1845.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL; 



191 



tueT are "almost all large nod elaborately ornamented," or that they 

 are to be compared in any respect witli the fountains in Trafalgar- 

 square, is a« true as your correspondent's assertions about the cohimn. 

 I am, Sir, your obedient servant, 



Anti-Zoilus. 



*t* Our correspondent writes angrily, and an angry man is not 

 likely to be accurate in his statements nor just in his conclusiotn. 

 Had " Anti-Zoilus" read correctly the criticism which has given him 

 80 much umbrage, he would liave'found that there was not one word 

 in it to the effect that the Nelson Column was the design of Mr. Barry. 

 In fact, so far from such an absurd assertion being made, it was dis- 

 tinctly stated that Mr. Barry designo<l only a part of the erections in 

 Trafalgar-square. The words were these— "We think that the than 

 Mr. Barry has had in the design is one of the least happy of his 

 efforts;" and if it were not stated in so many words that Mr. Barry 

 did not design the column, the reason why that information was not 

 given, is precisely that of " Anti-Zoilui" himself, namely, that " it is 

 difficult to imagine any one else can require it" except those who are 

 totally ignorant of the progress of architecture in London. It was 

 said— and truly, wi- still think— that in Mr. Barry's works columns 

 may be found applied to wrong purposes. Will our correspondent b« 

 hardy enough to deny that this is the fact? Surely he must be very 

 dull or verv captious to apply general remarks on an error of a great 

 — a very great — architect, to an instance with which, erery one knows, 

 he had no concern. 



Mr. Barry has not been fortunate enough to secure a generous 

 champion, for "Anti-Zoilus," though he s(outIy defends his ovin pro- 

 /eg'i', takes care enough to shift the effects of the "diatribe I" (who 

 erer dreamed of a diatribe except himself;) to Mr. Railton — who no 

 doubt will feel highly indebted and gratei'ul. The rest of the letter 

 is soon disposed of. The excuse of insufficiency of funds is the never- 

 failing and now threadbare apology for all bad designs. Our own 

 opinion is that, cceterii paribus, a beautiful design is cheaper than an 

 ugly one. Some of the most beautiful works of art which this world 

 has seen have been conspicuous for their simplicity of detail, and 

 owe their effect to nothing but the dignified and chaste beauty of 

 their outlines. Such designs, we confess, are the most difficult to 

 produce, and can only i)roceed from a man of genius. But then, if it 

 really were indisputable that works of art to be beautiful must be ela- 

 borate, why was not the money thrown away in working so refractory 

 a material as red granite devoted to the production of minuter or- 

 naments. Are we solitary in this objection ? " Anti-Zoilus" knows 

 that the general public feeling is against him. 



The assertion of the identity of the " composition" of the " two 

 fountains" contrasted, is contrary to fact. We should be sorry to ac- 

 cuse our correspondent of misrepresentation, but in the present case 

 our only alternative is to pity him for remarkable obtuseness. The 

 only point of resemblance between the two fountains is that each con- 

 tains two tazzas : except this we defy our correspondent to produce 

 one point in which they agree. In the Paris fountain the upper tazza 

 is reversed, or in the elegant language of "Anti-Zoilus," "topsy- 

 turvey :" the water is thrown inwards from the edge of the basin, and 

 consequently the jets have an entirely different arrangement from 

 those in Trafalgar-square; the shapes of the basins themselves differ; 

 the proportions of the whole iliffer; the outline is different ; every- 

 thing is different. The composition " essentially the same" ! as well 

 might you say two tea boards were of the same pattern because each 

 had two saucers on it. 



The growl at the Parisian fountains may pass. Paris is a long way 

 off, and " Ai,ti-Zoilus" will have, therefore, few to contradict him. 

 For ourselves we are quite content to take our stand on his own 

 dictum respecting those fountains, "that for the most part they display 

 much taste and skill in taking advantage of very scanty resources ;" 

 but how ungracefully does this come after pleading for the Trafalgar- 

 square fountains iu/ormd pauperis! 



It will be observed that the merits or demerits of the criticism con- 

 tained in our notice are left unexamined. No attempt is made to de- 

 fend the division and subdivision of the noble area of Trafalgar-square 

 into minute insignificant parcels,— nothing about the ugly appearand! of 

 a large flat surface of cecient and asphaUe, unvaried except here and 

 there by pieces of orange-peel, or vestiges of the interesting game of 

 hop-scotch,— nothing about the posts, or stumps rather, of granite (if 

 they would only get ml ofMew, it would be soinetbing),— nothing, lastly, 

 about the propriety of hoisting a statue out of sight. Verily the day 

 for such "sights unholy" is fast passing away. We have comfort in 

 thinking how rapidly public taste advances, and that soon that se- 

 verest of all critics— The People, will terribly recompense archi- 

 tectural sinners for such enormities. 



We have gone seriatim through the letter, and of course we come 

 lait to the signature—" Anti-Zmlm .'" Zoilus, be it known (to tho»« 



who do not yet know it) was a grammarian of Amphipolis and a critic 

 on Plato and Homer ('Kirfe Lexicon). They say he was not at all a 

 fcTourite in general society, lived rather scantily, and died rather 

 iuildenly, being, in fact, stoned to death. Happy Zoilus! the stones 

 wherewith they pelted thee were unhewn and simple as nature 

 formed them — hadst thou been stoned in our day, and had the missiles 

 been red granite, the hideous shapes — the worse than Indian distof 

 tions had frighted thee by their deformity eren in thy dying pang^. 



Since writing the above we have heard it whispered that the foun- 

 tains are to be altered by the introduction in each of a third tazza 

 below those existing, which are to be elevated, and that our own sug- 

 gestion of adding jets to throw water from the circumference of the 

 ground basin inwards has been very f ivourably received in an in- 

 fluential quarter, and will [irobibly bo before long adopted. This does 

 not look much like a condemnation of the notice which has «o much 

 offended our correspondent. 



JUNCTION OP THK ATLANTICJAND PACIFIC OCEANS BY 



A SHIP CANAL AND RAILROAD ACROSS THE 



ISTHMUS OF TEHNANTEPEC IN MEXICO. 



Ai the Civil Etigineer and Architect's Journal was the first scienti" 

 fie work to bring before the public Mr. Galloway's plan for con- 

 structing a railroad in the Desert, and uniting Suez, Grand Cairo and 

 Alexandria by a few hours journey, instead of many days, so it has 

 now the means of calling attention to a much greater and more magni- 

 ficent project for uniting the Atlantic and the Pacific, saving to the 

 vessels of Europe S,U0O miles, and to those of America r2,UU0 miles 

 in voyaging to China and the East, opening a new world to the enter- 

 prize ofthe old one, connecting the mother country with her distant 

 colonies — obviating the present difficult and dangerous passage by 

 Cape Horn, twice under the burning sun of the Tropics, and contri- 

 buting more than any discovery since that of the mariner's com- 

 pass and those made by Columbus, to the vast objects of commerce 

 »ud civilization, the enrichment of many and the enlightenment of 

 inore. To Don Jose de Garay, assisted by the Mexican Government, 

 is the honour of planning, surveying and demonstrating this magnifi- 

 cent project due, to Mr. Alderman Vickers the credit of appreciating 

 its consequences and capabilities, and adopting it and bringing it be- 

 fore the British public. The distance across the Isthmus is 12iJ miles, 

 the length of the river with its winding, which is navigable, is 40 

 miles, and 80 more can be dredged ; the length of canal to be cut is 49 

 miles. 



The following extracts from a circular just issued by Alderman 

 Vickers, will exhibit the progress ofthe undertaking. 



Don 3oii de Garsy, who is now in London, conceived the execution of 

 this grind project ; and the Government of Mexico appreciating its vast im- 

 porttnce grsnted to him the most ample concessions, in case he should suc- 

 eeed in carrying it out. Fortified with this concession, and the countenance 

 of the government, the-projector formed, under the direction of Uon G. Moro 

 (an Italian engineer), a scientific commission, the members of which, after an 

 •lamination of the Isthmus for upwards of a year, made a report, in the most 

 favbiirablo terms, as to the practicability of the undertaking. The Mexican 

 olficers Don Manuel Robles and Don Jose Gonzales (whose services the go- 

 vernment had placed at the projector's disposal), took part in this commis- 

 sion. The most important concessions made to Don Jose Garay by the 

 Mexican government arc : First — Power is granted that he is to fix such dues 

 or toUi as he deems eligible, and to receive for fifty years (commencing from 

 the day that communication shall have been effected between the two oceans), 

 all tolls and dues accruing from transit, both by means of a canal and rail- 

 roads, or either, with the condition that one-fourth of the dues (after ex- 

 penses art paid), is to be advanced to the government during the said fifty 

 years ; for this advance the proprietors will be compensated by the payment 

 of one-fourth of all dues received for fifty years after the project shall have 

 passed into the hands of the government. Second — A guarantee is given 

 that for sixty years no person or company shall have power to employ any 

 steam vessel or steam carriage of any kind within the Isthmus of Tehnante- 

 pec, without leave or license from tha said Don Jose de Garay or his assigns. 

 Third — The government cedes to Don Jose de Garay in fee simple the brearttli 

 often leagues (thirty miles) of land on each side of the communication. These 

 lands are of the first quality, embracing numerous points favourable for the 

 construction of harbours, towns, villages, &e., and amounts to nearly five 

 millions of acres. Fourth — The valuable privilege to purchase lands, c&c, of 

 •stablishing colonies to thn extent of fifty leagues (one hundred and fifty 

 miles), on each side of the line in addition ; with all rights and privileges in 

 perfect equality with Mexican citizens, which is not granted to other settlers. 

 The present government of Mexico has recognized the grants which form 

 the basis of this project. The celebrated Arago has submitted it with 

 hii Qwa comjnond«tign to th« AwdcmiQ (let Hcimcet at Paris, and it has 



