To return to Mr Felton’s work. He states that the Coach trade was prosperous, and was not confined to Coachbuilders proper, but that harnessmakers and others opened repositories for the sale of carriages. This practice was not confined to England,--it was also a French custom, and so much so, that in the French Encyclopædia, Coachmaking is described under the heading of “Sellier” or “Saddler,” and even now in some towns on the Continent, one may see “Sellier” painted on the front of a coach-factory, without any other description of the trade. The principal improvements in carriages in London from 1770 to 1790 were the invention of Mr John Hatchett, of Long-acre, whose taste in building appears to have been prominent, and other Coachbuilders generally copied him. Mr Felton adds that many gentlemen took great pleasure and pride in getting a handsome coach built, and that his treatise was intended to aid them in forming a judgment thereon. The following remarks are principally taken from Mr Felton’s work, as far as regards this period of 1790:-- “Carriages should always be built adapted to the places for which they are destined, whether for town, country, or the Continent; as a greater stress is laid upon the carriage in drawing over stones than on a smooth road. This makes it absolutely necessary to build stronger for the town than if intended for the country only, owing to the general goodness of our English roads; it is also necessary to build stronger for the Continent than even for the town, as the badness of their roads obliges them to use six horses where we should use two. “The construction of every carriage should be as light as the nature of the place for which it is destined will allow. It is folly to give unnecessary weight to the horses, as the pleasure of conveyance arises from expedition and ease, which cannot be effected in a cumbersome, heavy carriage. “A false opinion pervades the minds of many persons, which is, to build strongly, regarding the durability of the carriage in preference to the preservation of the horses. Superior strength is only effected by additions in weight of the materials used. “In the usual meaning of the word carriage among Coachmakers, it is the lower framework on which the body containing the passengers is fixed or suspended and to which the wheels are attached. Although, speaking generally, all vehicles are called carriages, yet, in speaking technically, the distinction must be observed. “It is the body, however, which contains the passengers, which varies most in shape and size, and which is most conspicuous to the eye, and from which, therefore, we derive the particular name of each sort of vehicle.”