70 THE COACHING AGE. 



and the harness, which was also new, or nearly so. 

 This devolved on the proprietors who horsed the mails, 

 and they were by no means behind-hand in making a 

 display in their department. Many horses, if not 

 entire teams, if a proprietor had not a sufficient 

 □umber of showy ones, such as he wished to appear 

 in the mails he horsed, were borrowed, and gentlemen 

 who had their own four-in- hands would, it was said, 

 sometimes lend them for the occasion, feeling rather 

 proud of this opportunity of exhibiting them. This 

 completed the next part of the procession. 



Lastly came the uniforms of the guards and coach- 

 men. These were provided by the Postmaster- 

 General, and were the same as mny be seen at the 

 present day worn by the guards on the mail-trains. 

 All the guards were provided with uniforms, in which 

 they were required to appear nightly at the General 

 Post Office, St. Martin's le Grand, ready to go out 

 with their mails ; but only the coachmen whose turn 

 it might be to go out with the mails on the night of 

 the procession were provided with uniforms, towards 

 the expense of which I believe they had to make 

 some contribution. 



The original Mr. Vidler, together with his succes- 

 sors and partners, Messrs. Parratt, had a monopoly in 

 the supply of the mail-coaches throughout the king- 

 dom for a great many years ; the Bristol mail, 



