Should it be a country gentleman of large property and influence, and he held the reins, and handled the whip with a knowledge of the art, so to "get over the ground," coachy might, perhaps, notice him "_en passant_," by a slight and familiar nod; but it is only the peer, or man of first-rate sporting celebrity, that is honoured with any thing like a familiar mark of approbation and acquaintance; and these, justly appreciating the proud distinction, feel higher gratification by it than any thing the monarch could bestow: it is an inclination of the head, not forward, in the manner of a nod, but towards the off shoulder, accompanied with a certain jerk and elevation from the opposite side.

But here neither pen nor pencil can depict; it belongs to him alone whose individual powers can nightly keep the house ~9~~in a roar, to catch the living manner and present it to the eye.
"-- --A merrier man Within the limit of becoming mirth, I never spent an hour's talk withall: His eye begets occasion for his wit; For every object that the one doth catch The other turns to a mirth-moving jest." And now, gentle reader, if the epithet means any thing, you cannot but feel disposed to good humour and indulgence: Instead of rattling you off, as was proposed at our last interview, and whirling you at the rate of twelve miles an hour, exhausted with fatigue, and half _dead_ in pursuit of _Life_, we have proceeded gently along the road, amusing ourselves by the way, rather with drawing than driving.

'Tis high time, however, we made some little progress in our journey: "Come Bob, take the reins--push on--keep moving--touch up the leader into a hand-gallop--give Snarler his head--that's it my tight one, keep out of the ruts--mind your quartering--not a gig, buggy, tandem, or tilbury, have we yet seen on the road--what an infernal place for a human being to inhabit!--curse me if I had not as lief emigrate to the back settlements of America: one might find some novelty and amusement there--I'd have the woods cleared--cut out some turnpike-roads, and, like Palmer, start the first mail"-- --"Stop, Tom, don't set off yet to the Illinois--here's something ahead, but what the devil it is I cant guess--why it's a barge on wheels, and drove four-in-hand."-- "Ha, ha--barge indeed, Bob, you seem to know as much about coaches as Snarler does of Back-gammon: I suppose you never see any thing in this quarter but the old heavy Bridgewater--why we have half a dozen new launches every week, and as great a variety of names, shape, size, and colour, as there are ships in the navy--we have the heavy coach, light coach, Caterpillar, and Mail--the Balloon, Comet, Fly, Dart, Regulator, Telegraph, Courier, Times, High-flyer, Hope, with as many others as would fill a list as long as my tandem-whip.

What you now see is one of the _new patent safety-coaches_--you can't have an overturn if you're ever so disposed for a spree.

The old city cormorants, after a gorge of mock-turtle, turn into them for a journey, and drop off in a ~~10~~nap, with as much confidence of security to their neck and limbs as if they had mounted a rocking-horse, or drop't into an arm-chair."-- "Ah! come, the scene improves, and becomes a little like Life--here's a dasher making up to the Safety--why its--no, impossible--can't be--gad it is tho'-- the Dart, by all that's good! and drove by Hell-fire Dick!--there's a fellow would do honour to any box--drove the Cambridge Fly three months--pass'd every thing on the road, and because he overturned in three or four hard matches, the stupid rascals of proprietors moved him off the ground.