THE COACH AS NEWS-BEARER 153 



progress of the French and Spanish wars; thrilled with 

 pride at the news of Trafalgar; paled with dismay at the 

 rumours that the all powerful Napoleon was about to 

 invade England; slept more easily in their beds when 

 they heard of his imprisonment; trembled with fear at 

 the staggering news of his escape from St. Helena; 

 and shouted themselves hoarse for the great viftory of 

 Waterloo. "I could wish myself in London to be three- 

 and-forty hours nearer the news. Was there ever such 

 a land battle in modern times!" wrote Southey from 

 Keswick on July loth, 1815. 



When despatches arrived telling of some great English 

 viftory by land or sea, London rang its bells and went 

 wild with joy, but to the coaches fell the proud distin6lion 

 of spreading the joyful news throughout the length 

 and breadth of the land. 



To show that they performed this duty in no un- 

 certain manner, I append De Quincey's account of such 

 an occasion, and which for a piece of impassioned prose 

 vibrating with the true spirit of coaching has never been 

 surpassed: 



Going Down with Victory 



But the grandest chapter of our experience, within 

 the whole mail-coach service, was on those occasions 

 when we went down from London with the news of 

 victory. A period of about ten years stretched from 

 Trafalgar to Waterloo; the second and third years of 

 which period (1806 and 1807) were comparatively sterile; 

 but the other nine (from 1805 to 181 5 inclusively) 

 furnished a long succession of vidlories; the least of which, 



