THE ROAD. 
expired; and they are light in comparison with stage- 
coaches that run as fast as they do: indeed, amongst 
coachmen, they are slightingly termed "paper carts," 
in reference to comparative weight, and their great 
speed on the road. When the mail-coach of the 
present day starts from London for Edinburgh, a 
man may safely bet a hundred to one that she arrives 
to her time ; but let a light two-horse vehicle set out 
on the same errand, and the betting would strangely 
alter. 
It is quite a mistaken notion, that a carriage is less 
liable to accidents for being light. On the contrary, she 
is more liable to them than one that is well laden in 
proportion to her sustaining powers. In the latter case, 
she runs steadily along, and is but little disturbed by 
any obstacle or jerk she may meet on the road ; in the 
former she is constantly on "the jump," as coachmen 
call it, and her iron parts very liable to snap. Our 
present mail-coach work reflects the highest credit on 
the state of our roads, and everything connected with 
them. It will be borne in mind that, with one or two 
exceptions, they all begin their journey at night, and 
those which perform very long distances have two nights 
to one day ; yet, see the wonderful regularity with 
which they arrive, and the few bad accidents they meet 
with ! But, indeed, all our night-travelling in England 
is deserving of high praise for the expedition and 
regularity with which it is conducted; and, we have 
reason to believe, fewer accidents happen to night- 
