262 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



[August, 



!: 



Of sjjires ami pinnacles, stuilded witli crotcliets, tliat by tlieir gradual 

 diminution seem to elude tlie sight. 



Of massive buttresses that lilce giant champions arrange themselves 

 i\ith sturdy strength to protect the pile from the assaults of time or 

 elemental strife. 



And of windows. Oh I did we ever have windows before? Loop- 

 holes indeed we had, and an admirable frame-work surrounded them ; 

 but the windows of Gothic structures are high and wide enough to be 

 supposed of diviner origin, designed to let in, and to difiuse the rays 

 of heaven. 



But then again, let us dwell for a moment on the " ever vaiying, 

 ever new" changes which have been rung on this style, in the produc- 

 tion of the Tudor arch as distinguished Irom the pointed, and both in 

 their difference from the Saxon ; let us also notice what appropriate 

 " keeping" (as painters would term it) attended these different changes 

 in the details of mouldings and enrichments; how abrupt and bold are 

 the lozenge, zig-zag, and chevron, as the style to which they belong, 

 anil how flowing and graceful is the tracery of the apertures, canopied 

 niches, and finials of the others. 



But, Sir, I come now to speak more particularly to the subject which 

 lias induced these prefatory remarks, necessary, they appeared to rue 

 to be, though possibly too lengthy to you, they have been made in the 

 attempt to show that' in availing" ourselves of the productions of art 

 from the earliest times to the present, and of all countries; we should 

 duly and carefully Anglicize the materials we so obtain, and that we 

 should indeed make them our oivn, not by the mere plagiary of the 

 ■n'orks of our predecessors, whereby we abuse the talents which they 

 tave bequeathed us in adapting them to purpose for which they have 

 no aflfinitv ! but that we should so study and trace the principles which 

 iiided them, as to work out,alegitimate and definite style for ourselves, 

 n illustration of tliese remarks I purpose as a noble example to con- 

 sider the peculiar style and character of Sm JoH\ Vaxbuugh. 



I believe. Sir, I shall not be saying too much when I assert that he 

 studied the characteristics of architecture of the whole eastern hemis- 

 phere, and that while his resources extended from the Nile to the 

 Ketherlands, he followed not any beaten track, but struck out for him- 

 self a new style and character of building which he not only adapted 

 to the habits of English life, but so grouped the suhonlinaic with the 

 stately features — that as examples of domestic architecture he has 

 produced some of the noblest piles of which our country can boast. 

 To examine this style, to analyze its principles, is my present object, 

 not, be it remarked for the purpose of recommending its adoption, no, 

 but for that of illustrating the course which in my humble opinion he 

 Las shown us we should pursue. And which those wdio have had the 

 gift and perseverance to pursue have invariably made for themselves 

 a fame which (during life indeed) may be unattended with any corres- 

 ponding celebrity ; but to whose productions after ages w ill refer (as 

 in our days the more ancient are), for the guidance of the student and 

 admiration of the world, 



I had intended here to allude to the works of some of the architects 

 cf our own day, as possessing more decided originality than most of us 

 can lay claim to, but as this might seem adulatory on the one hand, and 

 invidious on the other, I prefer to avoid it. 



And now to come more closely to the style of Sir John Vanburgh. 

 I liave chosen the princely mansions of Blenheim and Castle Howard. 



And first of Blenheim. It certainly is not Roman, though it has 

 much affinity to Roman, but the intercoUunniations are too close and 

 divide the masses into proportions not often recognizable in the w orks 

 of the Italian architects, besides wliich there is less variety and sub- 

 divisions of detail ; it is therefore not strictly Roman. 



It certainly is not Grecian. Yet how few compositions are there 

 professing to be Greek which retains such continuity of line and 

 quantity. The superior cornices range with each other, and the in- 

 ferior are made to follow as a string course which binds the whole, 

 simply and compactly together — still it is not Grecian. 



It certainly is not Gothic, but it possesses (I submit) many of the 

 qualities of Gothic — the frequency of the pillars and piers, break up 

 the horizontal lines, not as in the Italian buildings where pillars are 

 used with entablatures breaking lound tliem, but continuing up and 

 surmounting them with terminal-like decorations. 



I might go further and allude to that other Italian style, — to the con- 

 sideration of which the Institute was lately called by a paper favoured 

 them by Sir Gardnor Wilkinson; one, that for the matter it contained, 

 and the discussion it produced amongst the senior members as to its 

 ongin, w^as perhajjs one of the most interesting of the present ses- 

 sion. Here, however, was another style ditfering not in mere details, but 

 in the main principles of compositions. 



A broad and simple facade, unbroken by proportions either as to 

 plan or decoration. A total absence of columns as a part of the superior 



building, but used subordinatelyfor the decorations of the apertures — 

 these apertures placed one above another in perpendicular lines by 

 their unifonn size preserved also the horizontal ones. And at the 

 summit a cornice that for boldness of outline and richness of detail, 

 casts into utter insignificance all former pretensions to it. And while 

 it really j.'TutecIs, most magniftceyitly adoriu. 



But even tliese, or all these, did not lead captive, they but excited 

 the energies of Sir John Vanburgh. 



Secondly, of Castle Howard.* 



Now I think it is universally agreed that tliere is about this facade 

 something strikingly simple, majestic, and harmonious, and as I have 

 before said of Blenheim, neither Roman, Greek, or Gothic, yet pos- 

 sessing much of the characteristic of each. 



The great excellence, however, which belongs to it is, that while 

 all these styles are as I have said to be recognized, they are not crudely 

 combined, but while the principles of each appear to liave been fully 

 perceived and umlerstood by Sir John Vanburgh, he suffered them to 

 pass as it were through the alembic of his mind, and bring into ex- 

 istence a new combination. 



I have said, it is not Roman, though it possess Roman features — its 

 moldings, its arches, are certainly of Roman origin, but with what 

 simplicity are they here arranged. 



If you compare it with the earlier or later masters of the Italian 

 school, you will find that where the column and pilaster were intro- 

 duced as parts of the main building, they were broken and unequal in 

 their parts. That Palladio himself in most instances divided the 

 height of the building into separate stories ; piling up order above 

 order ; but with a felicity (it is true) that has ever since, and ever will 

 command universal praise. Such also is the casewdth the palaces and 

 basilica of Scamtcozi and San Michell as seen at Verona, Vicenza, and 

 Venice. 



They are all, or nearly so, divided into separate stories, which at 

 once involves a distribution of other parts, essentially differing from 

 the practice afterwards pursued by Sir John Vanburgh. 



Neither does the colossal aspect of these buildings depend upon 

 their size. They arise as I have before intimated, but in other words, 

 upon that philosophical arrangement of substance and void, of ordinate 

 and subordinate parts, that while each possesses its due interest, it 

 becomes but an integral part of a sublime and beautiful wdiole. 



Thus then did Sir John Vanburgh proceed — in the grand features, 

 borrowing simplicity and breadth from the practice pursued from the 

 Greeks, and, in the details, from the more tractable forms of Italian 

 art he produced those stupendous works which are now visited and 

 admired by persons of every rank and degree. 



The rude and uncultivated mind finds something, (it knows not 

 what), which impresses a kind of awe, while the poet and the painter, 

 whose occupation and aim it is, to engage our finer sympathies, each 

 have the principles of their own art expressed in another way. 



Gentlemen, I have thus endeavoured to point out the principles of 

 arcliitectural composition as illustrated in the works of Sir John Van- 

 burgh. 



That it might have been much better done, I am fully aware ; but 

 inasmuch as the ground has not to my knowledge been trodden before, — 

 inasmuch as that I could find no published work to assist me, — 

 inasmuch as our Institute has been founded not only for imparting 

 statistical information, but for the mutual interchange of professional 

 thought and sentiment. I have ventured to offer you mine on this 

 subject. 



And as men commonly make an exchange to heneft themselves, I shall 

 hope and trust some abler hand than mine may be induced to dilate 

 upon it, more equal to its merit, so that from this small beginning now^ 

 we may all at a future period reap a sterling, and lasting advantage. 



James Thomson. 



June, 1S40. 



'' Here were exhiljiteJ by Mr. Thompson the series of drawings illustrative 

 of ihe subject of liis essay, engravings of which we are sorry tu omit. l)ut 

 have been obliged to do so on account of tlieir extent, ami the prescribed 

 limits of our Journal. — Kd. C. K. 8c A. Jock. 



Antiquity of Railways and Gas. — Railways were used in Xorthum- 

 bcrlaiid in 1G33, and Lord ICeeper North lueutions them in IGTl in his journey 

 to this countr)'. A Jh'. Spcdding, coal agent to Lord Lonsdale, at White- 

 haven, in 1765, had the gas from Ids Lordsliip's coaj-jiits conveyed by pipes 

 info his otiice, for the purpose of lighting it, and ]u'oposcd to the magistrates 

 of Whitehaven to convev the gas by pipes through the streets to Ught the 

 toivn, which they refused. — Ceriisle journal. 



