SACEIFICING TO APPEARANCE. 159 



horses could run along, in common phrase, " as if 

 they had nothing behind them." It would be quite 

 mauvais ton to ask the lady to take a pull at the car- 

 riage ; but we will ask the gentleman to do so ; and 

 he would find that the Hghtest looking vehicle (of its 

 class) is and must be precisely the heaviest he could 

 select. Nothing can look lighter than the shafts of a 

 fashionable Stanhope or Tilbury : they are neverthe- 

 less quite as heavy as those of any cart that takes a 

 ton of hay to market. So it is with all the compo- 

 nent parts of a fashionable carriage, to give the 

 appearance of lightness : the truth is, these carriages 

 are half iron, and really horse-killers. 



I have often heard persons remark, that during the 

 day they saw some horse going a great pace in some 

 " large cart." This person would probably be much 

 surprised if he was told that the horse that had the 

 credit of going so fast in the large cart was dramng a 

 vehicle far lighter than his gig in specific weight, and 

 constructed on the true principle for following well : 

 in fact, these carts are made on the principle of the 

 match-carts — namely, scarcely any iron, high wheels, 

 straight shafts, and the horse dramng nearly on a 

 line with the axletree ; and so to go should all gigs 

 be made. I have mentioned I always limit my own 

 to about two hundred: a man not a judge would 

 fancy them nearly double ; but the secret is, I use 

 plenty of good tough wood, consequently want very 

 little iron, for I prefer my horses/t'e/wz^my carriage light 

 to my friends thinking it so. This of course holds 

 good with every carriage ; and this is the reason why 

 foreign vehicles are not by any means so heavy as 

 they look. Heavy they are, no doubt, for their paved 

 roads require strength ; but if they were made to 



