THE GOLDEN AGE, 1824— 1848 189 



completion of his fifteenth journey, when four 

 shillings and sixpence and the second-hand flute — 

 which he couldn't plav — were found upon him. 

 If we were contemplating? an examination-paper 

 on Da I' Id Copperfield, with special reference to 

 prices and social life early in the nineteenth 

 century, Ave mii,^ht put the following poser : — 

 " State the average price ohtaiiiahle on the 

 average lady's gold watch, and, deducting the 

 purchase price of a second-hand flute, deduce 

 from the resulting sum, and from the facts of the 

 boy having made the journey fifteen times and 

 still being in possession of four-and-sixpence, the 

 cost of a single outside journey between London 

 and Uxbridge." 



The fare was, as a matter of fact, half a crown. 

 There were no fcAver than seven short stages 

 betAveen London and Uxbridge daily, each making 

 tAvo journeys. AVliat of those London inns Avhence 

 they started ? Where are they uoav ? Echo does 

 not ansAver " AAliere ? " as she is commonly said to 

 do, because it is not in the nature of echoes to 

 repeat the first Avord of a sentence. No ; echo 

 merely rcA'crberates " noAV ? " Avith a questioning 

 inflection. 



The " Goose and Gridiron," Avhose proper name 

 Avas originally the " Swan and Harp," in St. Paul's 

 Churchyard, Avas one of these starting-points. 

 From the same inn Avent the Richmond and many 

 other suburban stages. That old inn AA'^as de- 

 molished about 1888. The " Boar and Castle and 

 Oxford Hotel," No. 6, Oxford Street, Avas another 



