ii6 RECORDS OF OLD TIMES 



Fetter Lane ; the ' Old Bell ' and the ' Bull ' in 

 Holborn, still going ; Gloucester Coffee House, Ox- 

 ford Street ; ' Golden Cross,' Charing Cross, with 

 Hatchett's, Piccadilly, whilst the 'Angel' at Islington, 

 and ' Elephant and Castle,' in the Borough, still main- 

 tain their ancient importance by their omnibus connec- 

 tion, in lieu of the four-horse coaches of the thirties 

 and early forties. When the great iron roads and 

 ' puffing Billies ' drove Tony Waller and his con- 

 freres off the road, the omnibus made a very poor 

 compensation for the loss of the mail coaches. 



There is something particularly fascinating to 

 me in watching the development of many trades 

 and industries, and with them the decay of others. 

 Nothing has been more marked or wonderful than 

 the extraordinary progress made in places for the 

 reception of travellers in London. Probably one 

 cause for this characteristic was the immobility of 

 the system of management of the old inns, which 

 seemed to care little for the accommodation of 

 pleasure-seekers visiting the metropolis. It was 

 rarely that the female population from the country 

 visited the great town — a visit from them was 

 seldom more than once in three or four years, if 

 they resided more than twenty or thirty miles 

 from London — so it was almost exclusively men 

 who travelled thither, and then upon business 

 intent. Their journeys were made by four-horse 

 coach, and, as these conveyances ran direct to the 

 inns already mentioned, the latter were chiefly 

 supported by the inhabitants of those districts from 



