between Birmingham and Coventry; Braunston Hill, between Dunchurch and Daventry; a continued succession of hills between Daventry and Towcester; afterwards the well-known Brickhill and Hockliffe hills, besides the very circuitous and imperfect road between South Mims and Barnet. Another instance I would beg leave to mention to the Committee, is the road between the towns of Shrewsbury and Worcester, on the way to Bath, which consists of nearly a succession of very high and inconveniently steep hills, although very easy inclinations might be obtained by passing along the side of the river Severn. I have mentioned these two instances as examples of the present imperfections of main roads, and it is quite evident they might all be readily avoided by lines of new road, easily to be accomplished. These, I presume, the Committee will admit are sufficient to show the present state of many other roads in the kingdom, they not having been selected as more particularly defective than others. The shape, or cross sections and drainage of the roads, are quite as defective as the general direction and inclinations; there has been no attention paid to constructing a good and solid foundation for the roadway; the materials, whether of gravel or stones, have seldom been sufficiently selected and arranged; and they lie so promiscuously upon the road as to render it inconvenient to travel upon, and promote its speedy destruction. The shape of the road, or cross section of the surface, is frequently hollow in the middle; the sides encumbered with great banks of mud, which have accumulated sometimes to the height of six, seven and eight feet; these prevent the water from falling into the side-drains; they also throw a considerable shade upon the road itself, and are gross and unpardonable nuisances. The materials, instead of being cleansed of the mud and soil with which they are mixed in their native state, are laid promiscuously upon the road; this, in the first instance, creates an unnecessary expense of carriage to the road, and afterwards nearly as much in removing it, besides inconvenience and obstruction to travelling; the materials should therefore be cleansed on the spot where they are procured, from every particle of earth, by screening, or if necessary, even by washing; some additional expense might in the first instance be incurred by these operations, but it would be found by much the most economical and advantageous mode in the end. In all cases, materials in their native state are composed of particles and pieces of different sizes, it is most important that those should be separated, and that the largest size should be reduced to not more than six or eight ounces in weight, and laid in the bottom part of the road; those that are under that weight or size may be laid on the top or surface of the road; the surface itself should be made with a very gentle curve in its cross section, just sufficient to permit the