36 Mr. E. D. Denison, [Feb. 11, 



last few montlis two buildings have been completed, in which these 

 conclusions, or theories, or whatever you please to call them, have been 

 enforced in practice for the first time, I believe, since the fall of 

 Gothic architecture 400 years ago. Those buildings, as it happens, 

 are both in the same town, and the same architect, Mr. Scott, was 

 employed for both, and over both of them it has fallen to my lot, from 

 circumstances of no interest to you, to exercise an unusual amount of 

 superintendence, and indeed over the smaller and later of the two, 

 something more than superintendence. The larger one, the re- 

 built parish church of Doncaster, is no doubt known, by reputation at 

 least, to all of you. But I dare say you are not aware that another new 

 church in that town was opened at the same time, viz., the one called 

 St. James's, built for the people employed on the works of the Great 

 Northern Railway Company, at Doncaster, and their families, amount- 

 ing to 3000 at least ; which church you will see on the right hand, 

 just before you enter the station from the south. The best view of the 

 great church, of St. George, is also from the railway, a little north of 

 the station. I believe it is no exaggeration to say, that that church is 

 universally considered the finest Gothic building of modern times ; 

 and as far as its pretensions go, the other is pronounced by most people 

 who have seen it, to be fully equal, and in some respects superior, even 

 to its more magnificent neighbour. Nobody is more sensible than I 

 am of the faults in each of them, notwithstanding their general success ; 

 but there is no building of any age without some faults quite as 

 striking ; and whether that be so or not, the conclusions which I have 

 arrived at respecting the common causes of dissatisfaction with modern 

 Gothic building are founded no less upon the defects than upon the 

 beauties which are apparent in these two buildings. 



The first cause which I shall notice is one which few persons can 

 have failed to hear alleged as an excuse for the inferiority of modern to 

 antient architecture in every style ; and that cause is stinginess. But 

 with the exception of a certain class of buildings which I will 

 advert to presently, I believe it would be nearer the truth to say 

 that so far from stinginess accounting for the general failure of 

 modern architecture, there never was a time in the world when money 

 was spent on building in sucli profusion. You cannot walk far through 

 the good streets of London, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and pro- 

 bably other towns, without seeing buildings which have cost money 

 enough to build York Minster ; in some cases far more. Look at 

 the few hundred yards of Lord Palraerston's street of palaces, and 

 think what you would have had from a builder of the 13th century 

 for the cost of them. Let any one reckon up the cost of such of the 

 great country or London mansions as he can think of, built in our 

 time, and then say whether the architects of the 19th century can lay 

 any of the faults of modern architecture, in the popular style at least, 

 to the account of the stinginess of their employers. In the Gothic 

 style there is certainly more ground for the complaint ; but even there 

 it must be confined to that class of buildings which I alluded to just 



