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presented himself at the first private meeting thereafter of which he was cognisant, and addressed the Bailiff as follows:

"Mr. Bailiff, I claim the right of being present at the private sittings of the Court; I claim it on the authority of the Crown officers in England, transmitted formally to me by the Secretary of State. The Court, I understand, deny this right,-I say, I understand so, for I have never received any formal and positive intimation that such is the case. I now ask-is it so?

"Sir, I am here to assert a right, and I shall therefore take this opportunity of stating my views. I am quite willing to admit that the opinion of the Crown officers, though backed by a Secretary of State, does not make law here for you; but it is good warrant for a Lieutenant-Governor to act, because his commission directs him to take orders from the Secretary of State, and the Secretary of State and the Crown officers are the responsible advisers of the Crown; I am therefore prepared to exercise the right I believe myself to possess. But, Sir, I am in no way desirous of infringing on others' rights; and if it can be shown that the Court view of this matter is the legal one, let it be so. I therefore offer this proposition. I will take my place pro formâ, and I will then retire and hold the exercise of my right in abeyance until the question be decided by appeal to the Queen in Council; but this appeal must be made within a reasonable time. I know that appeals are expensive, but I conceive that a case may be made out and referred to Council without an expensive appeal, and I am willing to forward that as far as I can." No such appeal appears to have been made. Certain it is that General Napier exercised the disputed right on three different occasions; and afterwards declared his intention publicly, at a full meeting of the Royal Court, to

VOL. II.

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continue to exercise it on all fitting occasions as being a part of the prerogative of the Crown.

General Napier visited England this year for two months. During his absence eight officers of militia wrote letters to the acting Lieut.-Governor, resigning their commissions. These gentlemen were all closely connected with the Royal Court, and among themselves three of them bore the same name, and two out of the remainder likewise bore the same name. Before answering their communications the acting Lieut.-Governor referred their letters to the Secretary of State. The resignations of four of them, being couched in proper and respectful language, were accepted. But the letters of the others were, in the words of the Secretary of State, "couched in terms so disrespectful and improper, that, upon consideration, I have deemed it not consistent with my duty to advise Her Majesty to accept their resignations. It would not however be for the interest of the militia that they should retain their commissions. Her Majesty has been pleased to command that these gentlemen be displaced from their respective situations as officers in the Royal Guernsey Militia. You are desired to communicate without delay to these gentlemen, as well as to those whose resignations have been accepted, the decision of Her Majesty on their respective cases."

General Napier now urged upon the new Home Secretary, Sir George Grey, a measure which he had much at heart, and which Sir James Graham had acquiesced in,the appointment of a second commission to inquire into the state of the civil law in the Channel Islands. This was not immediately conceded, and the Royal Court exerted themselves to stop the Criminal Law Commission, and procured an address to Her Majesty in Council from the States of the island, praying that their ancient laws

should not be interfered with. Their efforts however were unavailing, and the Commission repaired shortly afterwards to Guernsey and commenced its labours.

The hopes of the Royal Court were however revived by the change in the Home Department; and thinking that Sir George Grey might take a more favourable view of their grievances than Sir James Graham had done, a petition to the Queen in Council, professing to emanate from the inhabitants of Guernsey, of a very hostile character as regarded the Lieut.-Governor, was forwarded to the Secretary of State about the middle of July. All the points noticed in the petition had been already decided in favour of the Lieut.-Governor, either by the Privy Council or the Secretary of State, but were now resuscitated, and mixed with general charges of arbitrary demeanour. It is but fair to state that this petition, got up by some of the dismissed militia officers, was repudiated by the Bailiff and by all the respectable inhabitants of the island, with exception of the family clique, the partisans of the Royal Court.

But an opportunity was shortly to be afforded to General Napier of proving in the most public manner the falsehood of the assertion that the hostile petition emanated from the inhabitants of Guernsey.

He returned to his government in August, and one evening, the 30th, it was suddenly announced to him without any previous notice that the Queen's yacht, having Her Majesty on board, was in Guernsey harbour. He had only the night for preparation, but next morning the whole militia of the island, together with the military and civil authorities, were mustered to give Her Majesty the best possible reception under the circumstances. Notices had been sent off to all the different parishes, and the whole population of the island, excepting

the bedridden and infirm, flocked to the port to greet their Queen. And not only was Her Majesty welcomed with the greatest loyalty and enthusiasm, but the unpopular Lieut.-Governor was greeted over and over again with loud and universal cheers by the assembled crowds of civilians, as well as by that Guernsey militia which the newspapers had vainly endeavoured to excite against him. So remarkable indeed was the demonstration in his favour, when taken in connection with his alleged unpopularity, that he received letters from all quarters afterwards, both official and private, congratulating him on the satisfactory result; amongst others, from the Secretary of State and from Lord Fitzroy Somerset, alluding to the good spirit manifested by the militia, both as regarded loyalty to the Queen and respect for their Lieut.-Governor. And the thanks of Her Majesty were at the same time officially communicated to General Napier in the most gratifying

manner.

The Criminal Law Commissioners had now arrived, and presented their credentials to the Royal Court at a full meeting; on which occasion General Napier is reported by the newspapers to have addressed them in the following words :

"The Lieut.-Governor rose, and, addressing himself to the commissioners, said, that during the four years and a half of his official connexion with Guernsey, his whole exertions and his sole object had been to promote the prosperity and interests of the people of the island. He had therefore frequently urged upon the late Government, and the present, to cause an inquiry to be made into the civil and criminal laws. His representations had been attended to, and he therefore now hailed the coming of the commissioners and bade them welcome. He would illustrate his views of the matter before them in a familiar

manner. Before the introduction of the modern improvements in the means of intercourse, many people lived in a state of seclusion, shut out from communication with others. But in most houses they had a family clock, perhaps in an ornamented frame, and pretty to look at. But the works were sometimes rusty, the wheels perhaps were broken, the hands went too fast or slow, and sometimes stopped altogether. The master of the house had probably a watch of his own, and therefore cared but little about the irregularity of the clock, however much others might be inconvenienced by it. When, therefore, a clever mechanician arrived, and changed the wheels, and regulated the hands, and made the clock to go, he carried with him the thanks of the household. You, gentlemen, come among us with a higher mission; you come to regulate— not the hands of a clock-but the hands of justice, and you will be followed by the thanks and blessing of a whole people. I therefore again hail your arrival, and bid you welcome."

In November it was intimated to General Napier that harbours for warlike purposes were to be constructed at Guernsey and at Alderney on a large scale. The following is a portion of the despatch he wrote to the Home Secretary on the subject:—

"The memoirs which I delivered in to the Home Office more than four years ago will show the general plan of defence necessary for these islands, and their great importance to England's naval supremacy in these narrow seas. You will find that Alderney is of far more importance than either Guernsey or Jersey; and I repeat that if great harbours, at an enormous cost, are constructed without erecting simultaneously internal defences, it will be only working for France. One hour and two large steamers will suffice to place the French in Alderney,

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