134 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 



which there were heavy taxes to pay, ^5 for each 

 coachman and guard and ^^5 for the coach, making 

 ^15 even in cases where only one guard and coach- 

 man were requisite. On long distances, where coach- 

 man and guard went off duty and were changed for 

 fresh ones, the tax was of course doubled ; then there 

 was a further duty on the coach which was sometimes 

 fixed at threepence a mile. In addition to this there 

 was the cost and depreciation in horse-flesh, bills for 

 fodder, shoeing, stable accommodation, harness, clothing 

 and veterinary surgeon's attendance. Offices had to be 

 established from which a coach started, and where per- 

 sons were booked, and there were inns to accommodate 

 passengers ; these frequently belonged to the coach pro- 

 prietors. The fares were very heavy, far more than on 

 the rail ; so that on the rail, not only is the journey com- 

 pleted in less time and in more comfort, but at a far more 

 moderate rate. In the days of coaching, only well- 

 to-do people could afford to travel any distance^ 

 whereas now, almost any one can travel, and with more 

 comfort and more expedition. And yet Englishmen 

 who are good coachmen, and who delight in handling 

 the ribbons, naturally desire to perpetuate the memory 

 of the coaching days. It is with a view of reviving in 

 a manner the old-fashioned coach that the Four-in- 

 hand and the Coaching Clubs were instituted, and 

 after this amateur coaches were placed on the road 

 during the summer months, starting from the White 

 Horse Cellars, Piccadilly, and running their stages 

 just like the old-fashioned coaches, but with this 

 difference : they are playing at coaching, whereas the 

 famous old coaches of days gone by were in real 

 earnest. Nevertheless we wish all success to this 

 revivalist movement, and may it long prosper ; may all 



