86 



of the house, as the means of elevating 

 the wliole structure; or, as it Mas wittily 

 expressed, "moulding up the roots of the 

 venerable pile, that it might shoot up in 

 fresh towers from its top." 



Shapes of All natural shapes of ground must ne- 



cessarily fall under one of these descrip- 

 tions, viz. contex, concave^ plane, or in- 

 ciuied plane. I will suppose it granted 

 that, except in very romantic situations, 

 all the rooms on the principal floor ought 

 to range on the same level, and that there 

 must be a gentle descent from the house 

 every way. If the ground be naturally 



Convex. couvcx, or what is generally called a knoll, 

 the size of the house nmst be adapted to 

 the size of the knoll: but if abuildino- of 

 three times as long should be required, 

 it is evident that the crown of the hill 

 must be taken off, and then the shape of 

 the ground becomes very different from 

 its original form ; for although the small 

 liouse would have a sufficient platform, 

 the large one will be on the brink of a 

 very steep bank, and this difficulty would 

 be increased by raising the ground to set 



