ABSTRACT
The career of John Soane spanned the late Georgian and the Regency eras. The son of a bricklayer from Goring, near Reading, he was trained as an architect in the offices of George Dance the younger, one of the most innovative architects of the time, and in the newly established Royal Academy schools. The monuments and trophies that were raised at the public expence to perpetuate the memory of great atchievements, at the same time that they immortalized the fame of individuals, were lasting proofs of the justice and liberality of the people; they stimulated others to engage in the service of their country, to exert themselves in honourable actions, and strongly induce the reader to believe many things recorded by their historians, which might otherwise have been deemed incredible. The difference in manner of living, and the different ideas of convenience, comfort and elegance, render the attempt at forming one plan for every situation still more impracticable.
