him, and I have myself seen him trot by Jordan in ascending the Wyle Cop in Shrewsbury, when the latter had nearly flogged his horses to a standstill. Perhaps I should add, in fairness to Jordan, that, though he had a beautiful team, it was composed of light horses, and that the other coach was drawn by horses possessing more size and power for enabling them to get a load up a steep ascent. I have been particular in giving the antecedents of these coachmen, as, of course, they were picked out as especially qualified for the great pace at which this mail was timed, and it was a feather in their caps. Indeed, it may be said that, as at that time the end of coaching was within measurable distance, they represented "the survival of the fittest." About this time the Postmaster-General started several day mails besides the one just mentioned. There was one on the Brighton road, and one between Birmingham and Shrewsbury, which left the Holyhead road at Shiffnal, and, passing through Ironbridge, joined it again about four miles from Shrewsbury, and probably there were others of which I have no cognizance. CHAPTER XI. THE BRIGHTON ROAD. So much has already been written about the Brighton road that, perhaps, it may seem presumptuous in me to re-open the subject, but as I have noticed the Birmingham road, I will venture to dwell very shortly upon the Brighton one, as they may be said to have been the antithesis to each other, much in the same way as now the business of the southern railways differs from that of what are called by way of distinction the heavy lines. No observant person can, I think, arrive in London from the south and drive through town straight to one of the large railway stations in the north, without being struck with the difference of the traffic. So it was in the coaching days; on one road business was paramount, on the other a little time for pleasure could be indulged in. I do not mean to say that they carried on the old practice of throwing away ten minutes or a quarter of an hour at each change of horses; far from it. The work was admirably done, but it had not about it the severe utilitarianism which was the prevailing feature with the other. The horses on the northern road showed, as a rule, more blood, and the coaches gave the idea of their having been built with a view to carrying loads at a high rate of speed. Nothing seemed wanting to ensure pace with safety, whilst, at the same time, there was nothing to lead anyone to suppose for a moment that they were anything but stage coaches. On the other hand, on the road to the fashionable watering-place, some of the coaches, from the small amount of lettering upon them, and bright pole chains, might at first sight have been mistaken for private drags.