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 expense 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 go- verned by measurement: a great building may be made to appear small; and it is from the quantity of windows, and not their size, that we should pronounce the house at Wembly to be a very considerable edifice.
