Page 19

19
Having stated some arguments for adopting the Gothic style, I shall now proceed
to consider the
' objections that may be urged against it.
' The first objection will arise from the expence of altering the outside,
without any addition to the
' internal comfort of the mansion.
' The same objection may indeed be made to every species of external ornament
in dress, furniture,
' equipage, or any other object of taste or elegance: the outside case of
an harpsichord does not improve
' the tone of the instrument, but it decorates the room in which it is placed:
thus it is as an ornament
' to the beautiful grounds at Wembly, that I contend for the external improvement
of the house.
' But in altering the house, we may add a room to any part of the building
without injuring the
' picturesque outside, because an exact symmetry, so far from being necessary,
is rather to be avoided
' in a Gothic building.
' Another objection may arise from the smallness of the house, as Gothic
structures are in general
' of considerable magnitude: but the character of great or small is not governed
by measurement: a
' great building may be made to appear small; and it is from the quantity
of windows, and not their
6 size, that we should pronounce the house at Wembly to be a very considerable
edifice.'