USEFUL PROJECTS. 



823 



ties about it than there really are. 

 Almost every species of country 

 building has a good effetl, if pro- 

 perly placed and neatly executed ; 

 and what are the least ornamental, 

 or indeed the most disgusting of their 

 appendages, cease to shock, -when 

 supported by the relative situation 

 they stand in, shewing their neces- 

 sity and their use. A dunghill in 

 a farm-fold creates no disagreeable 

 idea, but connected with a gothic 

 gateway, or an embattled tower, it 

 is bad. Cattle, protected by the 

 side of a barn, form a pifturcsque 

 group ; but the sheltering under a 

 Grecian portico, the impropriety is 

 glaring. I^iueii hanging t& dry, on 

 the hedge of a cottage garden may 

 be passed without displeasure; but 

 the cloaths of men, women, and 

 children, surrounding the cell of an 

 anchorite, or the oratory of a monk, 

 have their natural unseemliness in- 

 creased by the contrast. On the 

 other hand, a line-dressed laAvn, 

 ■Kith miserable cottages on the out- 

 side, may be compared to the laced 

 clothes and dirty linen some foreign- 

 ers were formerly accused of wearing. 

 The whole of a gentleman's estate 

 should be his pleasure-ground; the 

 village should be one object in the 

 scene, not shut out from it. There 

 may be a lil^le more pcHish about 

 the mansion, but it should not be 

 an unnatural contrast to the sur- 

 rounding objects. The face of no 

 country is bad, but as it is disfi- 

 gured by artificial means; and the 

 cheapest and best improvement is, 

 merely to remove what ellends, and 

 to take care that the buildings or 

 fences that arc wanted, are neat and 

 appropriate, exhibiting distin(:^tly 

 their real ii^lention. 



I am, ill general, a friend to 

 single cottages, because two fami- 



lies under one roof may have more 

 causes of contention arise between 

 them. On the other hand, in ill- 

 ness, poor persons have frequently 

 the merit of forgetting their differ- 

 ences ; and then the assistance they 

 are inclined to give each other, is 

 made raope easy by nearness of si- 

 tuation. It is possible, however, 

 where two, or even three houses 

 are joined together, to contrive the 

 gardens in such a manner, that 

 there shall be little interference; 

 and sometimes three neighbouring 

 families may do better together, 

 than two. The following plan of a 

 cottage 1 had lately built, i com- 

 municated to the board in the year. 

 1794. The door opens opposite to 

 the jamb of the chimney, to shelter 

 the kitchen fire-place. The chim- 

 ney is in the middle, to keep the 

 two chambers warm. Neither is a 

 thoroughfare to the other, which 

 should contribute to the more de- 

 cent education of the children, 'i he 

 gable ends are capable of containing 

 a window each, large enough to ad- 

 mit good light and air ; whereas, if 

 the chimney is at the end, ihe win- 

 dow must be too small ; and if it is 

 not at the end, a dormant must 

 break out in the root, or the walls 

 must be raised an unnecessary height, 

 to get proper room for a wiiidov,-. 

 If the husband is a mechanic, he 

 may have the room next the kitchen 

 for his Use ; and should he want 

 heated irons, or the use of u fire, 

 for warmth, an iron door in the 

 back of the chimney would cau'e 

 the same fire to serve bJkh apart- 

 ments. This use was suggested to 

 me by a friend, who I think men- 

 tioned it as an idea of Dr. Frank- 

 lin's. 



It is difficult to give any accurate 

 account of the expence of buildings ; 



w hu«e 



