ON SIMPLE RURAL COTTAGES. 245 



fill attempts, and every rural dwelling, really well designed and ex- 

 ecuted, has a strong and positive effect upon the good taste of the 

 whole country. 



There is, perhaps, a more intuitive judgment we mean a natu- 

 ral and instinctive one in the popular mind, regarding architecture, 

 than any other one of the fine arts. We have known many men, 

 who could not themselves design a good common gate, who yet felt 

 truly, and at a glance, the beauty of a well-proportioned and taste- 

 ful house, and the deformity of one whose proportions and details 

 were bad. Why then are there so many failures in building orna- 

 mental cottages? 



We imagine the answer to this lies plainly in the fact, that the 

 most erroneous notions prevail respecting the proper use of DECORA- 

 TION in rural architecture. 



It is the most common belief and practice, with those whose 

 taste is merely borrowed, and not founded upon any clearly defined 

 principles, that it is only necessary to adopt the ornaments of a cer- 

 tain building, or a certain style of building, to produce the best effect 

 of the style or building in question. But so far is this from being the 

 true mode of attaining this result, that in every case where it is adopt- 

 ed, as we perceive at a glance, the result is altogether unsatisfactory. 



Ten years ago the mock-Grecian fashion was at its height. Per- 

 haps nothing is more truly beautiful than the pure and classical 

 Greek temple so perfect in its proportions, so chaste and harmo- 

 nious in its decorations. It is certainly not the best style for a coun- 

 try house ; but still we have seen a few specimens in this country, 

 of really beautiful villas, in this style where the proportions of the 

 whole, and the admirable completeness of all the parts, executed on 

 a fitting scale, produced emotions of the highest pleasure. 



But, alas ! no sooner were there a few specimens of the classical 

 style in the country, than the Greek temple mania became an epi- 

 demic. Churches, banks, and court-houses, one could very well bear 

 to see Vitruvianized. Their simple uses and respectable size bore 

 well the honors which the destiny of the day forced upon them. 

 But to see the five orders applied to every other building, from the 

 rich merchant's mansion to the smallest and meanest of all edifices, 

 was a spectacle which made even the warmest admirers of Vitruvius 



