led a chariot, and, if they did not
keep horses of their own, took a pair of post-horses, one of which was
ridden by a man, who, whatever might be his age, was always called a post-
boy. Some inns dressed their post-boys in light blue jackets, some in
yellow ones, according to their politics, but the shape was always the
same; corduroy tights, top boots, and generally white (or rather drab-
coloured) hats. It used to be an amusement to watch whether the post-boy
would be a blue or a yellow one at each fresh stage. Hardly any one
knows what a post-boy was like now, far less an old-fashioned travelling
carriage or chariot and its boxes.

The travelling carriage was generally yellow. It had two good seats
inside, and a double one had a second seat, where two persons sat
backwards. The cushion behind lifted up and disclosed a long narrow
recess called the swordcase, because, when there were highwaymen on the
roads, people kept their weapons there. There were sometimes two,
sometimes one seat outside, called the box and the dickey--much the
pleasantest places, for it was very easy to feel sick and giddy inside. A
curved splashboard went up from the bottom of the chariot to a level with
the window, and within it fitted what was called the cap box, with a
curved bottom, so that when in a house it had to be set down in a frame
to hold it upright. A big flat box, called the imperial, in which ladies
put their dresses, was on the top of the carriage, two more long, narrow
ones, generally used for shoes and linen, fitted under the seat, and
another square one was hung below the dickey at the back, and called the
drop box. Such a mischance has been known as, on an arrival, a servant
coming in with the remains of this black box between his arms,
saying--"Sir, should not this box have a bottom to it?" The chariot thus
carried plenty of goods, and was a sort of family home on a journey. To
go to Plymouth, which now can be done in six or seven hours, then
occupied two long days, halting for the night to sleep at an inn.

The Old Church

Some of us can still remember the old Church and the old Sunday habits
prevailing before 1830. The Churchyard was large and very pretty, though
ill kept, surrounded with a very open railing, and with the banks sloping
towards the water meadows clothed with fine elm trees--one with a large
and curious excrescence on the bark. There was a deep porch on the south
side of the Church,