The Brighton “Comet,” established in 1815, ran until 1840, when the London and Brighton Railway was opened. It experienced a good many mishaps in the course of those twenty-five years. On September 2nd, 1815, when it had arrived at Castle Square, Brighton, and had discharged most of its passengers, the coachman turned it so sharply that the front wheels became locked, and in the endeavour to release them the coach was overturned. The careless coachman was himself seriously hurt, and a lady, an inside passenger, and a gentleman on the outside much bruised; but a Mr. Walker, who had just mounted the coach, had his leg broken. The “Comet” evidently went through Epsom, for it was there that another accident happened to it in later years. That coach carried no guard, and the coachman had, therefore, to act that part, as well as drive. He climbed down to take up a passenger, and while doing so the horses backed the coach into a bank and caused it to fall over. A lady travelling outside had her ribs broken. A third accident was due largely to the interference of a passenger, who met his death in consequence. The “Comet” had on this occasion nearly completed its down journey, when, at Patcham, the reins became entangled in some unexplained manner. A Mr. Schraeder, who was on the box-seat, travelling to Brighton to join his family, made an effort, despite the protests of the coachman, to get down to disentangle them, when he fell between the box and the horses, and the coach ran over him. The “Comet” ran to the “Swan with Two Necks,” in Lad Lane, and seems, from Pollard’s spirited picture, to have been an exceptionally smart coach. The great era of coaching, with its attendant competition, opened about 1820, and from that time the “Defiances,” the “Celerities,” the “Rapids,” “Expresses,” “Reindeers,” “Darts,” “Stags,” and “Antelopes” increased; while fiercely militant titles, such as those of the “Retaliator,” the “Spitfire,” “Vixen,” “Fearless,” “Dreadnought,” and “Invincible” reflected the extraordinary bitterness and animosity with which that competition was conducted. The reverse of this unamiable feature is seen in the names--breathing a spirit of goodwill, or at least of meekness, reliability, and inoffensiveness--of the “Amity,” the “Live and Let Live,” “Hope,” “Endeavour,” the “Give and Take,” “Reliance,” “Safety,” “Regulator,” “Perseverance,” “Good Intent,” and “Pilot” coaches. It is probable that some of these titles were given by small proprietors, anxious to disclaim rivalry with more powerful men. Others were intended to secure the patronage of the old ladies and the timorous, and all those to whom coach travelling, with its many accidents and hairbreadth escapes, was a disagreeable necessity. [Illustration: THE BRIGHTON “COMET,” 1836. _After J. Pollard._ ]