on condition that the landlords and others interested should advance the other, and that the work should be executed under the direction of parliamentary commissioners and engineers. This arrangement has been highly beneficial. Through its means about 600 miles of excellent roads have been constructed; and in consequence of the easy means of communication they afford, a spirit of improvement has been excited even in the wildest and least frequented districts. Dr. Smith seems to have inclined to the opinion, that the roads of a country would be better attended to, and more economically managed, were they placed under the control of government, than when they are left to be planned and superintended by private individuals. But this opinion does not seem to rest on any good foundation. It is, perhaps, true that a few of the great roads between the principal towns of a county might be better laid out by government surveyors, than by surveyors appointed by the gentlemen of the different counties through which they pass. But these great roads bear but a very small proportion to the total extent of cross and other roads with which every county either is, or ought to be, intersected; and, besides, it is abundantly certain, that when the formation of the great roads is left, as in Great Britain, to the care of those who, either by themselves or their tenants, have to defray the greater part of the expense of their construction and repair, they will be managed, if not with greater skill, at least with far more economy than if they were intrusted to the agents of government. M. Dupin has set this matter in the clearest point of view, in the remarks he has made on the administration of the roads in France and England. In the former they are entirely under the control of government; and the consequence is, that while there is a useless expenditure upon a few great roads, the cross roads are almost entirely neglected, and the facilities of internal intercourse are incomparably inferior to ours. Sir Henry Parnell, who has published by far the best treatise on road-making in the English language, while he approves of the system of local trusts, proposes that measures should be taken for increasing the responsibility of the trustees, and that every trust should be obliged to submit its accounts to the inspection of some public Board. We have no doubt that this plan would be in several respects advantageous. Perhaps, however, the object in view, in making accounts be submitted to a public Board, might be attained by the erection of local tribunals for their inspection. We should be extremely jealous of any plan, how advantageous soever in other respects, that might lead to the employment of government surveyors generally in the laying out of roads, or to any material abridgment of the powers of the private trusts. Length of Roads, Cost, &c.-The following details, taken from the report of the committee of the House of Lords on turnpike road trusts, show that, in 1829, the total length of the different paved streets and turnpike roads in England and Wales amounted to 19,798 miles; that the direct expenditure by the trustees, on account of these roads, during the same year, was about 1,500,000%, and the revenue about 1,455,000l. But, exclusive of this pecuniary outlay, the value of the work performed on these roads, by parishes, and not brought into the charge, is estimated at 100,000l.; making the whole expenditure 1,600,000l. The length of the various cross roads and other highways is estimated at about 95,000 miles. Summary Statement of Roads, in England and Wales. Length of turnpike roads Number of turnpike trusts Acts of parliament passed Toll gates. Debt - miles, 19,798 L. 1,119 3,753 Salaries to clerks, surveyors, law bills, printing, adver- 196,025 243,757 . The gross expenditure for the year 1829, as delivered to the -1,678,054 65,270 -1,499,568 incidental causes Rents of toll gates and parish? Tolls compositions due, but unpaid Parish compositions® Total income for the year L. 1,455,293 Interest paid on mortgage debt. Manual labour. Team labour, improvements, materials, on contracts, L. 236,679 • 303,173 The nett current expenditure of the several turnpike road Tolls. In fixing the rate of tolls, great care should be taken to keep them as low as possible. When they are either too much multiplied, or too high, they have a very pernicious influence. They then operate as a most oppressive and unequal tax on commerce; and obstruct that intercourse they are intended to promote. The same remark is applicable to all sorts of dock and harbour dues, light-house dues, &c. When confined within due bounds, they cannot justly be objected to; for nothing can be fairer than that those who benefit by such increased facilities and security in the prosecution of their business should pay for them. But whenever they exceed the proper limits, they tempt the navigator to resort to ports where the charges are lower, and to direct his course through more insecure but less costly channels. Improvement of Roads.-It is not easy for those accustomed to travel along the smooth and level roads by which every part of this country is now intersected, to form any accurate idea of the difficulties the traveller had to encounter a century ago. Roads were then hardly * Exclusive of parish labour, valued at 100,000. formed; and, in summer, not unfrequently consisted of the bottoms of rivulets. Down to the middle of the last century, most of the goods conveyed from place to place in Scotland, at least where the distances were not very great, were carried, not by carts or wagons, but on horseback. Oatmeal, coals, turf, and even straw and hay were conveyed in this way! At this period, and for long previous, there was a set of single-horse traffickers (cadgers), that regularly plied between different places, supplying the inhabitants with such articles as were then most in demand, as salt, fish, poultry, eggs, earthenware, &c.; these were usually conveyed in sacks or baskets, suspended one on each side the horse. But in carrying goods between distant places, it was necessary to employ a cart, as all that a horse could carry on his back was not sufficient to defray the cost of a long journey. The time that the carriers (for such was the name given to those that used carts) usually required to perform their journeys, seems now almost incredible. The common carrier from Selkirk to Edinburgh, thirty-eight miles distant, required a fortnight for his journey between the two places going and returning! The road originally was among the most perilous in the whole country; a considerable extent of it lay in the bottom of that district called Gala-water, from the name of the principal stream, the channel of the water being, when not flooded, the track chosen as the most level, and easiest to travel in. Even between the largest cities, the means of travelling were but little superior. In 1678, an agreement was made to run a coach between Edinburgh and Glasgow,-a distance of 44 miles,-which was to be drawn by six horses, and to perform the journey from Glasgow to Edinburgh and back again in six days. Even so late as the middle of last century, it took 14 day for the stage coach to travel from Edinburgh to Glasgow,-a journey which is now accomplished in 4 or 5 hours. So late as 1763, there was but one stage coach from Edinburgh to London, and it set out only once a month, taking from 12 to 14 days to perform the journey. At present, notwithstanding the immense intercourse between the two cities by means of steam packets, smacks &c., 6 or 7 coaches set out each day from the one for the other, performing the journey in from 45 to 48 hours.-(Robertson's Rural Recol. pp. 39-44.) The effects of this extraordinary improvement in the means of travelling have been as striking on the manners as on the industry of all classes. The remark of Dr. Smith that "man is the least transportable species of luggage," is no longer true as applied to Great Britain. During spring, the metropolis is crowded with visiters of all ranks and orders from the remotest provinces; and during summer and autumn vast numbers of the citizens are spread over the country. Hence it is, that manners as well as prices are reduced nearly to the same standard. A respectable family in Penzance or Inverness live very much in the same way as a respectable family in London. Peculiarities of all sorts have disappeared; every thing is, as it were, brought to a level; the fashions and opinions of the metropolis are immediately diffused over every part of the country, while those that originate in the latter powerfully influence the former. (These details have been partly borrowed from the treatise on Commerce, published by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, contributed by the author of this work.) [The roads of the United States have been improved and multiplied exceedingly within a few years past; and the extension of the system of internal improvement-meaning thereby the introduction of easier and more rapid communications between the different points of their territory, has been latterly urged forward with a zeal that seemed nearly regardless of the amount of present expenditure. Turnpike roads have been carried through the country, especially the eastern and middle portions of it, in almost every direction. But it is by their canals and railroads, as much as by any other circumstance connected with their progress, that the United States have rendered themselves conspicuous among the nations of the earth. This will be apparent from the following condensed summary of the canals and railroads in the United States, with their lengths and terminating points, drawn up by Mr. H. S. Tanner, which we have been kindly permitted to copy, with his latest corrections. A Condensed Summary of the Canals and Railroads in the United States; their Lengths, and Terminating Points. Canals in Massachusetts. Hampshire and Hampden, Montague Falls, South Hadley Falls - 1:00 Eastern, • 9.00 - Boston, Boston and Lowell, . Boston, . 0-25 Boston and Portland,t Mas. Line, Portsmouth, Nashua and Lowell, Canals in Vermont. White River Falls, Bellows Falls, 9 miles in Massachusetts. -15-47 0-50 0-16 0-40 Taunton and New Bedford, New Bedford, 20-00 114 miles in New Hampshire. For farther information on the present subject, the reader is referred to Mr. Tanner's work on the canals and railroads of the United States. See also article STEAM VESSELS.Am. Ed.} ROPE consists of hemp, hair, &c. spun into a thick yarn, of which several strings are twisted together by means of a wheel. When made very small, it is called a cord; and when very thick, a cable. All the different kinds of this manufacture, from a fishing-line, or whip-cord, to the cable of a first-rate ship of war, go by the general name of cordage.— (See CABLE.) ROSEWOOD (Ger. Rosenholz; Fr. Bois du rose, de Rhode; It. Legno rodie; Sp. Leno de rosa; Port. Páo de rosado) is produced in Brazil, the Canary Islands; in Siam, whence it is pretty largely exported by the Chinese; and in other places. It is in the highest esteem as a fancy wood. The width of the log imported into this country averages about 22 inches, so that it must be the produce of a large tree. Rosewood has a slightly bitterish, somewhat pungent, balsamic taste, and fragrant smell, whence its name. It should be chosen sound, heavy, of the deepest colour, in the largest pieces that can be procured, and of the most irregular knotty grain. The small, light-coloured and large shivered pieces should be rejected. The more distinct the darker parts are from the purple red, which forms the ground, the more is the wood esteemed. It is usually cut into veneers of 9 to an inch.— (Milburn's Orient. Com., &c.) Rosewood is one of the dearest as well as most beautiful of the fancy woods. Its price in bond varies from about 1201. to 1251. per ton; so that it is principally used in veneering. Its consumption has more than trebled since 1820. At an average of the 3 years ending with 1822, the entries for home consumption were 277 tons a year, whereas they amounted, during the 3 years ending with 1832, to 912 tons a year! This increase is principally to be ascribed to the reduction of the duty, in 1826, from 201 to 101. a ton,-a wise and judicious measure, by which the revenue as well as the consumption has been considerably increased. ROSIN. "This substance is obtained from different species of fir; as the Pinus abies, sylvestris, larix, balsamea. It is well known that a resinous juice exudes from the pinus sylvestris, or common Scotch fir, which hardens into tears. The same exudation appears in the pinus abies, or spruce fir. These tears constitute the substance called thus, or frankin cense. When a portion of the bark is stripped off these trees, a liquid juice flows out, which gradually hardens. The juice has obtained different names, according to the plant from which it comes. The pinus sylvestris yields common turpentine; the larix, Venice turpentine-(see TURPENTINE); the balsamea, balsam of Canada-(see BALSAM), &c. All these juices, which are commonly distinguished by the name of turpentine, are considered as composed of two ingredients; namely, oil of turpentine, and rosin. When the turpentine is distilled, the oil comes over, and the rosin remains behind. When the distillation is continued to dryness, the residuum is known by the name of common rosin, or colophonium; but when water is mixed with it while yet fluid, and incorporated by violent agitation, the mass is called yellow rosin. During winter, the wounds made in the fir trees become incrusted with a white brittle substance, called barras or galipot, consisting of rosin united to a small portion of oil. The yellow rosin, made by melting and agitating this substance in water, is preferred for most purposes, because it is more ductile, owing, probably, to its still containing some oil. The uses of rosin are numerous and well known."-(Thomson's Chemistry.) (ROSTOCK, the principal city of the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg Schwerin, on the Warnow, about 9 miles above where it falls into the Baltic, in lat. 54° Ñ., long. 12° 12′ E. Population, 20,000. A large fair for merchandise is annually held at Whitsuntide; and there are wool fairs at other seasons of the year. The outport of Rostock is at Warnemunde, at the mouth of the Warnow. The depth of water at the latter varies from 10 to 12 feet; but when the west pier, now in the course of being constructed, has been completed, it is expected that the depth of water will be from 12 to 14 feet. The depth of water in the river from Warnemunde up to Rostock is usually from 8 to 9 feet; so that vessels drawing more than this must be lightened to get up to the latter. Rostock has a good harbour, and commodious quays. Imports. The principal articles of import are sugar, coffee, and other colonial products; cottons, woollens, and hardware, with coal, earthenware, salt, iron, horses, &c., from England; hemp, flax, tallow, oil, sail-cloth, &c., from Russia; alum, deals, timber, lime, tar, &c., from Sweden; herrings and fish oil from Norway; wine, brandy, molasses, drugs, &c., from France; with rice, rum, groceries, &c., from Copenhagen and Hamburgh. The total value of the imports by sea, in 1835, was estimated at about 200,000l. Exports.-These consist chiefly of very good red wheat, barley, peas, rapeseed, and a few oats; with wool, rags of a very superior quality, oil cake, rape oil, bones, flax, horses, cattle, provisions, &c. The average export of all kinds of grain may be taken of late at from about 115,000 to about 130,000 quarters a year. The total value of all sorts of exports, in 1835, was estimated at about 185,000. Shipping. The port of Rostock has 180 ships, of the burthen of 25,996 register tons, which trade with most European nations, the United States, and Brazil. In 1835, there entered the port 540 ships (burthen not stated), of which 215 belonged to Mecklenburg, 152 (mostly small craft) to Denmark, 83 to Sweden, 27 to Hanover, 18 to Prussia, 12 to Russia, 19 to Holland, 10 to Lubeck, 2 Hamburgh, and 1 each to France and England. It is only, in fact, when our ports are open to the importation of foreign corn that British ships are met with, in considerable numbers, in the ports of Mecklenburg. Duties.-These are extremely moderate. On most imported articles they amount to only 3 per cent. ad valorem. An export duty of about 5d. per quarter is charged on corn, and of about 4s. 8d. per hhd. on wine. Wool is not subject to any duty on export. Goods imported in vessels not privileged pay 50 per cent. additional on the above duties; that is, they pay 4 instead of 3 per cent. ad valorem. Wismar, the second sea-port town of Mecklenburg, at the confluence of the river Stor with the sea, in lat. 53° 49′ 25′′ N., long. 11° 36′ 15′′ E. Population 11,000. The harbour of Wismar is commodious and safe, being nearly land-locked by the islands of Poel and Wallfisch. Close to the town there is from 8 to 8 feet water; in the inner roads there is from 12 to 13 feet; and in the outer, from 16 to 20 feet water. The port charges on a native or privileged vessel of 100 tons amount to about 30 rix-dollars. The articles of import and export are the same at Wismar as at Rostock; but, owing to the proximity of Lubeck, from which Wismar is not more than 27 miles distant, her foreign trade is comparatively limited. About 30 ships, of the burthen of 4,360 tons, belong to this port. There cleared from it, in 1835, 277 ships, of which 11 were English. The duties at Wismar are somewhat higher than at Rostock, being 4 per cent. ad valorem on colonial products, and froin 4d. to 8d. per quarter on corn exported. It is believed, however, that they will shortly be reduced to the Rostock level. General Remarks on the Trade of the Duchies.-Mecklenburg is essentially an agricultural, wool-growing, grazing, and breeding country. In some places it is sandy and barren ; but it is for the most part very fertile, and the crops and pastures are both luxuriant. Having few manufactures, her imports necessarily consist principally, as already stated, of manufactured goods, and her exports of raw produce. Owing, however, to the circumstance of the south-western part of the province being bounded by the Elbe, and approaching to within about 30 miles of Hamburgh, almost all the manufactured goods, as well as a very large proportion of the colonial products used by the population (540,000), are imported by way of Hamburgh. Hence, in Mecklenburg, as in Prussia, the direct foreign trade carried on by the sea frontier forms but a very small part of the entire trade of the country. It is impossible, however, to form any precise estimate of what the latter may amount to. Probably there is no European country so little fettered by customs' regulations as Mecklenburg. The duties on articles imported by sea amount only, as already stated, to about 3 per cent. ad valorem; and those entering by the land frontier are subject merely to a trifling charge, on account of toll, of which we have not seen any account. It is impossible, indeed, that any commercial system can be bottomed on more liberal principles; and this enlightened policy, and her situation near the mouth of the Elbe, and on the western frontier of the Prussian league, give to Mecklenburg far greater importance, as a commercial state, than is indicated by the amount of her population, or of her internal consumption. (We have drawn up this article from authentic details obligingly furnished by Christopher Kreeft, Esq., Consul for Mecklenburg.)---Sup.) ROTTERDAM, on the north bank of the Maese, in lat. 51° 55′ 19′′ N., lon. 4° 29′ 14′′ E. Population about 60,000. Rotterdam is the second commercial city of Holland. It is more advantageously situated than Amsterdam; being nearer the sea, and the canals which Intersect it are so deep as to admit of the largest vessels coming up to the quays and warehouses of the merchants. Its commerce, during the last 15 years, has increased more rapidly than that of any town in Holland. The exports and imports are similar to those of Amsterdam. The white Zealand wheat shipped here is of a peculiarly fine quality; and it is |