1824.) 
Jinds it answer well there can be no 
doubt. 
But if the roads immediately adjoining 
the metropolis that have been M*‘ Adam-~ 
ized—for that is the term, although the 
breaking of stones to form roads. is no 
new thing,—what is the present state? 
Why, very indifferent indeed, and by no 
means such as to induce any man in his 
senses to promote the adoption of the 
plan in London. The Kingsland road, 
which was entirely renovated at an enor- 
mous expense, I believe by Mr. M‘Adam 
himself, and which was quite a crack 
road, is now full of holes innumerable, 
and some of the coachmen are not very 
nice in their expressions of dissatisfac- 
tion against both the plan and the 
planner. 
Why is it, if the plan is so good that 
“he who runs may read,” that the road 
to Kensington, and that to the Hast- 
India docks, called the Commercial road, 
have still the granite pavement in the 
middle ; and the road from Whitechapel 
church to Bow, on each side of it, wide 
enough for carriages to run on, but that 
it is feared the immense weights carried 
in and about London would soon cut 
them to pieces? In the Commercial 
road you will invariably see the enor- 
mous waggons belonging to the East- 
India Company, steadily pursuing their 
way along the paved part of the road, 
from which they never deviate; and in 
bad weather‘you as constantly see, on 
the road to Bow, the heavy loads of 
hay, manure, &c., travelling on the paved 
sides. 
Now if this be so, out of London, 
how much more would it be the case 
within it? Infinitely, I should conceive, 
in consequence of the eternal traffic, and 
the exceedingly heavy loads perpetually 
issuing from the different wharts, ware- 
houses, &c. 
S.W. has mentioned some of the 
objections to this thing being adopted 
in the metropolis, such as the filth that 
may, and would, collect on the roads, 
and the difficulty of crossing in winter 
and rainy weather; but he does not 
name the intolerable dust of summer, 
which would be ten times worse for 
tradesmen. But there are other objec- 
tions: in the first place, so much more 
water would find its way into the high- 
ways of London from the houses, courts, 
alleys, &c., than in the country high- 
ways, that the continual grinding of the 
wheels under great weights would quickly 
destroy any road but one of solid gra- 
nite. Then, say the advocates for this 
On M‘Adamizing the Streets of the Metropolis. 
413 
plan, pave your kennels; really, that 
would be but a patchwork business; it 
should either be all one thing, or all 
another, Again: if the town street-way 
should ever become as firmly bound as 
a country road, in a few days it may be 
expected that some of either the nume- 
rous gas or water-pipes, or the drains or 
sewers, with which this metropolis is so 
widely and so beneficially intersected, 
will want repairing or examining; and 
on all such occasions the hard road 
must be dug up, and in fact destroyed. 
But this, we are told, can be easily and 
cheaply mended: perhaps so; but it 
must be recollected that a long time 
will elapse before it will bind again like 
the rest ; and in the mean time, you will 
have a loose stony road, very unlike the 
present pavement :—unless, indeed, that 
other scheme, wilder by far even than 
this, the subways for all the pipes.to. be 
gathered together in one, should be 
adopted. 
It may be thought a trivial objection by 
some, but it might prove otherwise in the 
event of a riot, or any other mischievous 
mob getting together, or even idle boys 
at play, that a quantity of such conve- 
nient-sized stones for throwing should 
be suffered in London; woe be to plate- 
glass and other windows, if they are. 
With respect to St. James’s-square, 
&c., it must be recollected, even if there 
it should answer, that the traffic in and 
about it bears no sort of comparison 
with that in the majority of the streets 
of London; and if a bridge or two 
should be found to do well with such a 
road, the objections with regard to the 
variety of pipes, &c., and the frequent flow 
of water in the streets, will not apply to 
the bridges, which have no water except 
from the heavens or the water-carts, 
aud the gas-pipes, if any, are carried 
outside the balustrades: so that they 
would be no precedents for the streets. 
T quite agree with S.W., that Mr. 
M‘Adam, or his agents, have greatly 
improved some of the country roads ; 
but I cannot but wish that he would be 
content with improving them, and leave 
London the enjoyment of a good gra- 
nite pavement.—I am, &c. 
J.M,L. 
[We insert this letter, because we think 
the subject of such importance to the com- 
fort of the metropolis, that it ought to be 
fully investigated and understood, before it 
is too late for inquiry. But we trust that 
our correspondent’s objections will not, all 
of them, remain unanswered.— ED. | 
To 
