86 On the Fine Arts. 
for composing a perfect epic poem are derived from the 
practice of Homer, as it appears in the Iliad. In like 
Manner the principles of architecture as a science are 
founded on the result, not of rujes previously delivered, 
but of experiments; and we are assured that by an ad- 
herence to the rules, we shall produce the same beautiful 
effects as the result of the experiments from which the rules 
were deduced. Vitruvius was the first author who esta- 
bished the principles of ancient architecture; but he did 
not write.until the finest specimens of the art had been 
long completed: he was cotemporary with Augustus. He 
mentions indeed the names of many architects, but they 
were practical men—men of genius who had given models 
in the art, and thereby furnished the means of giving rules 
for the guidance of others. 
It is surprising that, although the work of Vitruvius is 
admitted by all students to be deficient, obscure, and ill- 
arranged, it is still the best work of its kind, particu- 
Jarly in the general laws which are Jaid down in it tor the 
instruction of architects in the choice of the orders suita- 
ble to the different kinds of edifices. A work embracing 
the Saxon, Norman, and Gothic styles, in addition to the 
classic orders, and discriminating the uses to which they 
are respectively adapted, 1s a desideratum in the literature 
of Europe. In England, a work of this kind 1s particularly 
requisite; for the English are perbaps less than any other 
nation in Europe sensible or even acquainted with the 
proprieties of architecture. In the St. Paul’s, London, one 
of the very finest works of the moderns, and admired by 
the English equal to its merits, the architect has employed 
the very gayest orders, and in the most ornamented style. 
The sublime magnitude of the building diminishes, at the 
first view, the effect of its preposterous gaudiness. It is 
not till after contemplating it with relation to its uses, that 
we perceive how much the style of the architecture is at 
variance with the purpose of the fabric. Surely the flaunt- 
ing luxuriance of the Corinthian and Composite orders is 
ill placed on a temple dedicated to the service of God, and 
appointed to receive the ashes of great and illustrious 
men, The decorum of architecture has been equally disre- 
garded in the construction of the new Theatre of Covent 
Garden. The portico is undoubtedly a beautiful specimen 
of the Grecian Doric, and as such would not have dis- 
graced even Athens; but the august simplicity of the Doric 
is as much out of place at the entrance of the play-house, 
as the gaudy elegance of the Corinthian and VERON Ga 
apn 
