the Superior Courts of Westminster. And by the Judicature Act, 1873, the jurisdictions of the Court of Common Pleas of Lancaster and of the Court of Pleas of Durham were respectively transferred to the High Court of Justice, by that Act established. None of the counties palatine any longer remain in the hands of subjects. For the Earldom of Chester was united to the Crown by Henry the Third, and has ever since been one of the titles of the monarch’s eldest son; the palatine jurisdiction of Durham was taken from the Bishop of Durham by the Durham (County Palatine) Act, 1836 (amended by the Durham Palatine Act, 1858), and was vested as a separate franchise and royalty in the Crown; and the County Palatine of Lancaster, with the duchy which had been conferred on John of Gaunt, was at length, in the year 1485, vested in King Henry the Seventh and his heirs, as a distinct and separate inheritance from the Crown of England.” Of these three Palatinates we must, however, here treat only of Chester, the eldest of the trio. There were Earls of Chester in Saxon times, but the establishment of the Palatine County of Chester dates from the Norman Invasion. Before we proceed to describe its foundation and history, let us see what Camden, in his quaint way, has to say about Cheshire and its inhabitants. Quoting Lucian the Monk of Chester, he remarks:-- “Whoever sets about to describe the manners of the inhabitants of this County in general, or in particular, according to their situation, he will find them in comparison with those of other parts of England in some respects better, in others the same. Their manners seem to be in the main of the best sort, according to the general idea of manners. They are sociable in their entertainments, cheerful at meals, liberal in their hospitality, hasty, but soon brought to temper, impatient of dependance and bondage, kind to the distressed, compassionate to the poor, fond of their relations, sparing of labour, free from resentment, not given to excess in eating, undesigning, fond of borrowing other people’s property, abounding with woods and pastures, rich in meat and cattle. They border on one side the Britons, and by long commerce of manners are become very like them. Nor must I forget to observe that the County of Chester bounded by Lime (Macclesfield) Forest from the rest of England enjoys distinguished immunities, and by the indulgences of our Kings and the great merit of its Earls is more accustomed to attend on the Sword of its own Prince than on the Crown of the Sovereign in the assembly of the people, and without restraint or reserve determine the most important causes within its own territories. Hence Chester itself is much frequented by Irish, a neighbour to the Welsh, and plentifully supplied with provisions by the English; beautifully situated, its gates are of an ancient form of building; approved by hard experience. It has merited the name of