24 THE COACHING AGE. 



for the performance of their work. Thus the poor 

 old road-man or stone-breaker, who sometimes was 

 an addition to the picturesqueness of the country- 

 lane, will entirely disappear, like another race of men 

 with whom he was nearly connected — that is the 

 turnpike-gatekeepers ; both the stone-breakers and 

 the toll-keepers affording instances of the rule that 

 all public improvements are attended by some loss to 

 individuals. The sum paid daily was perhaps so small 

 that the trustees of the turnpike trusts did not look 

 too narrowly into this mode of expenditure of their 

 tolls, or consider whether the article cheapest in price 

 is always the best. 



It may not be uninteresting to see how in the old 

 days, under parochial management, highway business 

 was transacted. When I say old days, I mean when 

 the Highway Act of 1835 prescribed the duties of 

 the road surveyors, and laid down generally the law 

 relative to highways, as it was to be thenceforth 

 carried out. The position of affairs is very different 

 at the present day, having been materially altered, 

 principally in matters relating to the accounts, within 

 the last few years. 



Nearly all parochial business was transacted 

 at the parish vestries. Overseers, churchwardens, 

 and road surveyors were chosen at them. The 

 amounts for which the several rates were to be made 



