CO A Cn-HORSES. 1 3 5 



classes of society give it their support, and by doing 

 so lay tenacious hold to one of the very best and 

 most manly accomplishments of young English- 

 men — the driving of a four-in-hand coach. People 

 are apt to remark, who have no sympathy with 

 such tastes, that a man, to be a coachman, must 

 be of an Inferior scale of IntelliQ;ence ; but it is a 

 mistake to suppose this is the case. To be a good 

 coachman requires great Intelligence and quick obser- 

 vation ; a steady eye, a firm hand, and a bold heart 

 are positively requisite to success. 



Each guard on a mail-coach carried a timepiece 

 provided by the Government, on which was dated the 

 time the mail left the General Post Office, and on the 

 coach arriving at its destination, he had to give in his 

 time-bill and also his timepiece, which was so con- 

 structed that he could not meddle with it. If the 

 coach was only a few minutes late, a Post Office 

 inspector would be sent down to inquire into the cause 

 of the delay. This strict punctuality caused coachmen 

 to regard horses with very little compassion. They 

 knew that any pity shown to any particular horse who 

 exhibited signs of exhaustion must be firmly locked up 

 in their own breast, and however much they might 

 sympathise with the animal's distress, that it would 

 never do to slacken the pace of the coach, Mr. Harris 

 says that he was told by an old gentleman whom he 

 met at Willesden Junction, that "one hot summer 

 eighteen horses dropped down dead in the coaches 

 somewhere between Grantham and York." An in- 

 stance of overwork happened in the Bristol and Liver- 

 pool mail, which the same writer says travelled at a 

 terrific pace, the greater part of the journey being 

 performed in the night. An old steeple-chase horse 



