COACHES. 3 



right hand, to the inn from which the 

 coach daily took its departure. 



On that particular morning some serious 

 thoughts had arisen in my mind; and a 

 hasty retrospect of my early days, contrast- 

 ing strongly with the gloomy prospect before 

 me, passed through my brain. 



In London, the half-hour preceding the 

 starting of perhaps five or six coaches from 

 any of the large establishments, was a time 

 of some little excitement. The neat and 

 elegant Telegraph Coach, with its polished 

 boot, on the hinder part of which was 

 inscribed, in large characters, " The Times," 

 "The Independent," "The Wonder," or 

 some such appropriate name; the highly- 

 varnished body, the blazing Golden Cross or 

 the Spread Eagle conspicuous on the door 

 panels ; the motley crowd of people, of both 

 sexes and all ranks, from the peer to the 

 humble mechanic, some anxious to take 

 their seats in or on these delightful convey- 

 ances; the well-groomed cattle, with their 



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