England. Early coaching there was described as destructive to trade, prejudicial to landed interests, destructive to the breed of horses,[1] and as an interference with public resources. It was urged that travelers in coaches got listless, "not being able to endure frost, snow or rain, or to lodge in the fields!" Riding in coaches injured trade since "most gentlemen, before they travelled in coaches, used to ride with swords, belts, pistols, holsters, portmanteaus, and hat-cases, which, in these coaches, they have little or no occasion for: for, when they rode on horseback, they rode in one suit and carried another to wear when they came to their journey's end, or lay by the way; but in coaches a silk suit and an Indian gown, with a sash, silk stockings, and beaver hats, men ride in and carry no other with them, because they escape the wet and dirt, which on horseback they cannot avoid; whereas in
- ↑ It is curious to note that while the introduction of coaches is said here to be injurious to the breed of horses, Macaulay, a century or so later, decried the passing of the coach and the old coaching days because this, too, meant the destruction of the breed of horses!—See Historic Highways of America, vol. x, p. 122.
