rypi' GRECIAN AND GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE. 19^ 



totally it overpowers every other confideration, that 

 whole nations may be found to adopt a tafte for cer- 

 tain ornaments which they look upoti as beautitul, 

 which the general tenor of their reafonin^; would de- 

 mondrate, in the clcarell manner, to be ridiculous and 

 abfurd. A ftronger example of this need not be pro- 

 duced than the tafte which has long prevailed in Eu- 

 rope for the fquarc cut, and other peculiarities of the 

 French falhion in drcfs for men, which is in general 

 among us thought to be not only not ridiculous, but 

 even elegant and becoming. At tlie fame time, how- 

 ever, that we admire the ilifF formality of that cut of 

 clothes, fo unlike to any thmg in nature, as applied to 

 animals, v»'e find no difnciilty in now laughing at the 

 ililF formality, fo fimilar in kind to this, which our 

 forefathers eftccmed fo beautiful in tlie difpofition. of 

 their gardens. The long avenue, bordered with paral- 

 Jel rows of trees, the flrait walk, confined by high 

 hedges; the trees cut into pyramids and arcadtis ; the 

 rivulets led in ftcne troughs ; the formal, ditch-like 

 canal ; the ftreight walls, and fliarp angles of the in- 

 clofures : all thcfe, and the other objetts of garden- 

 beauty, fo mucii admired at that time, we now look. 

 upon with the moft fovcreign contempt, as the very 

 revcrfe of every thing that is beautiful ; and in its flead 

 we prize, and we think with reafon, the open lawn, 

 the meandering rill, the eafy fweep, and the artlefs 

 negligence of natui'e. But can any thing more nearlv 

 rcfemble thefe formal, ftiff, angular beauties in our 

 garden, than the prcfcnt cut of men's clothes ? IIo- 

 j^arth's French dancing-maiter, teaching the Apollo 

 IJcIvidere to hold up his head, fliows, in a flriking 

 manner, the julUce of tJiis remark; and the proprietv 

 of this ridicule has been acknowledged by all : but 

 Strange's print, Apollo rewarding Merit, (liov/s, if pof- 

 fible, in a ftill more forcible manner, the aukwardnefs 

 of that form of drcfs. Thefe things are admitted ; but 

 car dref-^, notwithftanding, is ftill in falhicn, and 

 1^ b 2 



