A Hackm-.v Coach Race. 



377 



roads to drive at least four horses in his coach, tlic master must often have been obhged to 

 take liold of the reins when his servant was absent or incapable from the too profuse hospitality 

 of those days. The Earl of Albermarle, in his delightful " Reminiscences," says : — " In 1808, the 

 year of my admission to Westminster, the famous Four-in-hand Club was established. It soon 

 became the height of fashion to acquire not only the skill of coachmen, but to ape their dress, 

 their manners, and their slang. 



TURM'>Jr, TO TUF. LEFT. 



" We Westminster boys, of course, followed the fashion as far as we could. We drove 

 hackney coaches whenever we could get the chance. 



" One Sunday seven of us met by agreement at the top of St. James Street ; each engaged 

 a hackney coach ; and having deposited our jarvies inside, we mounted our respective boxes 

 and raced down to Westminster, the north end of Dean's Yard being our winning-post. Over 

 such roads, with such sorry cattle, the wonder is that we all reached goal. 



"When I became big enough to manage a team, I frequently had the honour of driving 

 the London and Norwich mail." 



George Prince of Wales patronised the new fashion, and made four-horse coaches one of 

 the attractions of his residence at Brighton. Not that the Prince drove four-in-hand himself; 

 w w 



