364 DRIVING. 



and perch, but the carpet was replaced with straw. The folding 

 iron steps were deprived of their soft carpets and trimmings, 

 and being uncovered showed their bare iron limbs ; the 

 windows rattled and let in rain and cold air. The hackney- 

 coachman was a man fond of his beer or gin, wearing a heavy 

 box coat with about ten cloth capes, one over the other ; en- 

 cumbered with the weight of his protection from rain and cold, 

 he was generally slow, seldom civil, and usually grumbled at 

 the fare given in return for service. Starting in a hackney- 

 coach was very different from hailing a modern London hansom 

 cab. Now, by raising an umbrella or walking-stick, you may 

 be off in thirty seconds ; then it took a good five minutes to 

 remove the horses' nose-bags, stow them away in the boot, un- 

 fold the body steps, get in the passenger, tuck the loose straw 

 neatly in, refold the steps, close the door, gather up the reins, 

 inquire for the route and destination, and mount the high 

 driving seat. If five or six miles per hour were accomplished, 

 the pace was considered fair ; but the interior was odoriferous, 

 the smells somewhat mixed, and if fever of some sort did not 

 lurk in the corners, so much the better for the passengers ; for 

 little was then done to enforce the most primitive sanitary regu- 

 lations and precautions. 



About the year 1830 a light two-wheel cab, with a fixed 

 panel top, and carrying two persons inside, was introduced ; 

 the driver sat on a little seat over the off-side wheel ; it was 

 hung high, and was dangerous if the horse fell, but it prepared 

 the public for faster, less cumbersome, and less costly vehicles 

 than the old coaches. 



About 1835 tne fi fst four-wheel cabs, carrying only two 

 passengers inside, and drawn by one horse, appeared in London. 

 It was soon found that they could be made to carry four 

 persons inside with a very small increase of weight. 



The following story, current in 1837 at the time of the intro- 

 duction of broughams, may here be related : The late Lord 

 Chancellor Brougham, who was not only a great lawyer, orator, 

 and writer, but also an innovator, and an originator of many 



