of daily life that has implanted in the sons of England love of
home, goodness of nature, and sweet reasonableness, and has given
strength to the thews and sinews of her children, enabling them to
defend her land, her principles, and her prosperity. With regard
to the three Sonning bridges, parts of them have been already
rebuilt with iron fittings in recent years, and no disinterested
reasonable person can see why they could not be easily made
sufficient to carry all existing traffic. If the bridges were to
be widened in the service of some disproportionate vehicles it is
obvious that the traffic such enlarged bridges are intended to
carry would be put forward as an argument for demolishing the
exquisite old bridge over the main river which is the glory of
this exceptionally picturesque and well-ordered village; and this
is a matter of which even the most utilitarian would soon see the
evil in the diminished attraction of the river not only to
Englishmen, but to Colonials and Americans who have across the sea
read widely of its beauty. Remonstrances must look ahead, and can
only now be of avail in recognition of future further danger. We
are called upon to plead the cause for the whole of the
beauty-loving England, and of all river-loving people in
particular."

Gallantly does the great painter express the views of artists, and
such vandalism is as obnoxious to antiquaries as it is to artists and
lovers of the picturesque. Many of these old bridges date from
medieval times, and are relics of antiquity that can ill be spared.
Brick is a material as nearly imperishable as any that man can build
with. There is hardly any limit to the life of a brick or stone
bridge, whereas an iron or steel bridge requires constant supervision.
The oldest iron bridge in this country--at Coalbrookdale, in