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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[June, 



and shun all similitude of it, when it presents itself ip the terribly 

 profane and pestilential character of Architecture. 



Of course, Camdenists are at liberty to entertain and maintain their 

 own opinions ; and if they really think that they are at this time of 

 day promoting the cause of religion by endeavouring to bring symbol- 

 ism again into vogue, and by busying themselves about trivial exter- 

 nal formalities, as if they were not less than matters of vital import- 

 ance; they stand excused ybro conscientice, however ridiculous and 

 extravagant their devout fancies may appear in the eyes of the 

 vrorld. But they greatly exceed such liberty when they actually band 

 and confederate together for the purpose of assuming to themselves a 

 positive, direct, and irresponsible control over Architecture and those 

 who make it their profession ; — when they form themselves into a 

 HOLY ALLIANCE, invested, it would seem, with despotic authority; 

 — when they erect themselves into a formidable tribunal from which 

 there is to be no appeal, — and when not satisfied with recommending 

 Gothic Architecture for its own merits, they insist not only upon our 

 admiring that, but upon hating and detesting every other style of the 

 art. In order to terrify into submission thuse whom their arguments 

 fail to convince, they resort to the ultima ratio of their Holy Inquisi- 

 tion—the terrible charge of "Paganism," and denounce all those who 

 differ in opinion from them, as little better than apostates, infidels, and 

 scoffers. 



Although it may serve to scare old women, to talk of Paganism-in 

 Architecture as if there was something actually profane and unholy in 

 employing a style of the art which has descended to us from pagan 

 Greece and Rome, is mere paltering with words and names; and as 

 argument is most contemptible, and disingenuous, most Jesuitical, and 

 hypocritical ; — of a certainty it is ludicrously inconsistent on the part 

 of those who hug Paganism with such unholy fervour as they do, when 

 forgetting their own legitimate orthodoxy, they take for their favourite 

 doxy, (hat very same Paganism only in a different dress. Still to give 

 the Camdenists their due, they are sufficiently consistent in one re- 

 spect, for while they labour to revive and re-instate among us the 

 recondite architectural mysticism, and ecclesiological etiquette of our 

 forefathers, they themselves display all the bigotry of Monkish times, 

 and a spirit worthy of the Dark Ages. ^ 



OBSERVATIONS ON ARCHITECTS AND ARCHITECTURE. 



By Henry Fulton, M.D. 

 No. 10. 



It has been said that "architecture is a creation of the mind," the 

 sister arts have subjects and models in nature, but architecture is 

 almost entirely dependent on invention. The accounts which we 

 have of the paintings of the Greeks raise them in our estimation; in 

 their sculptures which time has left us, our admiration is still more 

 excited, and in them we realise the perfection of art, which the page 

 of history alone would fail to convey to us. But still it is in the ruins 

 of their temples that we read the lesson of a people's grtatness. Let 

 us ask ourselves the question, what will posterity conceive of us, 

 judging of us merely by the architectural monuments of the age ? 

 When our railroads and our numerous improvements in science and 

 arts shall be mentioned with honour, a blank must be left for our 

 achievements in architecture. But it is easier to foresee all this than 

 to furnish a remedy. 



When a knowledge of the art was confined to the Freemasons, and 

 the people for whom they constructed must have been incapable of 

 appreciating its beauties, a certain esprit du corps, or perhaps we 

 should rather say esprit des ar/i, existed, which produced the happiest 

 effects. Would that something of this mind existed amongst archi- 

 tects of the present day; and that even although they might combine 

 and confederate to keep all the knowledge and information in their 

 own body, still that they would let us feel that knowledge and infor- 

 mation really did exist, and that their works were fit to be handed 

 duwn to posterity to show the proficiency of this age in architecture 

 as well as the other branches of science and art. 



It must be admitted that the architects are few in number who have 

 the opportunity of erecting large edifices ; but still even in erections 

 of the smallest description, and of every day occurrence, the architect 

 can show what he is capable of doing, had he a more extended field 

 of operation — but what is the fact ? if the edifice be on a small scale, 

 he too often makes it also trifling in character and insignificant in de- 

 tail; and if the scale be large, as in the National Gallery, it is merely 

 a multiplication of trifling parts, shewing that he is unable to conceive 

 any thing grand or noble on any scale whatever. Few are the archi- 



tectural features in London, at least in the Greek stvle or its imme- 

 diate derivatives, which exhibit the character of nobleness and gran- 

 deur. Mr. Rennie's three bridges are every way worthy of admira- 

 tion, but they are rather the works of an engineer than an architect. 

 We may mention Mr. Barry's cornicione on the Reform Club House, 

 Mr. Hardwick's London Terminus of the Birmingham Railway, Mr. 

 Wilkins' portico of the London University, and Mr. Tite's of the 

 Royal Exchange, and a work of much less importance, yet still show- 

 ing considerable good taste, Mr. G. Smith's facade of the New Corn 

 Exchange in Mark Lane. There may be other works in the horizontal 

 styles which I overlook in the crowd of paltry, tasty, tawdry erections 

 of the Palladio-Vitruvian school, or the cold, stiff productions a la 

 Smirke. Wax figure workers copy nature, yet their copies are not 

 pleasing; the Greeks unable, Pygmalion-like, to give life to tlie pro- 

 ductions of the chisel, compensated for the deficiency by an ideal 

 beauty which is not to be found in the model ; the compositions of the 

 Smirke school hold the same place in the scale which characterise 

 those of the wax worker^they want the life or beau ideal of the 

 original, if I may so express it, they are mere copies, above censure 

 perhaps, but certainly below praise. 



But although the bold cornicione of the Reform Club merits unqua- 

 lified approbation, yet it covers a multitude of sins ; and the misfor- 

 tune is, that these architectural peccadilloes having been perpetrated 

 by the great Mr. Barry, all the little Messrs. Barry will follow in his 

 wake, and as men are more apt to copy the vices than inclined to 

 imitate the virtues of others, we shall have little columns, little pedi- 

 ments, little pulvinated friezes, and vile, ugly little balusters, to the 

 end of the chapter, all because by such devices has the Reform Club 

 been ornamented, and it is to be feared that little use will be made as 

 a precedent of the redeeming feature, the noble cornice. Of Mr. 

 Barry's designs for the Houses of Parliament as yet it is hard to judge, 

 the scale of the drawings is necessarily so small ; but the fact of his 

 having the courage to introduce so bold a cornice, as well as the style 

 for the Houses of Parliament admitting of a combination of trifling 

 parts, and therefore more likely to prove successful in modern hands, 

 gives us great promise, which I trust may not be disappointed, not- 

 withstanding fears have been expressed on the subject. 



The Railway Terminus is a specimen of good taste for this or any 

 other age, and although there is nothing of novelty in the design itself, 

 yet the taste and ingenuity of its architect are not, on that account, to 

 be less highly appreciated. In one sense it is altogether new, it pre- 

 sents us with a successful adaptation of an ancient model, the Pro- 

 pylsa, to modern use, and I trust that long after the harfclof time shall 

 have swept away the rubbish which ornaments our metropolis, this ' 

 terminus shall stand a monument to the fame of Mr. Hardwick. In 

 this example, the exception as regards the number of triglyphs has 

 been followed, and perliaps justifiably so, as sufficient breadth might 

 not otherwise have been obtained in the composition with only two 

 columns in antis, and the aerial effect of it as a detached structure and 

 mere screen, render the introduction of the additional one on the 

 centre intercolumniation, less objectionable than it would be in any 

 other case. Still it is the exception, not the rule. It should be men- 

 tioned that for this structure, so creditable to the architect and the 

 directors of (I believe) the best conduct«d railway in the kingdom, 

 that there was no competition. 



But the cry is still iox something 7;ew, and even Candidus, with whose 

 views on many points inine so much coincide, talks (if memory serves 

 me right) of things being stereotyped without stopping to draw a 

 proper distinction. I think the cry should rather be for something 

 good, which in itself (as in Mr. Hardwick's Terminus) would be some- 

 thing new : and as soon as we are satiated with good examples, then 

 there is no doubt of our appetite for wholesome variety being duly 

 gratified. For my part I would rather see good architecture cover 

 the length and breadth of the land than any novelty which the most 

 exuberant fancy could suggest, if deficient of that quality. It was the 

 love of novelty which occasioned the decline and fall of architecture, 

 and it is not by the same means it is to be restored again. In other 

 things as well as architecture, a longing after novelty irrespective of 

 intrinsic merit indicates a diseased state of mind, which is increased 

 by a supply of the food it desires. When good taste, which in many 

 respects with us is yet in its infancy, shall have arrived at manhood, 

 then, but not till then, shall we be able to appreciate novelty without 

 the danger of being dazzled by its meretricious charms : in the mean 

 time the production or reproduction (if you will) of such works as 

 this Terminus, will do more towards placing architects and architec- 

 ture in a proper position in the scale of public estimation than all the 

 works of all the ancient and modern Palladios, Inigo Joneses, Wrens, 

 and Chamberses put together. 



The porticos both of the University an^ the New Exchange present 

 a goodly array of columns in front, but they. want the depth and 



