Page:F. R. (Fairman Rogers) 1833-1900, Furness, 1903.djvu/28

Rh and on the Continent, the fair landscapes, the wayside Inns, the summers longer and gentler than here at home,—all combined to rekindle his love of horses and of driving; and if of driving, then of driving in its highest perfection,—that of a Four-in-hand. Before his imagination there floated the ideal of a book which should hold to Coaching the same relation that a scientific treatise holds to its subject,—it must be thorough, exact, exhaustive. The realisation of such an ideal Professor Rogers, in the maturity of his powers, now resolved to attempt. The result was, in 1899, given to the public in A Manual of Coaching, a work which it would be difficult to praise too highly. By maintaining no standard lower than perfection in the humblest details of coach, of harness, of driving, it elevates what is perhaps supposed to be merely the pastime of luxurious ease into the dignity of an art worthy of respect. A terret or a splinter-bar may be an insignificant thing, but perfection is not; and in this Manual nothing is overlooked, from the position of a screw to the mathematical formula for computing the centrifugal force in turning a heavy coach round a sharp corner. In no case does the more excellent way fail to receive due note. Even to those who can mount the box and handle the reins only in imagination, the book is good reading. Here and there beams forth the twinkle of a laughter-loving eye, such as: 'If a man has not hands enough to