76; HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 



have spoken elsewhere,* when horsed by Mrs. Nelson 

 and Mr. Sherman, took seventeen hours in going from 

 London to Exeter, a distance by road of 165 miles 

 by the time-bill, according to Paterson it is 172 miles, 

 bv rail from Waterloo it is 171 1.< miles, and from 

 Paddington 193^. The coach used to leave the 

 " Bull Inn," Aldgate, at half-past four in the morning, 

 and quitted Piccadilly at half-past five. 



It must be remembered that the Kino^ or Queen's 

 highway was the only route by which, in those days, 

 one could travel, except it were to journey by river 

 or sea. The railroad is now connected inseparably 

 in our minds with all idea of travel, and our almost 

 daily acquaintance with the iron road has caused all 

 questions respecting distance to be associated in our 

 thoughts with the time trains take to perform the 

 journey ; consequently, the intention of going any 

 distance is regarded by us, to carry it into effect, 

 as necessitating the occupation of a certain period of 

 time. This appears the more remarkable, when we 

 consider the various ways in which the hour or the 

 passage of time has been mentioned at various periods 

 of history. 



Our forefathers used to speak of four or five 

 a.m. or p.m., as four or five of the clock, and 

 according to the hour mentioned, a number of quaint 

 phrases were used to denominate the time. Our 

 "o'clock" is evidently a corruption of their mode 

 of speaking when saying of the clock. 



But nothing is a greater evidence of the improve- 

 ment we have undergone as regards the utilisation 

 of time, than the way in which the time of departure 

 or arrival of trains is mentioned in our railway time- 



* See page 73. 



