odically negligent of their duties. They were far too fond of
coming to a nice snug anchorage for the night or seeking shelter in
bad weather, and generally running into harbour with a frequence that
was unnecessary. The result was that the cutter, having left her
station unguarded, the smugglers were able to land their kegs with
impunity.

But we need not delay our story longer, and may proceed now to
consider the subject in greater detail.

CHAPTER II

THE EARLIEST SMUGGLERS

It is no part of our intention to trace the history of the levying of
customs through different reigns and in different ages, but it is
important to note briefly that the evading of these dues which we
designate smuggling, is one of the oldest offences on record.

The most ancient dues paid to the English sovereigns would seem to
have been those which were levied on the exportation and importation
of merchandise across the sea; and it is essential to emphasise at the
outset that though nowadays when we speak of smuggling we are
accustomed to think only of those acts concerned with imports, yet the
word applies equally to the unlawful manner of exporting commodities.
Before it is possible for any crime to be committed there must needs
be at hand the opportunity to carry out this intention; and throughout
the history of our nation--at any rate from the thirteenth
century--that portion of England, the counties of Kent and Sussex,
which is adjacent to the Continent, has always been at once the most
tempted and the most inclined towards this offence. Notwithstanding
that there are many other localities which were rendered notorious by
generations of smugglers, yet these two between them have been
responsible for more incidents of this nature than all the rest put
together.

What I am anxious at first to emphasise is the fact that, although
smuggling rose to unheard-of importance as a national danger during
the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (and this is the period to
which we shall especially address ourselves presently as affording the
fullest and the most interesting information on an ingenious phase of
human energy), yet it was not a practice which suddenly rose into
prominence during that period. Human nature is much the same under
various kings and later centuries. Under similar circumstances men and
women perform similar actions. Confronted with the temptation to cheat
the Crown of its dues, you will find persons in the time