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" I know," said Mr. Hamilton, " what 

 I risk with such a keen adversary as you 

 are; and our friend there, preserves a sort 

 of armed neutrality, and will not allow 

 any thing to pass under the pretence of 

 established custom ; but the whole of this 

 distinction appears to me so clear and sa- 

 tisfactory, that I cannot help flattering my- 

 self with the hope of making it equally so to 

 others : in reality, before Seymour put the 

 question to me, I had been considering 

 this singular old house, and thought it 

 quite a thing made for a lecture ; and I 

 will now begin it. You must know then, 

 Seymour, (for I do not address myself to 

 that scoffer at these distinctions) that irre- 

 gularity is one of the principal causes of 

 the picturesque ; and as the general ap. 

 pearance of this building is in a very great 

 degree irregular, so far it is highly pictu- 

 resque : but, then, another cause, is sud- 

 den and abrupt deviation. Do you re- 

 member the hovel where the gypsies were ? 

 how the roof was sunk in parts ; the thatch 

 ragged and uneven ; the walls broken, and 



