i6 THE COACHING AGE. 



other descriptions, must travel along the roads into 

 the village for the purpose of bringing them the 

 necessaries of life. 



They were also probably unaware that, although 

 tolls were levied for the maintenance of the turn- 

 pike roads, the inhabitants of every parish were 

 bound by the common law of the land to maintain 

 the roads passing through their respective parishes ; 

 indeed, one of the Judges of the King's Bench stated 

 that the obligation to maintain all public roads was 

 public, and in the nature of a tax ; that it was their 

 share of the public burden which those districts had 

 to pay, and which was imposed for the general benefit 

 of the community, and tolls were an additional tax 

 for the same purpose ; that no principle of common 

 law was more clearly recognised than that which 

 attached to parishes the liability to repair all highways 

 within their respective boundaries, and such liability 

 could not be avoided, unless the charge was fixed by 

 the clearest evidence ; that it was a mistake to suppose 

 that the object of Turnpike Acts was to relieve parishes 

 and townships from the burden of repairing highways, 

 their object being to improve roads for the general 

 benefit of the public by imposing a pecuniary tax in 

 addition to the means already provided by law for 

 that purpose. 



In the event of a highway being very much out of 



