OXFORD COACHING 237 



I have in a former chapter given an account of the 

 peculiar sort of depreciations committed on the poor 

 sailors, with Avhich I was afterwards made acquainted ; 

 these, though no doubt common, were confined to one or 

 two particular roads. 



But the old school had passed away with the clumsy 

 vehicles, and coarse and vulf^ar members of the cloth, fit 

 only for an ignorant generation ; and another and more 

 accomplished race of men had sprung up, with the im- 

 proved or new-invented carriages, faster pace, and better 

 accommodation, that the chauired circumstances of the 

 nation, from war to peace, and the consequent improve- 

 ment in trade, manufacture, and commerce had put in 

 requisition. 



In most parts of the country, and on roads of 100 

 miles and more in extent, which led 2:)rinci2Dally to 

 manufacturing towns and districts, innkeepers were the 

 principal proprietors ; and the employment falling mostly 

 in the night, the drivers were generally selected from 

 their own stable-yards ; and it was considered a promotion 

 to put a postilion on the mail, who was afterwards 

 advanced to one or other of the coaches on the same line 

 of road. 



JSTot so with Brighton, Oxford, and other towns at the 

 distance of fifty miles or so from the metropolis. Here a 

 more dashino- professor was soug^ht, to o-ive a more 

 attractive appearance to the whole turn-out ; and to those 

 places men who had gained some little notoriety, by 

 their superior skill and strong nerve, resorted for employ- 

 ment. At this period, and for some time before, the 

 whole business in the last-named place had been in the 



