PRESENCE OF MIND. 89 



either, an indispensable part of his qualification to 

 become one ; and when in difficulty, a fine hand, 

 strong nerve, a quick eye, and presence of mind are 

 all necessary to extricate him from it. Here the 

 coachman shows himself, and here the tyro univer- 

 sally fails : the latter sees the effect plain enough, but 

 knows nothing of the cause ; consequently, he either 

 sits still and does nothing, or if he does any thing, in 

 all probability does what increases both the difficulty 

 and the danger. In proof of what presence of mind 

 and knowing what to do in an emergency will effect, 

 I will mention what occurred to myself and a friend, 

 who, in addition to being the best horseman in his 

 regiment, was also by far the best coachman in that 

 or most others. Coming down Piccadilly in his 

 phaeton with a pair of splendid goers, when nearly 

 opposite the Duke of Cambridge's, in the middle of 

 the short hill, the pole broke just behind the pole- 

 hook : nineteen men out of twenty would have stopped, 

 or attempted the impossibility of stopping the car- 

 riage, and a smash must have in that case been the 

 inevitable consequence : but no ; quick as his thought 

 could have suggested the manoeuvre, he whirled his 

 horses round, and we were quietly and safely sitting 

 with our faces up-hill in a moment. 



A nearly similar accident happened to myself. I 

 was driving, in fact breaking, a pair of thorough-bred 

 ones to harness, four and five years old, own bro- 

 thers ; they had both become perfectly handy and 

 were perfectly good tempered, but from youth, high 

 blood, and high condition, ready to avail themselves 

 of any excuse for a lark. I had driven them all 

 about a town perfectly well and all right, till, coming 

 down a hilly street, up went my pole nearly to their 



