PREFACE. 



A natural fondness for the Road and its associations 

 has induced me, from time to time, to collect notes on all 

 matters in connexion therewith. The recent revival of 

 stage-coaching, and consequently of the art of coachman- 

 ship, dating, we may say, from 1866, when the 'Old 

 Times ' was put on the Brighton Road, that road having 

 been left vacant by the withdrawal of the ' Age' in 1862, 

 has turned the minds of many to this subject. With a 

 view therefore to assist their enquiries, I publish my 

 collections. 



Apart from my desultory notes, Nimrod's treatises 

 on the Road, appended to these collections, give a com- 

 plete systematic theory of coaching ; and my desire that 

 the lover of the Road should have at hand a volume for 

 reference and information induced me to rush into print. 

 For, as Peter Beckford said of hunting, so may it be 

 said of coaching, ' there is no doubt that the practical 

 part of it would be improved were theory to accompany 

 it.' In considering the construction of carriages, friction, 

 motion, gravitation, and velocity are the first subjects 

 which demand the attention of practical coachmen. Of 



