ce from the City they marched together for
safety.

The river was still the favourite highway--thousands of boats plied up
and down: it was much safer, shorter, and more pleasant to take oars
from Westminster to the City than to walk or to hire a coach.

[Illustration: UNIFORM OF SAILORS ABOUT 1790.]

The high roads of the country were rapidly improving. Stage coaches ran
from London to all the principal towns. They started, for the most part,
at eight in the evening. They charged fourpence a mile, and they
pretended to accomplish the journey at the rate of seven miles an hour.
You may easily compare the cost of travelling when you remember that you
may now go anywhere for a penny a mile--one fourth the former charge at
five or six times the rate. The 'short stages,' of which there were a
great many, ran to and from the suburbs: they were like the omnibuses,
but not so frequent, and they cost a great deal more. Threepence a mile
was the usual charge. There was a penny post in London, first set up by
a private person. A letter sent from London cost twopence the first
stage: threepence for two stages: above 150 miles, sixpence: Ireland and
Scotland, sixpence: any foreign country a shilling. There were no bank
notes under the value of 20_l._: there were no postal orders or any
conveniences of that kind. Money was remitted to London either by
carrier or through some merchant. Banks there were by this time: but
most people preferred keeping their own money in their own houses. Also
banks being few everybody carried gold: this partly explains the
prevalence of highway robbery: very likely the passengers on any long
stage coach carried between them some hundreds of guineas: a whole
railway train in these days would not yield so much: for people no
longer carry with them more money than is wanted for the small
expenditure of the day: tram, omnibus, cab, luncheon or dinner.

58. UNDER GEORGE THE SECOND.

PART IV.

So far we understand that London about the year 1750 was a city filled
with dignified merchants all getting rich, and with a decorous,
self-respecting population of retail traders, clerks, craftsmen, and
servants of all kinds, a noisy but a well-behaved people. A
church-going, sermon-loving, and orderly people.

This is in the main a fair and just appreciation of the City. But there
is the other side which must not be overlooked--that side, namely, which
presents the vice and sin and misery which always