I confess
I tremble for the safety of this priceless relic. The house is in
a somewhat dilapidated condition; and I know that one attempt was
made to buy the panelling and take it away. Surely such a monument
of the past should be in some way guarded by the nation."
The beauty of English cottage-building, its directness, simplicity,
variety, and above all its inevitable quality, the intimate way in
which the buildings ally themselves with the soil and blend with the
ever-varied and exquisite landscape, the delicate harmonies, almost
musical in their nature, that grow from their gentle relationship with
their surroundings, the modulation from man's handiwork to God's
enveloping world that lies in the quiet gardening that binds one to
the other without discord or dissonance--all these things are
wonderfully attractive to those who have eyes to see and hearts to
understand. The English cottages have an importance in the story of
the development of architecture far greater than that which concerns
their mere beauty and picturesqueness. As we follow the history of
Gothic art we find that for the most part the instinctive art in
relation to church architecture came to an end in the first quarter of
the sixteenth century, but the right impulse did not cease.
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