers themselves. I allude now, particularly, to the violent and obstinate opposition by the land proprietors to the formation of roads through the country, which have vigorously tended to increase industry, and the value of land, and have considerably lessened the expense of bringing agricultural produce to town and of carrying back manure, vraic, and commodities. Now they can perform the same distance in much less time, and with much more comfort,-they need only employ one or two horses, where formerly three or four were absolutely necessary, they need not send a harbinger to see if the road be clear, and if

any carts be coming from the opposite direction, for two could not pass each other, they need not employ oxen, as more sure footed in descending steep hilly roads, for the declivity is not now so great. Yet, how many prejudices had not lieutenant-general Don, the beneficent lieutenant-governor of Jersey, to overcome, and how much difficulty to persuade the country people that good roads were for their advantage. Some would not part with the least portion of their land, because the value of it was daily rising, and they did not wish to lose any part of that increase; others would not give up a hedge, while that of their neighbour remained entire, nor a tree, while those of another proprietor were not brought down. None wished to be made a sufferer, or to sacrifice any portion of his property, more than his neighbour, who would have an equal use and derive an equal benefit from the new road. But General Don persevered, and often declared: "I will do them good in spite of themselves, and they will hereafter experience and acknowledge it." The attachment to Jersey, by this worthy governor, continued after he was removed to the command of Gibraltar; and it may be mentioned, that he would have none but Jersey potatoes bought, for that purpose, in the island over which he had before ruled, served upon his table. The people of Jersey are now fully alive to the advantages accruing from good roads.

Whatever facilitates communication, augments the national wealth; for the difference or saving in the time and expense thereby effected, may be regarded as so much profit to the community. “La facilité des communications," says Say, “ équivaut à la richesse naturelle et gratuite qui se trouve en un produit, lorsque, sans la facilité des communications, cette richesse naturelle serait perdue."

The knowledge which is acquired, whether in town or country, extends its warm invigorating rays over both. The knowledge of chemistry has not only nourished the arts, but agriculture, by the analysis of soils, and by determining the manure or substances best suited to different soils. Science has improved the arts, and the arts have enriched society. Agricultural societies, supported by members from town and country, by bringing together useful knowledge collected from various sources, and experience from different quarters of the world, increase the wealth of the country. A spirit of emulation is also roused, and improvements follow. In confirmation of this, I shall add an extract from the last report of the Jersey Agricultural Society, with which I shall conclude this article: "Your committee cannot refrain from expressing their unfeigned satisfaction at the rapid improvement which has taken place in cultivation by cottagers generally, whose various products, especially in vegetables, rivalled in the last exhibitions those of the best cultivated gardens. They also observe that the influence of your society is silently but securely extending, by the marked improvement in husbandry throughout the island, which is now spoken of as a science; the ancient ideas that agriculture had reached its perfection and could not be improved, being nearly exploded." L. Q.

(To be continued.)

THE HERMIT'S PAPERS.-No. 1.

SHOULD the little contributions of a native, whose historical and legendary reminiscences occasionally jingle into metre, of their own accord, fall within the plan of one of Sarnia's truest and most highly gifted friends, a word of assent, dropping from such lips, will prove a word of command.*

These are, indeed, memory's cast-away trifles; and should they be treated with that violent contempt, which they probably deserve, no murmurs will reach the ear of a judicious editor, from one who has not yet found time to examine a single leaf of the Magazine of his father-land. Le bon fruit est pour la bonne bouche." And still, the tree which produces it, has long had a native's best wishes.

* I, decus, I nostrum; mlioribus utere fatis.-ED.

Having tried the effect of, here and there, a snatch of our lyrical ghost stories, and chronicular ballads, on certain juvenile customers (for whom one cannot help sometimes manufacturing a few lame latin sapphics and indifferent alcaic) the temptation to commit them to paper, for a more serious experiment at home, must be taken in good part.

Our business, as editors or contributors, is to collect relics, not to work them down (after the manner of certain Jew dealers in shells) till nothing but mother-of-pearl remain. "Popular historians," whom the wily Charles the Fifth was wont to call his “liars,” always were the objects of your correspondent's unqualified hatred. His catholic ghosts are catholics; his puritan ringle-tubs are puritans; and his witches are witches, genuine stormbrewing Craccas, who love mischief and perpetrate it with all their heart, mind, soul and strength. What our grandmothers have told us, what we have heard with our infant ears, ought not, assuredly, to be improved, as modern praters improve ancient texts. Like the Raphael of Cockneyland and Cockney kings, were your correspondent a poet, he might avail himself of Lawrence's court patent for embellishing poor human nat ure's eccentricities and deformities.

As circumstances have thrown in the writer's path a bundle of old-fashioned keys, which unlock the prison house of innumerable obsolete customs and terms, a select sheet, from the "Word-Book" among his adversaria, will forthwith be communicated. In the breviary and Bible-historiée' of the king of German France, the "Frankono Koning," a solution has been found for all the "linguaggium Gherneruiense's" remaining difficulties.

THE TRANSCRIBER TO THE READER.

"Quicunque istius monasterii possessiones abstulerint vel diripuerint, maledicti sint
"ab omnibus VIRGINIBUS! Sicut fluit cera à facie ignis, sic pereant! Cœlum clau-
"dimus ; terram negamus. Demergantur in inferno inferiori sine fine; Amen!

"Fiat fiat! fiat!"

Such were the awful words of a form of consecration, delivered, centuries agone, by an anointed high priest, over the new-built nunnery of the Sisters. But the "appropriation clause," in favour of which Luther wrote a book, is the sad argument of what many will call a black chapter in all the chronicles of gospel-reform.*

It is said that a bailiff of Guernsey, in the reign of uxorious old Harry, and under the long dynasty of his five kinsmen, the Westons, fell likewise into the snare of the devil, and of his secretary, Thomas Cromwell. Yet, if to touch Rome's confiscated goods and chattels were so unpardonable a trespass, which of England's noble and gentle families avoided the pollution? Be this as it may, the year of queen Ann's death was one of tragical concurrences. Weston lost the captainship of Guernsey; the bailiff, his kinsman, made way for another representative of the Tudors; Lord D'Arcy, after selling his Jersey captaincy, had the honour of being hung and quartered; Vaux, who had bought D'Arcy's office, was compelled to give up his bargain to Sir Edward Seymour; and one of the Westons expiated on the fatal tree the crime of smiling on a queen, the soft lustre of whose twinkling eye captivated a king, and disarmed an executioner.-(See La Houssaie.)

It is indeed a moral phenomenon which invites reflection, in spite of all frail humanity, transitory predilections and, interests, that such a legend as that of "The little Man with Bands," a legend as inveterately catholic as the council of Trent itself, should have triumphed over presbyterianism, and, in defiance of the Genevese cloak and band, have found more attentive and awe-stricken hearers, among the unfledged inmates of the nursery, than La Marche's catechism and Drelincourt's sonnets. We believed it, all of us, forty years ago; and, to quote Ariosto and la Vieille Nanon," we really believed that we believed the truth."

* For Sweden, see Verelius; for Holland, Strada; for Scotland, Buchanan; for England, Jones' Recollections of Royalty.