64 HIGHWAYS AND HORSES. 



benefited, and partly at the expense of the nation. 

 The consequence of this was that stage-coaches com- 

 menced running northwards from Perth to Inverness 

 in 1806, were regularly established in 181 1, and in the 

 year 1820 no fewer than forty coaches arrived at the 

 latter town in the course of a week, and the same 

 number departed from it ; the use of carts became 

 practicable, sloth and idleness disappeared before 

 energy, activity, and industry — all owing to the 

 existence of good roads." 



Mr. Codrington, in his work on the maintenance 

 of macadamised roads, published 1879, says that, "by 

 the latest Parliamentary return, ^4,000,000 is spent 

 annually on the roads of England and Wales, of which 

 sum nearly all of it is spent on macadamised roads. 

 This is exclusive of the metropolis, where ;!^28o,ooo is 

 said to be annually spent on macadamised roads." 



Telford and ]\IacAdam appear to be the only two 

 men who greatly distinguished themselves as road 

 engineers. Telford undoubtedly stands pre-eminent. 

 MacAdam's doctrines were condemned by the partisans 

 of Telford's system as contrary to the first principles 

 of science ; and Mr. Codrington says that many of his 

 statemets were marked by a good deal of exaggera- 

 tion. Mr. MacAdam's claim to the gratitude of those 

 who make use of high-roads consists in the fact of his 

 having been the first to direct public attention to the 

 condition of the highways throughout England, and 

 not so much in his having evinced any very great 

 ability in their construction. 



A Mr. Edge worth, an Irish proprietor, wrote a 

 treatise on roads, the second edition being published 

 in 181 7. He promulgated the system of broken road- 

 covering some time before the appearance of MacAdam. 



