Horace declares the Greeks of old Were once a driving nation; But Shakespeare says 'The World's a stage'-- A cutish observation. The stage he meant, good easy man, Was drawn by nine old Muses; But the Mews for me is the B.D.C., And that's the stage I chooses. I call this age the Iron Age Of railways and pretension. And coaching now is in a stage Of horrible declension, The day's gone by when on the fly We roll'd to Alma Mater, And jovial took the reins in hand Of the Times or Regulator. Those were the days when Peyton's grays To Bedfont led the way, Sir, And Villebois followed with his bays In beautiful array, Sir. Then Spicer, too, came next in view To join the gay procession. Oh! the dust we made--the cavalcade Was neat beyond expression. No turnpike saw a fancy team More neat than Dolphin sported, When o'er the stones with Charley Jones, To Bedfont they resorted. Few graced the box so much as Cox; But there were none, I ween, Sir, Who hold the reins 'twixt here and Staines More slap up than the Dean, Sir. Those are the men who foremost then To coaching gave a tone, Sir, And hold they will to coaching still, Tho' here they stand alone, Sir-- Then drink to the coach, the B.D.C., Sir Henry and his team, Sir, And may all be _blowed_ right off the road Who wish to go by steam, Sir. FOOTNOTES: [1] Robert Poynter drove the Lewes stage for thirty years without an accident. [2] 30 Geo. III., c. 36. [3] The old gentleman's conjecture was not far wrong. At this time, 1835, it is true fewer men of good birth occupied the box than had been the case a few years before--if we rightly interpret Nimrod's own remarks on the point. When the box had been set on springs or made an integral part of the coach-body, when the roads had been made worthy of the name and fast work the rule, coach-driving became popular among men of social position. Some drove for pleasure, horsing the coaches themselves, others took up driving as a profession and made good incomes thereby. These gentlemen coachmen did much to raise the standard of conduct among the professionals of humble origin. Lord Algernon St. Maur (_Driving_, Badminton Library) says that Mr. Stevenson, who was driving the Brighton Age in 1830, was 'the great reformer who set a good example as regards punctuality, neatness, and sobriety.' [4] Until Macadam was adopted the streets in London were cobbled or paved. [5] John Loudon Macadam was a Scotsman by birth. In 1770, when fourteen years old, he was sent to the care of an uncle in New York, whence he did not return till he was twenty-six years of age; hence the mistake in describing him as 'an American.'