, he may take a first-class ticket,
while I can only afford a second-class one, but _we both go the same
pace_."

For a time, however, many of the old families sent forward their servants
and luggage by railroad, and condemned themselves to jog along the old
highway in the accustomed family chariot, dragged by country post-horses.
But the superior comfort of the railway shortly recommended itself to
even the oldest families; posting went out of date; post-horses were with
difficulty to be had along even the great high-roads; and nobles and
servants, manufacturers and peasants, alike shared in the comfort, the
convenience, and the despatch of railway travelling. The late Dr.
Arnold, of Rugby, regarded the opening of the London and Birmingham line
as another great step accomplished in the march of civilisation. "I
rejoice to see it," he said, as he stood on one of the bridges over the
railway, and watched the train flashing along under him, and away through
the distant hedgerows--"I rejoice to see it, and to think that feudality
is gone for ever: it is so great a blessing to think that any one evil is
really extinct."

It was long before the late Duke of Wellington would trust himself behind
a locomotive. The fatal accident to Mr. Huskisson, which had happened
before his eyes, contributed to prejudice him strongly against railways,
and it was not until the year 1843 that he performed his first trip on
the South-Western Railway, in attendance upon her Majesty. Prince Albert
had for some time been accustomed to travel by railway alone, but in 1842
the Queen began to make use of the same mode of conveyance between
Windsor and London. Even Colonel Sibthorpe was eventually compelled to
acknowledge its utility. For a time he continued to post to and from the
country as before. Then he compromised the matter by taking a railway
ticket for the long journey, and posting only a stage or two nearest
town; until, at length, he undisguisedly committed himself, like other
people, to the express train, and performed the journey throughout upon
what he had formerly denounced as "the infernal railroad."

[Picture: Coalville and Snibston Colliery]

[Picture: Tapton House, near Chesterfield]

CHAPTER XV.
GEORGE STEPHENSON'S COAL MINES--APPEARS AT MECHANICS' INSTITUTES--HIS
OPINION ON RAILWAY SPEEDS--ATMOSPHERIC SYSTEM--RAILWAY MANIA--VISITS TO
BELGIUM AND SPAIN.

While George Stephenson