n made of the inhabitants of streets in the
enjoyment of wood paving, and they all approved of it; and said, that
nothing would induce them to return to the old system of stone; that
they were satisfied the number of accidents had not been greater on the
wood than they had been on the granite; and that they were of a much
less serious character and extent."

Sir Peter on this applied a red silk handkerchief to his nose; wound
three blasts on that wild horn, as if to inspire him for the charge; and
rushed into the middle of the fight. His first blow was aimed at Mr
Prosser, the secretary of the Metropolitan Company, who had stated that
in Russia, where wooden pavements were common, a sprinkling of pitch and
strong sand had prevented the possibility of slipping. Orlando Furioso
was a peaceful Quaker compared to the infuriate Laurie. "The admission
of Mr Prosser," he said, "proves that, without pitch and sand, wood
pavements are impassable;" and fearful was it to see the prodigious
vigour with which the Prosser with two _s_'s, was pressed and assaulted
by the Proser with only one. Wonder took possession of the assemblage,
at the catalogue of woes the impassioned orator had collected as the
results of this most dangerous and murderous contrivance. An old woman
had been run over by an omnibus--all owing to wood; a boy had been
killed by a cab--all owing to wood; and it seemed never to have occurred
to the speaker, in his anti-silvan fury, that boy's legs are
occasionally broken by unruly cabs, and poles of omnibuses run into the
backs of unsuspecting elderly gentlemen on the roads which continue
under the protecting influence of granite or Macadam. He had seen horses
fall on the wooden pavements in all directions; he had seen a troop of
dragoons, in the midst of the frost, dismount and lead their un-roughed
horses across Regent Street; the Recorder had gone round by the squares
to avoid the wooden districts; one lady had ordered her coachman to
stick constantly to stone; and another, when she required to go to
Regent Street, dismissed her carriage and walked. The thanks he had
received for his defence of granite were innumberable; an omnibus would
not hold the compliments that had been paid him for his efforts against
wood; and, as Lord Shaftesbury had expressed his obligations to him on
the subject, he did not doubt that if the matter came before the House
of Lords, he would bestow the degree of attention on it which his
lo