Page:Notes on the State of Virginia (1802).djvu/227

Rh a houſe, the walls of which are of well-burnt brick and good mortar, I have ſeen the rain penetrate through but twice in a dozen or fifteen years. The inhabitants of Europe, who dwell chiefly in houſes of ſtone or brick, are ſurely as healthy as thoſe of Virginia. Theſe houſes have the advantage too of being warmer in winter and cooler in ſummer than thoſe of wood; of being cheaper in their firſt conſtruction, where lime is convenient, and infinitely more durable. The latter conſideration renders it of great importance to eradicate this prejudice from the minds of our countrymen. A country whoſe buildings are of wood, can never increaſe in its improvements to any conſiderable degree. Their duration is highly eſtimated at 50 years. Every half century then our country becomes a tabula raſa, whereon we have to ſet out anew, as in the firſt moment of ſeating it. Whereas when buildings are of durable materials, every new edifice is an actual and permanent acquiſition to the ſtate, adding to its value as well as to its ornament.

 

HE meaſures taken with regard to the eſtates and poſſeſſions of the rebels, commonly called tories?

A tory has been properly defined to be a traitor in thought but not in deed. The only deſcription,