TM Renaissance in tfie Eighteenth Century. 85 



obliging manners. In those days they were the terror of the 

 community ; and yet necessary. As there was no toilet accom- 

 modation at the bathing establishment, all the visitors who 

 dwelt elsewhere than in the lodgings which abutted on the 

 baths, had to arrange their costume at home. They were 

 then carried in Sedan-chairs to bathe, and back again, without 

 change of clothes, to bed. Nothing could exceed the help- 

 lessness of an invalid, swaddled in a wringing wet bathing- 

 dress which he was .anxious to change. On this helplessness 

 the chairmen traded. If a " fare " was obstinate, the door 

 of the chair was fastened on the outside, and the inmate 

 became a prisoner. In cases of unusual determination to 

 resist extortion, the top of the chair was removed, and ; if it 

 happened to be raining smartly, an hour of this treatment 

 was found effectual even in confirmed cases. One gallant 

 general was left in this predicament the whole of a winter's 

 night, and was half killed by his supplementary bath. Im- 

 agine then the joy of the invalids when their natural enemies 

 were routed and subdued, a tariff of charges fixed, and 

 licenses refused to unworthy men. 



A large sum of money was expended, as early as 1706, in 

 improving the walks and roads in the immediate neighbour- 

 hood of the city, and the charming and romantic scenes 

 with which the environs abound, were made accessible. 



The increasing population of the city rendered the diffi- 

 culty of supplying it with provisions and other necessaries a 

 very serious one, and the completion of the work of making 

 the Avon navigable from Bristol was hailed with joy. Even 

 from the time of the Plantagenets, the citizens had striven - 

 to effect this, but the first barge did not pass from Bristol to 

 Bath until 1727. 



The new city presented a unique spectacle. The brilliant 



