mail-coaches used to make the journey to Paris in four days by way of
Auxerre, and in five by Moulins, though the distance is the same, one
hundred and twenty leagues. To-day the automobile, which fears not
hills, take invariably the Moulins road, and covers the distance
between breakfast and dinner; that is, if the driver is a "scorcher;"
and there are such in France.

In 1834 there were thirteen great lines of _malle-postes_ in France
as follows:

To Calais. By Clermont, Amiens, and Abbeville.
To Lille. By Senlis, Noyon, St. Quentin, Cambrai, and Douai.
To Mezieres. By Soissons, Reims, and Rhetel.
To Strasbourg. By Chalons-sur-Marne, Metz, and Sarrebourg.
To Besancon. By Troyes and Dijon.
To Lyon. By Melun, Auxerre, Autun, and Macon.
To Clermont-Ferrand. By Fontainebleau, Briare, Nevers, and Moulins.
To Toulouse. By Orleans, Chateauroux, Limoges, and Cahors.
To Bordeaux. By Orleans, Blois, Tours, Poitiers, and Angouleme.
To Nantes. By Chartres, Le Mans, La Fleche, and Angers.
To Brest. By Alencon, Laval, Rennes, and St. Brieuc.
To Caen. By Bonnieres, Evreux, and Lisieux.
To Rouen. By Neuilly-sur-Seine, Pontoise, Gisors, Ecouis, and
Fleury-sur-Andelle.

Besides the _malle-poste_ there was another organization in France
even more rapid. The following is copied from an old advertisement:

AVIS AU PUBLIC
"_Messageries Royales--Nouvelles Diligences_

"Le Public est averti:

"Il partira de Paris toutes les semaines, pour Dunkerque, passant par
Senlis, Compiegne, et Noyon, une diligence le lundi a 6 heures du
matin. Elle repartira de Dunkerque a Paris, le mercredi a 6 heures du
matin. Il partira aussi dans chaque sens une voiture pour les gros
bagages et objets fragiles, le jeudi de chaque semaine.

"Les bureaux de ces diligences sont etablis a Paris, rue St. Denis,
vis-a-vis les Filles-Dieu."

From Paris to Bordeaux, 157 leagues, the Messageries Royales made the
going at an easy pace in five days. To-day the express-trains do it
in six and one-half hours, and the ever-ready automobile has knocked
a half an hour off that, just for a record. "_Tempus fugit._"

The subject of roads and roadmaking is one that to-day more than ever
is a matter of deep concern to those responsible for a nation's
welfare.

It might seem, in these progressive days, that it was in reality a
matter which might take care of itself, at least so far as originally
well-planned or well-built roads were concerned. This, however, is
not t