HISTORIC HOUSES.
[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.] Sur,—In a recent issue of the Spectator I read the following quotation from a book by Mr. M. Jourdain :-
" The number of historic houses decreases ever* year. Quite a large proportion . . . are no longer extant, having been swept away during the present century."
How many will there be in another century ? How many priceless pictures ? How much glorious armour ? How many picturesque or historic spots ? In the country from which I write there are laws to preserve all these things. My house here at Seib was declared a " Monumento Nazionale " in 1912—the law came into force in 1909 ; in the case of private property there are stringent provisions against the owner selling it for unworthy uses, unwisely " restoring " it, or altering it in such a way as to detract from its historic or artistic interest.
For years now I have recommended Englishmen to pass such a law. But they looked shocked. " What an infringe- ment of British liberty 1" Well, then, they must take the consequences.—I am, Sir, &c.,
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