4 On GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 



In the early part of the fixteenth century it underwent a fud- 

 den reverfe of fortune; not, however, (I am incUned to think), 

 from any difcovery of its defedls, or any inquiry into its me- 

 rits, but entirely from the general temper of the times. A paf- 

 fionate admiration of the works of antiquity, which had then 

 recently attradled the attention of the moderns, produced a con- 

 tempt for whatever was not profeffedly formed upon the models 

 of Greece and Rome. At the fame time, an indifcriminate ha- 

 tred againft every producflion of the middle ages, flrongly felt 

 by men juft emerging froni the gloom of that period, led them 

 to overlook the merit of this very brilliant exception to its gene- 

 ral barbarifm. 



But the excefs of thefe impreffions has of late very inuch 

 abated ; authors of the gi'eateft eminence have teftified a refpedl 

 for Gothic architedture, by advancing various fyllems to ac- 

 count for its forms ; and, whilft they acknowledge the fuperior 

 excellence of the works of the ancient Greeks, they allow that, in 

 airy lightnefs, and in bold grandeur of eiFed:, thofe of the Gothic 

 flyle have not been furpalTed, if ever equalled, by the moft ce- 

 lebrated of our modern productions. The period, too, in which 

 it prevailed, being at a diftance from our times, and that di- 

 ftance being magnified in our iiuagination by the obfcurity of 

 its hiflory, we are inclined to rank its monuments with the 

 works of remote antiquity, which feldom fail to excite even a 

 greater intereft than thofe pofTefTmg the charm of novelty. 



In concurrence with thefe favourable fentiments, my objedl, 

 in the following Effay, is to reftore to Gothic architedlure its 

 due fhare of public efleem, chiefly by (hewing, that all its forms 

 may be traced to the imitation of one very fimple original ; and, 

 confequently, that they are connedled together by a regular fyf- 

 tem : thus proving, that its authors have been guided by prin- 

 ciple, and not, as many have alleged, by mere fancy and ca- 

 price. 



Having 



