PREFACE. 



Should it be argued that the condition of the highways 

 is a matter of interest only to a very small portion of the 

 community, I can give a very conclusive and unequivocal 

 reply to such a statement ; let those who feel no interest in 

 the condition of the highways cease to make use of them. If 

 we require any proof of the influence their use exercises over 

 the comfort and convenience of our lives, let us imagine a 

 time when we are deprived of their use; let us imagine 

 a snow-storm of such terrific violence and intensity, and 

 lasting so long, that every road both of town and country is 

 blockaded and rendered impassable for a month or more. 

 What then would be the result of such a state of things ? 

 Would not every man, woman, and child throughout the 

 kingdom feel then the vital importance of this means of 

 communication of which they were deprived ? 



Most English people know what a London fog is, and are 

 aware that it either puts a stop to traffic in the streets, or 

 renders moving on wheels a matter of extreme difficulty, if 

 not danger. The fog also penetrates into our houses, and 

 renders all those occupations and professions to which the 

 light of day is essential, utterly impossible. Painters, en- 

 gravers, photographers, and numerous people of other trades 

 and professions, are all forced to cease their labours and 

 remain idle, because a darkness as of night — a darkness such 

 as might even have alarmed Pharaoh — has spread itself like a 



