THE LIBERTY OF ST. MARTIN' S-LE-GRAND 31 



Two Necks, Lad Lane, of 1812, carrying only inside 

 passengers, took fourteen hours in running to the 

 George, in the Haymarket at Leicester) ; to Man- 

 chester in 17i hours ; to Portsmouth, to Woodstock, 

 and to Worcester, at a noble pace ; and to Shrews- 

 bury, by the memorable Wonder, in sixteen hours. 



It was Sherman, according to Colonel Corbett, who 

 made the gallant attempt to run the new railway off 

 the road, by means of the Eed Eover, from the Bull 

 and Mouth to Manchester, in the winter of 1837. 

 But the sentiment which may still induce the traveller 

 to prefer, in the summer solstice, a spin of a dozen 

 miles over a fair rolling country behind four ' prancing 

 tits,' to being drawn by the iron horse, was not long 

 proof against the blandishments of a spacious cushioned 

 compartment, for a six or eight hours' journey by 

 steam, as an alternative to an eighteen hours' journey 

 on the top, or even in the inside, of a coach at any 

 time of the year ; and Sherman, with his Eed Eover, 

 fared no better than Don Quixote with his wind-mill. 



The Marquis of Conyngham, the most transient, 

 probably, of all Postmasters-General, retired for the 

 second time on May 30, 1835, after a tenure of office 

 of only twenty-two days, and so made way for Thomas 

 William, Earl of Lichfield, who, no less than the 

 Duke of Eichmond, bent his mind on mail-coach 

 development with vigour and success. 



Lord Lichfield did his part well. Twelve new 

 coaches having been put on by his predecessor, he 

 effected accelerations, and put on more new coaches 



