In the early sixties it began to be recognized that, for men, the best way to see London was from the top of an omnibus. An anonymous poet published, in 1865, a satire on life seen from an omnibus roof. It was entitled “The Omnibus.” Here are a few lines from it—
“August four-wheeler! Rolling Paradise!
Thou Juggernaut to dawdling men and mice!
Thou blissful refuge to the footsore cit!
Thou boast of science and inventive wit!
To thee, in pride careering o’er the stones,
The homeward labourer drags his weary bones.
The burdened porter, staggering on the road,
Climbs up thy hulk and there forgets his load.
For thee the merchant his dull desk forsakes,