Within the memory of living men the counties of Kent and Sussex, and not unfrequently some of the adjoining counties, have been the scenes of occurrences which, had they have taken place in the middle of the nineteenth century, would have made people stand aghast. We often hear of the " good old times," accompanied by expressions of regret at their departure ; I question, however, whether a change from the present state of things to a state similar to that of one hundred, or even fifty years ago, is at all to be desired ; and I am of opinion that when the doings which I am about to relate are carefully considered, together with their baneful effects upon society, no sane person would like to exchange this 1873 for the middle of the eighteenth, or even the beginning of the nineteenth century, about which we sometimes hear old people talk with old-fashioned eloquence, asserting that " Old England has , since that period, been going down hill, and is now fast going to the dogs."
In those " good old times," gone, thank God, for ever, what with privateering, smuggling, highway robbery, and such-like questionable doings, it not unfrequently happened that " the biggest rogues had the best luck ;" though it did sometimes come to pass that the diabolical proceedings of some brought upon them, in the end, swift and retributive justice. -
