168 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
May, 
something appropriate to every site and to every struc¬ 
ture pertaining to the dwelling-place of man. Nor is the 
author’s attention confined to the mere architecture of 
these various edifices. Beginning with the principles 
which should guide in the selection of a site, and embrac¬ 
ing not only the general style of architecture, but the more 
particular arrangements, both of the grounds without, 
and the furniture within, his attention is directed to all 
that pertains to the material comforts of home. 
No one, indeed, who is conversant with the previous 
writings of the author would expect anything less than 
such a work as this from him. He has made Rural 
Architecture and Landscape Gardening, or the proper 
disposal and embellishment of the surroundings of home, 
his own peculiar province; and where he leads, the 
many may follow without hesitation. His book is all 
the more valuable and trustworthy also, inasmuch as 
Mr. Downing is not a professional architect nor a practi¬ 
cal builder, and so does not advertise his own wares or 
otfer his services to the building public for hire. He 
simply comes forward, after much study and experience 
in regard to the subject of domestic life and dwelling- 
places, to present certain practical suggestions in regard 
to it. Having no theory to advance, and no particular 
order of architecture to defend or glorify, he comes as 
the general adviser of his fellow-men in regard to that 
which intimately concerns their comfort. 
He begins his book with a preface assigning “ Three 
excellent reasons why my country-men should have 
good houses.” The first is, “Because a good house 
(and by this I mean a fitting, tasteful, and significant 
dwelling) is a powerful means of civilization.” The 
second is, “ Because the individual home has a great 
social value for a people.” In assigning this reason, he 
makes the following declaration which is well worth con¬ 
sideration: “It is the solitude and freedom of the 
family home in the country which constantly preserves 
the purity of the nation, and invigorates its intellectual 
powers. The battle of life, carried on in cities, gives a 
sharper edge to the weapon of character, but itstemper, 
is, for the most part, fixed amid those communings with 
nature and the family, where individuality takes its 
most natural and strongest development.” The third 
reason offered is, “ Because there is amoral influence in 
in a country home—when, among an educated, truthful 
and refined people, it is an echo of their character— 
which is more powerful than any mere oral teachings 
of virtue and morality.” Our author proceeds to re¬ 
mark farther, “ That family, whose religion lies away 
from its threshold, will show but slender results from 
the best teachings, compared with another where the 
family hearth is made a central point of the Beautiful 
and the Good. And much of that feverish unrest and 
want of balance between the desire and the fulfillment 
of life, is calmed and adjusted by the pursuit of tastes 
which result in making a little world of the family home, 
where truthfulness, beauty and order have the largest 
dominion. The mere sentiment of home, with its thou¬ 
sand associations, has, like a strong anchor, saved many 
a man from shipwreck in the storms of life. For this 
reason, the condition of the family home—in this coun¬ 
try where every man may have a home—should be raised, 
till it shall symbolize the best character and pursuits, 
and the dearest affections and enjoyments of sociallife.” 
Our readers will see from these liberal extracts from 
a preface of but moderate length, the drift and aim of 
the author without the necessity of further explanation 
on our part. Passing then at once to his subject, Mr. 
Downing enters upon an inquiry into “ The real mean¬ 
ing of Architecture.” In the prosecution of this, he 
discusses at some length the philosophy of the art, the 
relation which it has to beauty, utility and truth, and 
other points which naturally arise. Want of space alone 
induces us to refrain from giving our readers a specimen 
of the author’s treatment of this part of his subject. 
After this general disquisition, Mr. Downing divides 
the various styles of houses of which he proposes to treat 
more specifically, into three; Co'tages, Farm Houses, 
and Villas. He defines a cottage to be “A dwelling of 
small size, intended for the occupation of a family, ei¬ 
ther wholly managing the household cares itself, or, at the 
most, with the assistance of one or two servants.” Very 
properly, therefore, he insists that the cottage shall not 
ape the villa, but shall be kept within its just limits, and 
that it shall express the simple tastes and habits, and the 
limited means of the class by whom it is occupied. The 
disposition, not uncommon in our aspiring and sanguine 
countrymen, to go beyond their means in the construc¬ 
tion of their dwellings, is here, as elsewhere throughout 
the volume before us, strongly and justly rebuked. In¬ 
deed, our author deserves no little credit for refusing, 
as he constantly does, to encourage even tasteful ex¬ 
travagancies. His principle is: first count the cost; then 
consider your ability; then obtain as much as possible 
of convenience or utility in your dwelling; then, and 
not till then, procure whatsoever of beauty and embel¬ 
lishment is warranted by your means, and will be in 
harmony with your tastes. Every discriminating per¬ 
son will admit without hesitation, that this is the proper 
principle. No one has a right, on the plea of style or 
taste, or any other plea, to live beyond his means. And 
if our mechanics and tradesmen just beginning life, as it 
is termed, or any in moderate, that is, ordinary circum¬ 
stances, as to pecuniary ability, will consult Mr. Down¬ 
ing and those like him, they will find that very limited 
pecuniary resources are sufficient to secure a dwelling 
that will satisfy their necessities and minister to their 
comfort , as no pasteboard villa or gingerbread castle ever 
could. We cannot, of course, enter upon the criticism 
of particular designs in the work before us. But we 
should like to point the industrious day-laborer, who 
seeks with the setting sun his humble dwelling in the 
suburbs of some city, to the cottage plan, for instance, 
on the 129th page of this book, and show him how, with 
hardly the additional expense of a dollar, a little good 
taste would give him, with even his slender means, a 
house which for convenience, and simple beauty, might 
vie with any that wealth could erect, and which would 
be as bright as the evening star of his daily life of toil, 
to light him to the cheering and elevating comforts of a 
true home. 
Our author very naturally has a chapter devoted to 
the consideration of “ Materials and Modes of construc¬ 
tion ;” -in which he insists upon the superior value and 
propriety of the more solid materials in the construction 
of houses of whatever class. And we can not but think 
that the time has come when our people should adopt 
a more solid material for building purposes than they 
have generally used hitherto. In a newly settled coun¬ 
try, where timber is actually in the way of the most 
necessary agricultural labor, it is to be expected that 
the dwellings of a people will be constructed of this 
material. But with us this necessity, as it may almost 
be called, exists no longer, and it is well worth consider¬ 
ing whether it is not best for us to give our dwellings a 
look of more substantial and enduring comfort, by the 
use of a more substantial material in their construction. 
The consideration of permanence is no unimportant ele¬ 
ment in the true idea of home. A true economy also, 
we think, would lead to the adoption of a more solid 
material than wood for the walls of our dwellings. But 
we cannot enlarge upon this point. 
Following the author’s remarks upon cottages, we find 
a chapter of “ Miscellaneous Details,” which, to any one 
who isaboutto undertake the work of building, though in 
ever so humble a style, is worth more than the cost of 
the book. What Mr. Downing has to say in regard to 
the other classes of dwellings—the farm-houses and the 
villas—it will not be important for us to consider at 
length after the notice we have already taken of his 
general scope. 
In his chapters on the furnishing of houses, however, 
he has opened a new subject to general consideration. 
Treatises upon furniture and its arrangement, have not 
been uncommon on the other side of the Atlantic, but, 
so far as we know, this is the first attempt to set forth 
the matter in this country. It is no unimportant sub¬ 
ject, however, nor is a treatise upon it undeserving our 
attention. On the contrary, we are sure that a perusal 
of our author’s remarks would be of service to almost 
any house-keeper. As Mr. Downing has shown the man 
of slender means how he may have a tasteful cottage, 
