So it was in the century that followed, that Parisians greeted as among the happiest of innovations the creation of a public servicecomprised of a certain number of individuals, called torch-carriers or lantern-carriers, who made it their business, in exchange for compensation, to accompany and to light the path for persons obliged to make their way through town streets at night.A certain Abbey Laudati, of the noble Italian house Caraffa, created this enterprise, after receiving from a young king LouisXIV, in March of 1662,letterspatent bestowing on him such a privilege. On August 26,1665, the Parliament registered his letters, reducing to 20 years the privilege, which had previously been perpetual, "subject to the obligations and conditions that all of the torches carried by the agents be of good yellow wax, purchased at the city's grocers or by them made, and marked with the arms of the town."

These wax candles were divided into ten portions, and five one-cent coins were charged for each portion for the service of being accompanied through the streets. Lantern-carriers were assigned to stations, each 100 fathoms (approximately 200 yards) from the next; people paid a penny for the distance from one station to another. To have one's way lit in a carriage, one paid the lantern-carriers five one-cent coins by the quarter hour. On foot, one paid only three pennies to be escorted for the same period of time. In an era of public lighting which was still far from perfect, Abbey LaudatideCaraffa's enterprise provided an undeniable service, by providing travelers with a certain amount of security when they were out late at night.

Excerpt from "Les merveilles de la science" [The Marvels of Science] by Louis Figuier, 1870
Free translation from the French