RURAL ARCHITECTURE. 
375 
irregular houses, applies with equal, or even greater force, to 
the varieties of the Gothic style, just described. From the 
very fact that the highest beauty of these modes of building 
arises from their irregularity, (opposed to Grecian architec- 
\ 
ture, which, in its chaste simplicity, should be regular,) it is 
evident that additions judiciously made, will tend to increase 
this beauty, or afford more facility for its display ; while it 
is equally evident that in the interior arrangement, including 
apartments of every description, superior opportunities are 
afforded for attaining internal comfort and convenience, as 
well as external effect. 
The ideas connected in our minds with Gothic architec- 
ture are of a highly romantic and foetical nature, contrasted 
with the classical associations which the Greek and Roman 
styles suggest. Although our own country is nearly destitute 
of mins, and ancient time-worn edifices, yet the literature of 
Europe, and particularly of what we term the mother coun- 
try, is so much our own, that we form a kind of delightful 
ideal aquaintance with the venerable castles, abbeys, and 
strong-holds of the middle ages. Romantic, as is the real 
history of those times and places, to our minds their charm 
is greatly enhanced by distance, by the poetry of legendary 
superstition, and the fascination of fictitious narrative. A cas- 
tellated residence, therefore, in a wild and picturesque situa- 
tion, may be interesting, not only from its being perfectly in 
keeping with surrounding nature, but from the delightful 
manner in which it awakens associations fraught with the 
most enticing history of the past. 
The older domestic architecture of the English may be 
viewed in another pleasing light. Their buildings and resi- 
dences have not only the recommendation of beauty and com- 
plete adaptation, but the additional charm of having been the 
