man's birthright, and it seems hopeless to dream of his relinquishing his privilege. Happily, however, the Gothic window does not demand so distressing a condition. By two of the above systems the wooden sash may readily be used behind the stone. mullion; by a third, a wooden mullion may be formed into a sash-frame; and even in the ordinary stone mullion metal sashes may be hung, so as to slide in the ordinary manner; so that no real difficulty occurs on this head.

There is, no doubt, some real advantage in this mode of opening. The sash, moving in its own plane, is in the way of nothing else, nor finds anything else in its way. A casement opening outwards may sweep flower-pots from the window-sill, or opening inwards may invade the curtains or the dressing-table,offences of which our British favourite is not guilty; so that it is satisfactory to know that no force need be put upon our inclinations, but that the sash is still open to us. I confess, however, I rather prefer a well-made copper casement, such as one sees in Mr. Blore's Elizabethan mansions.

For the glazing, it seems to me that if we condemn the old system of diamonds, or small-pattern glazing, as inconsistent with the spirit of our age, and our praiseworthy desire to see clearly out of our windows, we ought, in good houses, to go at once into the opposite extreme of plate-glass, as undivided as possible. It is one of the most useful and beautiful inventions of our day, and eminently calculated to give cheerfulness to our houses.

In cottages, however, I should hesitate long before giving up the old system of quarries and lead lights, nor in better houses would I scruple to use pattern

glazing in the same building, or, perhaps, in the same window with plate-glass; for where the external view is not important, the subdivision of the space into mosaic-like patterns is always agreeable. We might, for instance, use this kind of glazing in staircase windows, and even in the upper portions of transomed windows where plate-glass is used below. I would aim, in the construction of the sashes or casements, and in the mode of glazing, as in other matters, at increasing rather than limiting our range, by freely admitting all modern improvements, without excluding the old systems. In these points, however, more perhaps than in any others, is the special attention of the architect and mechanist required, with a view to bringing them to the greatest possible degree of mechanical perfection. On the perfect mechanism of the system of opening and shutting our windows the comfort of our houses depends, perhaps, in a greater degree than on any other single feature which could be named; and this is the point on which we are, I think, at present the least perfect. There can be no real difficulty about it. It only requires to be carefully and practically gone into. The objects are to contrive, first, the best possible casement, whether of metal or wood, and whether applied to pattern-glazing or to plate or sheet-glass; secondly, the best possible system of sliding sash under the same conditions.

I should mention that the design of the window itself ought to be influenced by the system intended to be adopted for opening it; and there can be little doubt that where sashes are to be used, a squareheaded window possesses considerable advantages.

I have contended for perfect freedom of choice between arched and square-headed windows, but con

venience will, in a majority of cases, decide the question in favour of the square head, as best suited to the limited height of an ordinary room, as carrying up the light as near as possible to the ceiling, and as being more convenient for opening. Some variety of the square head will consequently always prevail as the rule in modern, as was the case in ancient, houses, but not to the exclusion of the more characteristic type when opportunity offers. The arched and traceried windows may freely be used in houses of the higher class, and in public buildings, but in ordinary private residences they must ever be the exceptions, though always admissible. The arched window, with the tympanum unpierced, will in many cases unite the two principles with excellent effect, and in nearly all cases a constructional or discharging arch should be introduced over a square head, both for strength and character. The same freedom which I claim for the entire window, I demand also for its individual lights. They may be square-headed or arched, (with or without cusping,) as may be preferred: the latter, of course, looks best, but the former is quite consistent, and does not, as is often imagined, indicate a late style. It is to be found in windows of all periods, from the Romanesque to the latest Gothic. A window with a tympanum to each light, under an arched or trefoiled head, is also admissible, and looks well.

The free use of balconies is calculated not only to add cheerfulness to our houses, and aid in imparting a distinctive character especially suited to our own day, but also to add much to their variety and beauty. In ordinary houses the balcony-fronts are, perhaps, better of metal-work, and as open as possible, or they may take off from the apparent height of the

window; but where stories are lofty, stone may be used for them, as in the well-known Venetian types. In either case they are open to unlimited variety: stone balcony-fronts, for example, may be formed of balustrades, arcaded work, tracery, panelling, diapering, open scroll-work or inlaid work; and each variety may be of what design we may fancy.

Besides the fully developed balcony, however, there are several minor forms of it, all useful in their place as, for instance, a horizontal projecting sill, with or without brackets below or metal guards above, on which flowers may be placed; or open balustrading of metal or stone between the jambs of a window, to admit of its being opened to the floor, in the absence of a projecting balcony. All such features I would commend to the special attention of domestic architects, both as being conducive to actual convenience and to pleasantness of effect, and as elements of cheerful variety.

Nearly allied to the balcony is the canopy,-the equivalent in a Gothic window to the pedimented window of classic styles. These, perhaps, belong chiefly to buildings of the higher order, and are scarcely appropriate excepting in connection with balconies, to which they appear to afford protection. They may be gabled or otherwise, and may be supported by shafts or brackets, or both, and may either project but slightly from the wall, or overhang the whole depth of the balcony. They may be made exceedingly beautiful, but should not be too liberally used, or they may import an air of fulsomeness into the design.

In public buildings and in houses which approach a palatial scale, the windows may attain to great mag

nificence without in the least encroaching upon their practical efficiency. I would advise, in any secular building, that the width of light in mullioned windows should be made as great as is consistent with the general scale; but when we come to structures of a monumental grade, no fear need be entertained on this head. The ordinary lights, where mullions are used, may often be as wide as three feet; and where the window assumes the form of an arcade, or of an undivided opening, lights may be used of four, five and even six feet in width, according to the scale of the building.

A bold columnar structure both in jambs and mullions is productive of much dignity of character, but where perfect columns are used for mullions, I cannot help feeling a strong objection to placing a wide sash-window behind them. It seems an unmeaning union of the divided and undivided window, not to mention that sashes do not run well when of undue width. I would always divide the sash-frame behind the columnar mullion. The arcades which occupy the centre of the fronts of Venetian palaces would almost appear to have had an amphibious character, and to have been intended as perfectly open arcades in summer, but to be closed by a glazed screen, attached by irons to the back of the columns, in winter. Whether this were so or not, they seem hardly suited to our climate, unless backed by some more decided and visible provision for the permanent attachment of the window-frames: without this, they appear too much. like an open arcade glazed as an after-thought; but if so far modified as to appropriate them to our climate, they would become very convenient as well as beautiful in buildings of the higher order.