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it is in some degree subordinate and de- 

 pendant on the surrounding objects. This 

 distinction, though not sufficient to form a 

 * separate class, ought not to be neglected ; 

 had it been attended to, so many square, 

 formal, unpicturesque houses of great ex- 

 pence, might not have encumbered the 

 scenes which they were meant to adorn. I 

 am not surprised, however, that the style of 

 country houses should have been too indis- 

 criminately taken from those of towns. All 

 the fine arts have been brought to their 

 greatest perfection, where large bodies of 

 men have been settled together ; for wealth, 

 emulation, and comparison are necessary 

 to their growth : and of all the arts, archi- 

 tecture has most strikingly embellished the 

 places where it has flourished. In cities, 

 therefore, the greatest number and variety 

 of finished pieces of architecture are to be 

 found ; and it is not to be wondered at if 

 those houses, which in cities were with rea^ 

 son admired, should have been the objects 

 of general, and often of indiscriminate 

 imitation, 



