PART III. ARCHITECTURE. 123 



field or in the highway at hard labour ; when he is no longer 

 capable of toil, he retires under the shelter of his cottage, and 

 leaves the world as obscurely as he came into it. 



But, notwithstanding these unavoidable circumstances, the 

 importance of the labouring poor to society is too well known 

 to be neglected in an age like the present. This is evident 

 from the exertions of societies and individuals to increase their 

 comforts. Humanity can never be more nobly employed. To 

 promote this view, and at the same time to correct the vague 

 and erroneous ideas respecting ornamented cottages, either for 

 the poor or as rural retreats of the opulent, I shall extend the 

 remarks on this part of the subject to a length otherwise in- 

 compatible with the general plan of this work. 



The simplicity of a cottager's establishment requires but a 

 few small apartments ; and as the whole is erected for necessary 

 use and convenience, every part is done in the simplest and 

 most economical manner. The size and number of the apart- 

 ments are first marked out on the ground : then the walls are 

 erected, of such materials as are most convenient, without much 

 consideration respecting their durability. The roof is put on 

 from similar motives, and under similar circumstances, and 

 immediately the cottager takes possession. 



