Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1858-10-30
From the Evening Post.
CARRIAGES.

When one, in passing through our crowded
metropolitan thoroughiares, notices the number.
less vehicles Of all kinds and descriptions throng
ing them the question arises in the mind whence
come these, what is their origin, and whittier are
they goingi" 1t is a curious and interesting study
TO comment upon the origin and a|ivancementof To-
connection.
We learn that the most primitive specimens Of
vehicles we're two.wbeeled. In Roman antiquities
we End descriptions Of their elaborate finish and
elegant decorations. In Mosaic history, the CHAIR
OF and wagon are both spoken of, (uide Genesis
bu, no light is thrown upon their construction. IL
is to be inferred they were not in general use, as
mention is made that JOSEPH rode in the second
chart 1t Of Pharaoh" as a mark of peculiar digni.
ty much is also mentioned about chariots being
used, and they are represented in rude engravings
as vehicles of two wheels. There is an exception
to this rule. In ono of the English libraries is an
illuminated Saxon MS, supposed to he the work
Of Ciedna, which illustrates the meeting Of Jacob
and Joseph, and is a peculiarly constructed vehicle
looking for all the world like a gigantic framework
inclosing a hammock, moving on four wheels of
equal size. Here we first have the original four
wheeled vehicle. Again, we find a representation
u W ol iiihh oVht u CAShN"
ton of Pompeii of n wine cart of neat and ingen'
ious construction, with an open arch, for its wheels
to turn more easily under it. This vehicle had
also four wheels.
Italy France, Spain and Germany all contend for
the honor Of the first introduction of carriages,
and in the early records Of the 18th century we
find that "Charles Of Anjou entered Naples, his
Queen riding in a chareta elegantly decorated
with velvet and golden lilies. This vehicle was
represented as two wheeled, drawn by two horses
on one of which the driver rode. While Italy and
France thus claimed the honor of the first intro
duction of carriages, England was not behindhand.
From Elis's specimens of early English poetry,
we find in"The Equyr of Low Degree" supposed to
have been written before Cbaucer, the following
allusion, in which the father of the "Princo of
, Hungary thus makes promise:
Tomorrow 20 shall on hunting fare,
And ride my daughter in a cha,e.
1t shall be covered with velvet red,
And cloths of fine gold all about your head
With damask white and azure blue,
r Well ~diapered with lilies new
n Your pomelles shall be ended with gold
Your chains enamelled with many a fold"
- uoo0 pOWcteo "cIo pfopholy WV iouo
to The roof of the "charete for the purpose of
holding on by when the vehicle went over rough
, places. This seems to identify the carriage, es.
= pecially as the illuminated engraving represents
them as gilded. In the sixteenth century, carriages
. increased in number ard richness, Germany being
foremost in displaying them, so much SO that IN
1888, an edict was issued by the Duke of Bruins
wick forbidding his vassals to ride in carriages, in
!" which he says THAT tho useful discipline and skill
y in riding have been almost lost and that the prin-
ciple cause of this is, that our vassals, servants and
I k~insmen, without distinction. young and old, have
L dared to give themselves up to Incidence, and to
riding IN coaches"
The first coach made in England, was in 1855
made for the Earl of Rutland. by Walter Rippon,
and in 1864 the same maker made one for Queen
Mary. The Earl of Arundel brought one from
from Germany in 1880. In 1905, about the time
of the Gunpowder Plot, coaches increased so much
70 as to be troublesome. Could the inhabitants of three
y and a half centuries ago have looked forward
ID to the present day, would they not have been as
tonished 10 bohold the almost countless str cam oil
e vehicles which throng the gay thoroughfares Of
IS OF London, Paris and Vienna, or of our great met
; ropolitsn thoroughfare in New York Broadway
IL Is over three centuries since wheeled vehicles
came into general use. England has improved bu'
little during the last century in style aud construc
ton, though she may manufacture the most sub
stantial ones but for the beauty of finish and ele
gance, France, Germany and America take the
'e lead.
Previous to the breaking out Of the American
n Revolution, there we're to be found now and then
among the wealthy English families, and in fac,
Is among the American loyalis.s residing in Boston
those cumbrous carriages adorned with family
crests on the panne!s, which characterize luxury
and ease, and whose liveried and oficious menial
were objects of adherence to the plain American
citizen. The "Adamses' and "Quinoy's" KEEP
carriages, but they we're plain modest affairs, com
pared with the English vehicles. In Virginia wer
a few which were brought out by the colonist
from EngIand, but it was not until after the clos
of the Revolution tina. they became general in use
Even then they were confined to the wealthy classe
of the people. Two.wheeled vehicles called chais
es, and by some the gig, came into use, aud con
tinued until a few years since. The prevailin
u color of these gigs was in old time a bright yellow
or a light ~sky-blue, namen with heavy silve
"a platings.
MR.. CARLYLE ON LITTLE FRIEDRICH
THE GREAT.