CH. XIX 427 



CHAPTER XIX 



PUBLIC COACHING 



Driving a coach on the road between fixed points, 

 according to a regular time-table, with changes of 

 horses, in imitation of old-fashioned business coach- 

 ing, has a great fascination for the coaching man, 

 and with good reason. It bears much the same re- 

 lation to taking an afternoon drive at one's leisure, 

 that playing an instrument in an orchestra bears to 

 practising solos at home. In the latter case mis- 

 takes are easily corrected, movements may be re- 

 peated ; if one passage is not interesting another 

 can be selected ; but in an orchestra, when once 

 started, the performer must go on, time must be 

 kept, everything must be according to rule, with no 

 chance to correct omissions or mistakes. 



In fact, a coachman never detects how little he 

 knows until he undertakes to drive a fast public- 

 coach, or a musician until he tries his hand in con- 

 certed pieces. In an afternoon drive in the park, 

 if the reins are not quite right, if one horse pulls, 

 if any one of many inaccuracies troubles the coach- 

 man, he can stop, try experiments, and re-arrange 

 matters, and as he has no time to keep, he is not 

 afraid of losing any ; but on a fast public-coach it is 

 very different : it is usually all that the teams can 



