Bearing in mind that only the seizures in one place are recorded above, and that perhaps for one seizure there were two successful ventures, we may get an idea of the extent of smuggling ; and we must also recollect that it was not the lower classes only who were engaged in this traffic, but the middle and upper classes also ; and some in authority lent the smugglers no unwilling countenance. A lady of an exalted station once made the following remark when she heard that a boat had been taken, 'she hoped " it was not the parson's boat !"
There was an immense difference in the character of smuggling and in the consequent danger in the time of the Custom-house officers and in that of the Coast-blockade. In order the better to understand that difference, it will be necessary to give a brief outline of the character of the different services.
The Custom-house officers consisted of two classes of men ; some, called riding officers, who were found a horse each, and whose chief duty it was to ride about and visit different spots along and near the coast, and generally to convey intelligence when needed of anything likely to be going on in the smuggling way. There was one stationed at Hastings whom people called " Hawk's- eye ;" he was reputed to be a sharp one, but I never heard of anything very extraordinary in which he was engaged. The riding--
