RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 331 



ideal acquaintance with the venerable castles, abbeys, and 

 strong-holds of the middle ages. Romantic, as is the real 

 history of those times and places, to our minds their charm 

 is greatly enhanced by distance, by the poetry of legendary 

 superstition, and the fascination of fictitious narrative. A cas- 

 tellated residence, therefore, in a wild and picturesque situa- 

 tion, may be interesting, not only from its being perfectly in 

 keeping with surrounding nature, but from the delightful 

 manner in which it awakens associations connected with the 

 history of the past. 



The domestic architecture of England may be viewed in 

 another pleasing light. Their buildings and residences have 

 not only the recommendation of beauty and complete adapta- 

 tion, but the additional charm of having been the homes of our 

 ancestors, and the dwellings of that bright galaxy of English 

 genius and worth, which illuminates equally the intellectual 

 firmament of both hemispheres. He, who has extended his 

 researches, con amore, into the history of the domestic life and 

 habits of those illustrious minds, will not, we are sure, forget 

 that lowly cottage by the side of the Avon, where the great 

 English bard was wont to dwell ; the elegant residence of 

 Pope at Twickenham ; or the turrets and battlements of the 

 more picturesque Abbotsford; and numberless other examples 

 of the rural buildings of England, once the abodes of renowned 

 genius. In truth, the cottage and villa architecture of the 

 English, has grown out of the feelings and habits of a refined 

 and cultivated people, whose devotion to country life, and 

 fondness for all its pleasures, are so finely displayed in the 

 beauty of their dwellings, and the exquisite keeping of their 

 buildings and grounds. 



We must be permitted to quote, in further proof of English 

 taste and habits, and their results in their country residences, 



