1824.} 
Another advantage, which Mr. McA- 
dam appears to possess over most 
other road-makers, is that of being able 
to judge where good materials are likely 
to be obtained, by sinking a certain 
depth below the soil. And in a case 
where his hands have been unfettered 
by any of the local considerations above- 
mentioned, he has converted, what was 
formerly one of the worst pieces of road 
between any two opulent cities, into 
one of the finest in the whole kingdom : 
I mean the twelve miles, between Bath 
and Bristol. The soft Oolite stone 
which forms the surface of that district 
being a miserable material for road- 
making, the height of a hill was reduced; 
at the same time an abundance of very 
hard iron sandstone was procured, equal, 
if not superior, in some respects to 
granite. 
With regard to the superior economy 
of employing this latter substance for 
road-making in London streets, there 
can be no doubt; the old paving stones 
furnishing a surplus quantity for the 
improved system. But there is pro- 
bably greater durability and less dust 
from the use of flint, if that material 
can be obtained in sufficient quantity. I 
fully agree with your correspondent Mr, 
Single, that (if paving the carriage-way 
of our streets be at all necessary) granite 
is the best material we can use; but 
I differ from him in his conclusion 
against the new system applied to nar- 
row streets. He says, “ it will not do 
where there is much traffic, from the 
frequency of opening the ground in 
order to repair the water and other 
pipes.” But he surely must admit that 
excavations can be filled up with the 
broken stone d /a MacAdam ina fourth 
part of the time and with half the nui- 
sanee to passengers, that attend the 
job-contract-system of paving. 
The chief objection to laying gravel 
instead of pavement in a narrow street, 
is the ruts which are liable to be cut by 
carriages following each other in the 
same track. This, however, might be in 
a great measure avoided, by having a 
vigilant and civil resident-inspector or 
street-keeper, to see the road always 
kept in good: repair, by scraping and 
moderate watering, and superintendiug 
the carriage traffic of the streets. 
The progress of this decided improve- 
ment to the metropolis is now, in 
spite of all the opposition of “ vested 
interests,” corporate and parochial, 
making very rapid strides ; and I have 
Remarks on the Remains of a Roman Encampment. 
221 
no doubt the experience of seven years 
will make us blush for the passive obe- 
dience, which has been heretofore con- 
ceded by a generous publi¢ to the local 
jurisdiction of a few parish or district 
dictators. I shall conclude by citing 
one instance as a proof whether the 
street pavements of the metropolis 
were formerly done as well as they 
might have been:—That fine area 
Lincoln’s-Inn-Fields, instead of being 
gravelled, is now nearly new-paved, in 
a manner vastly superior to any work 
of that kind previously performed. 
Should not the opulent inhabitants of 
that square erect a statue in honour of 
McAdam ? OxsERVATOR. 
—ra— 
To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
Sir: 
J HAVE no doubt that many of your 
readers have been led to smile on 
reading the communication of F. L. 
Williams, who, in your Number for 
August, has been induced to “ record,” 
for the information of the ignorant, and 
to place, for the jirst time, (as he ima- 
gines), before the public eye, certain 
grave matters touching the remains of 
a Roman encampment in the neigh- 
bourhood of Islington. It is certainly 
very kind in F. L. W. to take so much 
pains in “ affording light” to those dull 
plodding wights, “ the writers of topo- 
graphical and local histories,’ and to 
warn them against falling into errors in 
their archzological researches—a task 
to which he is no doubt fully compe- 
tent. It would, moreover, have been 
quite as well if he had at the same time 
given credit to some of them for the 
information, which I shrewdly suspect, 
he has derived from their labours, ex- 
clusive of the “chief incidents”? fur- 
nished by his good friend Dr. W.O. 
Pughe, the Book of Nennius without a 
title, and the superlative authority of 
“ the Tragedy of Boadicea.” 
The fact is, the remains of the camp, 
supposed to be that of Suctonius Pau- 
linus (whom F. L. W. designates Paulus 
/Emylius), ave well known/to every one 
conversant in the topography of the 
metropolis, and have been described in 
various publications. An engraving of 
the spot, under the name of the Reed 
Moat Field, which is the general appel- 
lation of the place, was published 
by J. P. Malcolm, in the year 1796; 
and another, by myself, in a descrip- 
tion of the parish, in 1811, To show 
the readers of the Monthly Magazine 
how 
