Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1869-07-28
Coaches

Coaches are said to have been invent
ed at the town of KOtse, in Hungary,
and Matthias COrvinus, the king of
Hungary, to have been the first person
who ever rode in a coach. COrvinus,
however, did not reign until the last
half of the fifteenth century and we
have an edict of Philip le Bel, king of
France, promulgated as early as the
year 1894, prohibiting the use Of car
riages by the wives of citizens; the in
yentiOn of the coach by the HungaTians
could therefore have been little more in
addition of a roof, with perhaps some
other cOnveniences, to the carriages
then in use. Some sort Ofvehicle for the
purposes of luxury, or at least for the
conveyance of female and intirm per-
sons, was no doubt used in the earliest
times. Among the nations of the East,
who considered it tdisgTaceful for women
to be seen by strangers, and who at the
same time were accompanied by their
female relatives in professions on mill
tary occasions, covered carriages were
necessarily used in very early times, as
we find mentioned in the histories of the
Persian wars: though, if we may judge
of the vehicle Of the ancient PeTsians by
that in use among their descendants,
we shall form but mean idea of their
accommodation; the tUcKte-rOwan, or
travelling carriage of that nation, being
little better than a chest suspended be-
tween two camels,
Carriages were used by the Romans at
an early period, and their use increased
so much, that it was thought necessary
to pass q law, more than two hundred
years before the Christian era, prOhit-
ing females from using them within a
mile of Rome. The absurd prohibition
was however repealed within twenty
years, and the excitement produced by
agitating the question is a proof that
these vehicles were then much used. In
the paintings preserved at HerCUlaneum
there are some representations of car
riages drawn by two horses, with pos
tiliOn on one Of them. These carriages
are not much unlike some of our post
/ chaises.
But in the long period of barbarism
which accompanied and followed the fall
| of the Roman empire, the traces of this
and almost every other luxury were ef-
/ faced, and little remained in the shape
of a coach but the war ChariOts, which
were still employed by some nations in
| their battles, There is, however, little
delay in the introduction of luXUries,
/ when the possibility OfindUlging in them
/ is obtained; and the edict Of Philip lie
| Bel proves that women at least, used
carriages at an early period; though the
state of the roads throughout Europe
would prevent their general adoption
except in ceremonial professions, or in
the neigbOrhOOd of large towns. Even
in the streets of cities the passage of q
carriage must have been disagreeable
and difficult from accumulated mud or
dust; and to the cause probably may be
attributed the extension of London to
the westward, as the convenience of the
river passage would induce nOblemen
and wealthy citizens to build near the
Thames, rather than be compelled to
wade from their city residences to their
country houses through the unpaved
street. In addition to the incOnVeni-
ence, it was at first thought disgracefUl
for men to ride in coaches, unless in
cases of illness or infirmity; but this is
always the case upon the introduction of
any new luxury. The time is still with
in the memory of old persons when UNI
brellas were scarcely ever used but by
females, and when the few gentlemen
who carried such a luxurious novelty
were ridieUled and even insulted by
those who few years later were glad
to avail themselves of the same cOnYen-
fences.
In the fifteenth century coaches ap-
pear to have been used in professions
or other public ceremonies, rather as an
ornament thana convenience, five may
judge by the clumsy form of the vehicle.
The entrance of the ambassador TTevasi
into Mantua in a carriage is noticed as
early as the yearl433; and that Of Fred
eTick III into Frankfort in a covered
coach, in 1915. 1t is a curious contrast to
the rapidity with which new inventions
are now adopted, that nearly century
elapsed before the covered carriage was
introduced into England. Stowe, in his
FChrOnic." under the year l555, men,
tiOns the introduction in these terms:
''This year Walter RipOn made coach
for the Earl of Rutland, which was the
first coach (saith he) that ever was made |
in England. Since, to wit, in ammo 1854
the said Walter RipOn made the first
hOllOw-tUrning coach, with pillars and
arches for her majesty, being then her
servant. Also, in ammo 1884, q chariot
throne, with four pillars behind to beare
q canOpie with crOWne imperial on the
tOppe, and behind two lower pillars, !
WheTeOn stood lion and a dragon, the
supporters of the armes of England" "
This chariot throne was used by Queen
Elizabeth in 1888, when she went to st. |
Pauls cathedral to return thanks for the
recovery other kingdom from the Span
ish Armada. At this time coaches were |
so rare, that all her maiesty'S privy |
council and attendants accompanied her !
on horseback, but they appear to have !
become numerous before the end of
Queen EliZabeth's reign. In 1860, four |
coaches accompanied embassy to Mo /
rocco through the city of London; and /
that OfRussia, III the same year muster |
ed eight. a French mission Of cOngrat |
ulatiOn on the accession of James L,
three years later, rode in thirty coaches
from the Tower Wharf to the ambassa-
doris dwelling in Barbican, and return
ed to their lodgings in BishOpsgate street !
in the evening, to the admiration of the
But the coaches of the sixteenth CEN
tury were far from being the elegant We
hicles now in use; and the common
stage, or hackney coach, is perhaps
more comfortable than the royal car
riagB OF Queen Elizabeth, which must
have been something like the lord may
OT's carriage of the present day, diveSt
ed of its glass windows, and laid upon the
axle without springs, like a wagon.
When, in addition to these circUmStan-
cCs, we consider the state of roads in
those days, we shall not be surprised
that even queens, ON long Journeys, pre-
ferred pilliOn on horseback behind one
Of the OtlicCrs-a mode of conveyance
now abandoned to farmers wives i'm re-
mote villages.
The addition of glass windows to {
coaches first appears at the beginning of
the seventeeth century, and that of
springs about forty years later. This
last addition, the most important of all i
for the comfort of the occupant aud ease
Of draught, completed the coach rs we
now have 1t. 1t is still what it was
then, close vehicle suspended ON
springs, and furnished with doors and
windows. Increased skill and taste
have produced a lighter, more elegant,
and easier conveyance, but in all its Cs-
sential parts the coach remains unalter- ],
ed.