SKETCHES BY A PRACTISING ARCHITECT. 107 



or none save that of pictorial effect, the question 

 will be more open to consideration: though even 

 then the nature of the site, and character of the con- 

 tiguous objects must be consulted." 



Though comparisons are odious to a proverb, 

 people v^ill still persist in making them. 



The orders of Greek architecture, are, like the 

 plays of Shakspeare, co-equal in distinct merit, and 

 each meeting with occasional preference, agreeably 

 to the ever differing circumstances under which we 

 peruse them. It is but a thoughtless and ignorant 

 mind which would propose a comparison between 

 Hamlet, Falstaffand Imogen. 



Perhaps there is no pleasure more genuine than 

 that experienced by the young architect when com- 

 missioned to give palpable being to some well 

 studied design of his own invention. To watch its 

 daily growth in solid masonry and Memel timber, 

 from the basement of infancy to the chimney top of 

 maturity ; feeding it constantly with working draw- 

 ings, and cherishing it with paternal superin tendance ; 

 witnessing with grateful pride the skill and industry 

 of the numerous workmen employed on the building, 

 and confidently anticipating the ultimate effect of 

 the whole in its perfect state of completion. All 

 this is purely delightful. We do not, on this occasion, 

 admit into our consideration those several annoy- 

 ances which are always more than probable. It is 

 sufficient to know, that they may be possibly 

 avoided ; so happy a circumstance, not being solely 

 dependant upon an employer's liberality and good 

 temper, but in a great measure, upon the architect 

 himself, who too frequently gets into difficulty by 

 neglecting to obtain a clear insight into his patron's 

 meaning, and by omitting to qualify those glowing 

 anticipations which " fair drawings," as they are 

 termed, are too apt falsely to excite. 



