"THE OLD PATHS ' 23 



regular paths of the Middle Ages than any yet 

 remaining to us ; and if our forefathers had won 

 their battle against the revived science of the road- 

 maker, good modern ways might still be uncom- 

 mon west of Exeter. For the outcry that greeted 

 McAdam and his system is recorded to our detriment, 

 and generations to come will laugh at the honest 

 West-country men and their indignant remonstrances. 

 With adequate road-surfaces arose a system of tolls 

 and turnpikes to support them ; and great was the 

 amazement, gloomy were the prophecies that these 

 innovations wakened. It was shown that the draininof 

 of the roads abolished the agreeable mud, and those 

 familiar pools and sloughs so necessary to preserve 

 the hoofs of horses ! Again, where could travelling 

 sheep and cattle refresh by the wayside if there were 

 to be no more puddles? And a more serious and 

 moral objection was also raised. Such perfection 

 of road must clearly conduce to carriages, to luxury 

 and to effeminate love of physical comfort. Another 

 danger lurked in the sudden glorification of the coach- 

 horse. The world worshipped the coach-horse ; he 

 was the great spirit of the moment ; stood for 

 progress ; linked town and country, and represented 

 a breathless increase of facilities for communication. 

 Herein appeared a new peril. The husbandman would, 

 without question, become the slave of the coach-horse 

 also ; he would cease from the culture of wheat and 

 barley, and sow nothing but oats for coach-horses ; 

 and then the poor, denied their bread-corn, must 



