part of ths laugnage of the art. Whatever else Paintiag and ."Sculpture may claim to be, 

 they are handmaids of architecture: one of their offices is to administer to architecture: 

 they are both something apart froia this ministry — something on their own account, — but 

 assuredly that is one of their provinces : they are the architect's auxiliaries, means of expres- 

 sion and power v;hich he has a right to avail himself of, in giving the higher tones of ex- 

 pression to his design. All ceiling, mural, and other paintings introduced into the diffe- 

 rent apartments of a public edifice, — all sculptured subjects, bassi relievi, or other works, 

 placed interiorly or exteriorly, should be so chosen and adapted as to further set forth its 

 character and purpose; and if they be so chosen, and harmoniously associated with the 

 building, and illustrative of its use, they may, I think, be considered as architectural or- 

 naments; as no less a part of the whole than a modillion or dental of the cornice. Sculp- 

 ture originated in combination with, and in subordination and subserviency to architec- 

 ture; and the secret of the great success of the Greeks, as also of the mediiBval builders, 

 may be found, I think, in the assistance Avhich each art rendered to the other, — their union 

 for the purpose of giving greater force and significance, like the different organs of life, 

 Avhich, when united, to borrow a simile, expressed the idea no single part could represent. 



S. H. 



fxtmmB. 



Rural Homes, or Sketches of Houses suited to American Country Lifi, with original 



plans, designs, fyc. : By Gervase Wheeler. (New-York, Charles Scribner.) 

 The multiplication of books upon Rural Architecture, is, in one sense, a most gratifying 

 aspect of the times — since it shows conclusively the appetite of the public for the beauti- 

 ful, the tasteful, or at all events, the ornamental in their dwellings. Undeniably, it is a 

 proof of the progress of civilization, this fact, that men desire to raise the character of 

 their homes; and clearly, the rural architecture of the country, is in the full tide of gra- 

 dual change — we hope amelioration — since every possible notion offered by real or false ar- 

 chitects, and architectural Avriters, is embodied into solid shape by some one or other of 

 our countrymen. 



Our grown men try experiments with styles of building, with as little naive or reck- 

 lessness, and as little heed as to the consequences, as our young men try experiments in 

 " mint juleps" and " brandy smashes," and we fear the immediate results upon the con- 

 stitutional taste of the country, in one case, and the constitutional health of the individuals 

 in the other, are pretty much the same — that is to saj', both exces.ses beget a sort of flashj'- 

 character, not very likely to bear close criticism, either by the canons of taste or morali- 

 ty. The only consolation in the matter is, that we cannot be accused of apatliy — in 

 short, we are rapidly acquiring knowledge of the world, and the art of building, deter- 

 mined, like the young man who was reproved by his father for his "fast" style of living 

 — " to see the folly of it for himself !" 



We shall do Mr. Wheeler the justice to sa)"-, in the outset, that he has produced a very 

 sprightly book on the subject of rural architecture. The volume is eminently readable, 

 abounds with many excellent suggestions, especially as to matters of taste; shows a ready 

 talent for imparting information, and leaves the novice who has perused it, with the im 

 pression that architecture is a pleasant sort of accomplishment that may be tauglit 

 easy lessons, and practiced for his own purposes, by almost every country' gentl 



