CARRIAGES. 47 



was not necessary on all occasions, and that thereupon he went to 

 his coachmaker, Mr. Robinson, of Mount Street, and explained 

 his idea ; the result being the manufacture of this most com- 

 fortable and convenient carriage. This, however, is not accu- 

 rate history. Lord Brougham did not invent the carriage, 

 which long before 1837 was a common vehicle in the streets 

 of Paris or to be hired as a voiture de place, an equivalent 

 expression to what was called in London in those days a glass 

 coach : i.e. a carriage and horses you could hire for the day or 

 week. Lord Brougham had the good sense to import one from 

 Paris, and to have one built by an English coach-builder, who, 

 whilst sticking nearly to the lines of the original, made it more 

 elegant, lighter, and stronger. The form is simple and sensible 

 in the extreme, and as we have seen of late years is capable 

 of all sorts of modifications. Double broughams and single 

 broughams are now equally common, as are broughams drawn 

 by one horse and by a pair. With the roof made strong and 

 fitted with a basket, a good deal of luggage can be carried. 

 There is room on the box with the coachman for a servant or 

 other passenger, and according to the construction of the front 

 seat the brougham will hold three or four inside with more or 

 less ease. The tendency of the day is to have broughams for 

 London use as light as possible, without adopting eccentricities 

 of lightness, as Englishmen consider them, such as distinguish 

 certain American carriages. The interior appointments may be 

 as tasteful and luxurious as the owner pleases or cares to pay 

 for. A speaking-tube is an occasional fitting (though unless 

 care is used it becomes crushed and renders the voice inaudible 

 a little bell is a better means of communicating with the 

 driver), as is a reading-lamp fastened to the back of the vehicle ; 

 a mirror is general now even in hansom cabs ; card-pockets and 

 little cigar trays of various sizes may be put here and there, and 

 in a single brougham a little basket is often arranged in front. 

 Of course, the doors open on the inside, with self-acting spring 

 locks. Well-hung on easy springs, it is difficult to imagine a 

 more thoroughly useful carriage. 



