Before the Bobbies. The Night Watch and Police Reform in Metropolitan London, 1720-1830

166 Before the Bobbies

insubordination of the English people might have prevailed over the very

modem love of perfect peace and order.^91

Bagehot is correct - the original policemen of London did not appear in
helmets. They were eighteenth-century night watchmen who wore great-
coats, carried lanterns, and called the hours of the night.