one of the counties of England, situated at the south-east corner of the island, and from thence enjoying many advantages. The capacious estuary of the Thames washes its northern parts, as the sea does the south-east; whence some with no great propriety have styled it a peninsula. In point of extent, this is the fifth shire in South Britain, little less in its dimensions than the province of Holland; larger in size than the duchy of Juliers in Germany; and almost exactly equal to that of Modena in Italy. Kent is, with great appearance of truth, supposed to be so styled from the ancient British word kant, signifying a corner, or, when applied to a country, an head land. It is certain, that the Romans bestowed the name of Cantium on the province, and on its most conspicuous promontory the north Foreland; and from the district they inhabited, the people were called Cantii; which has prevailed even to our times, when Kent, and the men of Kent, are the common appellatives. It is however probable, that these Cantii were not the original inhabitants, but a latter colony from the opposite continent, established here, like the Belgae, not long before the Roman invasion. At the time of Cæsar's coming, this spacious and fertile region was divided into four principalities, or, as they are, according to the manners of those days, commonly called kingdoms. It was his observation of these people, that they were particularly distinguished by their civility and politeness; a character which their descendants have preserved. When that wise people became masters of the southern parts of the island, this province received the most conspicuous marks of their attention, as appears from the stations which they so prudently established, while their government flourished in its full vigour. The care they took of the ports on the sea-coast as soon as it came to be in danger, and the several fortresses which they erected for the defence of their subjects against the sudden attempts of barbarous invaders, are evidences of the same kind. These forts, so prudently disposed, and so well secured, were under the direction of a particular great officer, called Littoris Saxonici Comes, i.e. the count of the Saxon shore; which office seems to have been preserved by the British monarchs who governed here, after the Romans quitted the isle. The Saxon kings of Kent discharged this trust in their legal capacity, from the middle of the fifth to the beginning of the ninth century. Under the northern princes, this post was again revived, though with a change of title, in the Lord Warden of the cinque Ports. Indeed, under all governments, the people of Kent have been especially considered; as appears from their claim to the post of honour in our land-armies, and the privileges granted to their havens, in consideration of their undertaking the defence of our channel.

As to the climate of this county, it varies according to the situation of places. In the low flat lands, and especially in the marshes, the air is heavy, moist, and unhealthy; and yet not to such a degree as it has been sometimes represented; for, with a little care and caution, strangers, as well as natives, quickly reconcile their constitutions to the temperature even of these parts, and live in them without much inconvenience or apparent danger. But, in reference to the rest of the country, the air is as thin, pure, and wholesome, as in any part of Britain. There is no region more happily or more beautifully diversified in regard to soil, so that every kind thereof is, somewhere or other, to be met with in its bounds; and in no shire are any of these soils more fertile than they are in this. The Weald yields variety of fine timber, particularly of chestnut; the middle part has very rich arable land, annually bearing every species of grain in immense plenty, and these excellent in their several sorts. There are also many beautiful orchards, which produce a variety of fine fruits, and more especially apples and cherries, which were introduced here from Flanders by one Richard Harris, who was the king's fruiterer, in the reign of Henry VIII. The flat country is renowned Kent, known for its meadows; and Rumney-marsh has hardly its equal. We may from this concise description very easily collect, that the natural products of Kent are numerous, and of great value. In the bowels of the earth they find, in several places, a rough hard serviceable stone for paving, which turns to some advantage; but not so much as their exquisite fullers-earth, rich marl, and fine chalk, which are there in abundance. If we except iron-ore, indeed, they have no mines; but there are prodigious heaps of copperas-stones thrown on the coast. The isle of Sheppey, and all the adjacent shore as far as Reculver, is justly famous for its wheat. Thanet is in no less credit for its barley, or rather was so; for now it produces, through the painful industry and skilful husbandry of its inhabitants, copious crops of good wheat as well as barley. Horses, black cattle, and sheep, they have in great numbers, and remarkable in point of size; and hop-gardens in all parts of the county, which turn to very considerable account. To which we may add, weld, or as some call it dyers-weed, which is a very profitable commodity, and of which there grows much in the neighbourhood of Canterbury; also madder, which is, or has been, occasionally cultivated. The rivers and sea-coasts abound with fish of different kinds. The excellency of its oysters on the eastern shore is celebrated by the Roman poets. Those of Feverham and Milton are not only in great esteem at the London market, but are likewise sent in great quantities to Holland.

The many rich commodities produced in this country, is the reason why most of our writers have represented it as in a manner void of manufactures; which, however, as appears upon a strict and impartial examination, is very far from being the case. Of iron-works there were anciently many; and there are still some, where kettles, bombs, bullets, cannon, and such like, are made. At Deptford Sir Nicholas Crispe had in his life-time a very famous copperas work; as, indeed, there that ingenious gentleman, one of the greatest improvers and one of the most public-spirited persons this nation ever bred, introduced several other inventions. Copperas was also formerly made, together with brimstone, in the isle of Sheppey*. But the original and for many ages the principal manufacture of this county was broad cloath of different colours, established chiefly at Cranbrook by King Edward III., who brought over Flemings to improve and perfect (the trade being introduced long before) his subjects in that important art. At this and other places it flourished so much, that even at the close of Queen Elizabeth's reign, and according to some accounts much later, the best for home consumption, and the largest quantities for exportation, were wrought here; many fulling mills being erected upon almost every river, and the greatest plenty of excellent fullers-earth affording them singular assistance; insomuch that it is still a tradition, that the yeomanry of this county, for which it has been ever famous, were mostly the descendants of rich clothiers, who laid out the money acquired by their industry in the purchase of lands, which they transmitted, with their free and independent spirit, to their posterity. The duke of Alva's persecution of the Protestants in the Low Countries drove a multitude of Walloons over hither, who brought with them that ingenuity and application for which they had been always distinguished. These diligent and active people settled a manufactory of flannel or baize at Sandwich. By them the silk-looms were set up at Canterbury, where they still subsist; and they also introduced the making of thread at Maidstone, where it yet remains, and merits more notice and encouragement than hitherto it has met with.

Upon the river Dart, at the confluence of which with the Thames stands the town of Dartford, was set up, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, the first mill for making white paper by Mr John Spilman, a German, upon whom, long after, King James conferred the honour of knighthood; but King Charles more sensibly bestowed upon this Sir John Spilman a patent and a pension of 200 l. a-year, as a reward of his invention, and for the support of the manufacture. About the year 1590, Godfrey Box, a German, erected upon the same river the first slitting-mill which was ever used for making iron-wire; and also the first battery-mill for making copper-plates. Other new inventions, requiring the affluence of water, have been set up on other streams; and a great variety of machines of this sort still subsist in different parts of this county. But these things are now so common, that it would be both tedious and useless to insist upon them. Amongst these, we may reckon the making gunpowder in several places. That manufacture, however, which is now the glory of this county, and indeed of Britain, is ship-building; more especially at the royal yards; as at Woolwich, which was settled by Henry VIII. And some considerable ships built there. At present, there is not only a most complete establishment for the building and equipping men of war, a rope walk, foundery, and magazines; but also many private docks, in which prodigious business is carried on, and multitudes of people are employed.