Mr. FOX AS A HORSEMAN AND COACHMAN. 207 



How dearly Mr. Fox loved the rattle of the pole-chains 

 may be better gathered from two extracts from those letters 

 which I have had the privilege to look over: 'A well- 

 ' appointed coach, not too full, or the dear old mail, was a 

 ' pleasant mode of travelling, and the pleasure of rattling 

 ' along, stage after stage, bound to keep time, roads in good 

 ' order, to a creature born with love of coaching in him, 

 ' was delightful.' . . . ' How charming four horses, trotting at 

 ' a good pace, well able to do the work, just feeling the work- 

 ' man's hand, getting over the ground without any appearance 

 ' of being in a hurry.' 



Mr. Fox's anecdotes respecting the road, and his graphic 

 descriptions of the old stage coachmen, are very interesting, 

 and one would fain linger over them, as indeed one would 

 over anything that emanated from his pen, so graphic 

 and terse are his descriptions ; but a couple more extracts 

 must suffice ; one an anecdote of the road, and the other a 

 description of a coachman named Conway, who was the son 

 of a clergyman, and who used to drive the Leeds and 

 Manchester mail. ' He drove the mail to the end,' writes 

 Mr. Fox, ' forty-four miles in four hours to a minute, over 

 ' Blackstone Edge. He was a splendid fellow : no talk, 

 ' no nonsense, his attention devoted to his job ; his power 

 'great, nerve grand, and most delicate hands.' Whoever, 

 that has sat on a coach or handled a team, cannot see 

 Conway handling his horses over Blackstone Edge, after 

 reading this vivid description of him ! 



On one occasion when the squire was driving the mail, 

 an outside passenger gave him half-a-crown, of which he 

 was very proud ; as was his friend, the late Mr. George 

 Lowther, when a clergyman gave him the same sum once 

 when he got to his journey's end at Bridlington. 



But to the anecdote, which is as follows : ' Your leader 

 ' that cantered off reminds me of a skewbald leader of Billy 



