The Open Air 



and settle himself down happily among his sacks, 

 light his pipe, and fold his hands untroubled with any 

 worry of reins. Away they go through the crowded 

 city, by the Bank of England, and across into Cheap- 

 side, cabs darting this way, carriages that, omnibuses 

 forced up into side-streets, foot traffic suspended till 

 the monster has passed ; up Fleet-street, clearing the 

 road in front of them right through the stream of 

 lawyers always rushing to and fro the Temple and the 

 New Law Courts, along the Strand, and finally in 

 triumph into Rotten Row at five o'clock on a June 

 afternoon. See how they scatter! see how they run ! 

 The Row is swept clear from end to end beauty, 

 fashion, rank, what are such trifles of an hour ? The 

 monster vans grind them all to powder. What such 

 a waggoner might do on land, bargee does on the river. 



Of olden time the silver Thames was the chosen 

 mode of travel of Royalty the highest in the land 

 were rowed from palace to city, or city to palace, 

 between its sunlit banks. Noblemen had their special 

 oarsmen, and were in like manner conveyed, and 

 could any other mode of journeying be equally 

 pleasant ? The coal-barge has bumped them all out 

 of the way. 



No man dares send forth the commonest cart 

 unless in proper charge, and if the horse is not under 

 control a fine is promptly administered. The coal- 

 barge rolls and turns and drifts as chance and the 

 varying current please. How huge must be the rent 

 in the meshes of the law to let so large a fish go 

 through ! But in truth there is no law about it, and 

 to this day no man can confidently affirm that he 

 knows to whom the river belongs. These curious 

 anomalies are part and parcel of our political system, 

 and as I watched the black monster slowly go by with 



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