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318
The Royal Mail: Its Curiosities and Romance
·
James Wilson Hyde
18
Obvious
as
it
must
be
to
every
mind
capable
of
apprehending
ordinary
matters
in
the
present
day,
that
the
opening
up
of
the
country
by
the
laying
down
of
good
roads
would
encourage
trade,
promote
social
intercourse,
knit
together
the
whole
kingdom,
and
render
its
government
the
more
easy
and
effective;
yet
it
is
a
fact
that
the
improvement
of
the
roads
in
various
parts
of
the
country,
both
in
England
and
Scotland,
was
stoutly
opposed
by
the
people,
even
in
certain
places
entailing
riot
and
bloodshed.
So
strong
were
the
prejudices
against
the
improved
roads,
that
the
country
people
would
not
use
them
after
being
made.
This
bias
may
perhaps
have
partaken
largely
of
that
unreasoning
conservatism
which
is
always
prone
to
pronounce
that
that
which
is
is
best,
and
opposes
change
on
principle--an
example
of
which
is
afforded
by
the
conduct
of
the
driver
of
the
Marlborough
coach,
who,
when
the
new
Bath
road
was
opened,
obstinately
refused
to
travel
by
it,
and
stuck
to
the
old
waggon-track.
"He
was
an
old
man,"
he
said;
"his
grandfather
and
father
had
driven
the
aforesaid
way
before
him,
and
he
would
continue
in
the
old
track
till
death."
Other
grounds
of
objection
were
not
wanting,
having
some
show
of
reason;
but
these,
like
the
others,
were
useless
in
stemming
the
tide
of
improvement
which
eventually
set
in,
and
brought
the
roads
of
the
nation
into
their
present
admirable
state.
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