1844.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



houses being comprised within one design, the same general elevation 

 is frequently continued along the entire side of a street or square, 

 consequently, while uniformity is pushed to monotony, the impression 

 of greatness aimed at is lost, it being evident at the very first glance, 

 that such a facade consists merely of a row of houses put into uni- 

 form, therefore, of "speculation" houses— not such as are erected for 

 their own residences by wealthy proprietors. As far as the builder 

 is concerned, such system is convenient enough: a single elevation 

 will serve for the whole job. Its pattern once set, a Pecksniff " ter- 

 race " or " place" may be stretched out as long as — a Chancery suit, 

 and be the external design ever so bad in point of taste, that gives the 

 occupiers of the houses no concern, because they are comparatively 

 but birds of passage. 



HI. It is to be regretted that a little more public spirit and liberality 

 of feeling in the cause of architecture is not shown by those among 

 the noble and opulent, who possess magnificent mansions, worthy of 

 being made known to all, yet are kept, in a manner, almost under 

 lock and key. It is to be presumed that Chatsworth, for instance, 

 and more especially that portion of it which was added by Sir Jeff"ry 

 Wyatville, must contain a very great deal not only worth seeing but 

 worth studying— and between the two the difference is considerable; 

 nevertheless, there is nothing to inform us what it really is, neither 

 are we likely to have anything, although it would be a mere bagatelle 

 to such a man as the Duke of Devonshire — perhaps not the cost of a 

 iiingle fete — were he to employ the best artists of the day to make 

 drawings and engravings that should completely illustrate the whole 

 of the edifice. Very probably his Grace would not refuse the privi- 

 lege of making drawings for such purpose to any one who might 

 apply for if, and miglit even promise him subscribers, yet that kind of 

 liberality does not go far — certainly not far enough for the purpose. 

 It is almost in vain to look to the enferprize of trading speculation, 

 whether on the part of publishers or artists, for works of that class, 

 requiring a very great outlay, and promising but a very limited and a 

 very slow sale. They ought not to be left for others to take up — or 

 rather to the mere chance of its being done, but should be engaged in 

 con amore, and with no more idea of profit than a man has when he 

 gives a sumptuous banquet. As little would it matter though the 

 world should set it down to vanity and ostentation: where there are 

 so many other vanities besides, one more or less makes little differ- 

 ence in the sum total of them: neither would such kind of vanity be 

 the wnptiest of all. 



IV. As this is the age of surprising discoveries of all kinds, we 

 need not be particularly astonished at some one's having just di3Co- 

 vered a "bright halo" irradiating the character of Sir Rohert Smirke 

 as a man and an architect, and claiming distinction for him on account 

 of his "noble and generous nature!" With his private character the 

 public have nothing to do, more especially as he is nut one of tliose 

 who are perpetually thrusting themselves forward into nutice, and 

 who advertise themselves and their doings in newspaper puffs; on the 

 contrary. Sir Robert invariably "keeps himself quite to iiiniself," as 

 the saying is, and is no doubt fully entiiled to the praise of being in 

 his private station a very gentlemanly and highly respectable indi- 

 vidual. Yet there are many others such — at least, so it is to be hoped, 

 many truly excellent and worthy persons, who nevertheless are not on 

 that account paraded before the public. It is in his professional ca- 

 pacity alone that Sir Robert stands exposed to notice, and his personal 

 character belongs not to criticism but to biography. However justly 

 such character may be claimed for him, his " noble and generous na- 

 ture" does not discover itself by any overt acts: on the contrary, lie 

 shows himself to be of a very reserved and cold — not to call it a 

 churlish disposition — not tliat he is on that account to be singled out 

 for reproach, since even that is merely a negative defect, and one 

 which does not at all concern the public. When, however, a man is 

 officiously extolled for qualities which he does not appear to possess, 

 it is but lair that the world should make some inquiry. To call upon 

 us to admire the high character, and the noble, and generous nature of 

 Sir Robert, is, however intended, not a little indiscreet: most as- 

 suredly his professional character fur talent does not stand veiy high, 

 among those at all capable of appreciating it, since, considering tlie 

 numerous and ample opportunities which have been afforded him, no 

 one in the profession has done less, or has manifested less of artist-like 

 ability and feeling. So far from displaying any sort of invention or 

 fertility of mind, his buildings present merely a few obvious and 

 common-place ideas, hashed up over and over again; and are one and 

 all most lame and insipid — even to poverty, in their detail. To talk 

 of fancy and Siuirke in the same breath would be preposterous ; his 

 Grecian designs and composition are purely mechanical, such as any 

 one may attain to, merely by literally copying the llissus Ionic on all 

 occasions, and sticking its columns against fronts which belong not to 

 a columnar but -d/ejieslrated style. Therefore even his so much cried 



up purity, is, after all, only impurity — mongrelism of the'very worst 

 kind, exhibiting in marked contrast to each other, two opposite styles, 

 without any attempt to reconcile them, and thereby bring them in 

 some degree into assthetie harmony. All that Smirke has done has 

 been quite as well done — in some instances, better, by others of the 

 same school. Foulstone was quite equal to Smirke, and the buildings 

 of the one might very well be mistaken for those of the other; there- 

 fore, it is hard for poor Foulstone — the late "Plymouth Vitruvius," 

 and rather puzzling that he should be so little thought of by those who 

 admire his duplicate. Possibly it is because he lacked the talis- 

 manic prefix of Sir to his name. Putting Foulstone, however, out of 

 the question, it does not say much for the superior talent of Smirke, 

 or for the heartiness of his admirers, that none of the latter — even 

 those who consider him to have been unfuirly treated, should have 

 attempted to vindicate him, by directly pointing out in his works some 

 of those excellences for which they so largely give him credit. In- 

 stead of so doing, they adopt the more cautious yet far less satisfac- 

 tory mode of speaking of them in the lump, without particularizing 

 any one of his buildings or its peculiar merits. Alas ; for his classical 

 taste shown by such a maudlin affair — such a jumble of Grecian and 

 anti-Grecian, as the hall of the Post Office ; or such another specimen 

 of his, as is the church in Wyndham Place, or in the Mint on Tower 

 Hill, or the Long-room of the Custom House, or his buildings in the 

 Temple, or those of Serjeants' Inn, or King's College, or the College 

 of Physicians and Union Club House, or the Conservative in Pall 

 Mall. Is it for all — for every one, or for any one of these that our 

 admiration is demanded? if so, and justly so, then has Sir Robert 

 Smirke been, notwithstanding all his success, one of the most unfor- 

 tunate gentlemen in his profession, for they are all sent to Coventry — 

 are never referred to, spoken of, or mentioned in any way — most cer- 

 tainly not for admiration. As to his "noble and generous nature," the 

 proofs of that are not more striking than are the beauties of his ar- 

 chitecture. Is it his generous feelinu; which withholds him from ever 

 joining the exhibitors in the architectural room of the Royal Aca- 

 demy ? Are his ideas too precious to be there submitted to vulgar 

 gaze, or would his designs so entirely absorb attention that everything 

 else would be passed by unheeded, and they are therefore kept away 

 out of compassion to others? His enthusiasm for art — supposing it 

 to exist at all, must be of a particularly quiet kind, for never does it 

 burst out on any occasion. Externally he wears u.uch more that looks 

 like indifference for art, and haughty contempt for public opinion. 

 Most assuredly it is a very strange sort of generosity which deter- 

 mines him not to allow the public to view the Museum model, not- 

 withstanding clamours and remonstrances. In that matter we may 

 give him credit for discretion, but hardly for generosity of any kind, or 

 for the warm leeling of a genuine artist who looks to pulilic approval as 

 his most prized reward. Very rarely, if, indeed, ever, has Sir Robert 

 Smirke's name appeared in connexion with any scheme or plan for 

 furthering the interests of art generally, or those of his own profes- 

 sion. He encourages no one, nor any thing: of course he is at perfect 

 liberty so to act, without being responsible to any one for his conduct; 

 but then let him not be held up as a pattern cliar.icter ; let us not be 

 told of his noble and generous nature. If Sir Rubert chooses to let 

 the world misunderstand him — to veil the feelings of a warm-hearted 

 and enthusiastic mind beneath the garb of a frigid and repulsive in- 

 difference, he must take his account accordingly, nor will he at least 

 be surprised or disappointed at finding himself judged of from ap- 

 pearance. However, his hypocrisy, if such it be, is not of a very 

 dangerous kind, lor very few will be tempted by his example, to dis- 

 semble their virtues, and completely disguise all signs of "a noble and 

 generous nature." 



V. Singular paucity of invention is displayed by the surveyors of 

 private fetes — a greater disregard of money on the part of those 

 who order, than of ingenuity and contrivance on that of those who 

 havethe management of thrin. One stock conceit — and one that would 

 seem to be a piece of etiquette on such occasions — is lo lumber up 

 vestibule and staircase with such a prolusion of evergreens and plants, 

 that one might fancy Covent Garden market had been invited to the 

 party, and was making its way up stairs before him ; or else that he 

 has mistaken the house, and has got into that of some horticultural 

 and florist society. If there be ample space for them, and they are 

 introduced sparingly, and just where an artist would place them for 

 effect, plants and flowers — N. B. artificial ones would answer the pur- 

 pose just as well and even better, besides being cheaper in the end — ■ 

 are admissible as embellishments on such occasions: but to have a 

 mere crowd and mob of such things does not argue the most elegant 

 taste. What is squandered away by some persons in a season or two, 

 in temporary and trumpery decorations, would enable them to decorate 

 their staircases and rooms in a style of superior and permanent beauty. 



