454 



Monthly Review of Literature, 



[APRIL, 



Those "tombs" arc scribbled over with the names 

 of the various persons who have visited them, to- 

 gether with versos, and pathetic ejaculations, and 

 sentimental remarks. St. Pierre's story of the 

 lovers is prettily written, and his description of 

 the scenic beauties of the island are correct, al- 

 though not even his pen can do full justice to 

 them ; but there is little truth in the tale. It 

 is said that there was indeed a young lady sent 

 from the Mauritius to France for education, dur- 

 ing the time that M. de la Bourdonnais was go- 

 vernor of the colony that her name was Virginia, 

 and that she was shipwrecked in the St. Geran. 

 I heard something of a young man being attached 

 to her, and dying of grief for her loss ; but that 

 part of the story is very doubtful. The Bay of 

 the Tomb, the Point of Endeavour, the Isle of 

 Amber, and the Cape of Misfortune, still bear the 

 same namos, and are pointed out as the memor- 

 able spots mentioned by St. Pierre. 



British Architects. By Allan Cun- 

 ningham. Vol. XIX. of Family Library. 

 Allan Cunningham makes an admir- 

 able biographer of artists he is free 

 from the prejudices and fetters of the 

 profession. Though acute enough in his 

 perceptions, his feelings never shake his 

 judgment ; he knows and cares too little 

 about established rules and the cant of 

 taste, not to obey the dictates of com- 

 mon sense ; and is too independent and 

 resolute not to give expression to his 

 own convictions, though they chance to 

 conflict with received opinions. He 

 finds but eight British architects to 

 commemorate, and of them two were 

 scarcely worth noticing, while a third 

 is perhaps but equivocally connected 

 with the practice of the art itself. Wil- 

 liam of Wykeham, no doubt, built at his 

 own cost the splendid cathedral of Win- 

 chester, but how far its architectural 

 merits are indebted to his designs must 

 for ever remain a secret. Mr. Cun- 

 ningham cuts the difficulty of tracing 

 the origin and career of Gothic, or ra- 

 ther ecclesiastical building ; and after 

 repeating a few conflicting opinions con- 

 cludes thus, in his own rough, but felici- 

 tous manner 



When I have wandered among the majestic 

 ruins of the abbeys of Scotland not unacquainted 

 with the classic works of Greece I never for one 

 moment could imagine that in the ribbed aisles, 

 the pointed arches, the clustered columns, and in- 

 telligible yet grotesque carvings of the mouldering 

 edifice before me, I beheld but the barbarous per- 

 version of what was once grand and classic I 

 could as soon have believed that a battering ram 

 had degenerated into a cannon, or a cross-bow 

 into a carabine. The building on which I looked 

 seemed the offspring of the soil it corresponded 

 in every thing with the character of the surround- 

 ing landscape. The stone of which it was built 

 came from the nearest quarry, the wood which 

 composed its screens and carvings were cut in 

 the neighbouring forest, and the stories and le- 

 gends chiselled on every band and cornice were 

 to be found in the history of the particular church 

 or in that of the Christian religion. The statues 



of saints, kings, angels and virgins,belongecl to mo- 

 dern belief: and in their looks, and in their dra- 

 peries, they aspired to nothing beyond a copy of 

 the faces and dresses to be found in the district ; 

 whilst the foliages, flowers, and fruits, which so 

 profusely enriched band, and cornice, and corbel, 

 were such, and no other, as grew in the woods and 

 fields around, &c. 



Inigo Jones was the introducer of 

 Grecian architecture; but he had few 

 opportunities of executing his own fa- 

 vourite plans, and was compelled, for 

 the most part, to conform to the tastes 

 of his employers. In conjunction with 

 Ben Jonson, he got up the masques of 

 the courts of James and Charles, and 

 thought his doings in pasteboard and 

 paint equal at least to Jonson's poetry, 

 and was even for taking the lead in the 

 assertion of his claims the performances 

 were announced as the works of "Jones 

 and Jonson." Soured by dis/ippoint- 

 raent, and irritable by temperament, 

 Jonson lampooned his colleague, and 

 fell without mercy upon his vanity and 

 follies. Of Jones's buildings, few now 

 remain in their original state. On ac- 

 count of his extensive works in the re- 

 pair of St. Paul's, he fell under the cen- 

 sure of the angry Commons ; on the 

 breaking out of the war. he lost his place 

 of surveyor-general, and as a known 

 " malignant," he was compelled to com- 

 pound severely for his estates. 



Wren is the architect who has left 

 behind him the most numerous works, 

 and some of the most important. St. 

 Paul's and the city churches are splen- 

 did monuments of his genius. He lived 

 too long for his cotemporaries, and in 

 his old age was sacrificed to the jealousy 

 of rivals, and the neglect of his patrons. 

 At the age of 86, he was deprived of his 

 official appointments, and even the con- 

 clusion of the works at St. Paul's taken 

 out of his hands. He bore the indig- 

 nity manfully, and survived it still five 

 years. 



Vanbrugh, though the constant butt 

 of Swift's and Pope's satire from mere 

 love of mischief apparently has risen 

 in reputation considerably in modern 

 times ; and indeed the builder of Blen- 

 heim, and the writer of some of the wit- 

 tiest, though perhaps coarsest comedies 

 of the age, was never likely to be long 

 obscured by the sport of Swift, nor the 

 spite of the Duchess of Marlborough. 



The throwing open of St. Martin's 

 magnificent portico has revived the me- 

 mory and illustrated the merits of Gibbs, 

 while nothing, not even the villa of 

 Chiswick, can keep those of Burlington 

 alive. Walpole, with his aristocratic 

 predilections, could see nothing to ad- 

 mire in the ignoble commoner, while 

 the architectural peer, like the king, 

 could do no wrong. 



In Kent, Mr. Cunningham finds no- 



