THE COACHING AGE. 



meet either on a sharing account, or to make ar- 

 rangements for putting on a new coach, or altering 

 any of the regulations relating to one on the road, 

 there used to be a toast given by one of the endmen ; 

 and in that capacity I have no doubt Chaplin often 

 gave it, though I do not suppose it originated with 

 him. 



There was sometimes a difficulty in getting men to 

 horse a coach over the middle ground, where there 

 was nothing to be got but a bare share of the 

 earnings ; and therefore it was often requisite to deal 

 gently with these men and avoid giving them any 

 cause of complaint which might terminate in their 

 taking their horses off, when some one else had to 

 be found to cover the ground, perhaps at a fixed rate 

 higher than the other proprietors were receiving from 

 the sharing. By way, therefore, of paying men in 

 this position a small compliment, and making them 

 feel satisfied with it, their health was proposed in 

 the toast to ' The Middle Ground Men.' 



Stoppages were often made by coachmen, especially 

 those that had belonged to the old school, at places, 

 not appointed for refreshment or meals ; and accord- 

 ingly it was by no means unusual to find on a day- 

 coach not worked very punctually as to time, that 

 where a change of horses took place, or even in some 

 cases where there was no reason or necessity for stop- 



