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being, who, for a consideration, would walk before or beside
the chair of the belated traveller. Links were used until
1807, and a relic of their time may still be seen in the
extinguishers attached to the entrances of houses in many of
the old London Squares. The character of the lmkman is
not described in a very flattering manner by Gay in the
following lines:—
Though thou art tempted by the linkman's call,
Yet trust him not along the lonely wall;
In the midway he'll quench the flaming brand,
And share the booty with the pilfering band.
Public conveyances have gone through many developments.
Hackney carriages were in use at an early period, for the
first stand was set up in the Strand at the Maypole in 1634,
the year in which sedan chairs were introduced. Cabs are a
more modern invention, dating only from 1820, while the
first omnibus did not appear until 10 years later. In 1694
the number of Hackney carriages in London was limited to
700. There were in 1883 (the latest year for which the return
has been published) 6,579 hansom cabs, 3,802 four-wheeled
cabs, and 2,223 omnibuses. Two centuries ago there were
few vessels for public use on the Thames. The wealthier
Corporations and nobility kept their private barges, and the
common people had to be content with the heavy, not overluxurious
wherry. Passing under London Bridge was attended
by so much danger on account of the rapidity of the
stream, owing to the extreme narrowness of the arches, that
it was seldom attempted, travellers generally preferring to
land at the stairs on one side of the bridge and take another
boat on the other side.
The means of communication between the north and south
side of the river were certainly not excessive. London Bridge
was the only Metropolitan bridge across the Thames, ferries
affoiding the only other means of communication between the