COACHING 



they have not been called upon to do it ; and he 

 likewise could do what they never tried to do — 

 namely, he could drive when he was drunk nearly 

 as well as when he was sober. He was very 

 frequently a faithful servant to his employers ; 

 considered trustworthy by bankers and others in 

 the country through which he passed ; and as 

 humane to his horses, perhaps, as the adverse 

 circumstances he was placed in by his masters 

 would admit.* 



Time has dealt kindly with the reputation of the 

 old stage coachman, and popular tradition holds him, 

 as Nimrod portrayed him, a whip of unrivalled skill. 

 That there were such men is perfectly true ; ^ but 

 not every stage coachman was an expert : not 

 all were skilful or even careful, and not all were 

 civil : and if, as Nimrod says, they could drive as 

 well when drunk as when sober, the cold light of 

 contemporary record shows that there was ample 

 room for improvement. Take the following : — On 

 the 18th of May 1808 the coachman of the Ports- 

 mouth coach to London was intoxicated, and *'when 

 he came to the foot of the hill on Wimbledon 



^ Robert Poynter drove the Lewes stage for thirty years without an accident. 



9 



