10 



THE POPULAE EDUCATOR. 



useless. The buildings of the fifteenth century, therefore, were 

 characterised by a refinement previously unknown. The old 

 manor-houses were transformed into mansions, and the castles, 

 when not allowed to fall into ruin, became stately abodes. The 

 exteriors were often handsomely embellished ; the castellations, 

 which had formerly a warlike use, now became a mere ornament ; 

 and the growing taste for privacy and comfort led to the 

 gradual formation of a convenient plan for a wide range of 

 apartments. We give an illustration of a portion of Haddon 

 Hall, in Derbyshire, as one of the finest examples of the Tudor 

 period, which embraces the latter part of the fifteenth and a 

 portion of the sixteenth centuries. The general style is sup- 

 posed to have been suggested by the Perpendicular Gothic, 

 which was now in vogue in church architecture, and to this it 

 will be found to bear many traces of resemblance. 



At the beginning of the sixteenth century, ecclesiastical 

 architecture was dying out, and vigorous attention began to be 

 bestowed on the domestic architecture of the country. The 

 middle of the century brings us to the Elizabethan age, when 

 the nation had a long period of comparative repose, and was 

 rapidly accumulating wealth. The power of the nobles had 

 been greatly limited, and they no longer surrounded themselves 

 by troopa of retainers, who were sheltered and fed within 

 castle and manor-house walls. In the reigns immediately 

 preceding, these attendants had been gradually dispersed to 

 engage themselves in peaceful arts, to the great advantage of 

 the country. The residences of the nobility were now occupied 

 entirely by themselves and their domestics ; and, as a conse- 

 quence of this progressive change, we find a total revolution in 

 the domestic manners of the time, which produced a corre- 

 sponding effect in domestic architecture. The large common 

 hall, hitherto the most important feature in the abodes of the 

 great, had fallen into insignificance as regards its actual uses. 

 Additional chambers and private apartments were added, and 

 English architects, some of whom had studied in Italy, devoted 

 themselves to the convenient and harmonious arrangement of 

 the whole. In Hatfield House, Hertfordshire, we have one of 

 the finest examples of the style of the Elizabethan age, and its 

 facade, or front, approached by a fine avenue of trees, forms one 

 of our illustrations. Many other specimens of the substantial 

 and commodious architecture of the period exist in various 

 parts of the country, among which we may mention Longleat, 

 Wilts, remodelled early in the present century by Sir Jeffrey 

 Wyatt ; Burleigh House ; Charlton House, near Blackheath ; 

 and a part of Hampton Court. 



The architecture of the Elizabethan age has been considered 

 an attempt to combine the Italian style with the Tudor Gothic. 

 The numerous perpendicular windows, the galleries and corridors, 

 the ornamental gables or level balustrades which took the place 

 of them, and the twisted chimney-shafts, are among its more 

 conspicuous features ; but its immense superiority over the 

 building of preceding ages was shown chiefly in its commodious 

 internal arrangements, which for the first time made the abode 

 of a gentleman replete with comfort and convenience. 



The interior of the mansion having now been entirely re- 

 modelled, its exterior shortly underwent another change, in the 

 gradual adoption throughout England of the Italian style, by 

 which the Tudor and Elizabethan were finally superseded. The 

 Italian style was a revival of classic architecture, to which the 

 works of Palladio were mainly instrumental, and hence it is 

 frequently called the Palladian school. The term Cinque 

 Cento is also applied to it, from its revival in Italy after the 

 year 1500 cinque, fifth, being used as an abbreviation of 

 fifteenth century. It was introduced into this country by Inigo 

 Jones, and it soon became the fashion to adopt it. The peculiar 

 features of this style were the range of classic columns used as 

 a portico, and sometimes on each face of the edifice, which was 

 square in form, and often surmounted by a cupola. In interior 

 arrangements a change was made by allotting the ground floor, 

 in large establishments, chiefly to the domestic offices, the 

 dwelling-rooms and principal apartments being placed on the 

 floor above, and over these the bed-chambers. A central 

 saloon, the height of the entire building, took the place of the 

 hall of former times, and was surrounded by the other apart- 

 ments. 



With various adaptations of this style to English taste, it 

 continued in vogue throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth 



of proportion, and many of the square and ugly brick buildings 

 of the last century can boast little in common with the Italian 

 plan. ^ In the present century Palladianism has declined, and a 

 disposition has been shown to revert to old English forms in 

 their best examples, and even to escape entirely from the 

 thraldom of precedent, either in external or internal arrange- 

 ment. 



Italian architecture, however, in one or other of its forma 

 and adaptations, still prevails to a considerable extent, although 

 the purely classic system of Palladio has lost favour. The 

 great club-houses in Pall-mall have all more or less of the style 

 known as the Palatial Italian; and Bridge water House, Picca- 

 dilly, the residence of the Earl of Ellesmere, is considered 

 to be perhaps the most perfect example of this style in 

 England. The Rural Italian, very similar in its details, but 

 without the same uniformity of elevation is also greatly in 

 favour, and is especially adapted to picturesque situations. In 

 this style the marine residence of Her Majesty at Osborno 

 House was erected by the choice of the late Prince Consort, and 

 an idea of its effect will be gathered from our illustration of 

 a portion of that building. 



MECHANICS. XV. 



THE INCLINED PLANE THE WEDGE THE SCREW. 

 THE mechanical powers are usually said to be six in number : 

 the lever, the wheel and axle, the pulley, the inclined plane, the 

 wedge, and the screw. On examination, it will be found that 

 any machine whatever consists of various combinations or 

 modifications of these. If, however, we look more closely, we 

 shall find that these six may really be reduced to three namely, 

 the lever, the pulley, and the inclined plane. 



These, then, are the three fundamental mechanical powers ; 

 the wheel and axle being, as we saw in our last lesson, a suc- 

 cession of levers coming into play one after another ; and the 

 wedge and the screw, as we shall soon find, merely modifications 

 of the inclined plane. To this, then, we must now turn our 

 attention, and see how the inclined plane may be used as a 

 mechanical power, and what is the advantage gained by its use. 



A horizontal plane is one that has an even surface, like a 

 portion of the surface of a lake on a calm day, every part being 

 at the same level. If this plane be now tilted or lifted at one 

 end, so as to make an angle with the horizon, it is called an 

 inclined plane, and the angle which it makes with the level 

 surface is called its angle of inclination. Hence we speak of 

 a plane inclined at an angle of 30, or any other number of 

 degrees. There is also another way of speaking of the inclina- 

 tion, as, for instance, when we say a road has an ascent of one 

 foot in twelve, meaning that for every twelv-e feet of length 

 measured along its surface there is a vertical rise of one foot. 

 These modes of expressing the same fact may be used indis- 

 criminately. 



Now we can easily see that some advantage is gained by the 

 use of the inclined plane. If a drayman wishes to raise a heavy 

 barrel into his dray, he does not attempt to lift it vertically, for 

 he knows he could not do it ; but he lays a ladder or plank 

 sloping from the ground up to the dray, and rolls the barrel up 

 this incline. So in the railway which has been formed over 

 Mont Cenis, the trains go along a series of zigzags, which are 

 really a succession of inclined planes, and thus the mountain 

 chain is crossed. A driver, too, in driving a heavy load up a 

 steep incline, will frequently cross from side to side of the road, 

 as he goes up a less steep incline, and thus spares the horses. 



How comes it, then, that this advantage is gained, and what 

 proportion does the load bear to the power that raises it ? We 



Let A c represent a plane 



K D 



will try and solve these questions, 

 inclined at the angle CAB; w 

 is a weight resting on the plane 



and fastened to a cord which 

 passes over the pulley D, and 

 is kept stretched by a power, 

 p. The cord we will first sup- 

 pose to be parallel to the sur- 

 face of the plane, and the 

 power therefore acts in this 

 direction. Friction has, in practice, a great influence .in a 



Fig. 77. 



centuries. In the hands of many architects it lost its fairness i case like this ; as, however, we shall speak about that shortly, 



