176 ON THE TRACK OF THE MAIL-COACH 



St. Albans, which stood near Church Street, and the 

 Barnet cage were swept away many years ago. 



The story* is told of a sturdy rogue finding, in a 

 wayfarer whom he had attacked on the St. Albans 

 road, a stronger man than himself, and one, too, 

 armed with a pistol. In the result, the rogue was 

 compelled, on pain of death, to march before his 

 captor to the Barnet cage ; where the latter, having 

 considered what a troublesome person he had on 

 hand, prudently bade his prisoner wait outside while 

 he went to fetch the keys, as he carefully explained, 

 to open the cage and lock him up. If he ever 

 returned at all, I suspect he found reason, like 

 Dogberry and Verges, to thank Heaven he was ' rid of 

 a knave.' 



It is recorded by Mr. Ashdown that the Birmingham 

 Wonder coach reached St. Albans, in 1826, at 8 a.m. 

 — in two hours from the Peacock at Islington. This 

 was no doubt identical with the Shrewsbury Wonder, 

 which passed through Barnet at 7.5 a.m. The Peacock 

 is ten miles from Barnet, and the Peahen at St. Albans 

 nine ; so if a few minutes for stoppages be deducted, 

 the speed of the coach was fully ten miles an hour. 

 Considering the long and steep hills which occur 

 between London and St. Albans, this was a high 

 rate for even a day coach to maintain with an unvary- 

 ing punctuality. 



Amongst the mail-coaches which passed through 

 St. Albans, the first was that despatched from Liver- 



•5^ ' Old Barnet,' Stevens. 



