rust between the King, Mr. Ashburnham and
himself, and one more, which he would not name, but led me to believe it
was Mr. A.'s friend at Paris, and that the design was originally to coin
dollars, by which he could gain a vast advantage to the King. He found
me not so civil as he expected, and therefore easily withdrew, and the
same day attempted the Governor, and offered him a strong weekly bribe
(enough to keep you and me and both our families very gallantly) to join
with him and assist him. His reception was not much better there, so
that he has since procured a good stout letter from the Prince to
command the Governor, Bailiff, and Jurats to give him all countenance,
and to advance the service. This will put an end to it, for the Governor
will deal freely with the Prince, though upon the confidence we have
still naughty new money. The reason of the Governor's exceeding
tenderness is his duty to the King, to whom such a communion (which
indeed is a strange one) would draw much dishonour. Tell me if you know
anything of this, and whether you think your friend so wise, and careful
of his master's honour as he should be; beyond this say nothing of it,
except to my lord Hopton, who can tell you how scurvy a thing it is.

"EDW. HYDE.

"Jersey, February 24th, 1647.

"There is some discrepancy between this account of the affair and
Chevalier's; not so much, however, considering that one writer was
before, while the other was behind the scenes. The two narratives
combined complete the history of the Jersey mint--a history evidently
discreditable to certain personages, and therefore never intended to
meet the public eye. Even the unsophisticated chronicler is intuitively
aware that some mystery attaches to the transaction, which prevents him
from writing with his usual unreserve."--_Hoskins_, Vol. II., page 138.

"In 1646, men of the Jersey Militia each received _5 sols_ per diem on
Field days."--_Le Quesne_, page 486.

"A great improvement was effected in the organisation of the militia by
Sir Thomas Morgan. He divided the militia into regiments, and remodelled
the artillery. On his proposition, in order to compel the men to attend
with regularity to their military duties, so essential for the
preservation of the island, the States, on the 25th September, 1666,
ordered that fines should be levied by the vingteniers for all defaults
in the following proportions:--