260 COACHING. 



Taylor above referred to, does not appear to 

 have entertained a very high opinion of the 

 tradesmen of his day, for he writes : — 



" When Queen Elizabeth came to the crowne, 

 A coach in England then was scarcely knowne. 

 Then 'twas as rare to see one as to spye 

 A tradesman that had never told a lie." 



Hackney-coaches were admitted into Hyde 

 Park before the year 1694, but were expelled 

 at that period, through the singular circumstance 

 of some persons of distinction having been in- 

 sulted by several women in masks; riding there 

 in that description of vehicle. 



In 1728, the robberies were so frequent in 

 the streets of London, Westminster, and parts 

 adjacent, that Lord Townshend issued a notice 

 offering' a reward of £40 *' for each felon convict 

 returned from transportation before the expira- 

 tion of the term for which he or she was 

 transported, who shall, by the means of such 

 discovery, be brought to condign punishment." 

 It appears by the above, that the murders, 

 beatings, and robberies were perpetrated in a 

 great degree by returned convicts. Hackney- 

 coaches being their special mark, as the follow- 

 ing paragraph which appeared in the •'*' Post- 



