t abound. We've outgrown the walls, let us overcome the
evils that were bred within them.

There may be a prejudice against another quality of these stone walls.
They are rough. Roughness means want of culture and labor; that
implies want of money, and that is--unpardonable. But roughness does
not mean any such thing. What are mouldings and frets and carvings but
a roughening of otherwise smooth surfaces? Artists of all kinds seek
to remove even the appearance of an unbroken plane, and nature abhors
a flat exterior, never allows one, even in the most plastic material,
if it can be broken. See the waves of the ocean, the mimic billows on
a snow-covered plain, the rugged grandeur of the everlasting hills.
Fancy a pine, an oak, or an elm tree with trunk and limbs smoothly
polished! What if the outside of your walls are somewhat uneven? Let
them be so. The shadows will be all the richer, the vines will cling
more closely, and maybe the birds will hang their nests in some sunny
corner. Do not, then, try to improve the natural faces of the stones
with pick and hammer; you will find it hard work, and, very likely,
worse than thrown away.

I think you will like, both in exterior effect and in practical
result, the plan of building the walls of the first story of stone
with brick dressings, as described in my last letter, making the
remainder of the house of wood, be the same more or less. If the
sketches I send you do not make you in love with this style, or if you
do not like to risk the experiment, examine something already built
before deciding against it. But first explore the country around you
and see if the stony prospect is good.

[Illustration: SECOND STORY OF WOOD.]

Mr. Donald G. Mitchell not only writes in favor of this mode of
building, but proves his faith by his work; his new house at Edgewood
being an admirable specimen of it. You will find, too, some noteworthy
examples at Newport, for which, with much else in the way of applying
a refined taste to rural affairs, we are indebted, directly or
indirectly, to the same well-known writer. If, after the pictures,
Mrs. John is still doubtful of the result, the examples above
mentioned will certainly allay her misgivings.

You must not think I would recommend this as a universal fashion, even
where the materials are abundant, but give it place according to its
merit.

I hope you will be spared the folly of building your house of dressed
stone of uniform size an