In the following instances there is something more than harmony of colours, there is an association from habit, which causes part of our pleasure or disgust. A compact red house displeases from the meanness of its materials, because we suppose it to be of common red bricks, although it may, perhaps, be of the red stone of Herefordshire. On the contrary, a large pile of red buildings is not so displeasing; witness the houses of COBHAM, GLEMHAM, &c., and the royal palaces of St. James's, Hampton Court, Kensington, &c.; but, perhaps, the weather-stains of time may have contributed more than the quantity to reconcile us to the colour of these large masses. Lime-whited houses offend the eye, partly from the violent glare, and partly from the associated meanness of a lath and plaster building; but if a little black and yellow be mixed with the lime, the resemblance to the colour of stone satisfies the eye almost as much as if it were built of the most costly materials, witness WOODLEY, BABWORTH, TAPLOW, &c.
