This same false principle of mistaking greatness of dimensions for greatness of character, has, of late, extended itself to the arts of every kind: the statuary surprises by the immense blocks of marble which fill the Abbey, and St. Paul's! -the painter by an expanse of canvas too large for any private houses!-the jeweller, by large masses of amber and aqua marina, which, by their size, outweigh, though they cannot outshine, the diamond and the ruby!-while, in architecture, the first question concerning a house is, WHAT ARE THE DIMENSIONS OF THE ROOMS? Indeed everything is swelled out in the same proportion. Thus we continually see, in modern houses, windows too large to be glazed; doors too large to be opened; furniture too large to be moved; and even beds too lofty to be reached without a ladder!!! Having long regretted the prevalence of this mistaken fashion, I was rejoiced to receive his Royal Highness's commands to deliver my opinion concerning a place which was deemed by everybody too small to admit of any improvements; and, indeed, such it actually was, according to the modern system, which required UNCONFINED EXTENT WITHIN ITSELF, AND ABSOLUTE EXCLUSION FROM ALL WITHOUT.
