10 On Roads and IVheel-Carriages. 
obvious to any observer of facts. An inspection of the wheel- 
carriages now in common use throughout the country will, I ven- 
ture to affirm, afford abundant evidence of the accuracy of that 
observation. Many of these carriages might justly be described 
as engines for the destruction of good roads, and for the punish- 
ment of the animals doomed to drag them along. My observa- 
tion and experience in the usage of roads has wrought a convic- 
tion in my mind, that, unless a reformation be effected in the 
construction and regulation of wheels and wheeled carriages, mil- 
~lions will be wasted, and roads in a state of excellence will be al- 
together denied to those districts which do not possess the means 
of providing good materials. 
This subject has within the last twenty years been so often 
brought before the public, and explained with so much perspi- 
cuity and ingenuity, that it would be highly presumptuous in me 
to descant on it. Need I mention the works of Edgeworth, the 
admirable essays and experiments of Cummings, (whose posi- 
tions, though doubted or disputed on some points, still appear to 
lead the mind to conviction:) or should I remind the public that 
years ago the whole of this important matter, both as regards the 
construction of wheels and the general management of roads, 
underwent a full examination before a Committee of the House 
of Commons, and that a copious and valuable mass of evidence 
was obtained, which has been long since published to the world ? 
Notwithstanding these proceedings of the legislature, which pro- 
duced an exposition fraught with so many valuable facts, still has 
this matter, so important to the country at large, and to the landed 
interest in particular, been permitted ever since to remain dor- 
mant. Towhat can such an extraordinary apathy or indifference 
be attributed? Is it that human ingenuity is believed to have 
attained to its acme, and that mechanical improvements have 
ceased? The numerous philosophical establishments and public 
repertories of the country will prove the contrary. Are not, then, 
these delays solely attributable to the inveteracy of custom and 
its concomitant prejudices? To overcome such obstacles is a 
difficult task. Scepticism will ever come in aid of ancient esta- 
blishments. Let it be so. I would not overturn one system, until 
the merits of that which is to be substituted had undergone due 
investigation, and its superiority been proved. As however opi- 
nions are, or may be, at variance on this subject, inquiry is the 
only means of attaining to the truth; and it is with an humble 
desire to kindle and extend that spirit of inquiry, that I have 
framed this address, 5 
Having thus declared that my views in this publication are 
merely to excite inquiry and investigation, it would be neither 
necessary nor becoming in me to impose on the attention of the 
public 
