As to amateur coachmen, it has been observed, that if a diet were formed, before whom gentlemen-coachmen were to be examined previous to their being considered safe, it would not be amiss if they were put to the test of having the harness of four horses taken to pieces, strap from strap, and then requested to put it together again in the presence of the judges. There would be no hesitation in pronouncing him safe who succeeded in this, as his experience on the road must have been considerable. How these amateurs are trusted with the reins, coachmen are now obliged to be careful, owing to the speed of coaches, and the improved breed and condition of coach-horses. Hence, we see fewer amateurs at work than formerly. It would indeed be highly culpable in a coachman to trust the lives of passengers and his master’s property to any one whom he did not know to be safe, or even without reflecting that a man may be a very safe coachman with horses he knows, and a very unsafe one on some roads with horses to which he is a stranger. To gentlemen who wish to drive, and are really capable of doing so, the following is recommended as not a very bad way of doing business:--“When travelling with a coachman I do not know,” says an amateur, “I always adopt the following plan--that is, if I wish to work. In the first place, I never got upon a coach-box yet with any thing like half-pay about me; such as a black handkerchief around my neck, or in blue pantaloons; neither do I think I ever shall. I always take care to have a good deal of drag about me:--a neat pair of boots, and knee-caps, if cold weather: a good drab surtout--if not a poodle; a benjamin or two about the coach, and a little of the spot about the neck. For the first mile, I always observe a strict silence, unless broken by coachee; but at this time he generally runs mute. He is perhaps but just awake, or is considering about his way-bill--reckoning his passengers, thinking what he has to do on the road, and, if a workman, looking over his team to see if all is right. Leave him alone for a short time, and when his mind is at ease, he will look you over as you sit beside him. He will begin with your boots, proceeding upwards to the crown of your hat, and if he like you, and you make a remark or two that please him, and show you to be a judge of the art, the first time he stops he will say--‘Now, sir, have you got your driving gloves on; would you like to take ’em?’--I am here alluding to country work, and not to the roads near London.”