236 STAGE-COACH AND MAIL IN DAYS OF YORE 



of which I am speaking, considered themselves 

 mighty fine gentry ; nay, I verily helieve, the 

 most important personages of the realm, and their 

 entertaining this high opinion of themselves can 

 hardly he wondered at : they were low fellows, 

 l)ut masters at driving; driving was in fashion, 

 and sprigs of nohility used to dress as coachmen, 

 and imitate the slang and hehaviour of the coach- 

 men, from whom occasionally they would take 

 lessons in driving, as they sat heside them on the 

 hox, which post of honour any sjirig of nohility 

 who happened to lake a place on a coach claimed 

 as his unquestionahle right ; and these sprigs 

 would smoke cigars and drink sherry with the 

 coachmen in l)ar-rooms and on the road ; and Avlien 

 hidding them farewell would give them a guinea or 

 a half-guinea, and shake them by the hand, so that 

 these fellows, being Ioav fellows, very naturally 

 thought no small liquor of themselves, but would 

 talk familiarly of their friends Lords So-and-so, the 

 Honourable Misters So-and-so, and Sir Harry and 

 Sir Charles, and be wonderfully saucy to any one 

 who Avas not a lord or something of the kind ; 

 and this high opinion of themselves received daily 

 augmentation from the servile homage paid them 

 by the generality of the untitled male passengers, 

 especially those on the forepart of the coach, who 

 used to contend for the honour of sitting on the 

 box with the coachman when no sj^rig was nigh to 

 put in his claim. Oh ! what servile homage these 

 craven creatures did j^ay these same coach fellows, 

 more especially this or t'other act of brutality 



