CHAPTER VIII 



COACH LEGISLATION 



" The law," said Mr. Bumble, " is a liass ! " and 

 scarcely ever has it ajipeared more asinine than in 

 its dealings with the roads and road-traffic. Legisla- 

 tive traffic restrictions were very early introduced, 

 originally on behalf of the highways ; and not until 

 the coaching age was well advanced did it aj^pear 

 necessary to intervene with enactments protecting 

 the passengers as well as the road surface. There 

 was perhaps no necessity to legislate against reck- 

 less driving in the early days of coaching; for, 

 Avith the singularly bad state of the roads, the 

 clumsy build of the original vehicles, and the 

 exhaustion of the teams that drew them great 

 distances without a change, it would have passed 

 the wit of man to be a charioteer with the dashing 

 methods attributed to Jehu, that Biblical hero, 

 the son of Nimshi, who, we are told, "drove 

 furiously." 



The first restrictions to be put in force were 

 those levelled against the heavy road-traffic of 

 the time of James I. By them, four-wheeled 

 carts and waggons were, in 1G22, absolutely pro- 

 hibited, and loads above 20 cwt. forbidden : " No 



