298 The London-Bridge Lion: [Sfpt. 



cent. I was obliged, not to get down, but to throw myself off the coach 

 .^— I forget whether I paid*br not, in my agitation — and as I leaned my 

 head against the railing of the Park-gates — listened — and heard no other 

 sound than that of the rattling wheels of the retreating vehicle, it is im- 

 possible to paint my sensations. There is a pleasure in being relieved 

 from listening, which only those who have been relieved from listening 

 know. I had to walk home to be sure, but then the idea that I could 

 not by any possibility overtake the stage, was delightful. 



On the occasion of my second visit to Canonbury, I was more cauti- 

 ous. Never, thought I, will T risk my senses — nay, my soul itself, for 

 assassination might ensue — on the outside of a Paddington stage. A 

 briUiant thought succeeded. " Yes," said I to myself, " I will get into an 

 omnibus." And I got into an omnibus, penetrating through the line of 

 green veils and bonnets, and walking upon feet and flounces, as you beat 

 down the brushwood and trample upon furze-bushes. I had been seated 

 two minutes when the vehicle stopped to take somebody in. The next 

 instant, a thin nervous gentleman next to me said, " They ought to 

 repair this road — it is very dangerous." — " Very dangerous, indeed," 

 promptly responded the voice of the new comer, that seemed, moreover, 

 alarmingly fiuniliar to my ear; " I dont half like these vehicles upon 

 such roads as this — whatever people may saj> it's much safer travelling 

 in a balloon ! I'd rather go up with Green any day." There Avas no 

 mistaking the oracle from whose lips these last words fell. I might 

 have spared myself the trouble of looking ; but I did cast a glance 

 along the line of bonnets, and became convinced of the utter futility of 

 all mortal manoeuvres. I had foresworn the Scylla of a stage, and faUen 

 into the Chary bdis of an omnibus. There he was — my London Bridge 

 friend — between me and the door — nine passengers off; eight people only 

 between me and his reminiscences. I heard him going word for word 

 through the whole narrative, with at least a hundred-and-forty-reporter- 

 power. It was evidently no matter who his listeners were ; conse- 

 quently I could not interpret it into a personal design upon me : yet it 

 was odd that I should find him always upon the same track. Did he 

 devote his whole time to riding backwards and forwards to " the Angel }" 

 — or was it all accidental ? And who was he ? Was it Mr. Jones, or 

 any of the committee, or aldermen, whose heads were turned at the 

 exceeding condescension of His IMajesty, in not ordering them to be 

 thrown over the bridge ? Hov/ever, my business is with fact — not 

 with speculations upon it ; there he was — but where were his listeners ? 

 We had hardly reached Euston-square, and five or six from both sides 

 of the vehicle had quitted it already. One or two others were taken 

 up, but none of them taid. By degrees the number diminished ; and 

 at last I saw only three persons left between us. I now determined to 

 make a desperate effort to escape ; but then he was stationed, as I said, 

 between me and the door, and I reflected what an improvement it would 

 be if they were to build omnibuses with a door at each end ! But I had 

 a still greater difficulty to struggle with. For a fat lady opposite to me, 

 who, probably from having connections in the city, had been perse- 

 veringly listening to the heterogenous history of flags, feathers, arches, 

 aldermen, and balloons, had at last fallen asleep, with one of my knees 

 so tightly jammed between her own, that to extricate it without a more 

 violent effort than my nerves were adequate to, was impossible. There 

 1 sate — fixed. Two more retreated, and tlie space between us lessened. 



