THE COACHmG AGE. 



THE START. 



We are removed now by some one or two genera- 

 tions from the palmy days of coaching. Such names as 

 Pears, of the Southampton Coach ; Charlie Holmes, of 

 the Blenheim; andVaughan, of the Cambridge 'Tele- 

 graph,' have faded from memory, though there was a 

 time when to ride alongside them was a red-letter 

 day to the happy occupant of the box-seat. Lord 

 William Lennox tells us that ' coaches were intro- 

 duced into England by the Earl of Arundel in 1580, 

 before which time Queen Elizabeth, on public occa- 

 sions, rode behind her chamberlain.' That grand 

 Queen, who associated herself with England's glory, 

 thought coaches effeminate, and yielded with reluct- 

 ance to the innovation. 



Even after the Civil Wars were closed, and old 

 Oliver was at rest, coaching had made little progress. 



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