CIVIL ARCHITECTURE. 



551 



History. 



Ionian An. 

 tiquitiet. 



Grtmwich 

 chapel. 



Wyau. 



Pantheon, 



Oxford 



Street. 



the finished drawings. By immediate and active pur 

 suit, those relating to the architectural parts were all re- 

 covered : but twenty six finely executed landscapes in 

 Egypt, Greece, and Asia Minor, were, only a few years 

 ago, accidentally discovered and purchased by the present 

 Mr Dawkins, in a public auction room in London. 

 From the publications of Messrs Dawkins and Wood, 

 we learn, that Palmyra is situated in the middle of a sandy 

 desart, 203 miles from the Mediterranean, 176 from Da- 

 mascus, and 333 from Seleucia : That it had risen to 

 great splendour in the time of Zenobia, when it was 

 taken and much injured by the Roman emperor Aure- 

 lian, who ordered Ceionius Basaus to repair the temple 

 of the Sun, with the value of the gold and jewels found 

 in Zenobia's possession. It appears by an inscription 

 copied by our travellers, that Dioclesian erected a con- 

 siderable edifice at Palmyra, under the charge of Hie- 

 rocles ; but that no inscription was discovered older than 

 the Christian sera, nor any later than Justinian ; that the 

 eldest have Palmyrean names, and the latter Roman prz- 

 nomina ; that, with the exception of two Ionic semi-co- 

 lumns at each end of the cell of the temple of the Sun, 

 and two in one mausoleum, the whole of the architec- 

 ture has been of the Corinthian order, highly decorated ; 

 and that, with the exception of four granite pillars in 

 the middle of the long portico, the whole was compo- 

 sed of white marble. 



The temple of the Sun at Balbec, of uncommon mag- 

 nitude and splendour, appears to have been built under 

 that excellent Roman emperor ./Elius Antoninus Pius, 

 near Libanus in Phoenicia, at a retting place between 

 Tyre and Palmyra. 



It was a singular circumstance, that, until the time of 

 Messrs Stuart and Revet in 1751, there had been no re- 

 course to the school from whence the Romans derived 

 all their knowledge of architecture. The indefatigable 

 and faithful labours of these deserving artists, who were 

 also supported chiefly by the munificence of Mr Dawkins, 

 furnished correct plans and profiles of many magnificent and 

 beautiful remains in Attica, and other parts of Greece. 

 This undertaking occupied four years, during three of 

 which they resided chiefly in Athens. Nothing can ex- 

 wed the accuracy of their measurements and delinea- 

 tions ; and their work put England for the first time 

 in possession of Grecian architecture. By comparing 

 these specimens with those copied from the Iv.st Roman 

 works, it is evident how much architecture had suffered 

 in the hands of the rude conquerors of the world. The 

 correct simplicity, bold features, and delicate propor- 

 tions of the Greek architecture, display the superiority 

 of genius and taste of that extraordinary people. Stu- 

 art's Antiquities of Athens was followed by a similar 

 work upon those of Ionia, delineated with equal judg- 

 ment and care by Messrs Revet and Pars, who returned 

 in 1766 from a journey made by the direction and at the 

 eapence of the Dilettanti Society, and which has secured 

 to us the taste and manner of the refined inhabitants of 

 Ionia. These works, and the buildings erected under 

 the direction of Mr Stuart, have produced a considerable 

 change in the architecture of this country. The resto- 

 ration of the chapel of Greenwich Hospital, is a fine dis- 

 play of the application of the Greek style. 



After the introduction of pure Greek architecture, it 

 has been fortunate that an architect (Mr Wyatt) has 

 risen to eminence, whose taste exceeds in correctness 

 that of his predecessors. The work which at once dis- 

 played his talents, and introduced him to extensive em- 

 ployment, the Pantheon, falls under the head of those 

 for public amusement!. In the front of the library of 



Oriel Col. 

 lege, Oi- 



ford. 



Canterbu- 

 ry Court, 

 Oxford. 



Oriel college in Oxford, he has given a correct Ionic ; History 

 but even here the basement is too high for the order it 

 supports, and the ornamental superstructure is too evi- 

 dently restricted to the front only. It is a fine screen 

 set up against a building, of which it does not appear to 

 form a component part, which it might have been ren- 

 dered, by employing a pilaster instead of a column, and 

 break at each extremity. His Doric gateway to Can- Gateway 

 terbury court, though not purely Greek, is a fine in- 

 stance of the beautiful simplicity of that order. When 

 compared to the Greek, the columns appear too slender, 

 and the alternate square and circular tablets, recesses, and 

 niches, do but imperfectly harmonize with the gravity of 

 the Doric. Mr Wyatt has been very extensively em- 

 ployed in repairing and restoring many Gothic cathe- 

 drals, although he has been, in some instances, accused 

 of not being sufficiently correct in keeping distinct the 

 different orders of this school. He has, in general, suc- 

 ceeded admirably well in preserving the spirit of the ori- 

 ginals. The public are much indebted to him, not only 

 for what he has himself performed, but for proving, that 

 these fine structures may be preserved to posterity. 



Legislation. 



Buildings for the purposes of legislation and the dis- Edifices for 

 tribution of justice, in the time of the Greeks and Ro- the pur- 

 mans, were known by the name of the forum and basilicz. P ose f 

 In England, they are distinguished by the names of senate- c 

 house, courts of justice, jails, and bridewells. The nation- 

 al senate-house of these kingdoms is situated in the old pa- Court of 

 lace of Westminster, erected by Edward the Confessor, Westniin. 

 to which William Rufus added the great hall as an ap- " er > 

 pendage. The hall was rebuilt by Richard II. in 1397 

 and is 270 feet in length, and 74 in breadth. The apart- 

 ment called the House of Commons was originally a 

 chapel built by king Stephen, and dedicated to St Ste- St Ste- 

 phen the martyr. It was rebuilt by Edward III. in phen'sCUa- 

 1S47. There is little architectural merit in those edi- P el - 

 fices, yet, notwithstanding this, the features of antiquity 

 which every way present themselves, associated with the 

 scenes they have witnessed, create a solemnity, and in- 

 spire a respect, which more modern and regular archi- 

 tecture would probably fail to command. The courts of 

 justice, though apparently confined, and externally fitted 

 up with bad taste, derive much dignity from the magni- 

 ficent hall in which they are placed, and it also affords 

 much real conveniency to the concourse of people, whom 

 businet.8 frequently obliges to attend upon the courts. It 

 answers the same purposes as the extensive porticos of the 

 Greeks and Romans, and is much more suitable to this 

 climate. 



In the city t>f London, excepting the great apartment CuildhaJJ. 

 of Guildhall, which is 155 feet long, 4# broad, and 55 

 high, and the facade of the building by Mr Dance, all 

 that is connected with the courts is disgracefully mean 

 and inconvenient. The prison of Newgate is, in extr- Newgate, 

 nal appearance, a specimen of architecture well adapted 

 to its purposes ; but there are several ornaments sunk 

 into recesses in the rough rustic fajade, which might be 

 spared. 



In many counties of England, much attention has been Provincial 

 paid to the construction of courts of justice, jails, and Courts of 

 bridewells. In some of them, a very considerable de- J Ukt ' ce > &< 

 gree of atchitectural skill has been displayed. The moet 

 perfect are those, where the situation and other circum- 

 stances admit of their being constructed adjacent to, 

 and so as to communicate with each other, yet are par- 

 tially accessible, and have a sufficiency of light and air. 

 In many parts of England these buildings, although cir- 



