228 



THE CIVIL ENfilNERR AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[July, 



but tlipii it deserves it as little as any inodeni (^luiiuh in the whole 

 city. The tower is even below critioisni, but the inside of the build- 

 ing makes amends for tlie awkwardness of the out ; and is really as 

 neat and wcU-finisbcd as the manner and taste it is formed in will 

 allow. 



Temple Bar is, indeed, the liandsomest gate about town, and de- 

 serves some degree of applause ; if it has any fault, it is this, that the 

 top being round as well as the ari'li underneath, the whole wants that 

 contrast of tigure which is so essential to bi-auty and taste. The 

 statues on the outside are good, tlieir only disadvantage is the hurry 

 of tlie place where they are to be viewed, which makes it dangerous 

 to be curious, and prevents the attention to them which they would 

 otherwise command. 



The structure' of the Temple Gate is in the style of Inigo Jones, and 

 very far from ini-iegaut. I wish I could say the same of the diU'crent 

 detachments of building which belong to it, but that is far from being 

 ill my power, nor ever can or will ; the property is so divided anil 

 subdivided, that it is next to impossible that any ;igreeineiit should 

 ever be made in favour of harmony and decoration. It i^ ci'rf.dn that 

 nothing can be finer situated than the Temjile, along the side of the 

 river, and if we consider the elevation of the grounii, and how far it 

 extends, the must barren invention cannot fail of conceiving the uses 

 it might be put to, and the beauties it would admit of. At present 

 there is but one thing which is worth observing in the Tein])le, and 

 that is the old church which Ijelonged to the Knights Templars of 

 Jerusalem ; and the outside even of this is covered from the view, 

 that the whole might be of a piece. The inside indeed is yet visible, 

 and may justly be esteemed one of the best remains of (iothic archi- 

 tecture in this cit}'. The form of it is very singular; you enter first 

 into a large circular tower, which at top terminates in something like 

 a dome, and lias a very good effect on the eye ; beyond, op])Osite to 

 the entrance, the church extends itself in three aisles, and is built and 

 finished with as much elegancy and proportion as the taste of those 

 days would allow. 



From the Teniph; it is but a natural step to Lincoln's Inn ; but, by 

 the way, it is worth a stranger's curiosity to visit the habitation of 

 the Master of the Rolls, which is certainly built with elegancy and 

 convenience, and can be blamed in nothing but its situation, which is 

 undoubtedly as bad as the building itself is good. 



Lincoln's Inn may reasonably boast of one of the neatest squares in 

 town ; and though it is imperfect on one side, yet that very defect 

 produces a beaiily, liy giving a pros])ect to the gardens, which fill the 

 space to abundantly more advantage. I may safely add, that no area 

 any where is kept in better order, either for cleanliness and beauty 

 liy day, or illuminations and decorum by night ; the fountain in the 

 middle is a very pretty decoration, and if it was still kejit jilaving, as 

 it was some years ago, it would preserve its name with more pro- 

 priety, and give greater pleasure into the bargain. 



The outside of the chapel belonging to this society, is a very good 

 piece of Gothic architecture, and the painting on the windows has 

 a great many admirers within ; in my opinion, indeed, it does not 

 deserve quite so much applause as it has received, because the designs 

 are poor, the faces have little expression, and there is little reason, 

 beside a blind regard to antiquity, to extol them at all. The raising 

 this chapel on pillars affords a pleasing, melancholy walk underneath, 

 and by night ]iarticnlarly, when, illuminated by the lamps, it Las nn 

 effect tliat may be fell, but not described. 



The gardens are far from being admirable, but llieii they are con- 

 venient; and considering their situation, cannot be esteenud too 

 much. There is something hospitable, too, in laying fhcin open to 

 public use; and while we share in their pleasures, we have no title 

 to arraign their taste. 



As I liud my business increase upon my hands, as I come nearer the 

 polite end of the town, 1 shall be obliged to divide it into three dis- 

 tinct walks, that it may appear in something like method, and be a 

 lietter guide to the stranger, or man of taste and curiosity ; in the 

 first 1 propose to go from Lincoln's Inn Fields to the end of Piccadilly ; 

 jn the becoud from Temple Bar to Westminster; and in the last from 

 Gray's Inn to Grosveuor Square. 



( To be cunUmtecl.) 



CATHOLIC CHAPELS— MR. PUGIN. 



Sir — Youv correspondent P. S. (as well as some otlier contributors 

 to your Journal), evinces wliat appears to me to bo a very needless 

 jealousy of the name of "Pugin," and appears to wish to throw dis- 

 credit upon the statement of the "Argus," that no fewer than seven- 

 teen Catholic Chapels are baing erected under that architect. Mr. 



i'ligiu has certainly done much to excite the jealousy and spleen of 

 Protestant architects, by the severe rubbing up which he has given 

 US ; but would it not be better for us to endeavour to learn wisdom 

 from our enemy, (if he is such), than to content ourselves b)' showing 

 oar spleen at every mention of his name ? Would it not be more 

 |irudent antl more creditable for us to eradicate the errors of taste 

 which he has so mercilessly exposed, rather than to liolster ourselves 

 up with the idea that his lamjioons are undeserved, ov that he is him- 

 self eqiuilly o]ien to attack ? There can be no reasonable doubt of the 

 fallacy of Mr. Pugin's theory that every architectural vice took its rise 

 among the I-^rotestants, and that every merit belongs to the Romanists ; 

 there can be no question that though the "Gothic" styles were in- 

 vented and brought to perfection amfjiig the Catholics, they were also 

 first nli}i(jiits/itd by the Catholics, and (in modern times) first revived 

 by the Protestants. There can be no doubt that Mr. Pugin himself 

 imbibed his taste for these styles while a Protestant, and that he has 

 since been the first to impart this taste to the Catholics, who had |)re- 

 viously (ill our times) evinced little m- no taste for the works of their 

 forefafhers — so that this theory of Mr. Pugin's cviilenlly falls to the 

 ground. This, however, so far from vindicating Protestant architects 

 from tlie charge of bad taste, removes the excuse which even Mr. 

 Pugin made for them. Mr. Pugin's equally severe, and more just 

 criticisms on the modern Catholic Cliapels, liave been so well received, 

 that w'e immediately find chapels starting up in every part of the king- 

 dom, in the purest taste, and many of them on a scale of magnificence 

 wdiich would not have disgraced the best ages of Christian architec- 

 ture. It now remains for Protestant architects to display their zeal 

 and their talents in a similar manner, and to give practical i)roof that 

 they have been unjustly handled, rather than to attempt a petty re- 

 venge by detracting from the merits of a rival, who with all his eccen- 

 tricities, is beyond comparison the first Ecclesiastical Architect of the 

 day. 



I am. Sir, your most obedient servant, 



A Protestant Architect. 



Lvndon, Jam 10, 1840. 



P.S. — Among the Catholic "Churches" or Chapels 1 have seen or 

 heard of ;is being erected, or about to be erected by Mr. Pugin, are 

 those at Derby, Birmingham, Manchester, Keighley, Whitby, Dudley, 

 Reading, at or near Worksop, St. George's Fields, &c., as I have only 

 accidentally seen or heard of these, and have forgotten many more I 

 have heard of, Ihave no doubt that the number exceeds that narned in 

 the "Argus." 



ON THE HORIZONTAL AND PERPENDICULAR LINE IN 

 ARCHITECTURE. 



By Frederick East, M.A. 

 ( Covcludcd from page 1S7.J 



I had intended with submission to any opinions current amongst 

 professional disqvnsitors upon the subject of horizontal and perpen- 

 dicular lines, to have included in tlie pourtrayal of that matter, a few 

 remarks upon the subject of Ijroken entablatures, so often noticed in a 

 critical way, by the jealons guardian of consistency in classical arclii- 

 tecture. Avoiding, however, any further intrusion into the columns of 

 last month's Journal, than the subject actnally required, I reserved 

 that ))rivilege for the next, and in offering a few opinions upon so in- 

 teresting a theme, do so with the idea that as this breaking of the 

 cornice is one of the peculiarities of the I^alladian school — and of per- 

 ])endicular Italian; there is a natural link between it and the subject 

 of my last paper, namely, lines. 



Some conceive the fashion for breaks, an Italian prejudice dis- 

 cordant with the harmony of correct art, and generally condemn tlieir 

 use as unwarrantable and unmeaning. Others again, in the warmth of 

 their attachment for certain masters, v\ould follow them into every 

 caprice of taste, and find their very eccentricities engaging. I humbly 

 conceive nevertheless, that we cannot employ these breaks, frequently, 

 nor perhaps at all, if the imagination is to be vigorously affected, — or 

 if the building, whether in plan or elevation, consists of many jiarts; 

 since greatness of manner would disappear at once from the superficies, 

 and the eye would compass something of what is little and mean. 



Inigo Jones must not lose cast however because he introduces these 

 breaks, and frequently. Popular taste at his time, coveted every thing 

 that was Italian. The king, the court, and nobility, had already con- 

 ceived these notions, which led them afterwards to vie witli each other 

 in the treasures of Italian decoration. 



Inigo Jones in the Banquettiiig House, Whitehall, betrays something 

 more than the ordinary sentiment of his school, by an introduction of 



