182i„] Rail-ways recommended for the use of Stage Coaches, 413 
lure of the country through which it 
passes, but the general calculation is 
about £100. a mile, pretty nearly the 
same as that of a common turnpike 
road, and the repairs are considerably 
less. The expense of horses being 
£14,400 greater as it is, than it would 
be by means of a rail-way, it will be 
.seen that the saving in horse-labour 
will, in the space of about ttpi years, 
cover the expense of making two rail¬ 
ways, one for going and the other for 
returning, even at the rate of 8 coaches 
only on the same road.* In how much 
shorter time the expense would be de¬ 
frayed from Bristol or Liverpool, or 
some other large town, to London, 
where the number of coaches daily pas¬ 
sing is so much greater, may be easily 
calculated y and if the saving in horse- 
labour be so very considerable, a better 
toll could be afforded by the proprietors 
of coaches, consequently there must be 
a much earlier return of the principal, 
than on a common turnpike-road. 
Another consideration which comes 
within the compass of this plan, and 
certainly a very important one, is hu¬ 
manity to those wretched animals 
which are goaded to death by the mer¬ 
ciless drivers of stage coaches. The 
late Bishop of London, Dr. Porteas, 
that excellent man urged the necessity 
of observing the rest of the sabbath 
from motives of humanity to those poor 
cat tie which w-ere worked so hard every 
other day in the week. What then 
must be the advantages of a plan whifeh 
almost entirely dispenses with their 
services? Unhappily for these animals 
the people of thi§ country do not be¬ 
lieve in the doctrine of transmigration, 
otherwise they would show more mercy 
to them, lest they themselves should 
hereafter suffer the penalty of their evil 
deeds, in the shape of a coach-horse. 
It is to he understood that rail-roads 
are designed for the exclusive use 
of stage-coaches, which must be so re¬ 
gulated with regard to time, as not to 
come in contact with each other; and 
this may be done with very trifling in- 
convenieney. It will in some instances, 
no doubt, be impossible to carry a rail¬ 
road from one town to another owing 
to hills and valleys; but the plan might 
be adopted in those stages where it is 
practicable ; and it will be sometimes 
necessary to. go some way about, but 
fhe expedition will make up for the 
* £14,400. multiplied by 10,is £144,000. 
72 miles multiplied by 2, is 144. 
distance. Canals are equally liable to 
such difficulties. It will, perhaps, be 
further objected, that now coaches take 
up and set down passengers at their 
doors, which could not be done in this 
instance. To this objection, I answer, 
when a ship comes in at low-water, 
how are the passengers taken on shore ? 
Might not small vehicles be contrived 
to meet the coaches at the end of the 
rail-road, and take them to different 
parts of the town ? 
Let me again impress it on the mind 
of the reader, that whatever objections 
may be raised against this plan, canals 
are liable to the same, as being precisely 
on the same principle; and if any ad¬ 
vantages accrue to the country from the 
latter, they would in a much higher 
degree proceed from the former; for- 
as much as the expense of making a 
canal is six or seven times greater than 
that of making a rail-way; and, after 
all, a canal is but a matter of specula¬ 
tion at best, as the quantity of articles 
to be conveyed from one place to ano¬ 
ther is precarious and uncertain; where¬ 
as a rail-way is a matter of certainty, 
since so many coaches are known to 
pass daily, and the returns to answer 
the expenditure. Let it be further re¬ 
membered, that rail-roads are found to 
be very useful near coal works and 
mines ; so that the plan is only new in 
the application, which it is suggested 
to be made of it, and not in principle. 
In this great commercial country, 
few improvements would perhaps be 
attended with more beneficial results. 
It would in the first place be the means 
of rendering useless a vast number of 
horses, which are now a heavy burden 
on the community, and thereby reduce 
tile price of provisions, the price of 
labour, and tend to increase the popu¬ 
lation without overstocking the coun¬ 
try, as that portion of land now pro¬ 
ducing fodder, might then produce 
corn for the use of man.—It would be 
the means of reducing the fare of pas¬ 
sengers; goods might be conveyed at a 
much cheaper rate, and distance would 
be diminished, and places which are 
now far apart, would in a manner, be 
brought near each other, by facilitating 
the communication between them:— 
in a word it would spread plenty, in¬ 
dustry, prosperity, and happiness 
throughout the land. 
This plan has only simplicity and 
usefulness to recommend it: let me, 
therefore,once more entreat the curious 
reader not to give his judgment too 
hastily; 
