COACH LEGISLATION 209 



term of imprisonment, of not less than fourteen 

 clays or more than a month. The names of the 

 coach proprietors were to he painted in legihle 

 characters on the doors of all the coaches, with the 

 exception of the mails. 



One section of the Acts of 1788 and 1790 had a 

 special significance. It forbade coachmen per- 

 mitting other persons to drive, under a penalty of 

 from 10s. to £5. The amateur whip, of whom 

 later writers complained so bitterly, had evidently 

 already been taking coaching lessons on the road, 

 with disastrous results. The j^i'^ctice was not 

 stopped by the Acts or the penalty, for in 1811 the 

 prohibition was renewed, and the fine raised. It 

 Avas then to be anything between £5 and £10, at 

 the discretion of the magistrates. 



Coachmen were viewed all round, as it were, 

 and their failings separately ticked off and provided 

 against. No coachman was to leave his box without 

 reasonable cause or occasion, or for an unneces- 

 sary length of time. Furious driving now being 

 physically possible, and frequently indulged in, 

 was legislated for, together with any negligence or 

 misconduct resulting in the overturning of a coach 

 or the endangering of passengers. A guard of a 

 stage-coach who should fire off his piece unneces- 

 sarily, or for other than defensive purposes, on the 

 road or in any town, forfeited 20s., a penalty 

 enlarged to £5 in 1811, and including mail-guards. 



The Act of 1806, introducing itself by stating 

 that previous Acts were ineffectual and insufficient, 

 started off by repealing the provisions of the older 

 VOL. I. 14 



