FROM CART TO AUTOMOBILE 



an hour. The duke was old, and age had strengthened 

 his inherent conservatism. He lent a ready ear to 

 the claims — largely instigated, no doubt, by persons 

 interested in horse traffic — that the automobile on an 

 ordinary road was a menace to public safety, and no 

 doubt his influence had a large share in helping on 

 the unfavorable public opinion and the adverse legis- 

 lation which were presently to block the further progress 

 of the motor car. 



Doubtless also the amazing success of the railway 

 locomotive tended to attract the attention of the public 

 away from the automobile, and thus made possible 

 the passage of restrictive laws. In any event, the motor 

 car, notwithstanding its demonstrated possibilities, 

 virtually passed from the scene at about the time when 

 the railway locomotive made its spectacular entrance. 

 That public interest in the matter did not subside im- 

 mediately, however, is evidenced by the fact that such 

 a book as Gordon's Treatise on Elementary Locomotion 

 by Means of Steam Carriages on Common Roads passed 

 through three editions between the years 1832 and 1836. 



AN EXTRAORDINARY PIECE OF LEGISLATION 



Indeed, notwithstanding legislative rebuffs, here and 

 there an inventor kept up his experiments, and in 

 1 86 1 the automobile had attained so much prominence 

 as to be given parliamentary attention. Four years 

 later, in 1865, an extraordinary law was passed which 

 deserves to be remembered as one of the greatest monu- 

 ments of legislative folly ever recorded in connection 

 VOL. vn. — II [ 161 ] 



