and the vehicles could then be used as a comfortable travelling carriage [[Plate 38]]. The curricles and phaetons were all used to carry trunks, and these are described by Mr Felton very minutely, so as to make it clear we have not much improved upon the fittings of a travelling carriage since 1790.
Looking once more at the history I have given of the state of the coach-trade in 1790, it is impossible not to be surprised at the considerable advance from the clumsy vehicles of Queen Anne and George I.’s time. But during the reigns of George II. and George III., all our manufactures had received an immense impulse from the energy of the men of the time. Discoveries were continually being made in arts and manufactures. Books were written, experiments tried, and debates held in every workshop as to the best mode of construction and arrangements of all the parts, and improvements by the artisans employed became a matter of course. It is true that, with the increased wealth of England there was an increased demand for carriages,—demand will always produce supply,—but all must admit that the supply in those days was very good, and all the varied demands were met with considerable pains and ingenuity.