"The English Mail-Coach" by Thomas De Quincey
The English Mail-Coach is an essay by the English author Thomas De Quincey . A "three-part masterpiece" and "one of his most magnificent works," [ 1 ] it first appeared in 1849 in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine , in the October (Part I) and December (Parts II and III) issues. The essay is divided into three sections: Part I, "The Glory of Motion," is devoted to a lavish description of the mail coach system then in use in England, and the sensations of riding on the outside upper seats of the coaches (in the author's often opium -tinged perceptions). With many digressions (on subjects ranging from Chaucer's poetry to a comparison of the River Thames with the Mississippi ), De Quincey discusses the "grandeur and power" of the mail-coach ride; prior to the invention of the railroad, the mail coach represented the ultimate in transportation, in speed and force and controlled energy. Perhaps the most memorable and frequently-cite...