because they are only locally desirable or admirable. Our object, let it
always be remembered, is not the attainment of architectural data, but
the formation of taste.

_Oct. 12, 1837_




III.

THE MOUNTAIN COTTAGE--SWITZERLAND.


37. In the three instances of the lowland cottage which have been
already considered, are included the chief peculiarities of style which
are interesting or important. I have not, it is true, spoken of the
carved oaken gable and shadowy roof of the Norman village; of the black
crossed rafters and fantastic proportions which delight the eyes of the
German; nor of the Moorish arches and confused galleries which mingle so
magnificently with the inimitable fretwork of the gray temples of the
Spaniard. But these are not peculiarities solely belonging to the
cottage: they are found in buildings of a higher order, and seldom,
unless where they are combined with other features. They are therefore
rather to be considered, in future, as elements of street effect, than,
now, as the peculiarities of independent buildings. My remarks on the
Italian cottage might, indeed, be applied, were it not for the constant
presence of Moorish feeling, to that of Spain. The architecture of the
two nations is intimately connected: modified, in Italy, by the taste of
the Roman; and, in Spain, by the fanciful creations of the Moor. When I