I30 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 



with those who have a distant recollection of them, 

 I often wonder why it was necessary to employ a 

 coach to carry mail-bags, and why fast and light mail- 

 carts would not have done far better. The stao-e- 

 coach business might have been utterly distinct from 

 the conveyance of the mails, and as the mail-coaches 

 travelled of a night, they were never very popular as 

 travelling conveyances, although faster than the 

 generality of stage-coaches. 



Amongst the large coach proprietors was a Mrs. 

 John Nelson ; she was the widow of one John Nelson, 

 who was the landlord of the " Bull Inn," Aldgate, 

 until his death, when his widow carried on the business 

 with the assistance of her two sons, John, who helped 

 her in the business at home, whilst George was coach- 

 man to the Exeter night-coach, the '•' Defiance," her 

 son Robert being the proprietor of the celebrated 

 " Belle Sauvage Inn." Robert had about 400 horses 

 and a lot of coaches, amongst which were some of the 

 fastest and most fashionable ones of the day ; but 

 he only had one mail-coach, that was the London and 

 Norwich. It seems strange that Robert Nelson should 

 have been in such a large way of business, and that 

 his brother George should have been content to drive 

 the night mail to Exeter. 



Mrs. Nelson's coaches ran into the Eastern 

 Counties, but she had some running elsewhere ; for 

 instance, the celebrated coach, "The Telegraph." This 

 was a day-coach, and started at cock-crow from the 

 " Bull Inn." Mrs. Nelson herself was up with the 

 lark and was always to be found at almost any hour, 

 cheerful, active, and bustling. The " Bull Inn" was a 

 very large establishment, and a very prosperous one. 

 She could accommodate over 150 visitors, besides 



