Note 526 — SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 12.
Reading edition
'Rasay accompanied us in his six-oared boat, which he said was his coach and six. It is indeed the vehicle in which the ladies take the air and pay their visits, but they have taken very little care for accommodations. There is no way in or out of the boat for a woman but by being carried; and in the boat thus dignified with a pompous name there is no seat but an occasional bundle of straw.' Piozzi Letters, i. 152. In describing the distance of one family from another, Johnson writes:—'Visits last several days, and are commonly paid by water; yet I never saw a boat furnished with benches.' Works, ix. 100.