ARCHITECTURE. 



the advancement of them in this country 

 to the summit of their present perfec- 

 tion. 



The native enterprize and perseverance 

 of the country at large, in the advance- 

 ment of science and art, has fully evinced 

 itself in the many flourishing and popu- 

 lous cities spread over an immense con- 

 tinent, that two centuries ago was the 

 abode of man in a state of nature. 



The splendid and extensive edifices at 

 Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and 

 New-York, exhibit great taste in the 

 science of architecture. The capitol at 

 Washington is perhaps the greatest effort 

 of our republic, in point of extent and 

 workmanship, and reflects great credit 

 on the talents of Mr. Latrobe,Jthe archi- 

 tect. The next in point of magnitude is 

 the city hall in New-York, and a number 

 of beautiful churches built of stone. 



The Pennsylvania bank in Philadelphia, 

 also from the designs of Mr. Latrobe, is 

 the most beautiful building on the conti- 

 nent, and is a perfect model of a Grecian 

 hexastyle temple ; it has never failed to 

 be universally admired, for its symmetry 

 and proportion. " The value attached to 

 works of this nature may be judged of, 

 from the city of Ephesus refusing to suf- 

 fer the temple of Diana to be inscribed 

 with the name of Alexander the Great, 

 although that prince offered to purchase 

 that honour by defraying the whole ex- 

 pense attending its erection ; from the 

 Athenians rejecting a like offer from Pe- 

 ricles, with regard to the splendid and 

 extensive edifices with which he had or- 

 namented Athens; and from the city of 

 Gnidia refusing to part with one statue, 

 the Venus of Praxiteles, although king 

 Nicomcdes proposed to free them from 

 tribute, if they complied with the re- 

 quest." [WM. STRICKLAND, Architect.] 



In the vast structures of Asia and Africa, 

 greatness of design, ponderosity of parts, 

 and stones of immense magnitude, seem 

 to have been more regarded than ele- 

 gance or utility : in all those great works 

 there is no trace of an arch, but what is 

 excavated out of the solid rock, or may 

 be made of a single stone. The Greeks 

 profess to have derived the knowledge of 

 architecture from the Egyptians, but the 

 art of building has been so much im- 

 proved by transplanting, that scarcely any 

 trace of the original remains : their edi- 

 fices were at first constructed of wood 

 and clay, but they soon began to imitate 

 the wooden posts and beams of the origi- 

 nal hut in stone and marble : from this 

 imitation arose the first order in architec- 



ture, which also gave birth to two others. 

 This ingenious people, favoured by na- 

 ture with marble and other building ma- 

 terials, and, like the Egyptians, being 

 anxious to make their works durable, 

 employed very weighty stones in the 

 construction, which, although laid with- 

 out cement, as was the practice of all an- 

 cient nations, yet they were jointed with 

 the utmost accuracy, which is the reason 

 of the perfect state of their edifices at 

 this day. There is little doubt but that 

 the Greeks were the inventors of the 

 arch, though they never considered it as 

 an ornament: it is only to be found in the 

 theatres and gymnasia, the aperturesx)f 

 walls and intercolumns being linteled. 



Greece, though a mild climate, is some- 

 times liable to rain : the architects of this 

 country, therefore, found it necessary to 

 raise the roofs of their edifices to a ridge 

 in the middle, the section being that of a 

 rectilineal isosceles triangle: the base 

 being the span or distance between the 

 opposite walls. This form of roof, called 

 a pediment roof, was frequently covered 

 with marble tiles. 



The Grecians surpassed all contempo- 

 rary nations in the arts of design ; the re- 

 mains of their ancient structures are mo- 

 dels of imitation, and confessed standards 

 of excellence. They were the inventors 

 of three orders of architecture, of which 

 we have already hinted, and which we 

 shall detail in a subsequent part of this 

 article. The remains of their sculptures 

 far exceed that of any other people, and 

 are, even at this day, most perfect models. 

 Modern artists have no means so certain, 

 in attaining a just knowledge of their pro- 

 fession, as in the study of those exquisite 

 master-pieces. 



The progress of Grecian architecture 

 appears to have occupied a period of 

 about three centuries, from the age of 

 Solon to the death of Alexander ; and in 

 this period it advanced rapidly, particu- 

 larly from the defeat of Xerxes to the 

 death of Pericles, at which time it attain- 

 ed its utmost degree of excellence, and 

 continued to flourish till the time it be- 

 came a Roman province. 



Prior to the Macedonian conquest, all 

 the temples of Greece, and its colonies in 

 Sicily and Italy, appear to have been of 

 the Doric order : and of one general form, 

 though slightly varied in particular parts, 

 asoccasionalcircumstancesmightrequire: 

 their plan was an oblong, having one co- 

 lumn more on the flank than double the 

 number of those in front. 



The ancient Etrurians have left many 

 excellent monuments of taste, and to them 



