12 COACHING. 



At length, in the Spring of 1669, a great and 

 daring innovation was attempted. It was an- 

 nounced that a vehicle, described as the flying 

 coach, would perform the whole journey be- 

 tween sunrise and sunset. 



" This spirited undertaking was solemnly con- 

 sidered and sanctioned by the heads of the 

 University, and appears to have excited the 

 same sort of interest which is excited in our 

 own time by the opening of a new railway. 

 The Vice-Chancellor, by a notice which was 

 affixed in all public places, prescribed the hour 

 and place of departure. 



" The success of this experiment was complete. 

 At six in the mornino: the carriag^e beg^an to 

 move from before the ancient front of All 

 Souls' College, and at seven in the evening the 

 adventurous gentlemen who had run the first 

 risk were safely deposited at their inn in London. 

 The emulation of the sister University was 

 moved, and soon a diligence was set up which 

 in one day carried passengers from Cambridge 

 to the Capital." 



In 1678 a contract was made to establish 

 a coach for passengers between Edinburgh 

 and Glasgow, a distance of forty-four miles. 

 This coach was drawn by six horses, and the 



