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have marched over their enduring pavements and along their 
direct lines, at the behest of an emperor keeping his court at 
Eboracum ; or that couriers from the second city of Britain 
might have sped along them with despatches to the other 
towns and fortresses of Brigantia ! 
Hence, as they did not follow the beaten track — the date of 
whose construction they were unable to show — they sought 
for iters where perhaps they had never been made. Let us 
take a more comprehensive and a deeper view of the question, 
and go at once to the foundation of the inquiry. Permit me 
then to recal to your recollection, in as brief a manner as 
possible, the general state of Britain at the period of Roman 
dominion. You will remember that it had been reduced to 
the state of a province ; that its inhabitants lived in cities, 
towns, and villages ; that their cities consisted of municipal 
buildings, temples, baths, and dwelling-houses, all provided 
with most of the conveniences of modern luxury and refine- 
ment. That the open country was spotted here and there 
with the villas and mansions of the wealthy Romans, adorned 
with all the costly embellishments of which Italian archi- 
tecture was capable. These cities, towns, and villages, were 
connected by a vast and well designed series of roads, military 
and vicinal. It is unnecessary to enter into proofs of the 
durable construction of the roads, either laid down or adopted 
and improved by the Roman conquerors of Britain. It is a 
fact, in every way confirmed, that such was the case, and that 
their preservation and supervision were entrusted to men 
holding high positions under the government.* On the 
subjugation of a province, the first attention of the con- 
querors was directed to the roads between the strongholds 
they had wrested from the defeated tribes ; and it is indispu- 
table, that the more important the province the more complete 
were these channels of communication between the cities and 
garrisons within its borders. 
* Curator Viarum, or keeper of roads. 
