In Russia and North America, though but little has yet been done in opening the country and forming good lines of roads, that little has proceeded on correct principles ; but much, of course, remains to be done to render tra velling, and the transportation of goods in those countries, either convenient or safe.
We have thus rapidly glanced at the history of roads, from the early ages to the present day, in an extended sense, as applicable to roads on the continent, as well as in Britain ; it is due, however, to our native country, to give a some what more detailed account of theof the highways of England, and of their gradual improvement, untift77arrival at their present state.
If we peruse the history of this country, from the departure of the Romans to the Revolution of 1688, we shall feel little surprise that our ancestors, per petually harassed by foreign invasions, or intestine commotions, should have done but little to improve their internal communications. Down to the middle of the eighteenth century, merchandise was, in some parts of the country, car ried by pack-horses on roads little better than foot-paths, or well-beaten sheep tracks. Until the year 1285 the government seems to have taken no steps to remedy the evil; the first act was then passed relating to roads. In 1346, Edward III. was empowered to levy a toll on carts or carriages, travelling from St. Giles's-in-the-Fields to Temple Bar. In the reign of Henry VIII. the first serious attempt was made at improvement, by an act, allotting to parishes the care of the roads passing through them, and appointing an annual election of road surveyors. The funds were obtained from a pound rate levied on the landholders, and assistance in labour was enforced. In 1653 was passed the act of Charles II., establishing the first turnpike-road ; and from that time to the present, an immense number of similar acts have obtained the sanction of the legislature. The result has been, the formation of the numerous trusts, or commissions, under whom has been effected the present improved condition of our turnpike•roads.
Though the system of legislation may be imperfect, and often mischievous, the management faulty, and the principles of road-making but little understood, or acted on, yet we cannot look back on roads as they were, without feeling suf ficiently thankful for reads as they are.
Surveying, and laying out a line of road.—The first duty of an engineer, on being employed to lay out a line of road, will obviously be to make a careful personal examination of the country between the respective termini. " It may be laid down as a general rule," says Sir H. Parnell, " that theitest line of road between any two points will be that which is the shortest, the most level, and the cheapest of execution ; but this general rule admits of much qualification : it must, in many cases, be governed by (the comparative cost of annual repairs, and the present and future traffic that may be expected to pass over the road; natural obstructions, also, such as hills, valleys, and rivers, will intervene, and frequently render it necessary to deviate from the straight line." In accordance with these views, the engineer will select the most eligible lines, and entrust each to an experienced surveyor, who will, with the requisite instruments, take the levels, and make an accurate survey of the country. The memoranda of the field books are to be carefully transferred to paper, protracted and laid down on a sufficiently large scale,—say 66 yards to the inch for the ground plan, and 30 feet to the inch for a vertical section. The plan should contain all necessary information to enable the engineer to form a correct estimate of the probable expense of the work. On the vertical section should be marked the horizontal distances in miles, and the vertical heights in feet. The gradiente should be laid on by the engineer himself, and great care taken to preserve she requisite inclinations, and a due Wane., as far as practicable, of cuttings and embankments. Calculations should be made of the quantity of cubic yards of earth to be moved ; the nature of the different strata ascertained, to determine the inclinations kt which the slopes will stand; and borings made, to try the peat in monism.