324 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1809. 



Rome caught the Spark Prom Greece, improv'd the platii 

 At last the flame through modern Europe ran. 

 Our scene now decks, in an iliumin'd age. 

 The Bards who first gave vigour to our stage. 

 Thus iShakespeare's fire burns brighter than of yore ; 

 And may the stage that boasts him burn no more ! 



From this our fabric, banish we to»night. 

 Figures worn threadbare, metaphors grown trite, 

 No Phoenix from her ashes shall arise, 

 Stale to our thoughts as sparrows to our eyes; 

 No naked truism be cloak'd anew, 

 To tell that fire, which cheers, consumes us to ; 

 No, — let a Briton now to Britons speak ; 

 His cause is strong, although his language weak. 

 We feel with glory all to Britain due, 

 And British Artists rais'd this pile for you: 

 While, zealous as our patron here we stand, 

 To guard the staple genius of our land. 



Solid our building, heavy our expense; 

 We rest our claim on your munificence ; — 

 What ardour plans a nation's taste to raise, 

 A nation's liberality repays. 



We shall now make a few obser- 

 vations upon the architecture, inte- 

 rior and exterior, of this magnifi- 

 cent structure ; and endeavour to 

 explain those principles of science, 

 by which alone such a building 

 ought to be judged. — Rationem ar- 

 tis intellUgunt docti, indocti senti- 

 unt voluptatem, 



Mr. Smirke, jun., the architect, 

 has selected, and upon very just 

 grounds of preference, the Doric 

 style of architecture, which, in ma- 

 jesty, simplicity, and strength, so 

 much excels the other orders. The 

 front of the theatre occupies one 

 half of that side of Bow-street 

 nearest to Covent-garden ; and up- 

 on our first approach, we are struck 

 with the astonishing breadth and 

 majestic simplicity of the building. 

 The portico, in the center, is of tlie 



same proportions as those in the 

 portico of the temple of Minerva, 

 at Athens; and the characteristics 

 of Greek architecture, are preserv- 

 ed in the other parts of the front. 

 The columns of the portico, we be- 

 lieve, with the exception of those 

 of St. Peter's at Rome, and those 

 in the temple of the Acropolis, are 

 the largest of any existing building 

 in Europe. 



We observe that the rusticated 

 work, which is more familiar to the 

 eye as having the appearance of 

 lines in score, and which is in truth 

 a modern corruption, has been judi- 

 ciously omitted by the architect,— 

 who was doubtless aware of their 

 effect in destroying the simplicity of 

 a building, by distracting the eye, 

 and diverting its attention from the 

 main features.^-The mouldings on 



the 



