proper site and character will depend on 

 various circumstances, of which I shall 

 give two singular examples. ^ 



Within the last forty years the property 

 and even the characters of individuals 

 have undergone more change than in any 

 period of the English history: we daily 

 see M'calth acquired by industry, or by 

 fortunate speculations, succeeding to the 

 hereditary estates of the most ancient fa- 

 milies; and we see the descendants of these 

 families reduced, by the vain attempt to 

 vie in expence with the successful sons 

 of commerce: this will often account for 

 the increase of novel or fantastic edifices, 

 and the decrease of those venerable spe- 

 cimens of former grandeur, the baronial 

 castle, or the castellated mansion. Few- 

 instances occur where the honest pride 

 of ancestry is blended with the prudence 

 and success of commercial importance; 

 yet in one of these I had occasion to 

 deliver the following opinion : 



" The antiquity, the extent, and beauty 

 " of Park," together with the com- 



" The name is omitted^ at the request of the proprietor, 

 F 



