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The Life of Thomas Telford-Part7_Samuel Smiles(1812-1904)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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Hill. Highway robbery could not, however, have been considered a

very ignominious pursuit at that time, as during Popham's youth a



statute was made by which, on a first conviction for robbery, a

peer of the realm or lord of parliament was entitled to have



benefit of clergy, "though he cannot read!" What is still more

extraordinary is, that Popham is supposed to have continued in his



course as 'a highwayman even after he was called to the Bar.

This seems to have been quite notorious, for when he was made Serjeant



the wags reported that he served up some wine destined for an

Alderman of London, which he had intercepted on its way from



Southampton.--Aubrey, iii., 492.--Campbell's 'Chief Justices,' i.,

210.



*[16] Travels of Cosmo the Third, Grand Duke of Tuscany,' p. 147.

*[17] "It is as common a custom, as a cunning policie in thieves,



to place chamberlains in such great inns where cloathiers and

graziers do lye; and by their large bribes to infect others, who



were not of their own preferring; who noting your purses when you

draw them, they'l gripe your cloak-bags, and feel the weight, and



so inform the master thieves of what they think, and not those

alone, but the Host himself is oft as base as they, if it be left



in charge with them all night; he to his roaring guests either

gives item, or shews the purse itself, who spend liberally, in hope



of a speedie recruit." See 'A Brief yet Notable Discovery of

Housebreakers,' &c., 1659. See also 'Street Robberies Considered;



a Warning for Housekeepers,' 1676; 'Hanging not Punishment Enough,'

1701; &c.



*[18] The food of London was then principally brought to town in

panniers. The population being comparatively small, the feeding of



London was still practicable in this way; besides, the city always

possessed the great advantage of the Thames, which secured a supply



of food by sea. In 'The Grand Concern of England Explained,' it is

stated that the hay, straw, beans, peas, and oats, used in London,



were principally raised within a circuit of twenty miles of the

metropolis; but large quantities were also brought from



Henley-on-thames and other western parts, as well as from below

Gravesend, by water; and many ships laden with beans came from



Hull, and with oats from Lynn and Boston.

*[19] 'Loides and Elmete, by T.D. Whitaker, LL.D., 1816, p. 81.



Notwithstanding its dangers, Dr. Whitaker seems to have been of

opinion that the old mode of travelling was even safer than that



which immediately followed it; "Under the old state of roads and

manners," he says, "it was impossible that more than one death



could happen at once; what, by any possibility, could take place

analogous to a race betwixt two stage-coaches, in which the lives



of thirty or forty distressed and helpless individuals are at the

mercy of two intoxicated brutes?"



*[20] In the curious collection of old coins at the Guildhall there

are several halfpenny tokens issued by the proprietors of inns



bearing the sign of the pack-horse, Some of these would indicate

that packhorses were kept for hire. We append a couple of



illustrations of these curious old coins.

[Image]



CHAPTER III.

MANNERS AND CUSTOMS INFLUENCED BY THE STATE OF THE ROADS.



While the road communications of the country remained thus imperfect,

the people of one part of England knew next to nothing of the other.



When a shower of rain had the effect of rendering the highways

impassable, even horsemen were cautious in venturing far from home.



But only a very limited number of persons could then afford to

travel on horseback. The labouring people journeyed on foot,



while the middle class used the waggon or the coach. But the amount

of intercourse between the people of different districts



--then exceedinglylimited at all times--was, in a country so wet

as England, necessarily suspended for all classes during the greater



part of the year.

The imperfectcommunication existing between districts had the



effect of perpetuating numerous local dialects, local prejudices,

and local customs, which survive to a certain extent to this day;



though they are rapidly disappearing, to the regret of many, under

the influence of improved facilities for travelling. Every village






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