CARRIAGE

carriage, a term which in its widest signification is used, as its derivation permits, for any form of "carrying"; thus, a person's "carriage" is still spoken of in the sense of the way he bears himself. but it is more specifically the general term for all vehicular structures employed for the purposes of transport of merchandise and movable goods and of human beings. such vehicles are generally mounted on wheels, but the sledge and the litter are types of the exception to this rule. within this definition a vast variety of forms is included, ranging from the coster's barrow and rude farm-cart up to the luxuriously appointed sleeping-cars of railways and the state carriages of royal personages. a narrower application, however, limits the term to such vehicles as are used for the conveyance of persons and are drawn by horses, and it is with carriages in this restricted sense that we are here concerned. tramcars, railway carriages and motor-cars are dealt with in other articles. _history_.--a wheeled carriage appears to have been in very general use in egypt at an early period, called a car or chariot (q.v.); in the bible the word is usually translated "chariot." the bodies of these chariots were small, usually containing only two persons standing upright. they were very light, and could be driven at great speed. they were narrow, and therefore suitable to eastern cities, in which the streets were very narrow, and to mountainous roads, which were often only 4 ft. wide. from egypt the use of chariots spread into other countries, and they were used in war in large numbers on the great plains of asia. we read of the 900 chariots of jabin, king of canaan; how david took 700 chariots from the kings of syria and 1000 from the king of zobah. solomon had 1400 chariots, and his merchants supplied northern syria and the surrounding countries with chariots brought out of egypt at 600 shekels (about l50) apiece. from the ancient sculptures preserved from nineveh and babylon, some of which are in the british museum, we observe the use of chariots continued for the purpose of hunting as well as for war. homer describes the chief warriors on both sides at the siege of troy as going into battle and fighting from their chariots. the roman nation as it increased in power adopted the car, though chiefly for purposes of show and state. a beautiful marble model of one of these still exists at the vatican in rome: a copy of it and the horses drawing it is in the museum at south kensington. the war chariots used by the persians were larger; the idea seems to have been to form a sort of turret upon the car, from which several warriors might shoot or throw their spears. these chariots were provided with curved blades projecting from the axle-trees. alexander the great, king of macedon, invading asia was met upon the banks of the river indus by king porus, in whose army were a number of elephants and also several thousand chariots. on alexander's return from india towards persia, he travelled in a chariot drawn by eight horses, followed by an innumerable number of others covered with rich carpets and purple coverlets. after alexander's death a funeral car was prepared to convey his body from babylon to alexandria in egypt, and this car has perhaps never been excelled in the annals of coach-building. it was designed by the celebrated architect hieronymus, and took two years to build. it was 18 ft. long and 12 ft. wide, on four massive wheels, and drawn by sixty-four mules, eight abreast. the car was composed of a platform, with a lofty roof, supported by eighteen columns, and was profusely adorned with drapery, gold and jewels; round the edge of the roof was a row of golden bells; in the centre was a throne, and before it the coffin; around were placed the weapons of war and the armour that alexander had used. the romans established the use of carriages as a private means of conveyance, and with them carriages attained great variety of form as well as richness of ornamentation. in all times the employment of carriages depended greatly on the condition of the roads over which they had to be driven, and the establishment of good roads, such as the appian way, constructed 331 b.c., and others, greatly facilitated the development of carriage travelling among the romans. in rome itself, and probably also in other large towns, it was necessary to restrict travelling in carriages to a few persons of high rank, owing to the narrowness and crowded state of the streets. for the same reason the transport of goods along the streets was forbidden between sunrise and sunset. for long journeys and to convey large parties the _reda_ and _carruca_ appear to have been mostly used, but what their construction and arrangements were is not known. during the empire the carriage which appears in representations of public ceremonials is the _carpentum_. it is very slight, with two wheels, sometimes covered, and generally drawn by two horses. if a carriage had four horses they were yoked abreast, among the greeks and romans, not in two pairs as now. from the _carruca_ are traced the modern european names,--the english _carriage_, the french _carrosse_ and the italian _carrozza_. the _sirpea_ was a very ancient form of vehicle, the body of which was of osier basket-work. it originated with the gauls, by whom it was named _lenna_, and by them it was employed for the conveyance of persons and goods in time of peace, and baggage during war. with its name are connected the modern french _banne, banneton, vannerie_ and _panier_,--all indicating basket-work. the ancient britons used a car for warlike purposes which was evidently new to the romans. it was open in front, instead of at the back as in their cars; and the pole, which went straight out between the horses, was broad, so that the driver could walk along, and if needful drive from the end. above all, it possessed a seat, and was called _essedum_ from this peculiarity. for war purposes this car was provided with scythes projecting from the ends of the axle-trees. cicero, writing to a friend in britain, remarks "that there appeared to be very little worth bringing away from britain except the chariots, of which he wished his friend to bring him one as a pattern." the roman 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. sumptuary laws were enacted on account of the public extravagance, but they were little regarded, and were altogether abrogated by the emperor alexander severus. suetonius states that nero took with him on his travels no less than a thousand carriages. 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 at the diet and on other occasions were employed as ambassadors, were called _rittmeister_. in this manner also great lords made their public entry into cities. covered carriages (see coach) were known in the beginning of the 15th century, but their use was confined to ladies of the first rank; and as it was accounted a reproach for men to ride in them, the electors and princes sometimes excused their non-attendance at meetings of the state by the plea 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 15th century they began to be employed by the emperor, kings and princes in journeys, and afterwards on state occasions. in 1474 the emperor frederick 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; that, for instance, of the electress of brandenburg at the tournament held at ruppin in 1509 was gilded all over, and that of the duchess of mecklenburg was hung with red satin. 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 panels 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 contented 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 erfurt 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 describes a view he had seen of bremen, painted by john landwehr in 1661, in which 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 was a small door, and in front a low seat or box; the coachman sat upon the horses; and the dress of the persons within proved them to be burgomasters. at paris in the 14th, 15th and even 16th centuries, the french monarchs rode commonly on horses, the servants of the court on mules, and the princesses and principal ladies sometimes on asses. persons even of the highest rank 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 poitiers, and the third to rene de laval, a very corpulent nobleman who was unable to ride on horseback. the coaches used in the time of henry 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. occasional allusion is made to the use of some kinds of vehicles in england during the middle ages. in _the squyr of low degree_, a poem of a period anterior to chaucer, a description of a sumptuous carriage occurs: "to-morrow ye shall on hunting fare and ride, my daughter, in a chare. it shall be cover'd with velvet red, and cloth of fine gold all about your head, with damask white and azure blue well diaper'd with lilies new." chaucer himself describes a chare as "with gold wrought and pierrie." when richard ii. of england, towards the end of the 14th 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 in england were known as chares, cars, chariots, caroches and whirlicotes; but these became less fashionable when ann, the wife of riehard ii., showed the english ladies how gracefully she could ride on the side-saddle, stow, in his _survey of london_, remarking, "so was riding in those whirlicotes and chariots forsaken except at coronations and such like spectacles." there were curious sumptuary laws enacted during the 16th century in various italian cities against the excessive use of silk, velvet, embroidery and gilding, on the coverings of coaches and the trappings of horses. in 1564 pope pius iv. exhorted the cardinals and bishops not to ride in coaches, according to the fashion of the times, but to leave such things to women, and themselves ride on horseback. the use of coaches in germany in the 16th century was not less common than in italy. the current of trade, especially from the east, had for a long time poured into those two countries towards holland, enriching all the cities in its progress. macpherson, in his _history of commerce_, says that antwerp possessed 500 coaches in 1560. france and england appear to have been behind the rest of europe at this period. the first coach in england was made in 1555 for the earl of rutland by walter rippon, who also made a coach in 1556 for queen mary, and in 1564 a state coach for queen elizabeth. that one of the carriages used by queen elizabeth could be opened and closed at pleasure may be inferred from her causing at warwick during one of her progresses--"every part and side of her coach to be opened that all her subjects present might behold her, which most gladly they desired." coaches of the type now properly so-called were first known in england about the year 1580, and were introduced, according to stow, from germany by henry fitzalan, 12th earl of arundel. by the beginning of the 17th century the use of coaches had become so prevalent in england that in 1601 the attention of parliament was drawn to the subject, and a bill "to restrain the excessive use of coaches" was introduced, which, however, was rejected on the second reading. their use told severely on the occupation of the thames watermen, and taylor the poet and waterman complained bitterly both in prose and verse against the new-fangled practice:-- "carroaches, coaches, jades, and flanders mares doe rob us of our shares, our wares, our fares. against the ground we stand and knock our heels whilest all our profit runs away on wheeles." the sneers of wits and watermen notwithstanding, coaches became so common, that in the early part of the 17th century they were estimated to number more than 6000 in london and its surrounding country. we now arrive gradually at the modern conception of carriage-building. no trace of glass windows or complete doors for coaches seems to have existed up to 1650. but plain and rude as was the first coach of louis