Page:A short history of social life in England.djvu/307

 to London was still full of danger and discomfort, nor were these fears purely imaginary. A journey from the North of England to the capital was so hazardous that men shook their heads and made their wills before starting. Stage coaches already ran between London and many of the large towns, as York, Exeter, Chester, and Bristol. But it was not till the year 1774 that a coach began to run from Manchester and Liverpool to London three times a week, and though nominally three days were occupied on the journey, bad weather sometimes delayed it for ten days or a fortnight. As for the "flying coaches," they were very expensive, and regarded as so dangerous that only "neck-or-nothing mortals" travelled by them. Neither were the dangers of the way much lessened as London was approached. In 1727 George II. and his wife, trying to reach Kew from St. James's Palace, passed a whole night on the road, and once between Hammersmith and Fulham the coach upset altogether and they were thrown out. The road between Kensington and Piccadilly was acknowledged to be "an impassable gulf of mud."

Here is Mrs. Delany's account of a break-down