THE ROAD. 
coaches than to such as run by day. This, however, 
may be accounted for. Barring fogs, it matters not 
how dark a night is, as our lamps supply the light of 
the sun; and, taking the average of nights, have a 
preference over the moon. Coachmen now always 
sober are then more careful and less given to larking, 
and the road is generally clear of any carriages but 
those which travel with lights. Horses also run more 
steadily by night, and certainly with more ease ; it is a 
very common case to hear a coachman say, such a horse 
is "a good night horse, but an indifferent one by day." 
Some cannot bear a hot sun on their backs ; and those 
whose wind is not so good as it should be, run with 
much greater ease by night. 
It is, indeed, gratifying to contemplate the change 
that has lately taken place in the whole system of the 
road and it is a most humane one. The old-fashioned 
coachman to a heavy coach >and they were all heavy 
down to very recent times bore some analogy with the 
prize-fighter, for he stood highest who could hit hardest. 
He was generally a man of large frame, made larger by 
indulgence, and of great bodily power which was 
useful to him. To the button-hole of his coat were 
appended several whipcord points, which he was sure 
to have occasion for on the road, for his horses were 
whipped till whipping was as necessary to them as their 
harness. In fair play to him, however, he was not 
solely answerable for this : the spirit of his cattle was 
broken by the task they were called to perform for in 
