COACHES. 323 



appointed for this express purpose. Streets paved with 

 lava, having deep ruts made by the wheels of carriages, 

 were found both at Herculaneum and Pompeii. 



Of modern cities, I believe, the oldest pavement is 

 ascribed to Paris ; but that city was not paved till the 

 twelfth century, when this great improvement was made 

 by Philip II. Previous to this the filth of Paris was 

 proverbial. I know of no account that informs us when 

 the streets of London were first paved, but certainly not 

 till the twelfth century. In the year 1090, the church of 

 St. Mary-le-bow, in Cheapside, was unroofed by the 

 wind, and four beams, twenty-six feet in length, sank so 

 deep in the soft earth, that not more than four feet of 

 them were visible. As trade and wealth increased, pave- 

 ment gradually became extended. Holborn, according 

 to Anderson's ' History of Commerce,' was paved for the 

 first time by royal command, in 141 7. Other streets 

 were subsequently paved under Henry VIII., 1 and 

 Smithfield in 16 14. All historians agree that after the 

 use of pavement in cities, diseases became less frequent. 



I must now return to the practical part of my subject. 



Coaches. — I know not whether such may be the 

 taste of my readers, but, for my own part, I like now and 

 then to look back into former ages, and see how they 



1 In the King's Order it was said: 'the highway named Holborn, in 

 London, was so deep and miry, that many perils and hazards were thereby 

 occasioned, as well to the King's carriages passing that way as to those of 

 his subjects. He therefore ordained two vessels, each of twenty tons burthen, 

 to be employed at his expense, for bringing stones for paving and mending 

 the same.' — Anderson's History of Commerce, vol. i. p. 244. 



Y 2 



