as a rule, the law, order, and precision of an engineer's office.

There's an interesting dichotomy presented here about the tech forwardness of the automobile industry in 1908 versus the tech reticence of the carriage builders in regard to adopting card indexes with respect to their related (though different) industries.

Me (sarcastically):<br /> "Oh, those backwards carriage builders will get with the 'program' any day now..."

Is Catherine Morland’s journey to Bath really as dangerous as the narrator leads us to believe? Or is the mockery of the sentence simply a way to highlight Catherine and Isabella Thorpe’s absurd fascination with romance and adventure? The narrator’s concern about poor weather, robbers, and accidents is not at all unfounded or unexpected. Travel in the Regency era was difficult, expensive, and could be dangerous. Today, travel by train from London to Bath takes about an hour and a half; on the coach, it would have taken about 14 hours. This chart provides more details. Roads were frequently full of mud and ruts, which only slowed down journeys. Horses were replaced about every ten miles and carriages only went between eight and ten miles an hour!

Stagecoaches were the primary mode of long-distance travel during the Regency era, but they were not always a safe or fast method of travel. The stagecoach was first introduced to English roads in the early 16th century, and by the 17th and 18th century had become a common sight on the roads. Drivers were not on their own to plan journeys. They had the very handy resource of Cary’s New Itinerary; or, An Accurate Delineation of the Great Roads, Both Direct and Cross throughout England and Wales; With many of the Principal Roads in Scotland which provided information on routes, inns, and other important travel information.

While coaches had become common, their rise in popularity resulted in the expansion of the presence of highwaymen. These men terrorized the roads of England, and for 100 years Hounslow Heath, near London, was the most dangerous place in the country. The roads to Bath and Exeter ran across the Heath and these travelers provided rich targets for the highwaymen. Learn more about the highwaymen here.

Catherine’s journey to Bath is uneventful, which is to be expected, but the dangers that came with stagecoach journeys highlight the possibilities that came with travel in the Regency era.

"A type of light four-wheeled open carriage, usually drawn by a pair of horses, and having one or two seats facing forward" (OED).