On Roads and Wheel-Carriages. 9 
the Bristo] commissioners began the work of amendment; and 
their general surveyor, Mr. M‘Adam, has revived, with improve- 
ment, a plan long practised in this county, and admirably cal- 
culated for roads which, like those in the Bristol trust, are com- 
posed of excellent materials. ‘The commissioners of this district 
also determined on removing the reproach which the bad state 
of their roads had brought on Bath and its neighbourhood. They 
confided the execution of their works to my direction ; and not- 
withstanding the existing paucity of proper materials, and in 
spite of usage more destructive than in any other part of Eng- 
land, the system I have adopted has been crowned with com- 
plete success; as the present excellent state of our roads will, I 
trust, sufficiently testify. From these and other districts, in which 
reformation has been adopted, the light of improvement is ex- 
tending throughout the country with a rapidity and spirit that 
promise to overcome every obstacle, and finally to effect a grand 
and general scheme of reformation in the road system. 
My object in this address is not to discuss plans or theories. 
In passing, however, I may be allowed to remark, that in all po- 
pular objects taken up with enthusiasm, schemes of delusion are 
often hastily adopted. Thus, in this instance, the art of the en- 
gineer, on which the stability of every system of road-making 
must depend, appears to be overlooked; and the whole merit and 
importance of the scheme is ascribed to mere mechanical means, 
which will not bear indiscriminate application, and, even where 
locally advantageous, may afford only a temporary benefit. The 
partial disappointments hence arising may occasionally prove pre- 
judicial to the progress of the general work: but as the spirit of 
inquiry, when once awakened, is too strong to be subdued, science 
will, in the end, be sure of its triumph. I therefore entertain 
a belief, that within a few years, if due legislative precautions 
be taken, the highways of this kingdom will exceed in excellence 
all that has ever been enjoyed by a nation, since the dissolution 
of the Roman empire. 
The means of giving permanency, then, to a measure, on which 
so much of the ease and safety of society depends, must infallibly 
excite the solicitude and inquiry of the public. But surely it is 
always better to meet evils by anticipation, and guard against 
them by timely exertion, than to wait their effects before a re- 
medy be devised; and I trust that this communication will be 
found contributive to that end. 
I think that I shall be supported in stating as an axiom, that 
it is not only essential, but indispensable, that there should be a 
reciprocal adaptation between the roads and the carriages which 
pass over them. That this adaptation does not now exist, more 
particularly where the roads are properly constructed, must be 
obvious 
