Page:A short history of social life in England.djvu/279

Rh greatly helped by the penny post, which had been in existence in London since 1683. "Every two Hours," says the observant French traveller, "you may write to any Part of the City or Suburbs; he that receives it pays a Penny and you give nothing when you put it into the Post; but when you write into the Country, both he that writes and he that receives pays each a Penny." In 1709 distance still regulated the price of letters; thus, to send a single sheet 80 miles cost 2d., a letter to Dublin was 6d., to the West Indies, 1s. 3d. Other means of communication were also increasing. Hackney carriages had increased till there were now some 800 plying in London and the suburbs. They had no glass and no springs, and it is hardly to be wondered at if people preferred the sedan chair for short distances. Here they could see and be seen. By this means they were carried to the At Homes or "Days," as they were called, kept by every fashionable woman, when she received a formal circle of her acquaintances of both sexes. It is curious to remember that at this time the formal salutation between men and women of every class was still the kiss. "The other day, entering a room adorned with the fair Sex," says a contemporary, "I offered, after