A word may here be said of the _omnibus_, which had been introduced in 1819 into Paris, though not under that name, by M. Jacques Laffitte. It was a modern outcome of the old _gondola_. Nine years later the modern name was given to it by M. Baudry, a retired military officer. Laffitte had rivals, and ultimately determined to triumph over them by building a superior vehicle. At this time one of the most celebrated coachbuilders in Paris was an Englishman, once in the Navy, named George Shillibeer. To him came Laffitte, and Shillibeer, whilst at work on the new conveyance, conceived the idea of starting a similar one in London. Accordingly he shipped one over and ran it from Paddington to the Bank. This first omnibus of his was a long, much be-windowed, four-wheeled carriage with a door at the back, and not unlike a private omnibus of to-day. A top-hatted coachman sat on a high seat in front and drove three horses abreast. This was in 1819, and from that time, in spite of the usual opposition, these new and rather unsightly vehicles increased in numbers until there were forty or fifty routes in London alone upon which they were to be hourly seen. A song sung with great success at a time when Shillibeer was extending his operations, particularly in the direction of Greenwich, whither it was proposed to run one of the new railroads, may be quoted:— “By a Joint-Stock Company taken in hand, A railroad from London to Greenwich is plann’d, But they’re sure to be beat, ’tis most certainly clear, Their rival has got the start—George Shillibeer. “I will not for certainty vouch for the fact, But believe that he means to run over the Act Which Parliament pass’d at the end of last year, Now made null and void by the new Shillibeer. “His elegant _omnis_, which now throng the road, Up and down every hour most constantly load; Across all the three bridges how gaily appear The _Original Omnibus_—George Shillibeer. “These pleasure and comfort with safety combine, They will neither blow up nor explode like a mine; Those who ride on the railroad might half die with fear— You can come to no harm in the new Shillibeer. “How exceedingly elegant fitted, inside, With mahogany polished—soft cushions—beside Bright brass ventilators at each end appear, The latest improvements in the new Shillibeer. “Here no draughts of air cause a rick in the neck, Or huge bursting boilers blow all to a wreck, But as safe as at home you from all danger steer While you travel abroad in the gay Shillibeer. “Then of the exterior I safely may say There never was yet any carriage more gay, While the round-tire wheels make it plainly appear That there’s none run so light as the smart Shillibeer.