258 COACHING. 



keep twelve horses each. This licence was ex- 

 tended to other cities and towns. In course of 

 time the increase of street carriages called forth 

 the indignation of Taylor the water-poet. What 

 would that renowned king of scullers, whose 

 wonted boast was that he had often ferried 

 Shakspeare from Wliitehall to Paris Garden, and 

 Ben Jonson from Bankside to the Rose and 

 Hope playhouses, have said had he lived in the 

 present days ? Probably the poor water rhymer 

 would have drowned himself in his own element, 

 or at least would have drowned his cares in 

 a more spirited mixture. What a fearful picture 

 did he draw of the calamity that assailed his 

 trade 1 



" We poor watermen have not the least cause 



to complain against any conveyance that belongs 



to persons of worth or quahty, but only against 



the caterpillar swarm of hirelings. They have 



undone my poor trade, whereof I am a member. 



This swarm of trade spoilers, like grasshoppers 



or caterpillars of Egypt, have so overrun the 



land that we can get no living on the water; 



for every day, if the Court be at Whitehall, 



they do rob us of our livings, and carry five 



hundred and sixty fares daily from us. I pray 



vou but note the streets and the chambers or 



