RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 321 



race of stone, and the expression of the edifice is that of 

 strength and security. 



This mode of building is evidently of too ambitious and 

 expensive a kind, for a republic, where landed estates are not 

 secured by entail, but divided according to the dictates of 

 nature among the different members of a family. It is, per- 

 haps, also rather wanting in appropriateness ; castles never 

 having been used for defence in this country. Notwith- 

 standing these objections, there can be no reason why a 

 wealthy proprietor should not erect his mansion in the cas- 

 tellated style, if that style be in unison with his scenery and 

 locality. Few instances, however, of sufficient wealth and 

 taste to produce edifices of this kind, are to be met with 

 among us ; and the castellated style is therefore one which 

 we cannot fully recommend for adoption here. Paltry imi- 

 tations of it in materials less durable than brick or stone, 

 would be discreditable to any person having the least preten- 

 sion to correct taste. 



A mansion in the Tudor Style^ aflfgrds the best example 

 of the excellency of Gothic architecture for domestic pur- 

 poses. The roof often rises boldly here, instead of being 

 concealed by the parapet wall, and the gables are either plain, 

 or ornamental with crockets. The windows are divided by 

 mullions, and are generally enriched with tracery in a style 

 less florid than that employed in churches, but still sufficient- 

 ly elegant to give an appearance of decoration to these parts 

 of the building. Sometimes the low or Tudor arch is display- 

 ed in these window- heads, but most commonly the square- 

 headed window with the Gothic label is employed. Great 

 latitude is allowed in this particular, as well as in the size 

 of the window, provided the general details of style are at- 

 tended to. Indeed, in the domestic architecture of this era, 



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