We  recognize  the  same  tool,  and  expertness  in  the  use  of  it,
in  an  ordinance  of  Lycurgus  directed  against  sumptuous  dwell
ings.  The  planks  of  doors  were  not  to  be  planed.  With  the
floors  and  ceilings,  they  were  to  receive  no  other  finish  than  what
was  given  them  by  the  adze.  We  know  from  other  sources
that  flooring-beams  were  left  exposed,  as  in  our  ships  and  old
Dutch  houses,  and  that  they  were  carved,  colored,  and  polished.
This  the  Spartan  lawgiver  denounced.  The  subject  is  farther
and  happily  illustrated  by  an  anecdote  of  Leotychides  the  elder,
preserved  by  Plutarch.  Being  at  Corinth,  he  observed  the
beams  of  the  room  in  which  his  host  entertained  him  curiously
and  richly  wrought,  and  satirically  inquired  if  trees  grew  square
in  that  part  of  Greece.  The  inference  is  clear  that  in  Laconia
the  beams  were  but  little  dressed.  The  exposure  of  rafters  was
a  universal  feature  in  the  domestic  architecture  of  the  ancients.
From  their  prominence  in  every  room  the  Savior  took  occasion
to  illustrate  one  of  his  most  memorable  apophthegms.
