The Old Dover Eoacl. 181 



of a phantom description ; but the people at the inn trusted 

 to Providence and took them all in, and the villagers made 

 the family's misfortune their own during their sojourn. 

 The gratitude of the head of the family was only equalled 

 by his surprise at English sympathy, and his farewell was 

 very characteristic of his nation, " I thought English were 

 cruel people, but they are angels." I suppose the poor 

 fellow only knew us formerly as natural enemies to France, 

 and expected to find us all with fixed bayonets and drawn 

 swords. If the good Samaritan had lived in our time he 

 would have found his hands pretty full on the old Dover Road, 

 and it is a pleasure to think that he had many successors. 



As a variety we had the rick-burning riots and the 

 Reform riots, and the yeomanry were constantly trotting 

 about with jingling spurs and clattering sabres. And we 

 became notorious, owing to the Bosenden Wood riots in 

 1837. A madman, by the name of Thoms, who called 

 himself Sir William Courtney, Knight of Malta, and who 

 said he was the Messiah, and invulnerable, raised the county 

 about Canterbury and Faversham, and shot a constable who 

 went to apprehend him for riot ; in retaliation wherefore a 

 company of the -i^th Regiment was sent after him, and 

 Thoms and eight of his merry men were shot dead, an(i several 

 wounded, one fine May morning ; unfortunately not before 

 the ringleader murdered Lieutenant Bennett, the officer in 

 command, who, in hopes of stopping bloodshed, asked him 

 to surrender. Everybody who saw Thoms said he was a 

 magnificent man, with a fine beard and moustache, and in 

 face much resembling the sacred portraits. This sudden 

 rising showed what could be done by road in those days, as 

 the magistrate who sent for the troops to Canterbury, 

 sixteen miles oflf [i.e., thirty-two miles there and back), 

 received an answer in two hours and a half that a compmy 

 of soldiers were starting in carriages for Faversham. Kent 



