A STRANGER IN OUR GATES 117 



preparations for his excursion, set out on June 21, 

 1782, for Richmond, though why he should have gone 

 to Richmond en route for Derbyshire is difficult to 

 understand. He took with him four guineas, some 

 linen, and a book of the roads, together with a map 

 and a pocket-book, and (for he had his appreciations) 

 a copy of " Paradise Lost." 



Thus equipped, he enjoyed for the first time what 

 he calls the "luxury of being driven in an English 

 stage," from which expression and our own people's 

 doleful tales of eighteenth-century travelling in 

 England, we may infer that the public conveyances 

 of the Pastor's native land were particularly bad. 

 The English coaches were, according to him, viewing 

 them with the eye of a foreigner, " quite elegant." 

 This particular one was lined in the inside, and had 

 two seats large enough to accommodate six persons ; 

 " but it must be owned," he goes on to say, " that 

 when the carriage was full the company was rather 

 crowded." By which we may gather that the seats 

 rather discommoded than accommodated. 



The only passenger at first was an elderly lady, but 

 presently the coach was filled with other dames, who 

 appeared to be a little acquainted with one another, 

 and conversed, as our traveller thought, in a very 

 insipid and tiresome manner. Fortunately, he had 

 his road-book handy, and so took refuge in its pages 

 by marking his route. 



The coach stopped at Kensington, where a Jew 

 would have taken a seat, but that luxurious convey- 

 ance was full inside, and the Israelite was too proud 

 to take a place amongst the half-price outsiders on 



