Lights and shadows of London life Author:James Payn Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: If Mr. Frith had lived in them, they would not have lacked all memento as they now do. How admirably would he have secured for us for ever that splendid national... more » scene, the Departure of the Mail from St. Martiu's-le-Grand—a spectacle that will never more be seen of men. With the drivers of a railway train, it is impossible that the general public (with the exception of such gentlemen of fashion as Mr. Wyndham, with whom engine-driving was a relaxation) can have much personal acquaintance; but with the Railway Guards it is different. I heard at least a score of people remark upon the fidelity with which Mr. Frith had reproduced the features of the Great Western officials. From what rank of life, I wonder, do those courteous and intelligent persons come ? They have not the somewhat broad joviality of the old scarlet-coated mail- guards, who, like their brethren of the box, were a little spoiled by the flatteries of the public, but they are always good-natured and attentive; whilethe porters present a remarkable contrast, in their gratuitous civility, to the harpies who were wont to take charge of the luggage of the unhappy traveller by the mail-coach. Oh, shades of " Boots " extortionate (from whom, as I believe, must have arisen the word Booty, spoil of the traveller), into whatlimbo have you fled,now that "every charge for attendance is included in the hotel-bill !" No more, at parting, shall you stand, with cap in hand—pretending to wipe your brow bedewed with labour on account of that little carpet-bag of ours—and bid us, with sycophantic smile, to " remember" you. We deemed it, in those days, a most superfluous exhortation, for we had no hope that the day would come when it would be possible to forget you; but now, behold the whirligig of Time has brought about our revenge....« less