Modesty almost forbids me to mention here that, when the coach was ready to start, I was requested by the proprietor to continue to drive; which, to an amateur, and a young amateur, was no small compliment--evidently showing that our immersion in the horsepond had not been caused by any want of skill or experience on my part. * * * * * When opposition was at its height in England, every device was resorted to in order to render one coach more popular than another. Advertising was carried to a very great extent, and squibs were unreservedly circulated in order to lower the prestige of the contending parties. As, for instance, notice was given that a certain coach had reduced its rate for carrying pigs and poultry; no charge would be made for children under twelve, provided they sat upon the knees of their parents, or those of some other passenger; great care was taken that "hospital linen" should be stowed _inside_. Although opposition between the coaches was carried to great extremes, it never got to quite so high a pitch as amongst the postmasters, amongst whom within the last fifty years the emulation was so rife upon the North Road that the horses of a private carriage would be forcibly taken off and a fresh pair attached at the Red Lion at Barnet, and the next stage to St. Albans (nine miles) performed without charge, in order to prevent the "turn" from going to the White Hart, where the traveller might have partaken of a sandwich and a glass of sherry gratis. This state of things could not last long, especially as in its next phase it entailed the hiring of a staff of fighting-men to secure the employment of the Red Lion horses. Matters having arrived at such a pitch as to cause a free fight in the highroad whenever a posting job hove in sight, the local authorities were obliged to interfere, and Messrs. Newman and Bryant, the landlords of the two hotels, were bound over to keep the peace and abide by the regular tariff of one shilling and threepence a mile, and threepence the postboy. * * * * * The guard of the mail, apart from his being a certificated newsmonger, was held in great respect by the idlers who collected to see the mail change in every town or village through which he passed. What he said was absolute, there was no time for argument, and the few words which he addressed to the customary group afforded matter for the smoking-room for a whole evening. Many trifling incidents and occurrences, by the time they had passed through a jury of gin-and-water and churchwardens, were distorted into the most terrible and tragic facts. Every road has its legend, and guards of the coaches make stock-in-trade of the ghosts and supernatural appearances as it suits their opportunity. A tale may be so often repeated that, however sceptical the narrator is at first, he becomes quite ready to vouch for the whole truth of it on more intimate acquaintance.