APPENDIX 239 



heavy night coaches — the " Gloucester," the " Wor- 

 cester," and the " ShreAvsbury Prince " — that he became 

 initiated in the art of driving long before those im- 

 provements had taken place which seemed to go hand-in- 

 hand with the progress that better roads and more 

 sightly conveyances were making. 



Many names were afterwards added ; among others, 

 Major Spirer, of Esher Place, Surrey, who still carries 

 out the original intentions of the club — that is, to delight 

 in the practice of the art of driving four horses, and to 

 encourage and reward the more humble practitioner. 



And after him the late Duke of Beaufort — then Marquis 

 of Worcester — to whom I had the honour of imparting a 

 few lessons on his first attempt at being made acquainted 

 with an art of which he afterwards became so conspicuous 

 and so admired an amateur. 



This was called the Benson Driving Club, as origin- 

 ating at Oxford, and the members performing their first 

 exercises on their own drags on that twelve miles of road ; 

 but leaving the University, and increasing in numbers, 

 the name Avas altered to the Bedfont Driving Club,Bedfont 

 being the place to which they uniformly, twice a year, 

 proceeded with their teams, in the best style, to partake 

 of some of the most excellent viands and wines — to ballot 

 for new members, and award some mark of distinction, 

 or reward with pecuniary assistance, to a deserving 

 professor in the class below them. 



Their frequent appearance in the Park, and on the 

 road leading from the West end of the metropolis, gained 

 the admiration of the populace, and in a few short years 

 gave rise to another driving club, called the Four-in- 



