CHAPTER V. 



THE COACHING CLUB. 



UNT quos curriciilo pulverem Olympicum 

 collegisse juvat" was, if I remember 

 rightly, a remark made by Horace 

 when speaking of the athletes of 

 ancient clays. I am not conversant myself with 

 the locaKty in which the youth of the period to 

 which the poet refers were wont to take the dust ; 

 but if it in any way resembled Hyde Park, the 

 rendezvous of our modern Jehus when desirous of 

 exhibiting their skill in the guidance of chariots 

 and horses, I am prepared to admit that it must 

 have been a tolerably nice place. This was the 

 idea that flashed across my mind as I made my 

 way towards the Magazine, in order to witness 

 the gathering together of the members of the 

 Coaching Club, who, I was informed, intended to 

 assemble in full force on the banks of the Serpentine. 

 A bright morning gave promise of a fair day, and as 

 I journeyed towards Park Place, in order to take the 

 seat which Major Furnivall had kindly placed at my 

 disposal, it was evident from the number of carriages 

 moving in the direction of the Park that this annual 

 exhibition of coaches had lost none of its interest. 



