H CHAPTER V. ROADS. "These high wild hills and rough uneven ways -Richard II, Act. II, Scene III. AVING observed, somewhat, the conduct of the early inhabitants, of the town, in their relation to state and national matters, we now return to the more prosaic labor, of considering them, in the ordinary transactions of life. We shall now direct attention to the roads of the town, having first had something to say about roads, as not only a necessity, but also a sign and natural concomitant of human progress. Starting from the serpentine trail of the wild man, after which many modern roads seem to have been modeled, and following along through paths denoted by "blazed trees," till we come to the most complete achievements of recent times, we are convinced that roads, like other objects in nature, are subject to the scientists' law of evolution and development, with, in many instances, "a survival of the fittest." Gibbon tells us, in his "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," in speaking of the principal cities of that empire, that from A. D. 98 to 180, they were connected with each other, and with the capital, by the public highways, which, issuing from the forum of Rome, traversed Italy, pervaded the provinces, and were terminated only by the frontiers of the empire. If we carefully trace the distance from the wall of Antoninus to Rome, and from thence to Jerusalem, it will be found that the great chain of communication, from the northwest to the southeast point of the empire, was drawn out to the length of four thousand and eighty Roman miles, or three thousand, seven hundred and forty English miles. "The public roads were actually divided by mile-stones, and ran in a direct line, from one city to another, with very little respect for the obstacles either of nature or private property. Mountains were perforated, and bold arches thrown over the broadest and most rapid streams. The middle part of the road was raised into a terrace, which commanded the adjacent country, and consisted of several strata of sand, gravel and cement, and was paved with large stones, or, in some places near the capital, with granite. Such was the solid construction of the Roman highways, whose firmness has not entirely yielded to the effort of fifteen centuries. They united the subjects of the most distant provinces by an easy and familiar intercourse; but their primary object had been to facilitate the marches of the legions; nor was any country considered as completely subdued, till it had been rendered, in all its parts, pervious to the arms and authority of the conqueror. The advantage of receiving the earliest intelligence, and of conveying their orders with celerity, induced the emperors to establish, throughout their extensive dominions, the regular institution of posts. Houses were everywhere erected, at a distance of only five or six miles, each of them was constantly supplied with forty horses, and by the help of these relays, it was easy to travel a hundred miles a day, along the Roman roads."* It will be seen, from this statement, that public roads, among the Romans, were a "military necessity," and that they far excelled, in solid firmness and smoothness, anything of the sort seen in our own country. But, while Rome was thus favored with good roads, it is evident that she was an exception to most other countries of importance, both before and since the period of which Gibbon writes. Gibbon's Rome, vol. 1st, p. 63-64. According to writers upon Palestine, there never have been, in that country, anything like roads fitted for the passage of wheeled vehicles. Chariots were sometimes used on the plains, and in the lowlands. Only miserable bridle paths exist for the accommodation of travelers. Even in England, according to Macaulay, as late as sixteen eighty-five, the public highways were very poor, and, at certain seasons of the year, well night impassable. In speaking of the roads at that time, he says, "it was by the highways that both travelers and goods generally passed from place to place. And those highways appear to have been far worse than might have been expected from the degree of wealth and civilization which the nation had even then attained. On the best lines of communication the ruts were deep, the descents precipitous, and the way often such as it was hardly possible to distinguish, in the dusk, from the unclosed heath and fen which lay on both sides. "It was only in fine weather that the whole breadth of the road was available for wheeled vehicles. Often the mud lay deep on the right and left, and only a narrow track of firm ground rose above the quagmire. At such times obstructions and quarrels were frequent, and the path was sometimes blocked up during a long time by carriages, neither of which would break the way. It happened almost every day that coaches stuck fast, until a team of cattle could be procured, from some neighboring farm, to tug them out of the slough. But in bad seasons the traveler had to encounter inconveniences still more serious. Thoresby, who was in the habit of traveling between Leeds and the capital, has recorded in his diary, such a series of perils and disasters as might suffice for a journey to the Frozen Ocean or to the Desert of Sahara: On one occasion he learned that floods were out between Ware and London, that passengers had to swim for their lives, and that a higgler had perished in an attempt to cross. In consequence of these tidings he turned out of the high road, and was conducted across some meadows, where it was necessary for him to ride to the saddle-skirts in water. In the course of another journey he narrowly escaped being swept away by an inundation of the Trent. He was afterwards detained at Stamford four days, on account of the state of the roads, and then ventured to proceed only because fourteen members of the House of Commons, who were going up in a body to parliament with guides and numerous attendants took him into their company. On the roads of Derbyshire travelers were in constant fear for their necks, and were frequently compelled to alight and lead their beasts. "The great route through Wales to Holyhead was in such state that, in sixteen eighty-five, a viceroy, going to Ireland, was five hours in traveling fourteen miles, from St. Asaph to Conway. Between Conway and Beaumaris, he was forced to walk a great part of the way; and his lady was carried in a litter. His coach was, with great difficulty, and by the help of many hands, brought after him entire. In general, carriages were taken to pieces at Conway, and borne, on the shoulders of stout Welsh peasants, to the Menai Straits. In some parts of Kent and Sussex none but the strongest horses could, in winter, get through the bog, in which, at every step, they sank deep. "The markets were often inaccessible during several months. It is said that the fruits of the earth were sometimes suffered to rot in one place, while in another place, distant only a few miles, the supply fell far short of the demand. The wheeled carriages were, in this district, generally pulled by oxen. When Prince George of Denmark visited the stately mansion of Petworth, in wet weather, he was six hours in going nine miles; and it was necessary that a body of sturdy hinds should be on each side of the coach, in order to prop it. Of the carriages which conveyed his retinue several were upset or injured. A letter, from one of his gentlemen in waiting, has been preserved in which the unfortunate courtier, complains that, during fourteen hours, he never alighted, except when his coach was overturned or stuck fast in the mud. People, in the time of Charles the Second, traveled with six horses, because, with a smaller number, there was great danger of sticking fast in the mire."* *See Macaulay's History of England, vol. 1st, p. 280-284. These extracts, from Macaulay, are sufficient to give the reader, not already familiar with the facts, some idea of the condition of roads in England less than two hundred years ago, and show him how patiently and often with what great risk to comfort and life, even the highest noblemen in the king's realm, made their wearisome journeys over the kingdom. Of course, when the Pilgrim Fathers began the settlement of this country, they had to furnish themselves with whatever roads they needed. It must, however, be borne in mind, that, for several years, they had but little occasion for the use of what we now call highways. Only Indian trails, through the forest, or blazed trees, guided them from place to place. But, with increasing and more widely spreading populations, there soon arose the necessity for public highways. This necessity demanded the attention of the General Court in both the Plymouth and Massachusetts colonies, so that we find in the colonial records, frequent legislation upon this subject. A few extracts we will here introduce, to show the reader how the people of the colonies began that system of highways, which has since spread itself out like net work, over the entire land. October 1st, 1634, at a court holden before the governor and assistants the following named persons were appointed for laying out the highways: For Duxbury side, Capt. Miles Standish, Mr. William Collier, Jonathan Brewster, William Palmer, Stephen Tracy--men familiarly associated in the minds of all, with every event of importance in the early colonies, from the landing of the Pilgrims in the Mayflower, to their establishment upon a firm basis in town and state. "At a court of Assistants held the second day of May, in the 12th year of his Majesty's reign, of England, etc. May 2d, 1637, Bradford, governor. It was ordered by this court, that a jury should be empaneled to set forth, the highways about Plymouth, Ducksborrow, and the Eele River, which was accordingly summoned, and upon the ninth day of May next after they appeared before the governor, and took their oath to lay forth such highways about the towns of Plymouth, Ducks |