a close vehicle for commodious travelling, borne on four wheels, and supported by springs upon a framework to which the wheels are attached.

The learned Beckmann, in his History of Inventions, has given an interesting account of coaches from the earliest times. The Roman area, mentioned in the Twelve Tables, was a covered carriage used by the sick and infirm, and is supposed to have been so called from its resemblance to an area or chest. This was succeeded by the carpentum, a two-wheeled car with an arched covering. The carraces were of later invention, but their construction is a matter of surmise, though it seems probable they had four wheels. These vehicles were sometimes very splendidly ornamented with gold and precious stones; and covered carriages seem more and more to have become appendages of Roman pomp and magnificence. On the introduction of the feudal system the use of carriages was for some time prohibited, as tending to render the vassals less fit for military service. Men of all grades and professions rode on horses or mules, and sometimes the monks and women on she-asses. Horseback was the general mode of travelling; and hence the members of the council who sat at the diet, and on other occasions, were employed as ambassadors, were called rittermeister. In this manner also great lords made their public entries into cities. When on state occasions the pope mounted his horse or mule, emperors and kings, if present, were obliged to hold his stirrup and to lead the horse. Bishops made their public entrance on horses or asses richly decorated.

Covered carriages were known in the beginning of the sixteenth century, but their use was confined to ladies of the first rank; and as it was accounted disgraceful for men to ride in them, the electors and princes sometimes availed themselves of this prejudice to excuse their non-attendance at meetings of the state, by informing the emperor that their health would not permit them to ride on horseback. Covered carriages were for a long time forbidden even to women; but about the end of the fifteenth century they began to be employed by the emperor, kings, and princes, in journeys, and afterwards on state occasions. In 1474 the Emperor Frederic III visited Frankfort in a close carriage, and again in the following year in a very magnificent covered carriage. Shortly afterwards carriages began to be splendidly decorated; as for instance that of the Electress of Brandenburg at the tournament held at Ruppin in 1509, which was gilded all over; and that of the Duchess of Mecklenburg, which was hung with red satin. At the marriage of the Emperor Frederic II, with a princess of Bavaria, "the bride rode with her sisters in a splendid carriage studded with gold, her maids of honour in carriages hung with black satin, and the rest of the ladies in neat leather carriages." When Cardinal Dietrichstein made his entrance into Vienna in 1611, forty carriages went to meet him; and in the same year the consort of the Emperor Matthias made her public entrance on her marriage in a carriage covered with perfumed leather. The wedding carriage of the first wife of the Emperor Leopold, who was a Spanish princess, cost, together with the harness, 38,000 florins. Those of the emperor are thus described:—"In the imperial coaches no great magnificence was to be seen; they were covered over with red cloth and black nails. The harness was black, and in the whole work there was no gold. The pannels were of glass, and on this account they were called the imperial glass coaches. On festivals the harness was ornamented with red silk fringes. The imperial coaches were distinguished only by their having leather traces; but the ladies in the imperial suite were obliged to be contended with carriages the traces of which were made of ropes." At the magnificent court of Duke Ernest Augustus at Hanover, in 1681, there were fifty gilt coaches with six horses each. The first time that ambassadors appeared in coaches on a public solemnity was at the imperial commission held at Erfurth in 1613. Soon after this time coaches became common all over Germany, notwithstanding various orders and admonitions to deter vassals from using them. These vehicles appear to have been of very rude construction. Beckmann mentions, that when he visited Bremen in 1785, he saw on the wall of the senate-house a view of the city painted in oil colours by John Landwehr in 1661; and in it there was represented a long quadrangular carriage, apparently not suspended by straps, and covered with a canopy supported by four pillars, but without curtains. In the side there was a small door, and in front a low seat, or perhaps a box; the coachman sat upon the horses; and the dress of the persons within proved them to be burgomasters. At Paris in the fourteenth, fifteenth, and even sixteenth centuries, the French monarchs rode commonly on horses, the servants of the court on mules, and the princesses and principal ladies sometimes sat behind their equerry on the same horse. Carriages, however, were used at a very early period in France; for there is still extant an ordinance of Philip the Fair, issued in 1294, by which citizens' wives are prohibited from using them. It appears, however, that about 1550 there were only three carriages at Paris; one belonging to the queen, another to Diana of Poictiers, and the third to René de Laval, a very corpulent nobleman who was unable to ride on horseback. The coaches used in the time of Henri IV, were not suspended by straps (an improvement referred to the time of Louis XIV.) though they were provided with a canopy supported by four ornamental pillars, and with curtains of stuff or leather. When Richard II, of England, towards the end of the fourteenth century, was obliged to fly before his rebellious subjects, he and all his followers were on horseback, while his mother alone used a carriage. The oldest carriages used by the ladies in England were called by the now forgotten name of whirligotes; but these became less fashionable when Ann the wife of Richard II, showed the English ladies how gracefully she could ride on the side-saddle. Coaches, properly so called, were first known in England about the year 1580, and were introduced, according to Stow, from Germany, by the Earl of Arundel. About 1605 they began to be in common use. The celebrated Duke of Buckingham was the first who rode in a coach with six horses; and to ridicule this pomp the Duke of Northumberland used eight.

Hackney coaches were first introduced in France about the year 1650, by one Nicolas Sauvage, who lived in a house called the Hôtel S. Fiace; from which circumstance all hired carriages came to be called fiacres; though eventually the name was restricted to such as were stationed for hire in the streets. It should be observed, however, that in ancient Rome there were carriages let out for hire, which Suetonius calls rheda meritoria, and meritoria vehicula (i. 57; iv. 39).

The prototype of the modern omnibus was a carriage which at stated hours carried passengers from one quarter of Paris to another. Coaches to be let out for hire were first established at London in 1625. In 1637 there were in London and Westminster no fewer than 50; in 1652 they had increased to 200; and two years later there were 300, employing 600 horses. In 1694 the number of hackney coaches was limited to 700; and in 1715 to 800.

Hackney coaches were first established at Edinburgh in Coach. 1673; but from 20, their original number, they had fallen in 1752 to 14, and in 1778 to 9, while the number of sedans increased.

At Amsterdam in 1663, coaches with wheels were prohibited, in order to save the pavement of the streets; and accordingly they were placed on sledges—a fashion that is not yet extinct. (Beckmann's Hist. of Inventions, vol. i.)

Duties on Carriages.—It is long since duties were imposed on carriages, and these have varied considerably at different periods.

The following table exhibits the rates of duty on carriages as fixed by the 16th and 17th Vict., cap. 90 (1853):

| Carriages with four wheels, drawn by two or more horses or mules | £3 10 0 | | Do. drawn by one horse or mule | 2 0 0 | | Carriages with five wheels, each of less diameter than 30 inches, and drawn by two or more ponies or mules, not exceeding 13 hands in height | 1 15 0 | | Do. drawn by one such pony or mule | 1 0 0 | | Carriage with less than four wheels, drawn by two or more horses or mules | 2 0 0 | | Do. drawn by one horse or mule | 0 15 0 | | Do. drawn by one pony or mule not exceeding 13 hands in height | 0 10 0 | | Carriages kept solely for being let for hire, one-half the above duties respectively. | | Carriage with four wheels, used by a common carrier, chiefly for the carriage of goods | 2 6 8 | | Do. with less than four wheels | 1 6 8 |

Exceptions.—Licensed hackney and stage carriages. Carriages kept for being let on hire with a horse or horses by a person licensed to let horses for hire. Waggon, van, or cart used solely in trade or husbandry, on which the name, surname, and place of abode of the owner are legibly painted, and which on no occasion is used for any purpose of pleasure, except for conveying the owner or his family to or from church.

Hackney Coaches are coaches stationed in the streets or other public places, and bound to carry those who require them at certain fixed rates of hire, according to the distance travelled. By act 16th and 17th Vict., cap. 127, the former duties on hackney carriages in the metropolis were abolished, and the following instituted instead:—For every license to keep and let to hire a hackney carriage, 20s. For every such carriage authorized to be used every day in the week, the weekly sum of 7s.; but if for every day except Sunday, the weekly sum of 6s.

Stage Coaches are defined as carriages or vehicles used, employed, or let out for the purpose of carrying passengers for hire, and travelling at the rate of three or more miles in the hour, without regard to the number of wheels, horses, or passengers, or whether the same be open or close, provided each passenger be charged a separate and distinct fare. Carriages used wholly on a railway or impelled by steam are excepted from this definition. By act 16th and 17th Vict., cap. 88, the following are the license duties imposed on postmasters:

| For 1 horse or 1 carriage | £7 10 | | Not exceeding 2 horses or 2 carriages | 12 10 | | ... 4 ... or 3 ... | 20 0 | | ... 8 ... or 6 ... | 30 0 | | ... 12 ... or 9 ... | 40 0 | | ... 16 ... or 12 ... | 50 0 | | ... 20 ... or 15 ... | 60 0 | | Exceeding 15 carriages | 70 0 | | Exceeding 20 horses—then for every additional number of 10 horses, and for any additional number less than 10 over and above 20, or any other multiple of 10 horses, the further additional duty of | 10 0 |

The various regulations relating both to stage and hackney coaches may be found in McCulloch's Commercial Dictionary (1854), pp. 293–5, and 645–6. See Carrier.

Mail Coaches are stage coaches of a particular construction, which, for a certain consideration, carry her Majesty's mails, are protected by a guard, and are subject to the regulations of the post-office. In most instances these have been superseded by the railways.

Coach-making is such a combination of crafts as rarely are united in one trade. The technical names of those composing the different branches are, body-makers, carriage-makers, wheelers, spring-makers, axle-makers, smiths, trimmers, &c. Painting is an important part of the business; and those professing it are divided into body, carriage, and heraldry or ornamental painters. These classes of workmen have each their own department in the construction of a coach. Under the general head of coach-making a great variety of different kinds of vehicles are produced, such as close coaches, landaus, landaulets, chariots, phaetons, britzakas, gigs, &c.; and of the three kinds last named there are almost infinite varieties, both with regard to construction and the manner of finishing. The fashion with respect to these is almost as fluctuating and mutable as that of dress. The smaller the body of a carriage of course the lighter, and consequently the easier drawn; but it has been proved that shortness in the carriage makes it not only less easy, but also harder on the axles and springs, thus rendering them more apt to break.

The principal part of the coach-making business depends chiefly on the selection of materials. Ash is the kind of wood commonly used in the framework both of body and carriage; and the quality best suited for body wood is that of a mild and free nature, while for the carriage the wood cannot be too strong or robust. Full-grown wood of course is best suited for both purposes, and the planks must be allowed to lie until they are properly seasoned.

After the framework is made, the lower part of the body is panelled up with the softest bay mahogany. The kinds of wood generally applied to coach-wheel making are elm for the naves, oak for the spokes, and ash for the felloes; but beech felloes are often used; and it has been found by experience, that beech, when cut into felloes from the log shortly after it is felled, and kept until they become dry before being put upon wheels, answers admirably for this purpose. Indeed, nothing but properly-seasoned wood can be applied to any purpose in the construction of a coach.

Formerly, in the making of coach-springs nothing was used but German steel, which from its hardness was more apt to snap than the English steel now employed for that purpose. The latter, with superior elasticity, combines a strength that enables the spring-maker to fabricate his springs at least one-third lighter, while they stand equal fatigue. The kinds of axles now chiefly used are the common or plain axle, the mail-coach patent, and the Collinge patent, which last, when properly executed, is found to be the best for retaining the oil; as it is generally found to be in good order in this respect after a journey of 500 or 600 miles. The iron mounting of coach-work requires the skill of experienced smiths; for, besides solidity, some degree of taste is requisite to form the shapes and sets of the different parts. No branch of coach-making contributes more to the elegance of the vehicle than that of the painter. His colours must be of the best quality, in order to stand exposure in all weathers. The varnish used is copal, of which there are two kinds; the finest for finishing the body, and the second for finishing the carriage. Heraldry painting requires some knowledge of heraldry, combined with considerable practice. The business of the trimmer is to make and put in the linings, mount the coachman's seat, steps, &c., and put on the leather work, heading, &c.

Coaches built in London are reputed the most perfect of their kind; and Edinburgh has latterly become noted for the excellence of its carriages.

Couch, is also an apartment in a large ship of war near the stern, the floor of which is formed by the utmost part of the quarter-deck, and the roof by the poop.