Coaching days and coaching ways . hat DoctorRussell of Lewes prescribed oxen as a means of transit ;for oxen were about the only beasts of burden whichcould cope, at the time I speak of, with the countryswickedly deep ruts. People got into coaches to go toBrighton and only got out of them when they wereoverturned. Princes on Royal progresses sat fourteenhours at a stretch in state carriages, without beingable to get an atom of refreshment into their royal 1749 Horace W^alpole cursed the curiosity which hadtempted him to tour in a country in which he found neitherroad, conveniences, inn
Coaching days and coaching ways . hat DoctorRussell of Lewes prescribed oxen as a means of transit ;for oxen were about the only beasts of burden whichcould cope, at the time I speak of, with the countryswickedly deep ruts. People got into coaches to go toBrighton and only got out of them when they wereoverturned. Princes on Royal progresses sat fourteenhours at a stretch in state carriages, without beingable to get an atom of refreshment into their royal 1749 Horace W^alpole cursed the curiosity which hadtempted him to tour in a country in which he found neitherroad, conveniences, inns, postillions, nor horses ! Whatdidhe find in Sussex ? one is tempted to ask. Why, hefound that the whole country had a Saxon air (which niK I!kk;hton road 193 seems a very remarkable discovery to have made) ; and that the inhabitants were savage —which is a discoverynot so remarkable,when one remembers that near Brightonnot long ago one of these savages ran at a lady with apitchfork for riding over a turnip-field. Poor Horace. A Snapped Pole- had no such adventure as this—so far as I can learn ; butit was clear to him that George the Second might wellbe the first monarch of the East Angles, and thatcoaches grew in Sussex no more than balm or spices ;almost immediately after which horticultural remark he 0 194 COACHING DAYS AND COACHING WAYS had to leave his post-chaise (for some horrid reason whichhe veils from posterity), and take to pedestrianism—aform of exercise which he ever particularly loathed. Nodoubt however he would have bewailed his wreckedpost-chaise more had it resembled a harlequins Calash less ; and a harlequins Calash too which was occasion-ally a chaise or bakers cart —which is the most re-markable definition of a vehicle that I have chanced onbetween Boadiceas chariot and a hansom cab ! Whocan wonder after reading it, that the man who had restedin it found Sussex a great damper of curiosity ? Icannot wonder for one. All these horrors of the Brighton
Size: 1632px × 1531px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, bookpublisherlondon, booksubject
