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On the Cottage-Homes of England. 
Along the lawn, where scatter’d hamlets rose, 
“Unwieldy wealth and cumbrous pomp repose, 
“And every want to Luxury allied, 
“And every pang that Folly pays to Pride j 
“Those gentler hours that Plenty bade to bloom, 
“ Those calm desires that ask’d but little room, 
“Those healthful sports that grac’d the peaceful scene, 
“ Liv’d in each look, and brighten’d all the green; 
“These far departing, seek a kinder shore, 
“And rural mirth and manners are no more!” 
The state of the cottager is changed, and from causes which I shall 
not at present attempt to enquire into; he, in too many instances, no 
longer finds a home under the roof which covers all he has dear in 
the world, for Want has taken possession of his hearth, (no longer a 
fire-side,) and Disease and Penury, have supplanted Health and 
Innocence. 
In a picturesque point of view, no object is more charming than a 
Cottage^ whether situated on a barren heath, with no other accompa¬ 
niment than a blasted pine, or under the shelter of an impervious 
wood, on the borders of a rippling stream, or on the summit of a rock, 
to all appearance inaccessible to human foot; it gives an interest to 
the landscape, and adds a beauty to,every scene: and perhaps for no 
other reason, than that it is simple in its form, and suitable in its ma¬ 
terials, to the situation it occupies, having in its general effect nearly 
as much the appearance of a work of Nature as of Art. These are 
points which will ever recommend it to the eye of Taste, and present 
it as an object v^orthy the attention of the artist. 
Here I would be understood to allude not to those fanciful nonde¬ 
script buildings, which have now assumed, in defiance of all language^ 
the name of cottages, but the real abode of 
“-A bold peasantry, their country’s pride,” 
which through a long series of ages have borne the name of English 
Cottages, where Industry has flourished, where Independence has 
been nurtured, where Liberty has been matured; dwellings, humble as 
they are, which have given hosts of defenders to their country, and in 
despite of all intimidations, have supported the inherent rights and 
privileges of Britons. 
The periodical publications of the present day teem with yirojects 
for ^^ameliorating the condition of the labouring poor,'’ but these pro¬ 
jects seldom go farther than to the erecting of new fanciful edifices, 
possessing in many cases, much beauty, and even elegance, but which 
are totally unfit for the inmates, for whom they are designed. They 
certainly ornament a park, and improve the appearance of a domain, 
but they are by no means adapted to the use of a peasant and his 
family. A cottager requires no ornament; his wants are few and sim. 
