KENT, a county (maritime), situated at the southeastern extremity of the kingdom, and bounded on the north by the river Thames, which separates it from Essex (except for about two miles opposite to Woolwich, a part of which parish lies on the Essex side of the river), and by the German ocean; on the east and southeast by the German ocean, the straits of Dovor, and the British channel; on the south-west by Sussex; and on the west by Surrey; it extends from 50° 53 to 51° 2 (N. Lat.), and from 3 (W.Lon.) to 1° 22 (E. Lon.); and contains nine hundred and eighty-three thousand six hundred and eighty acres, or one thousand five hundred and thirty-seven square miles. The population, in 1821, amounted to 426,016. The name Cantium, by -which.-that part of England now forming the county of Kent is first distinctly noticed, was, doubtless, a Latinization of the ancient British appellation of the same territory. By the Saxons it was called at first Kantwara- rike, meaning the Kentish men's country. The present name is an evident variation of the first word of the Saxon compound. The situation of the county at that point of the island which lies nearest to the European continent (the cliffs in the vicinity of Dovor being constantly visible from the opposite coast of France), has given it an importance in the general history of England nearly corresponding with the prominence of its geographical aspect, as forming a sort of advanced post or van-guard of the English territory, considered in its relations with the continental states, and more particularly with those of France and the Netherlands, the ancient Gaul and Belgium. From this proximity it was. exposed to, and sustained, the first attack made by Julius Caesar upon the aboriginal inha-; bitants of the isle. In his first expedition, the Kentish Britons immediately opposed him, and compelled him to fight upon his landing in the vicinity of Dovor, com-; bating, even amidst the waves, with singular courage; and although Caesar, observing his troops to be dispirited by the attacks of the enemy, ordered up the vessels with his artillery, and poured from their sides, stones, arrows, and other missiles, yet the. natives sustained these unusal discharges with unshaken intrepidity, and the invaders made no impression, until the standardbearer of the tenth legion rushed forward, exclaiming, "Follow me, unless you mean to betray your standard to your enemies;" upon which the Roman legions were incited to that desperate and closer battle which at length forced back the Britons and secured a landing. The inhabitants of the neighbourhood then sent a message of peace; but four days afterwards, a tempest dispersing the enemy's fleet, they attacked the Romans afresh. Csesar's invasion in the ensuing summer was more formidable; it was made with five well-appointed legions, and two thousand cavalry, amounting to a force of thirty thousand of the best-disciplined troops then known, under the ablest commander. Terrified at the menacing approach of such a force, the inhabitants of the coast retired among the hills, and Caesar, having effected a landing without opposition, and chosen a proper place to encamp his army, when he had learned from the prisoners where the British forces were posted, marched about midnight in quest of them, leaving ten cohorts and three hundred cavalry, under the command of Q.Atrius, to guard the ships. Having proceeded about twelve miles, he discovered the Britons, who had. advanced with their horse and chariots to the banks of a river, where they began from a rising ground to oppose the passage of the Romans, and to give them battle; but being repulsed by the Roman cavalry, they retired to a place in the woods, which was fortified both by art and nature in an extraordinary manner, and which seemed to have been so prepared some time before, on account of their own civil wars. All the passages to it were blocked up by heaps of trees cut down for that purpose, and the Britons seldom venturing to skirmish put of the woods, prevented the Romans from entering "their works; but the soldiers of the seventh legion having cast themselves into a testudo, and raised a mound opposite their works took the place, and drove them out of the woods. "Various," says Hasted, "have been the conjectures of our antiquaries concerning this place of the Britons, fortified both by art and nature. Horsley thinks it likely that this engagement was on the banks of the river Stour, a little to the north of Durovernum, or Canterbury, in the way towards Sturry, which is about fourteen English miles from the Downs j others, well acquainted with this part of Kent, have- conjectured it to have been on the banks of the rivulet below Barhamdowns, and that the fortification of the Britons was in the woods behind Kingston, towards Bearstead; and the distance -as well as the situation of this place, and the remains of Roman works about it, almost in a continued line to Deal, add some strength to this conjecture. Some have placed this encounter below Swerdling- downs, three miles north-west from Bearstead, and the intrenchment in the woods above .the downs behind Heppington, where many remains of intrenchments,&c., are still visible." The next morning, having divided his army into three bodies, Caesar sent both his horse and foot i in pursuit of the Britons j soon after which, before the rear of them had got ,out of sight, some horsemen arrived from Q. Atrius, to inform him that the night before there had happened a dreadful storm, which had shattered almost all his ships, and cast them on. shore. Upon this intelligence, the Roman general, countermanding his orders, returned himself in person to the fleet, and there found that about forty of his ships were entirely lost, and that the rest of them were so much damaged as not to be refitted without great labour. Wherefore, having chosen some workmen from among his soldiers, and sent for others from the continent, he wrote to Labienus, in Gaul, to build him as many ships as he could with those legions that were left him; and he himself determined.to have his fleet hauled on shore, and to enclose it, with his camp, within the same fortification. In .the execution of this, the soldiers laboured ten days and nights without intermission; and at this day, upon the shore about Deal, Sandown, and Walmer, there is a long range of heaps of earth, where Camden supposes this ship camp to have -been, and which, in his .time, he says, was called by the people, as he was told, Rome's work) though some have conjectured that the place of Caesar's naval camp was where the town of Deal now stands. This work having been completed, Caesar returned to the scene of conflict, and found on his arrival that the Britons had assembled in greater numbers from all parts. Whilst the Romans were on their march they were briskly attacked by the British horse and chariots, whom they repulsed with great slaughter, and drove them into the woods. Not long after this, the Britons made a sudden sally out of the woods, and sharply attacked the advanced guard of the Romans, who, not expecting it, were employed in fortifying their camp; upon which, Caesar immediately despatched the two first cohorts of his legions to their assistance: but the Britons, whilst the soldiers stood amazed at their new mode of fighting, boldly broke through the midst of them, zpd returned again without the loss of a single man. Quintus Laberius Durus was slain in this action, but some fresh cohorts coming up, the Britons were at last repulsed. The next .day. the Britons shewed themselves on the hills at some distance from the Roman camp, appearing but seldom, and with less eagerness to harrass the enemy's horse . than the day before. Bnt about noon, when Caesar had sent out three legions and all the cavalry, under the command of C. Trebonius, to forage, they suddenly rushed on the foragers from all parts, insomuch as to fall in with the legions and their standards. The Romans, however, returning the attack briskly, drove them back, and their cavalry did not desist from the pursuit until they had utterly routed them and slain a great number. Upon this rout, the British auxiliaries, which had come from all parts, left them, nor did the Britons ever after this engage the Romans with their united forces. Caesar then led his army to the river Thames, towards the territories of Cassivelaunus, the principal leader of the defeated Britons. In the mean time, Cassivelaunus, to make a diversion, sent his mes-. sengers into Kent, which was then governed by four petty princes, whom CsBsar styles Kings, and- commanded them to raise what forces they could, and suddenly attack the camp where the Roman ships were laid up j which they did, but were repulsed with great slaughter in.a sally made by the Romans, who made prisoner one, of the kings named Cingetorix, and returned withoutloss to their trenches. On the submission of Cas-! sivelaunus, which followed this defeat, Caesar, having imposed an annual tribute on the vanquished, and received the hostages which he demanded, marched backthrough Kent to the sea-shore, from which he shortly after, took his last leave of Britain. In the course of the second invasion and first effectual conquest of Britain by the Romans, in the reign of Claudius, their first descent appears to have been on the south-western coast, but it is plain, from Dion Cassius's account, that Plautius, who commanded this expedition, waited for the promised assistance of the emperor on the southern, or Kentish, side of the Thames; and it has been thoughtby many, that the place of his encampment was where, those large remains of a Roman camp, or intrenchment, are still to be seen at Keston down, near Bromley. I the division of Britain by Constantino, Kent was included in Britannia Prima j and, after the Saxon pirates had begun to infest the south-eastern coast, this was one of the maritime districts placed under the command of the officer called Conies Littoris Scuconici, or Count of the Saxon shore, under whom there were, within the limits of this county, according to the Notitia, the commande of the Tungrian soldiers stationed at Dovor; the commander of the detachment of soldiers of Tournay, at Limne; the commander of the first cohort of Vetascians, at Reculver; the commander of the second legion, called Augusta, at Richborough; and the commander of the detachment of the Albuci, at Anderida. The Romans also built several watch-towers, forts, and castles, on the coast, as well to overawe the Britons, and preserve a safe intercourse with the continent, as to guard against the assaults of the Saxon pirates. They made three public, or consular, ways in Kent, the principal of which led from Dovor to London, forming part of the great military way, afterwards denominated by the Saxons, Watling-street. Ebbs-fleet, in the Isle of Thanet, near Richborough, in this county, is remarkable as having been the place of landing, in 449, of the Saxon chiefs Hengist and Horsa, who, with their followers, were retained by the British sovereign, Guorteyrn, or Vortigern, to serve against the northern invaders, the Picts and Scots. It was about the year 455 that Hengist, aiming at an independent soveK reignty in Britain, began the conquest of the territory in the immediate vicinity of the Isle of Thanet, his original station. A series of battles ensued between Hengist and Horsa on the one side, and Guortemir and Catigern, two sons of Vortigern, on the other: the first of these was fought on the banks of the Darent; the next at a place called Eagle's-ford, now Aylesford, which is memorable for the death of Horsa, on the side of the Saxons, and of Catigern on that of the Britons; and a third was fought at Stonar, from which last defeat the Saxons fled to their ships; and it is asserted that Hengist and his followers remained absent from Britain until the death of Guortemir, which happened not long after. The great battle which, according to the Saxon chroniclers, completed the establishment of Hengist in Kent, was fought at Crayford in 457; the Britons, being defeated in this with great slaughter, abandoned Kent, and fled in terror to London. Eight years afterwards, the Britons attacked Hengist again, but were utterly routed; and in 473 they attempted another battle with him, but with Such a calamitous issue, that they are declared to have fled from the Saxons as from fire. All the battles of Hengist, particularised by the Saxon chroniclers, were fought in Kent; one of the last of them having occurred at Wippeds-Fleot, or Wipped-fleet, in the Isle of Thanet. Hengist was succeeded in the sovereignty of Kent byhis son Esca, who reigned twenty-four years. . No subsequent event of importance is recorded of this small kingdom until the reign of Ethelbert, the fourth successor of Hengist., who acceded in -560, and held the sceptre for upwards of half a century; -this latter monarch was defeated at Wimbledon in Surrey, by Ceawlin, King of Wessex, whose territories he had invaded, in the first battle which occurred among the sovereigns of the Anglo-Saxon octarchy. Ethelbert also became afterwards remarkable as the first of the Anglo-Saxon kings "converted to Christianity by the Roman missionaries, who, in 596, landed in the Isle of Thanet, already memorable for the first disembarkation of the Saxon conquerors of Britain. Kent now became a Christian kingdom, and its metropolis, Canterbury, acquired that ecclesiastical pre-eminence over the other English cities which it has retained to the present day. This kingdom, however, owing in a great measure to its narrow limits, and its situation in an angle of the island, was one of the weaker powers of the octarchy; and after first becoming tributary to the kingdom of Mercia, about the year 800, was finally annexed to that of Wessex, by Egbert, in 823, who had sent his son Ethelwulf and Bishop Ealstan thither with a competent army, by which the last of the Kentish sovereigns was expelled beyond the Thames. Although the Danes had, for some years before the accession of Egbert to the sovereignty of all England, harassed the coast of Britain, yet this shire, "or earldom, as it was then denominated, remained free from their piratical incursions until the year 832, when they invaded it with a numerous fleet, landing in the Isle of Sheppy, and plundering that island and the neighbouring country. In 838 they landed, and extended their ravages as far as Canterbury, Rochester, and even to London. In 851, having been driven fyom Essex, they retired to the Isle of Thanet, where they wintered; but King Athelstan attacking them at Sandwich, both by sea and land, defeated them, and took nine of their ships. The next spring, having advanced up the sestuary of the Thames with three hundred and fifty ships, they landed in Kent, and pillaged Canterbury; and in 853 they invaded the Isle of Thanet with a considerable force, where, being attacked by Earl Alcher with the men of Kent, and Earl Huda with those of Surrey, an obstinate battle ensued, in which the two English commanders lost their lives. In 865, in the reign of King Ethelbert, they again landed, in the Isle of Thanet, where they wintered, in order to commence their incursions in the spring; the Kentish men offered them a large sum of money to depart peaceably, which, however, they had no sooner received, thanthey laid waste all the eastern part of the county with fire and sword. In the reign of Alfred, one division of the Danish fleet, under the piratical chief Hesting, or Hastings, sailed up the Medway to Rochester, in orderto take that city by surprise; but failing in this design, they closely besieged it, until it was relieved by the arrival of Alfred with his army, on whose approach they fled hastily to their ships, leaving their plunder behind them. In 893, entering the mouth of the river Limene, or Rother, and .sailing up as high as Appledore, they strongly intrenched themselves there, while another division entering the Thames, landed at Milton near Sittingbourne, and built the castle, the site of which is now called the Castle-ruff, after which they mercilesslyravaged the adjoining country. In 902, in the reign of Edward the Elder, a battle was fought between the Kentish men and the Danes, at a place called Holme, or Holme-wood, in Sussex, in which the latter were defeated. During the three years peace which shortly after ensued, King Edward provided a hundred sail of ships on the Kentish coast, as a security against the Danish descents. In 980, in the calamitous reign of Ethelred II., they again laid waste the Isle of Thanet 5 and, in 992> they landed and [plundered several parts of the county. In 994, Sweyn, King of Denmark, and Olave, King of Norway, came to Sandwich, with a fleet of ninety-three ships, and having plundered it and the coast of Kent, returned with their booty; the next year they entered the Thames, and having been repulsed hi an attack onLondon, they ravaged the coasts of Kent and Essex. In 998, the Danish forces under Sweyn sailed up the Medway, and attacked Rochester: the Kentish men assembled to defend the city, but were overpowered after a furious battle, upon which the Danes utterly devastated the western parts of the county. In 1006, after the general massacre of the English Danes, King Sweyn again arrived at Sandwich, and laid waste the neighbouring country. At length King Ethelred assembled at Sandwich, in order to oppose to the Danes the most powerful fleet that England had yet possessed, which, however, by the treachery and dissensions of its principal commanders, was rendered of no avail; and in the next spring, the Danes again landed in the Isle of Thanet, under Heming and Anlaf, from the former of >vhom several places in this county still retain the nameof Heming's Dane; these leaders, joining their forces in Kent, plundered the country, and then laid siege to Canterbury; but the inhabitants purchased their departure with the sum of £3000. After wintering in the Tsle of Thanet, they refitted their ships in Kent, and after various expeditions into different parts of England, .they crossed the Thames, in 1010, and marching into the marshes of Kent, burned and destroyed -whatever they met with. One of the most memorable events of this disastrous period was the siege, capture, and destruction of the city of Canterbury and its inhabitants, which speedily followed, and from which they returned to their fleet lying in the Thames at Greenwich, carrying with them the Archbishop Elfeg, or Alphage, whom they had made prisoner, and whom they afterwards barbarously murdered there. In the contest between Canute and Edmund Ironside, Canute, having been obliged to raise the siege of London to sail down the Thames with his fleet, and thence up the Medway, in order to secure his navy, Edmund, passing the Thames, marched after him through Surrey into Kent, and encountering him at Otford, in this county, put the Danes to flight, and pursued them as far as Aylesford, in their retreat to the Isle of Sheppy. The last incursion of the Danish pirates in this county was in 1046, in the reign of Edward the Confessor, when twenty-five of their ships arrived unexpectedly at Sandwich, plundered the neighbouring country, and immediately retired. At the battle of Hastings the Kentish men formed the Tan of the English army, according to ancient privilege conferred upon them by former sovereigns, for the prowess by which they had distinguished themselves in battle. During the time that the English and the Norman armies were encamped in sight of each other, prior to that memorable engagement, some fresh vessels from Normandy having crossed the strait, in order to join the great fleet stationed off Hastings, their commanders landed, by mistake, several miles further to the northeast, in the neighbourhood, of Rdmney, when the inhabitants of the neighbourhood assembled to oppose them, and a conflict ensued, in which the Normans were overpowered. William was apprised of their defeat when in the midst of his triumph, and, to prevent a similar disaster befalling the rest of the recruits which he expected from the continent, he resolved, without loss of time, to secure the possession of the southeastern shores. Accordingly, he marched along the Kentish coast from south-west to north-east, ravaging the country in his way, and revenging the rout of his soldiers at Romney, by burning the houses there, and slaughtering the inhabitants. From Romney he proceeded to Dovor, which was at that time the strongest place on the whole coast: the garrison, however, speedily surrendered; and at this place William passed eight days in repairing and strengthening the fortifications; then changing the direction of his route, he turned aside from the coast, and marched towards London, along the great Roman way, called Watling-street, which led to the capital through the middle of the Kentish territory. On his departure from Dovor, according to the historians of the age, William was met by the inhabitants of Kent with offers of submission, and received from them hostages in token of their allegiance. In 1088, this county was thrown into disturbance, and the crown lands within it ravaged, in consequence of the intrigues of Eudes, or Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, and Earl of Kent, which ended withthe capture of Rochester by William Rufus, after a siege of six weeks, that city having been held against him by Eustace, Earl of Boulogne, and the other partisans of his uncle. The year 1170 is memorable for the return of the primate. Thomas a Becket, from his long exile, and still more so for his murder at Canterbury; nor is the year 1172 less remarkable for the voluntary penance which Henry II. underwent at his tomb. The additional celebrity which the ecclesiastical metropolis of England now derived from the elevation of Becket to the dignity of a saint and martyr extended itself to the whole county, so that " St. Thomas of Kent" became a popular designation for the most renowned of the English saints, and the principal roads to Canterbury, more especially that from London, were thronged with pilgrims from all parts of England, and even from the continent, to pay their devotions and make their offerings at his shrine. In 1215, Rochester castle was held by the barons against King John, who took it after a twomonths' siege, and had all the common soldiers of the garrison hanged. In the following year, Louis the Dauphin landed his army at Stonar, from a fleet of six hundred and eighty vessels, and advanced to Rochester, which he took, and then proceeded to London; Dovor castle being at the same time successfully defended against him by Hubert de Burgh, Earl of. Kent. In. 1381, the insurrection under Wat Tyler commenced at Dartford, and the insurgents encamped on Blackheath, whence they proceeded to London. In 1450, also, the rebels under Jack Cade encamped upon Blackheath, from which place, on the approach of Henry VI. with fifteen thousand men, they retired to Sevenoaks, where they defeated and slew Sir Humphrey Stafford and his brother William, who commanded a detachment of the royal army, after which Cade re-encamped on Blackheath, and from that place entered London; on the same heath, iri the February following, a great num.- her of his partisans craved pardon of the king upon their knees. In 1459, four thousand French troops, under Marshal de Breze, landed on the coast, and burned the town of Sandwich. In 1471, Thomas Neville, the bastard Fauconbridge, encamped his army of seventeen thousand men upon Blackheath, whence he proceeded to his unsuccessful attack upon London. In 1497, the Cornish insurgents, under Lord Audley and others encamped on Blackheath, where they were surprised by the Earl of Oxford, two thousand being killed, and their leaders made prisoners. In January 1554 the insurrection under Sir Thomas Wyat, to oppose the intended marriage of Queen Mary with Philip II., King of Spain, commenced at Maidstone. On the breaking out of the civil war, in 1642, ten or twelve parliamentarians contrived to possess themselves of Dovor castle by surprise, on the 1st of August; and in 1648, on the formation of the celebrated Kentish Association, the royalists, under Sir John Mayney and Sir William Brockman, were defeated by General Fairfax, at Maidstone. The year 1677 is memorable in the Kentish annals for the daring attack made by a part of the Dutch fleet, under Admiral de Ruyter, on the shipping in the Medway. In December 1688, the fugitive king, James IL, was seized at Shecrncss, on board a small vessel bound for France, and conveyed, by Captain William Amis, to Faversham. In the course of the last continental war, when apprehensions were entertained of an invasion by the French emperor, every precaution was taken for the protection of this exposed point of the kingdom, by strengthening the different forts, forming a line of Martello towers along the coast, cutting the Grand Military canal, &c. The main route between the English metropolis and the continent of Europe having lain for so many centuries through the heart of this county, the various landings and embarkations of sovereigns and other remarkable personages, whether native or foreign, upon its shores are too numerous for recital: among the most memorable occurrences of this kind are, the landing, of the Emperor Charles V. at Dovor, from Corunna, May 16th, 1520, on a visit to Henry VIII.; that of Charles II. at the same place, May 26th, 1660, on his being recalled to the British throne; the embarkation of Louis,XVIII. at the same port, in April 1814, at the time of the restoration of his family to the sovereignty of France; and the landing, on June 6th of the same year, also at Dovor, of Alexander I., Emperor of Russia, and Frederic William III., King of Prussia, on a visit to his late Majesty George IV., while Prince Regent, on the occasion of the general peace. This county comprises the two dioceses of Canterbury and Rochester, in the province of Canterbury, the former consisting of the southern, the latter of the no.rthern, part of the county. The diocese of Canterbury forms an archdeaconry, containing the eleven deaneries of Bridge, Canterbury, Charing, Dovor, Elham, Limne, Ospringe, Sandwich, Sittingbourne, Sutton, and Westbere, in which are two hundred and eighty-two parishes. The diocese of Rochester contains the three deaneries of Dartford, Mailing, and Rochester, which form the archdeaconry of Rochester, and the deanery of Shoreham, which is a peculiar belonging, to the Archbishop of Canterbury; the whole diocese contains. one hundred aiid thirty-two parishes, making the total number of parishes in the county four hundred and fourteen, of which, one hundred and sixty-nine are rectories, one hundred and sixty-two vicarages, and the remainder perpetual curacies, or united to other parishes. For the purposes of civil government the whole county is divided into five great districts, called lathes, namely, those of St. Augustine, Aylesford, Scray, Shepway, and Sutton at Hone. The lathe of St. Augustine comprises the hundreds of Bewsborough, Bleangate, Bridge and Petham, Cornilo, Downhamford, Eastry, Kinghamford, Preston, Ringslow, or the Isle of Thanet, Westgate, Whitstable, and Wingham. The lathe of Aylesford comprises the hundreds of Brenchley and Horsemonden, Chatham and Gillingham, Eyhorne, Hoo, Larkfield, Littlefield, Maidstone, Shamwell, Toltingtrough, Twyford, Washlingstone, and Wrotham, and the lowey of Tonbridge. The lathe of Scray comprises the hundreds of East Barnfield, Barclay, Blaekbourne, Boughton under Blean, Calehill, Chart and Longbridge, Cranbrooke, Faversham, Felborough, Marden, Milton, Rolvenden, Selbrittenden, Tenterden, Teynham, and Wye, and the liberty of the Isle of Sheppy. The lathe -of Shepway comprises the hundreds of Aloesbridge, Folkestone, Ham, Hayne, Hythe, Langport, Loningborough, Martin- Pountney, Newchurch, Oxney, Stouting, Street-, and Worth, the franchise and barony of Bircholt, the cinque-port of Romney, and the liberty of Romney- Marsh. The lathe of Sutton at Hone comprises the hundreds of Axton, Dartford, and Wilmington; Blackheath; Bromley and Beckingham; Codsheath; Lessness; Ruxley; and Westerham. This county includes the cities of Canterbury and Rochester; the .cinqueports of Dovor, Hythe, New Romney, and Sandwich; the borough of Queenborough, and the markettowns of Ashford, Bromley, Chatham, Cranbrooke, Dartford, Deal, Elham (the market of which is held only once in five or six years, to prevent the forfeiture of the charter), Faversham, Folkestone, Gravesend, Greenwich, Lydd, Maidstone, Margate, Milton, Ramsgate, Sevenoaks, Sittingbourne (the market of which is held monthly), Smarden, Tenterden, Tunbridge (this market being also held monthly), Westerham> Woolwich, and Wrotham. Of the above, Deal, Dovor, Faversham, Folkestone, Margate, Ramsgate, and Sandwich, are sea-ports; and, besides those at Chatham and Woolwich, there are extensive dock-yards for the Royal navy at Deptford and Sheerness. Two knights are returned to parliament for the county, two citizens for each of the cities, two barons for each of the cinqueports, and two burgesses for each of the boroughs. Kent is included in the Home circuit: the assizes are held at. Maidstone, at which place are the county gaol and house of correction; there are one hundred and sixtyeight acting magistrates. By long usage this county is divided into two great districts of nearly equal extent, commonly called East Kent and West Kent; the former, comprising the lathes of St. Augustine and Shepway, and the upper division of the lathe of Scray; the latter, the lathes of Sutton at Hone and Aylesford, and the lower division of the lathe of Scray; and it is usual for the justices of the peace for the county to confine the exercise of their authority, except upon extraordinary occasions, to the division in which they respectively reside. The quarter sessions for the county are also held four times in the year in each of these divisions, that is, twice originally, and twice by adjournment, as follows: tney are held originally, for East Kent, at Canterbury, on the Tuesday after Epiphany and on the Tuesday after the feast of St. Thomas a Becket; and by adjournment, for West Kent, at Maidstone, on the Thursday next after each of those days; they are also held originally, for West Kent, at Maidstone, on the Tuesday after Easter and the Tuesday after Michaelmas; and by adjournment, for East Kent, at Canterbury, on the Friday next after each of those days. The following places, together with others of minor importance, are exempt from the jurisdiction of the county magistrates, as lying within the liberty of the cinque-ports, viz,; Sandwich, Deal, Dovor, New Romney, Hythe, Folkestone, Faversham, and Tenterden: the other places which have a separate jurisdiction are, the cities of Canterbury and Rochester, the corporate town of Maidstone, and the liberty of Romney-Marsh, which last is under the jurisdiction of a bailiff, and jurats. The rates raised in the county for the year ending March 25th, 1827, amounted to £384,120. 11., and the expenditure to £392,253.16., of which £337,832.18. was applied to the relief of the poor. The contiguity of Kent to the German ocean and the British channel subjects it to cold sea-winds,, which in the spring season, and more especially when they blow from the north-east, frequently injure vegetation in the vicinity of the coast. The winds which mostly prevail are the north-easterly and south-westerly, the chilling effects of the former being often severely felt. The south-western part of the county is more enclosed, and, being sheltered by hills on the north-east, the climate is something milder; but in consequence of the soil being principally a cold wet clay, the harvest is later there. than in other parts of the county, which are more exposed. The air of the Isle of Sheppy is very thick, and the district is much subject to noxious vapours, which rise from the vast tracts of marshes adjoining, rendering it very unhealthy: from this cause the country there is not very populous, and, in the marshes more especially, the few inhabitants are chiefly men employed in taking care of the cattle, who are provincially called lookers.- nearly the same may be said of Romney-Marsh. The effect of the climate on the agriculture of Kent will be seen from a statement of the respectiveperiods of the commencement of the wheat harvest in different parts of the county: in the Isles of Sheppy and Thanet, which are the most forward parts of the county, it usually commences in the last week of July; between Canterbury and Dovor, six or seven days later; and later still by ten or twelve days on the cold hills which run through the centre of the county, as well as in the Weald. The surface of the county is divided by two nearly parallel chains of hills, called the Upper and the Lower, or the Chalk and the Gravel hills, which rtur through the middle of it from west to east; extending from the neighbourhoods of Folkestone and Hythe on the eastern, to the vicinity of Westerham on the western, border. The northern range, and the substratum of the whole northern side of the county, are composed chiefly of chalk and flints ; the southern range of iron and ragstone; and below these last-mentioned hills lies the Weald of Kent, an extensive and nearly level tract, occupying the whole southern side of the county, from the border of Surrey to that of the marshy tract at the south-eastern extremity of the county, of which Romney-Marsh forms the principal portion, and being in some places rich and fertile, is productive of excellent pasturage and fine timber. It has already been observed that the county is commonly divided into the two grand districts of East Kent and West Kent. East Kent includes two tracts of land, one very dry and open, .the other much sheltered by woods and coppices; the open part lies between the city of Canterbury and the towns of Dovor and Deal; the enclosed part extends in length from Dovor, by Elham and Ashford, to Rochester, and in breadth from the Isle of Sheppy to Lenham, &c. All that portion of East Kent which lies in the vicinity of Faversham, Sandwich, and Deal, is very fertile, and for the most part under tillage. The Isle of Thanet, at the north-eastern extremity of the county, is now only insulated by a small sewer, which communicates both with the river Stour and the sea: the bed of the once famous harbour of the Portus Rutupensis now forms a valuable marshy tract of above twenty-five thousand acres in extent. Including Stonar, Thanet isle contains nearly forty-one-square miles, or about twenty-seven thousand acres, of which three thousand five hundred are excellent marsh land, and twenty-three thousand arable. It is in a high state of cultivation, and has" always been celebrated for its fertility, which has been greatly increased by the inexhaustible supply of sea-we~ed, a most valuable species of manure, constantly thrown on its shore by the tides. The Isle of Sheppy lies eastward from the mouth of the Medway, and is separated from the rest of the county by an arm of the sea, called the Swale, which is navigable for ships of two hundred tons burden. It is about eleven miles long, and eight miles across, in the broadest part, and contains seven parishes, including the borough of Queenborough and the naval station of Sheerness. The southern side of the island, where there are two streams running into the Swale, and forming the islets of Elmley and Harty, is , for the most part low and marshy; the land rises gradually towards the centre of the isle, on its south-eastern and western sides; but on the north is a. range of cliffs about six miles in length, which gradually decline in height at each extremity, the more elevated parts continuing for about two-thirds of their whole extent. The highest of them, which are in the neighbourhood of Minster, are not less than ninety feet perpendicularly above the level of the shore; they consist of clay, and being washed at their base by the tides, which beat against them with uncommon violence when driven by strong north-east winds, they are continually wasting and falling down upon the beach at the highest parts, occasioning a great loss of land, as sometimes nearly an acre has sunk down in one mass. These cliffs belong to the three manors of Minster, Shurland, and Warden, the owners of which let them out to the proprietors of copperas works, who employ the neighbouring poor to collect the pyrites, or copperas stones, from the shore. About four-fifths of this island consist of pasture land of two sorts; viz., marsh land, which includes a large tract of rich .fattening land; and upland pasture, a great part of which is very poor, and is used for breeding sheep. Most of the arable land is very productive of wheat and beans, especially towards the northern side,. in the parishes of Minster and East Church. The enclosures on the hills are small, and are surrounded, by thick hedge-rows; and as the country is finely varied with hill and dale, and the prospects are very pleasing, and extensive, in fine weather the Isle of Sheppy is remarkably pleasant. Good fresh water is very scarce in most parts of . it: the roads throughout are very good, owing to the abundance of materials, and the limited travelling on them. The Isle of Grain, situated between the mouth of the Medway and the mouth of the Thames, is no longer an island; the channel which separated it from the main-land, and communicated with the two rivers, being now filled up; the tract still called the Isle of Grain is about three miles and a half long, and two and a half wide, being low and marshy. West Kent, comprehending the Weald, a great part of the rag-stone shelf, between the Weald and the chalk range, together with all the district lying between the towns of Westerham, Deptford, Rochester, and Maidstone, and their vicinities, forms a great variety of country, having soils and features of almost every description, with many varied and beautiful prospects. The rag-stone shelf of land is chiefly enclosed, having much of its surface undulating, the hills shelving in different directions, but mostly across the rag-stone shelf, so that the little rills of the vales are collected into larger rivulets, which run nearly along the middle of the range; those rising eastward of Lenham discharging themselves into the Stour, and those rising westward of that town into the Medway: the sides of these ragstone hills descending to the Weald, are thickly covered with villages. The Weald of Kent was, in ancient times, one immense forest; but it has by degrees been cleared of a great part of its wood and cultivated, though it is yet more thinly peopled than any other portion of the county. When viewed from the adjoining hills, in consequence of the few and slight elevations in its surface, this tract has the appearance of an immense plain of great richness and beauty, in which the meadows, seats, and villages, seem dispersed among the stately oaks which still abound in every part of it. At its southeastern -extremity is the Isle of Oxney, which is formed by the different channels of the Rother, of which, however, the northernmost is now forsaken by the waters of that river, and is about ten miles in circumference, having an upland ridge running through the middle of it, and low fertile marshes next the river. Great quantities of hops and fruit are grown in this western district; and the surplus of corn not consumed in it is exported, chiefly to London. Romney-Marsh is an extensive tract of rich land, enclosed from the sea by a strong earthen wall thrown up between the towns of Romney and Hythe. In form it is an irregular oblong quadrangle, of about twelve miles long, and eight broad, containing about forty-four thousand acres, and including sixteen parishes, with the corporate towns of Romney and Lydd. The embankment of Romney-Marsh is of very ancient date: it is divided into three districts, viz., Romney-Marsh, properly so called, containing about twenty-four thousand acres; Walland-Marsh, about twelve thousand; and Denge-Marsh, about eight thousand. The bank which protects the first of these portions from the sea, called Dimchurch Wall, is upwards of three miles ia length; the side next the sea is covered with common fagots and rag-stone, fastened down by oak piles and overlaths, which prevents the sea from washing away the earth. The expense of repairing this wall and the drainage amounts to the annual sum of four thousand pounds, which is raised by scot on the acreage of the whole of Romney-Marsh. The other two districts, Walland-Marsh and Denge-Marsh, are rated separately, to defray their own expenses of drainage, &c. Few oxen are fed in this tract compared with those kept on other rich marsh lands; but the number of sheep bred and fattened is thought to exceed that of any other district of the same extent in the kingdom. The fences are either ditches, or oak posts and rails, there being hardly any hedges or trees, excepting a few in the neighbourhood of some of the villages: immense quantities of oak posts and rails are annually brought into these marshes from the woodlands of the Weald. The chalk district occupies the whole northern side of the county, from the range of chalk hills which intersects it from east to west, to the Thames and the sea, excepting only the marshy tracts, which form a narrow stripe along the whole course of the Thames, lie in greater breadth about the mouths of the Thames and Medway, and the borders of the Swale, run thence in a narrow line along the coast as far as the high grounds of the Isle of Thanet, and stretch in a wider expanse across that corner of the county to the eastern coast; and to this may be added the lower part of the vallies, through which flow the Medway and the Greater and the Lesser Stour. The most westerly portion of this large district possesses some of the most pleasing scenery in the county, being, from its vicinity to the metropolis, one of the most ornamented as well as most populous parts, and commanding, from Shooter's Hill and other eminences, fine prospects over the Thames on one side, and over a richly-cultivated country on the other, beautifully diversified with numerous handsome seats and pleasant villages. The soils of East Kent are various; the principal being chalk, loam, strong cledge, hazel mould, and stiff clay. The chalk soil consists of loose chalky mould on a substratum of rock chalk, and is mostly found on the tops and sides of the ridges of this district: its depth is from three to six or seven inches; in some places there is a slight mixture of small flints, and in others of black light mould, provincially called black hover; The whole of these chalky soils are naturally of little value, but where they have been improved, they have become excellent turnip-land: the chalk soil in the Isle of Thanet is found on the tops of the poor chalky ridges, about sixty feet above the level of the sea, its depth being from six to eight inches; but the vales between .the ridges and the flat lands on the hills have a depth of dry loamy soil of from one to three feet, with less chalk, and of a much better quality. The west end of the Isle of Thanet, even on the hills, has a good mould from one to two feet deep, a little inclining to stiffness; but the deepest and best soil is that which lies on the south side of the southernmost ridge, running westward from Ramsgate to Monkton, where it is a deep, rich, sandy loam: the lowlands are mostly dry enough to be ploughed flat, without any water-furrows; the soil of the marshes is a stiff clay, mixed with sea-? sand and small marine shells; the substratum of the. whole of the isle is the dry chalk rock. The loamy soil is a very dry, soft, light mould, from six to ten inches deep, on a stratum of red soft clay, from three to seven feet deep, under which is generally a layer of chalky marl, and then the chalk rock; this soil may be made to produce good crops of every kind of grain and grass. The strong cledge is a stiff tenacious earth, with a small proportion of flints, and, in some places, small particles of chalk; it is from six to ten inches deep, lies on the chalk rock, which is the substratum of almost all this district, and in favourable seasons produces good crops of wheat, clover, beans, and oats. The hazel mould is a light dry soil on a clay bottom, more or less mixed with flints or sand. The stiff clay lies on the tops of the highest hills, and is generally a, wet soil: in some places it has a layer of a yellow clay between the surface mould and the chalk rock. In the vallies about Dovor, and Stockbury near Maidstone, are small tracts of land consisting of beds of flint with hardly any mould to be seen. There is very little gravel and not much sand in this district; a little of the latter is found in the vicinity of Hythe and Folkestone. The rich flat lands in the vicinity of Faversham, Sandwich, and Deal, have two kinds of soil; a rich, sandy loam, seven or eight inches deep, having a sub-soil of strong loam, clay, or chalk, of various depths; and a stiff clay, some of which, in the lower parts, is rather wet. Almost the whole of the Isle of Sheppy is a deep, strong, stiff clay; but some of the upper parts of the island have a few gravelly fields; the soil of the marshes is a stiff clay, having on its surface a rich vegetable mould, an inch or two deep. The various soils of West Kent are chalk, loam, clay, gravel, sand, and hazel mould. The chalky soils, are like those of East Kent, and are found on the sides of the hills, and at different places along the borders of the Thames, between Dartford and Rochester. The loamy soils are of various depths, and are found chiefly in the vallies, being all fertile; what in Kent is called hassock, or stone-shatter, is a mixture of sandy loam with a large proportion of light-coloured Kentish rag-stone j it is from six inches to several feet deep, the substratum being the solid stone rock: great quantities of fruit and hops are produced on this soil. The principal part of Romney-Marsh is a fine soft loam with a mixture of sea-sand, and the herbage it produces is of the first quality for fattening. The inferior parts of this marsh, being those which are used in breeding, are such as have a less portion of Sea-sand, and are a stiff clay; and such as have too much of sand and gravel, which latter lie near the sea-shore; the. sub-soil is frequently, seen in alternate layers of clay and sand, and sometimes beach and sand. The clay of the western part of Kent is of different sorts; one is cold, much mixed with flints, from eight to fourteen inches deep, and extremely tenacious; it is found on-the top of the chalkr hills, having in some places a yellow clay between it and the chalk; another is cold, wet, and stiff, with a small mixture of rag-stone, and-is found chiefly in the low grounds of the western part of the county. An extremely, stiff moist clay, mixed with stones "and flints of different sorts, and found about Seal, and Wrotham, is provincially called coomb. Pinnock, too, is .a provincial name for a red sticky clay, mixed with small stones, the substratum of which is the rag-stone rock. The clay, which is by far the most predominant kind of soil in the Weald, is there either stiff and exceedingly heavy, or a wet sort which ploughs somewhat lighter: the first, chiefly found on eminences, or their declivities, is seven or eight inches deep, and rests on a stratum of stiff yellow clay, which has in some places a substratum of excellent marl; the other lies in lower situations, and is seven or eight inches deep, the sub-soil being in some places a yellow, clay, and in others a soft sand-stone rock. Gravelly soils are chiefly found about Dartford and Blackheath; they are from five to eight inches deep, with a sub-soil of rocky gravel or sand: there are other soils, called gravel, vo. the lower part of this district, which are a mixture of the small pieces of Kentish rag-stone, with sand and loam. The sandy soils of West Kent are mostly Wack, and are found chiefly on commons and heaths: in the Weald there is some white .sandy land, which is much improved by marl and lime. A fine hazel mould is found on the sides of the hills at different places throughout the whole district. The crops most commonly cultivated are wheat, barley, beans, oats,.peas, canary-seed, radish-seed, turnips, and cole-wort. . In a county where soils are so various, it is very difficult to make an accurate estimate of produce; of wheat, in some places, two quarters per acre is a very good crop, while in others, double that quantity is a very indifferent one: about twenty two bushels per acre is estimated as the general average crop. The produce of barley is from one and a half to seven quarters per acre. Of beans the common tick is the sort most cultivated in Kent; and it produces from two to six quarters per acre, according to the quality and condition of the land. The produce of oats is from three to six or seven quarters per acre; that of peas, from one and a half to five quarters per acre. Potatoes, cabbages, tares, clover, trefoil, sainfoin, lucerne, and burnet, are also cultivated, but less generally than the crops above-mentioned. The produce of canary-seed is from three to .five quarters per acre, and it is sold to seedsmen in London, who export it to all parts of Europe. Radish-seed is much cultivated on the best loamy soils of the Isle of Thanet and East Kent, for the supply of the London seedsmen, who retail it to all parts of the kingdom; the produce is. from eight to twenty-four bushels per acre. For the London seedsmen are also grown spinach-seed, in the Isle of Thanet and East Kent, the produce of which is from two to five quarters per acre; kidney beans, in the Isle of Thanet and the vicinity of Sandwich, the produce being from ten to twenty bushels per acre; and cresses and white mustard- seed, which produce from eight to twenty bushels per acre. Some flax is cultivated, and produces per acre from eight to twelve bushels of seed, and from one to two packs of flax of two hundred and forty pounds each, the quality of which is somewhat similar to that imported from Holland, but inferior. Woad for dyeing is much cultivated in the western part of the county, on poor and stiff, and in some instances on chalky, soils. The quantity of land in natural meadow in the uplands of East Kent is comparatively small, and the greater part of the hay used in that district is produced in the marshes. The Weald abounds in natural grass land, which produces a vast quantity of hay of excellent quality. Other parts of the county have scattered parcels of meadow land, some of which are of good quality; but in general the meadows of Kent are much inferior to those of many other counties; the downland sheepwalks on the chalky hills of East Kent can hardly be called pasture. The grass land of the marshes, which are situated along the borders of the rivers, or of the sea, is of very considerable extent: Romney-Marsh contains forty-four thousand acres; the marshes on the borders of the Stour comprise twenty-seven thousand; and those on the Medway, the Thames, and the Swale, about eleven thousand five hundred collectively. The whole of these tracts is appropriated to the fattening of cattle and sheep, or to the breeding of sheep: the system of grazing in the marsh lands of the Isle of Thanet and East Kent is generally to buy in lean cattle and sheep, and keep them till they are fit for the butcher; the inferior parts of the marshes, and the whole of the upland pasture, which is generally very poor, are assigned to the breeding of lambs, or the feeding of young lean sheep, which latter are sold out to the fattening graziers at about two years and a half old. The grass lands at the western part of the county are fed off in various ways. There is no breed of cattle peculiar to this county; those bought in by the graziers to be fattened in the marshes of East Kent are chiefly from Wales, and are brought by the Welch drovers to Canterbury and other markets. The majority of the dairy cows are selected from these droves, while others are a mixture of these and homebred cattle; in West Kent the dairies are small. In the Weald, the cattle, whether for the dairy or for the plough, are chiefly of the Sussex breed. The principal part of the cattle fed in Romney-Marsh are the property of farmers in the upland districts, who, in return, take lambs for the graziers to keep during winter. Oxen are not so generally used in the labours of agriculture in East Kent a9 in the western part. Kent has long been famous for a fine breed of sheep, called in that county Romney-Marsh sheep, the greater number of them being bred in that district; but in Smithfield market, where numbers of them are constantly sold, they are called Kent sheep: their carcasses and legs are rather long, their bones large, compared with other breeds, and their faces and legs white. These sheep are remarkable for arriving at an extraordinary degree of fatness at an early age, and for possessing large fleeces of very long fine wool: the fat wethers, at two years old, weigh from twenty-two to twenty-eight pounds per quarter. Many fold flocks of lean sheep are kept in the uplands of East Kent, and are mostly of this breed, as also are all the sheep of the Isle of Sheppyj but the latter, in consequence of the inferiority of the soil, are somewhat smaller than those of Romney-Marsh, and their wool is lighter and finer. Many South-Down sheep are bred and kept in the eastern part of the county, and in the uplands of that district are also flocks of the Wiltshire and Dorsetshire breeds; -the. Romney-Marsh sheep, in some few flocks, have been crossed with the new Leicester. Several flocks of ,the sheep kept in West Kent are of the South-Down breed: Wiltshire and Dorsetshire sheep are also found there. There are considerable fairs for the sale of fat and lean cattle, at Maidstone and Ashford, as well as at other places in the Weald; fortnight markets for the sale of fat cattle and sheep have also been established at different places, and from these unsold stock is frequently taken away by drovers, being then consigned to salesmen at Smithfield market. The hogs of East Kent are of various sorts, the smaller of which are those that have been intermingled with the Chinese breed: many pigs are reared in this district, and having been fed on the corn stubbles for the butchers, are killed in the autumn for roasting pork. In the western part of the county are some of the large Berkshire breed. Many hogs are fed on acorns in the woods of the Weald, and fattened on corn in the winter. In the Isle of Sheppy the horses are chiefly bred from a sort that has been in the island from time immemorial; in the other parts they have been crossed with other breeds. West Kent is principally supplied with cart horses by dealers who bring them at three, four, or five years old, from the midland counties; in the Weald, horses and oxen are not unusually yoked together. The chief hop plantations are situated around Canterbury and Maidstone. Those near Canterbury, called the City Grounds, surround it to the distance of two or three miles, and comprise between two and three thousand acres. The best portion of the plantations of East Kent, the hops growing in which are esteemed of a very rich quality, are upon a deep, rich, loamy soil, with a thick sub-soil of loamy brick-earth. The plantations in the vicinity of Maidstone extend through the several parishes on the rag-stone shelf of land which lie below the hills that border on the Weald; the quality of the hops grown here is somewhat inferior to that of the hops of Canterbury and East Kent. The hop plantations of the central parts of the county are so extensive, that thrice the labouring population of the district is required to gather the crops; so that numbers of people are employed from London and other places. No certain report can be made of the produce of the hop-plantations, it being so variable: the average is considered not to exceed seven hundred weight per acre. In the neighbourhood of Gravesend and Deptford a great quantity of vegetables is raised for the supply of the metropolis. Great quantities of fruit, chiefly apples, cherries, and filberts are grown in the vicinity of Maidstone, the young trees being frequently planted among the hops; and it is doubted, whether a soil more adapted to the growth of corn, fruit, and hops, conjointly, exists in the kingdom. This fruit is chiefly sent to the London market by water, and some of it is taken to the north of England by the coal vessels. Besides the manures in common use in other counties, chalk is employed in Kent, for the improvement of wet stiff soils which possess no calcareous particles; lime burned from chalk is much applied to the lands of the Weald. Immense quantities of seaweed are thrown on the shores of the Isle of Thanet, and the farmers are very diligent in removing it to the top of-the cliffs, lest the next succeeding tide should wash it away: this manure is, mixed with that of the farm-yard. Woollen rags, sprats and other fish, and rape cake, are used as manure in the hop plantations. A society for the encouragement of agriculture and industry was established at Canterbury, in January 1793, under the patronage of the late Sir Edward Knatchbull, Bart, and the late Filmer Honywood, Esq., at that time members of parliament for the county. The waste lands of Kent consist of about twenty thousand acres, dispersed in various parts of the county, in commons, heaths/ &c. The soil of a few of these is a cold sterile loam, that of others a wet stiff clay, but of most of them it is gravel and sand. They are generally covered with furze and fern, interspersed with patches -of grass, and are grazed by lean cattle and sheep, The chief woodlands of East Kent are scattered between the great road from Rochester to Dovor, and the range of chalk hills that runs from Folkestone, by Charing, to Debtling; besides the immense quantity of hop-poles cut for the neighbouring plantations, which are their chief produce, they also furnish piles for securing the seawalls of the marshes, and props to be used in the Newcastle coal mines. West Kent abounds in woods and coppices, of which there are about thirteen thousand acres; some of those of the Weald are still in their original forest state. The kinds of wood which grow in this county are chiefly oak, beech, ash, hornbeam, chesnut, birch, and hazel. Faggots for fuel are plentiful in West Kent; coal from Newcastle and Sunderland is brought to the sea-ports of the county, and thence distributed through the interior. The manufacture of silk has been carried on to a great extent at Canterbury, but is now giving way to that of cotton. At Dovor and at Maidstone are extensive mills for the manufacture of paper of all kinds, the white paper made at the latter place having long been in high repute; at Maidstone also the woollen manufacture is carried on. There are saltworks at Stonar, near Sandwich, and in the Isle of Grain. At Whitstable and Deptford are large copperas works: gunpowder is made at Dartford and Faversham. At Crayford are extensive works for the printing of calico and the bleaching of linen. And in the Weald of Kent, bordering on Sussex, were formerly furnaces for the casting of. iron. A quantity of sacking and hopbagging is manufactured within the limits of the county. Under this head may be noticed the ship-building for the Royal navy, carried on at Deptford, Woolwich, Chatham, and Sheerness. The two great rivers of Kent are the Thames and the Medway. The Thames forms the northern boundary of the county for a distance of upwards of forty miles, and first touches it at Deptford, about three miles below London bridge, where it is joined by the Ravensbourne, whence, flowing by Greenwich, Woolwich, and Erith, it receives the united waters of the Cray and the Darent, and continues its course, by Greenhythe and Northfleet, to Gravesend, immediately below which town it passes through the road called the Hope, and joins the waters of the Medway and the German ocean at the Nore; in the whole of this course it is navigable for merchant vessels of the largest burden. The Medway is formed by the confmence of four streams, two of which rise in Sussex, one in Surrey, and the other in Kent: that which rises in Surrey enters this county a little above Eaton bridge, and flowing to Penshurst joins another of the principal branches, .and then continues its course past Tunbridge to Yalding, where it forms a junction with a very considerable stream from the other two of its sources, and, having received the waters of various other minor streams, it passes by Maidstone and Aylesford to the towns of Stroud, Rochester, and Chatham; below which, having formed numerous creeks and islands, it falls into the German ocean at the mouth of the Thames, between the Isle of Grain and the naval station of Sheerness. This river was made navigable for small barges as high as Tunbridge, about the middle of the last century, under the provisions of an act passed in the year 1740; up to Chatham it is navigable for vessels of the largest burden. The Medway is well stocked in the higher part of its course with the usual river fish, and lower down with smelts, soals, flounders, dabs, thornbacks, &c. But its principal fishery is that of oysters, which is also carried on in the various creeks which are formed towards its mouth, and is under the jurisdiction of the corporation of Rochester, the mayor and citizens .holding a yearly court, called the Admiralty court, for its regulation. There are six smaller rivers; the Greater Stour, the Lesser Stour, .the Rother, the Darent, the Cray, and the Ravensbourne. The Greater Stour rises from two principal heads in the eastern part of the county, and flowing to Ashford, there takes a northeasterly course to Canterbury, whence it runs to the Isle of Thanet, and takes a south-easterly course between the island and the main land to Sandwich, where it becomes navigable for coasting vessels, and having made a circuit to the north, falls into the British channel at Pepperness. The Lesser Stour, rising from various heads, flows along the western side of Barham Downs, and passing through a line of beautiful country, nearly parallel with the higher course of the Greater Stour, falls into the last-mentioned river in its course round the southern part of the Isle of Thanet, about a mile from Stourmouth. The trout in both these rivers is remarkably fine; there is a peculiar kind of trout which frequents the Greater Stour in the latter part of the year, and appears to be of the salmon species, the ordinary weight being about nine pounds, though it is sometimes much more. Towards the mouth of this river there is yet another sort, commonly called " Fordwich trout," the weight of which varies from four to twelve pounds; but it is now much less abundant than formerly. The Rother rises at Gravel-hill, in the parish of Rotherfield, in the county of Sussex, and flowing eastward, becomes the boundary between this county and Sussex, near Sandhurst, and having skirted the south side of the Isle of Oxney, quits Kent, and empties its waters into Rye harbour. The Darent, which pursues its entire course through this county, rises on the borders of Surrey, near Westerham, and flows in a north-easterly direction to Riverhead; then taking a northerly course, it passes through a considerable extent of country to Dartford, where it becomes navigable, and assumes the name of Dartford creek, falling into the Thames between two and three miles further down, at Long Reach. The Cray rises at Newell, in the parish of Orpington, and flowing through the district called the Grays and through Crayford marshes, it falls into Dartford creek, half way between Dartford and the Thames. The Ravensbourne rises on Keston common, and running through the parishes of Hayes, Bromley, Lee, and Lewisham, on the north-western border of Kent, it falls into the Thames at Deptford, where it receives the name of Deptford creek, and is navigable for small craft for the distance of about a mile from its mouth. In different parts of the county are numerous springs, the water of which is chalybeate, but those of Tunbridge Wells are the most celebrated. At Sydenham, in the parish of Lewisham, are some springs of medicinal purgative water, resembling those of Epsom, which, from their proximity to Dulwich, have received the name of Dulwich Wells. Owing to the peninsular situation of this county, between the English channel and the long sestuary of the Thames, it has little connexion, except through the medium of that great river, with the grand system of canal navigation which branches through the midland districts of England. The only work of this natur" that can be regarded as belonging exclusively to Kent, is the cut from the Thames at Gravesend to the Medway at Rochester, which saves, for barges, a circuitous navigation by the mouths of those twc» great rivers. The canal extending from the Thames at Deptford, to Croydon in Surrey, runs through a small portion of the western border of the county; and the Grand Surrey canal touches its north-western extremity. The Grand Military canal, constructed as a defensive work during the last continental war, at the time of the threatened invasion from France, commences eastward near Hythe, and quits this county for Sussex, near Fairfield. The great road from London to Dovor enters Kent near New-cross turnpike, and pursues its course for the most part along the line of the ancient Watling-street, over Blackheath, and through Dartford, Gravesend, Stroud, Rochester, Chatham, and Canterbury. A long line of road branches from the former near New-cross, and passes through Lewisham, Eltham, Foot's Cray, Wrotham, Maidstone, and Ashford, to Hythe and Folkestone; and another diverges from the same spot through Lewisham, Bromley, Sevenoaks, and Tunbridge, to Rye and Winchelsea in Sussex. Among the more remarkable features of the coast of Kent may be specified the North and South Forelands, the promontory of Dungeness, and the cliffs of Dovor. In connexion with this coast should also be noticed the well-known road, or anchorage-place, called the Downs, which lies opposite to the town of Deal, the southern boundary being formed by the Goodwin Sands: its width is about six miles, its length about eight, and its depth varies from eight to twelve fathoms. This is the common rendezvous of the East India and other fleets, both on their outward and homeward bound voyages; and in certain states of the wind nearly four hundred sail have anchored there at one time. The situation of the Goodwin Sands (supposed to have derived their name from Goodwin, the celebrated Anglo-Saxon earl of Kent,) forms the principal security of this muchfrequented road, serving as a break-water during the prevalence of southerly winds. These sands extend in length about ten miles, the north sand head being nearly opposite to Ramsgate, and the south sand head to Kingsdown: at low water they are dry in many places, and parties frequently land on them. Several years ago, in consequence of the numerous accidents to shipping, the corporation of the Trinity-house formed the design of erecting a light-house on them; but after the sand had been penetrated by boring to a great depth, the scheme was given up as impracticable, as no solid foundation could be obtained. A floating light, however, has been placed on the eastern side of the north sand head, and has proved of important service. The county abounds with rich, extensive, and interesting prospects; the most striking of which are those from the heights of Greenwich and Woolwich, Dovor castle and cliffs, Gad's hill near Rochester, Maram's Court, Wrotham and River hills, the high grounds in the parish of Minster, Wye down, and the hills of Boughton, Boxley, Gravesend, Hampton, Hoiwood, Oldbury, and Shottington. Kent having been the portion of Britain from which, both in the Roman and in the Saxon conquest, the Britons were first expelled, contains few remains of antiquity purely British. Brass celts and other weapons have been dug up in places supposed to have been the scenes of conflicts between the Britons and their invaders; and a very few cromlechs are still to be found within the limits of the county; the most remarkable of which, for its magnitude and good preservation, is that commonly called Kit's Coty House, which, from its name and situation, some antiquaries have conjectured to have been a monument over the grave of the British prince, Certigern, slain in one of the battles with Hengist. The Roman stations here were Anderida, supposed to have been at Newenden; Dubris, Dovor; Durobriva, Rochester; Durolevum, Judde Hill, Newington, or Sittingbourne; Durovernurn, Canterbury; Lemania,Lymne; Noviomagus, Keston, or Crayford; Regulbium, Reculver; Rutupium, Richborough; and Vagniaca, Northfleet, or Southfleet. The principal remains of Roman buildings are at Canterbury, Dovor, and Richborough; and numerous other remains, such as weapons, utensils, &c., have been dug up in various parts of the county, on or near the sites of the several stations. Owing to the great number of parishes into which the county is divided, the churches are numerous; but, excepting the ancient cathedrals of Canterbury and Rochester, its ecclesiastical buildings are in general more remarkable for the number of interesting monuments which they contain, than for architectural grandeur or beauty. Besides the church of Barfreston, which is one of the most perfect specimens of pure Saxon in the kingdom, the following are worthy of notice for their antiquity or curiosity, viz., St. Mary's Dovor, and those of Maidstone, Minster, Patrixbourne, Reculver, Romney, and Sandwich. In this county was made the first settlement in England of the four following monastic orders, viz., of Augustine canons at Canterbury, in 605; of Grey friars, or Franciscans, at the same place, in 1224; of Trinitarian friars at Mottenden, in the same year; and of White friars, or Carmelites, at Aylesford, in 1240. The religious houses in Kent before the Reformation were, of the Benedictine order, two abbeys, three priories, and five nunneries; of the Cluniac, one priory; of the Cistercian, one abbey; of Secular canons, five colleges; of canons Regular, four abbeys and five priories; of Dominicans, one priory and one nunnery; of Franciscans, two priories; of Trinitarians, one priory; of Carmelites, three priories; the number of Alien priories was four; there were two commanderies of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem, and fifteen hospitals, besides several hermitages, chantries, and free chapels. The principal remains of monastic buildings are those of St. Augustine's abbey, Canterbury, and the abbeys of Boxley, Bradsole, or St. Radegund's, and West Mailing. Of ancient castles, the most interesting specimens are at Canterbury, Chilham, Rochester, and Dovor; besides which, there are similar remains at Allington, Cooling, Hever, Leeds, Leybourne, Limne, Saltwood, Stutfall, Sutton-Valence, and Tunbridge. The great hall of the ancient royal palace at Eltham is, perhaps, the noblest specimen remaining in the county of the domestic architecture of the middle ages. Besides the magnificent buildings of the naval hospital at Greenwich, with its fine park, anciently and. so long a favourite residence of the English sovereigns, this pleasant and fertile county abounds with elegant mansions, fine parks, and thriving plantations. Among the most distinguished of the former may be noticed Knowle park, anciently a stately residence of the Archbishops of Canterbury, and now that of the Earl of Plymouth; Penshurst, the ancient seat of the Sidney family; Waldershare park, that of the Earl of Guildford; and Lee priory, that of Sir S. E. Brydges, Baronet. Charlton house, the seat of Sir T. M. Wilson, Bart.; and Summer Hill, that of Alexander, Esq., are very perfect specimens of the domestic architecture of the reigns of Elizabeth and James I. A peculiar custom respecting the descent of real property having always prevailed in this county, has produced a marked distinction between Kent and almost every other county in England, with regard to the occupation of land and the number of freeholders, the latter being very numerous in it, so that the Kentish yeomanry have long formed one of- the strongest and most independent divisions of that important class of British subjects. The name Gavelkind, by which this custom is generally known, is merely a modern pronunciation of the Saxon compound Gafel-kind, Gafel signifying a rent, or acknowledgment in money or in kind, and Gafel-kind lands, those for which a rent was paid, or, in other words, lands held by socage tenure, in contradistinction from those which were held by military service. And so predominant has the former of these tenures anciently been in this county, thatall lands within it are in the courts presumed to be " or the nature of gavelkind," that is, to have been anciently and originally holden in socage tenure, unless the con- trary can be proved; such being regarded and designated "the common law of Kent." The descent ofgavelkind land, in the right line, is to all the sons equally, "but the harth for fire shall remain to the youngest sonne;" if there be one son only, then wholly to such only son, as at common law. In default of a son the descent is, as at common law, to all the daughters; if there be but one daughter, to such daughter alone. The partible quality in the descent amongst males is not limited to the right or lineal line, but extends likewise throughout the collateral line. So also the right of representation prevails both lineally and collaterally, as in common law inheritances. This customary descent is not confined to an estate in fee-simple; it extends also to an estate tail in gavelkind land. The most important of the customary privilege's annexed to all lands of this nature within the county of Kent are the following;-I. That the husband is tenant by the courtesy of only a moiety of the wife's land of inheritance, whether he has issue by her or not, and this estate continues during the period of his widowhood only; whereas, by the common law, to make a tenancy by the courtesy there must have been issue born alive of the wife during the existence of the marriage, and the husband is tenant of the whole of such lands during his life absolutely.- II. That the wife has dower of a moiety of such lands of inheritance, whereof the husband was seized during espousals, but if she commit fornication, or afterwards marry, her dower is forfeited; whereas, by the common law she is endowed of one-third only, to continue for her life absolutely. III. That the heir should continue in wardship until fifteen years old, and at that age he has power to alienate his lands; whereas, by the common law, the wardship in socage continues only until the infant attains fourteen years, and he is incapable of alienating until twenty-one. IV. In a writ of right touching gavelkind land, the Grand Assize is not chosen by four knights, but by four tenants in gavelkind, who do not associate to themselves twelve knights, but twelve tenants in gavelkind. Statutes have at times been made for disgavelling particular lands in Kent; but these statutes, although strongly drawn, declaring that the lands should thenceforth be to all intents as lands at common law, and that they should descend as such lands do, yet it has been adjudged that they took away the partibility in descent only, and not the other qualities and customs appertaining to the tenure; inasmuch as these last are merely collateral, and not essential to the nature of gavelkind. Another legal custom is peculiar to the Weald, within the limits of which the proof of woodlands having ever paid tithe lies on the parson to entitle him to take tithe of it, contrary to the general custom in other places, where proof of the exemption lies upon the owner; nor has the lord waste within the Weald, the timber growing thereon belonging to the tenant; the custom which excludes the lord from the waste is called Land-peerage. The title of Duke of Kent was borne by the deceased Prince Edward, fourth son of George III., brother of his present Majesty, and father of the Princess Victoria of Kent, now heir presumptive to the British crown.