i88 CARRIAGES. 



fashion, however, interfere with the economy which was, formerly, gen- 

 erally observed. Few, save the titled or the old aristocratic families, at 

 present keep what once was the recognized build of every private car- 

 riage. The conveyances now manufactured for the moneyed and the 

 respectable classes are built according to no common model; but the 

 forms are moulded by the dictates of most arbitrary caprice. The article 

 therefore which, when it was newly built, excited surprise and kindled 

 emulation, shall, before it has existed eight years, provoke contempt, 

 as a lumbering concern altogether behind the spirit of the age. Con- 

 sequently, the duration being limited, (and a set of wheels being cal- 

 culated, with ordinary work and care, to last four years,) not many of 

 the lighter and more novel vehicles can be used for a longer period than 

 suffices to wear two-thirds of the stated number. 



A set of wheels hardly ever cost the same price, when made for ve- 

 hicles of different descriptions. A brougham and a carriage both 

 possess four wheels ; yet the charges made for each kind are very op- 

 posite. The wheels proper for a carriage cost fourteep or twenty 

 guineas; whereas those which are fittest for a brougham can be made 

 for ten guineas. Then, again, the gig requires only two wheels ; but 

 the pair are generally sold at six guineas. These variations are regu- 

 lated by the extent of the circumference, the substance necessitated, and 

 by many particulars which the reader can readily imagine. Wheels are, 

 therefore, somewhat expensive; a fresh supply is rendered the more 

 costly, because the newness of one part makes imperative the renovation 

 of the whole ; although some persons avoid such a consequence by 

 having the wheels and the body of a carriage of different colors. How- 

 ever, such piebald affairs always betray the intention, and the idea of 

 exposing a personal meanness has, hitherto, prevented the practice from 

 being generally adopted. 



The good and the careful coachman can only display the value of his 

 services when there is no stint of those appliances which are imperative 

 for the proper exercise of his calling. It is always necessary that the 

 master's economy should afford no ready excuse for neglect of duty in 

 the servant. This is important, because no domestic, excepting the 

 groom, has such valuable and such perishable property intrusted to his 

 discretion. Paint and varnish are not enduring commodities. Most 

 London houses are redecorated every third year; with all care, a car- 

 riage will appear respectable but one term longer. 



For the proper discharge of his duties, the coachman requires three 

 sponges and three leathers for the body of the vehicle. One sponge to 

 cleanse the coarser dirt from the carriage ; another to remove any linger- 

 ing soil; while the third serves to render the surface somewhat dry, 



