ILLUSTRATIONS.
| MAIL-COACH ACCIDENT AT ELVENFOOT, | [Frontispiece] | |
| CAUTION TO POSTBOYS, | Page | [19] |
| ROTHBURY AND MORPETH MAIL-DRIVER, | " | [23] |
| EWENNEY BRIDGE OUTRAGE—NOTICE OF, | " | [37] |
| HOLYHEAD AND CHESTER MAILS SNOWEDUP NEAR DUNSTABLE—26TH DEC. 1836. (From an old print), | " | [39] |
| DEVONPORT MAIL-COACH FORCING ITSWAY THROUGH A SNOWDRIFT NEAR AMESBURY—27TH DEC. 1836. (From an old print), | " | [43] |
| NOCTURNAL REFRESHMENT, | " | [55] |
| ST MARTIN'S-LE-GRAND IN THE COACHING DAYS, | " | [59] |
| 'LADY HOBART' MAIL PACKET, | " | [76] |
| POSTBOY JACK, | " | [78] |
| STEAMSHIP 'AMERICA', | " | [80] |
| TRAVELLING POST-OFFICE, | " | [117] |
| DELIVERING ARM, SHOWING HOW THE POUCH IS SUSPENDED, | " | [121] |
| CAUTION AGAINST LETTER CARRYING, | " | [147] |
| STRANGE ADDRESSES, | " | [158-169] |
| FALSTAFF AS A HIGHWAYMAN, | " | [172] |
| GRIZEL COCHRANE AND POSTBOY, | " | [174] |
| SELBY MAIL-BAG, | " | [182] |
| LETTER-BOX TAKEN POSSESSION BY TOMTITS, | " | [211] |
| THE MULREADY ENVELOPE, | " | [285] |
| INTERIOR OF AN OLD POST-OFFICE, | " | [295] |
| THE POSTMISTRESS OF WATFORD, | " | [299] |
| FORM OF POSTMASTER'S APPOINTMENT, | " | [301] |
THE ROYAL MAIL
CHAPTER I.
OLD ROADS.
The present generation, who are accustomed to see the streets of our cities paved with wood or stone, or otherwise so laid out as to provide a hard and even surface suited to the locomotion of wheeled vehicles, or who by business or pleasure have been led to journey over the principal highways intersecting the kingdom in every direction, can form no idea of the state of the roads in this country during the earlier years of the Post-office—or even in times comparatively recent—unless their reading has led them to the perusal of accounts written by travellers of the periods we now refer to. The highways of the present day, radiating from London and the other large centres of industry, and extending their arms to every corner of the land, are wellnigh perfect in their kind, and present a picture of careful and efficient maintenance. Whether we look, for example, at the great north road leading from London, the Carlisle to Glasgow road, or the Highland road passing through Dunkeld, we find the roads have certain features in common: a broad hard roadway for vehicles; a neatly kept footpath where required; limits strictly defined by trim hedges, stone walls, or palings; and means provided for carrying off surface-water. The picture will, of course, vary as the traveller proceeds, flat country alternating with undulating country, and wood or moorland with cultivated fields; but the chief characteristics remain the same, constituting the roads as worthy of the age we live in.