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A TREATISE ON ROADS.

nearly all the travelling between London and Bir-mingham was by Oxford, though the longest wayby eight miles ; but now, the travelling has sincebeen transferred from the Oxford to the Coventryline ; so that the plan now proposed, with respectto the prospect of its success, has the sanction ofexperience.*

If this plan for assisting trustees in improvingthe roads were applied in the first instance onlyto the principal mail-coach roads, the expense tobe incurred by the central board in making sur-veys and inspections would be of moderate amount.These might be made by resident civil engineers,acting under a chief engineer. The salary of eachresident engineer need not exceed 300/. a year.Four assistant engineers in England, and one inScotland , would be able to do all the businessnecessary for making surveys and reports, until thecentral board should have to execute new works.The resident civil engineer, under Mr. Telford, Mr.John Easton, who conducted for several years all theworks on the road between London and Shi’ews-bury, received but 200/. a year. He made a sur-vey of the whole line ; prepared all the plans,estimates, specifications, and drawings for the

* Mr. Huskisson, as chairman of the commissioners of LandRevenue, was, ex officio, chairman of the commissioners of theHolyhead Road. When the author proposed to him the planof placing the trustees of this road under their control, he fullyapproved of it, saying that, if the plan succeeded, all the roadsof the kingdom ought to be placed under a similar control.