the market, at this day, is so altered, that the lessee gives four-pence
per yard; is tied to the mode of building, and obliged to leave the
premisses in repair.

The itch for building is predominant: we dip our fingers into mortar
almost as soon as into business. It is not wonderful that a person
should be hurt by the _falling_ of a house; but, with us, a man
sometimes breaks his back by _raising_ one.

This private injury, however, is attended with a public benefit of the
first magnitude; for every "_House to be Let_," holds forth a kind of
invitation to the stranger to settle in it, who, being of the laborious
class, promotes the manufactures.

If we cannot produce many houses of the highest orders in architecture,
we make out the defect in numbers. Perhaps _more_ are erected here, in a
given time, than in any place in the whole island, London excepted.

It is remarkable, that in a town like Birmingham, where so many houses
are built, the art of building is so little understood. The stile of
architecture in the inferior sort, is rather showy than lasting.

The proprietor generally contracts for a house of certain dimensions, at
a stipulated price: this induces the artist to use some ingredients of
the cheaper kind, and sometimes to try whether he can cement the
materials with sand, instead of lime.

But a house is not the only thing spoilt by the builder; he frequently
spoils himself: out of many successions of house-makers, I cannot
recollect one who made a fortune.