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Chapter I
The introduction of hackney-coaches—"The world run on wheels"—The first hackney-coach stand and the oldest cab rank in England—Charles I. and Charles II. prohibit hackney-coaches—Hackney-coaches and the Plague—William Congreve—Threatened strike of hackney-coaches—Hackney-chariots introduced—Prince of Wales drives a hackney-coach—Licences—Funeral coaches ply for hire in the streets—A pedometer for hackney-coaches suggested—Dickens on hackney-coaches—Origin of the word "hackney"
There are, at the present day, many old people who remember and speak with affection of the old hackney-coach. They admit that it was a lumbering thing, and that the horses were generally sorry specimens fully qualified for the knacker's yard; but they add, emphatically, that no vehicles now plying for hire in the streets of London can compare with it for cosiness and comfort. It was furnished luxuriously, and was as comfortable as a hammock, even when travelling on roads that would shake a modern cab to pieces before it had journeyed half a mile.
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