272 GRECIAN AND GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE., Nov. 2, 



In a matter of this confequence, however, I would 

 rot be underftood to fpeak decifively, or rafiily to draw 

 any conclufion. The utmoft that ought to be attempted, 

 Ihould be to refer this point to the determination ot 

 experiment, and to abide by that decifion for the pre- 

 fent, if any decifion can be made, whatever that may 

 be. 



Suppofmg then the matter to be ftill undecided, 

 and that an unprejudiced fpeciator was to be intro* 

 duced, firft into a Gothic cathedral in its bcft flile, 

 and then into St. Paul's, London, which is the moft 

 fuperb ftrufture of this kind in Britain, according to 

 the Grecian mode, and try if we could perceive what 

 would be the obje£ls that would moft ftrongly attra£i: 

 his notice, and the elTcCls they would naturally excite 

 in his mind. 



In the firft place, the delicate round columns of the 

 Gothic pile would catch the eye, and by exhibiting a 

 pleafing figure, would naturally lead it from the bafc 

 along the Ihaft to its top, where the fmall ribs divaricat- 

 ing in an eafy manner, without unnatural breaks or 

 chafms of any kind, invite the eyes, imperceptibly to 

 fteal along the whole of the widely fpreading roof, 

 every part of which being light and chearful, excites a 

 fort of exhilerating fcnfation *. In the mean while, 

 the regular rows of pillars, on each fide, decreafing in 

 width, and deminiftiing in heigth as their diftance in- 



* .•Vfchitetfts have taken pleafiire to dcfcrihc the circumflanccs that 

 excited iJei-i to the Grecian architei!t, and to point out the objeAs that 

 fcrvcd for the models of the various particulars of that ftile of architec- 

 ture. The hole of a tree ft-rved as a model for the fhaft of the co- 

 lumn. A ftonc placed below it, to prevent its finkiflg into the ground, 

 •was the origin of the />li/iUs A bandage at top and bottom, to prevent 

 it from fplittin^i, ^avc rife to the bafe and the capital. A beam ut top, 

 tokcip the whole firm and fteady, formed the architrave. hcantlingSj 

 riiortoifcd into that beam to fuppnrt the roof, fuggeiled the idea of the 

 Doric trighph ; and every perlbn has heard of the baiket with the acan- 

 thus leaves growing round it, which fuggefted the hint to the artiA for 

 the Corinthian capital. 



