Star.
London, England, 1830-10-30 00:00:00

ALARMING STATE OF KENT.

Freest& Kent Herald.
We fear it cannot be denied that a considerable portion of the pea-
santry of Kent is in a state of reckless insubordination. Outrages on
property of the most alarming description are manifestly on the increase.
Bodies of men almost nightly, and of late even by day, assemble and
proceed from one farm-house to another, destroying in the most
open and daring manner the agricultural machinery of the pre-
mises ;—and, far worse, the secret incendiary piles his dread-
ful occupation with a frequency and success that must, if
continued, ere long, desolate the whole country. Alarm naturally
prevails all around. No man who possesses and dwells amid pro-
perty of this description, tan lay his head on his pillow without the
frightful anticipation of being roused to witness its destruction, and en-
deavour to rescue his dwelling and his family from the flames.—Since
our last publication several serious fires have occurred, and demolition
of thrashing machines been committed in every district of East Kent.—
No measures of precaution among the owners of such property have
availed. Leniency and severity seem alike employed i;, vain. Many of
the depredators have been committed to prison, and the military are
constantly engaged in attempted prevention or pursuit.—with what
effect the augmentation of outrage and calamity best shews. On the
other hand, the unexpectedly lenient sentence passed by the Magistrates
on some convicted rioters at the Sessions last week, seems equally to
have failed in impressing favourably the minds of those associated in
crime. Not that we are surprised at this, for these unhappy men feel
that leniency will not better their condition, nor can severity make
it worse.

The fact is, that the labouring classes have been long borne down,
oppressed in every way by their superiors, and by the political system
upheld by their superiors. They have been gradually thrust down, and
trampled:on, despised, driven to starvation, misery, and despair. The
tendency of the whole social arrangement in England for many years
has been to foster and protect the great properties at the expense of
the poor and industrious. The pressure has worked through the
middle orders, and descended all last with its full weight upon the
lowest. The labourer has been literally ground down to the very
dust. Every law, every tax, every consequent change in manners, has
been prejudicial to him. The consolidation of estates, the destruction
of small farms, lie enclosure of common lands, the heavy impositions
on the necessaries of life, the temptations and ferocious inflictions of
the accursed Game Laws, the vexatious tyranny exercised by the
rural Alag,istracy—the ever-memorable " Unpaid," the canting,
hypocritic interference with his few remaining pleasures under
the pretence of teaching him religion and ;morality, form part of the
list of those " unfavourable circumstances" (as 111 r. Owen would Kay)
which have made him what he is. The bond which once attached the
agricultural labourer to his employer, has lung, too, been severed. The
fanner was once looked-up to by his servants as their friend, and almost
their father. They formed, as it were, a part of his family, generally
seated at the Name board, and pm ti king to a degree of the comforts of
a common home. All this has passed away. An insuperable barrier
has been raised between the " parlour" and the " kitchen." The ell,
vent has not been recognised any more than as a labouring animal on
the estate. The master has been a gulch ntan, and the servant
sunk into a brutal slave. From all these causes has the agricul-
tural population been suffering, until at last human nature refused
any further endurance without bitter complaint, and that failing—
for who, of our wealthy and powerful Stat:smen have heeded the
cry of the poor, who have bettered their condition by seltsacrifice
—they sought, not redress, for of that by long suffering they have
become hopeless, but blind indiscriminating revenge upon society it.
*elf. They seem ready to exclaim with Pierre—
.. The world is not our friend, nor the world's law."
That there is little direct political feeling among the perpetrators of
the present excesses, we are convinced,—little even of personal vindic-
tiveness, since the objects of their attacks are almost promiscuously
taken. Sonic unpopular and arbitrary individuals have, indeed been
visited ; bet others of mild and liberal character have not esemintl.
It *rims, in fact, a war at poverty against property, of desti-
tution against possession. The poor feel that they are not per.
mitted to enjoy, and they are tle.ermititel that the rich shall not.
This is the natutal feeling of ignorant. coarse-minded, and ill.
treated men, and it seems to hr.ve spread wide, and taken deep
root. 11 so, there is no remedy in forcible or in conciliatory treat-
ment, without a change of the whole spit. m. Absolute desperation
can neither be cajoled nor bullied. %Fe fervently trust then that no
rfiatstr, despotic and sanguinary means wdi be attempted, convinced
that it would aggravate rather than remedy the existing evils. All that
can be done by the occupiers of exposed preperty is to exercise a con.
slant and complete watch of prevention, however inconvenient. And
let the great proprietors immediately offer good eurployment on their
estates to all the labourers in their respective neighbourhoods, however
expensive. This inconvenience—this experts:. will in the ei.d be found
the least. Thus a calm may be preserved while the Legislature are
enacting those great reductions, alterriens, and reforms, without which
this country must shortly become a scene which the imagination shud-
ders to contemplate.

TIE KING'S BOOTS. —We were shown last night, what
we consider a great mechanical curiosity—namely, a pair of Hessian
boots, about to be presented to his Majesty, designed and manufac-
tured by a Mr. Mackay, of Aberdeen, whom we have had occasion to
notice, as contriving • pair of shoes fur his late Majesty, upon his ac-
ctssioO. The present construction consists of a pair of handsome Hes-
sians, each nineteen inches high, having bindings and tassels of pure
gold, with gilt chains and spurs. On the sole, there is a pniating of
Neptune in all his pomp, embellished fore and aft, by the rose, crown,
and thistle; the anchor is stitched upon the• connive; and we are are
assured by a judge, for k was impossible for ourselves minutely to ex.
amine it—that, in the pair, there are upward. of 90,000 stitches. As
on a former occasion, we deem it due to the industrious artisan, to no-
tice this extraordinary effort of labour, not only upon his own part,
but on account of the manner in which his hliyety has been pleased
to accept of them, at the hands of a General