174 STAGE-COACH AND MAIL IiY DAYS OF YORE 



lionoiircd. (Jainsboroui;'!!, liis ii(ML;lil)()iir at Royal 

 Circus, J5atli, ])aiiitc(l his ])i)i"tniit ; CUasi^ow 

 iiuM'chants, moiuhovs of tlio Chaiuhcn* of CoimncMrc 

 ill that city, had as early as 17S{) ])rcs(Mi((Ml hiiii 

 Avith a silver l()viiii!;-ciii), "as an ackuow Icdi^iiuMit 

 of the heuetits resiiltiiii»' from his plan to the 

 trader and coniniercc of this king'dom " ; and in 

 17D7 three "mail-coach hallpennies " wen^ struck 

 by some now unknown admii'(>r. They hear on 

 the obverse a mail-coach, and on tiie reverse an 

 inscription to him "as a token of g'ratitude for 

 benefits received " from his system. A third 

 tribute was the j)aintini;' by George Robertson, 

 eng'raved l)y Januvs b'itthn', and inscribed, curi- 

 ously, to him as Comptroller-G(MUM'al, in ISOo, 

 eleven years after he had ceased to hold that 

 position. He also rectMved the freedom of (Mi;hteen 

 cities and towns in recognition of his public 

 services, was ]\layor of Hath in 171X) and ]S01, 

 and rejn'csented that city in tin* four Parliaments 

 of 1801, 1802, 1800, and 1807. il(^ died at 

 ]?rii;'hton in 1818, in his seventy-sixth year. His 

 body was conveyed to Eath and laid in the Abbey 

 Church ; but no monument marks the spot, and 

 it is only recently that his residence at Royal 

 Circus, and his birthplace in his native city, have 

 been ideutitled to the wayfarer by inscribed 

 tablets. 



The very earliest mail-coaches were ill made, 

 and were continually breakin;;- down. Althoui^h 

 the coaches themselves were supplicnl by the 

 contractors, and the Post Othce was not concerned 



