A HISTORICAL ESSAY ON TASTE. 



deur; they delighted m massive pillars, in dusky chambers, in broad effects of light and 

 shade, in dark labyrinthine walks, in cavernous edifices guarded by gigantic recum- 

 bent figures, or the huge forms of deities, gaunt, a^vful, oppressive. Their observance of 

 nature was great : it is asserted by some that they derived the fluted column from the sim- 

 ple idea of reeds bound together at the top — and their sacred language is an endless suc- 

 cession of the forms of birds, beasts, fishes and reptiles— in fact, we may say, they wrote 

 in boasts and reptiles : many of their vessels and ornaments are evidently imitated from 

 nature, with great quaintncss and versatility of design; but in all they seem to have prac- 

 ticed an almost disproportionate solidity of construction. Theirs was evidently an archi- 

 tecture of symbolism: their principal buildings being for sacred purposes, they seemed 

 determined to have written the story of their creed in every pillar, every stone; and by 

 that means to give their designs, as it were, an actual, positive sense — to make them a 

 species of embodied poetry — so that every man on seeing the temple, would at once be 

 able to read in its form, proportion, number and color, the scripture of the god to whom 

 it was dedicated and belonged. In their flat country, we perceive that they made their 

 edifices mountainous; that that regard of death with which their religion inspired them, 

 extended a sobering influence to their works ; and certainly some of their vast temples 

 could have derived no extra cheerfulness from the fact that they were only magazines of 

 munimied crocodiles and cats ; and finally, to repeat, we perceive that their architectural 

 taste was for a gloomy sublimity of symbolism, and that if we were to seek a symbol to 

 express it, we might call it a sarcophagus. With respect to literature, at which I shall 

 occasionally take the liberty to glance, we have, so far as concerns the Egyptians, small 

 idea of their taste; their painting, such as it was, and their sculpture, wonderful as is the 

 latter in respect of manual skill, appear to have existed only as subordinate aids to the ar- 

 chitect, and are simply entitled to share in the above general remarks. 



A most ancient, curious, and at one time mighty people, were the Chaldees ; a tribe 

 of people, formed probably, from the conflux of many others in those well watered plains, 

 who inhabited the districts of Babylon and Nineveh, and who boasted a dynasty decend- 

 ed from Nimrod, according to some, the same Avith Ninus and Belus, — the god of the 

 tower of Babel. It is probable they had some connection with the Egyptians. The monu- 

 ments of Nineveh, recently discovered, wear certainly in many respects an Egyptian ap- 

 pearance. If you examine them, you will observe a similar mystical taste, — a profound 

 disregard of perspective, and a great aptitude for expressing things by signs : thus, a 

 castle sometimes bears a marvellous resemblance to its namesake of chess ; a distant river 

 is represented by very lively fish in single file ; while, to illustrate the country beyond, 

 you will probably find several indigenous trees appearing to grow out of the fishes' backs. 

 The carvers of the Nineveh marbles seem, nevertheless, to have had a feeling after truth. 

 In the treatment of animals, they may be said comparatively, to excel: the lions in the 

 lion hunts are full of vivacity and expression, although sometimes rather symbolical (I 

 mean in size) in the teeth and claws. To prove what I say concerning the truth of these 

 lions, you will find depicted on the tips of some of their tails, a claw, whose existence had 

 of late years been disputed, but it is now again established. The procession of captives 

 and beasts on the obelisk is in several respects, and considering its probable antiqviity, 

 admirably executed. 



To turn to history, we are told almost incredible wonders of Babylon. The walls 

 were 300 feet high, 80 feet thick, built of brick and bitumen ; flanked and protected 

 with numerous towers, adorned with a hundred brass gates, and sixty miles in circum 

 ference. We are told the Euphrates was enclosed by piers in a straight canal through 



