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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[J U N K J 



proportion, as applied to the entire design as well as in tlic minutest 

 ornaments, are observable both in ancient architecture i.nd in the 

 Pointed style of the middle ages. Alberti, Cicognara in his work 

 "Sull Bellu," and others, give examples of arithmetic and geometric 

 proportions for halls, apjrtments, &c. UilTerrnt proportions belong 

 to ditr<Tent eJifices; and one of small dimensions, if its parts are 

 symmetrically disposed, will alfVct the mind with a greatness of man- 

 ner which impresses us vfith an idea of something superior to works 

 bulky in themselves, though ill-contrived. The art of adjusting quan- 

 tity to various circumstances is noticed by Hope in bis "Historical 

 Essay,"— "The Greeks reserved to th-mselves the right of giving to 

 each, forms more restricted or multiplieil, more simple or rich, and 

 proportions more sturdy and delicate, according to the peculiar exi- 

 gencies of the edifice or situation. To so great a degree was this 

 their practice, that in these respects, between each order and the two 

 others, an almost insensible transition exists, and that every indivi- 

 dual instead of uniformly maintaining a vast interval between itself 

 and the two others, such as all extreme specimens of every styl? pre- 

 sent, borders close'y upon the next in succession, and almost appears 

 amalgamated with it." 



In great works some disproportions far removed from the eye are 

 not discernible; because la grand' aria mangia. Without this ex- 

 aggeration, small parts are swallowed up by the serial perspective, and 

 no grand effect is produced. Hogarth iu his " Analysis of Beauty," 

 refers to the marked variety and relief given by .Sir C. Wren to his 

 spires, especially that of .St. Mary-le-buw, as proofs of his superior 

 skill on these points. The ancients, and also the mediaeval builders, 

 enhanced the importance of their works, and made them at once strik- 

 ing and eloquent, by the care they bestowed on certain features; the 

 power of which spoke immediately to the soul, and excited not merely 

 admiration, but wonder. Yet these things were dictated by optical 

 considerations. "Ohjects do not appear as they are in reality, there- 

 fore the architects endeavour to make their works appear not in their 

 true proportion, but in what they should appear."— (Ancient Maxim.) 

 In our observations of ancient constructions, we must have remarked 

 the various artifices had recourse to for increasing the eftect of the 

 ornaments ; of boring deep holes by a drill in some parts in order to 

 give them a more decided character when seen from the puicjt at 

 which they would be mostly viewed ; of making certain masses stand 

 prominently in advance of tlie groundwork, and the habit of working 

 the ornaments on their plain blocks .in the places they occupy in the 



building. 



NovtUy—Varntt/.—We estimate an architect according to the 

 taste he evinces in forming new and pleasing combinations,— combina- 

 tions in which we see the feelings which characterise the poet — which 

 bespeak an imagination analogous to that of the poet: the goodness 

 of the originality is the criterion of their talent. Mens homi/iis avida 

 novitalis est; and a necessity forces itself upon the artist to supply this 

 want,— a power of invention which does nut imply a neglect of what 

 our predecessors have done, Init on the contrary, a profound study and 

 love of their best works; as there was scarcely, for instance, any one 

 so versed in, and so thoroughly pervaded by, the spirit and principles 

 which animated the ancients, as M. Angelo ; v et no one so independent 

 of them— always their equal, often their superior. It is in the com- 

 mand of beautiful forms— in breathing new life and vigour into the 

 marble, that man shows his sovereignty as a poet. The attempt at 

 novelty will often yield more delight than an atFcctation of taste which 

 is foreign to us ; for it is an evidence of the exercise of thought, a 

 desire to create, and a disdain of mere imitation. The mind some- 

 times embodies ideas which are nothing less than mental phenomena, 

 or the effects of a peculiar organisation ; which the reason finds it dif- 

 ficult to account for, and the judgment to approve ; yet they are 

 valuable on account of their power of aw.du'iiiiig curiosity and 

 stimulating reflection. Stewart in his " Philosopiiy of the Human 

 Mind," speaking of the power of Imagination as connected with 



Fine Art, sav-^ : — " Without taste, imagination can produce only a 

 random analysis and combination of our conceptions; and without 

 imagination, taste would be destitute of the faculty of invention. 

 These two ingredients of genius may be mixed together in all pos- 

 sible proportions, and where either is possessed in a degree re- 

 markably exceeding what falls to the ordinary share of mankind, it 

 may compensate in some measure for a deficiency in the other. An 

 uncommonly correct taste with little imagination, if it does not pro- 

 duce works which create admiration, produces at least nothing which 

 can offend. An uncommon fertility of imagination even when it of- 

 fends, excites our wonder by its creative powers and shows what it 

 could have performed, had its exertions been guided by a more per- 

 fect model." — Art that is the result of this uncontrolled imagination, 

 must be tested not so much by rules and precedents to which it does 

 not profess strictly, if at all, to adhere, as to the feelings or impres- 

 sions which its effects make on our minds. Our attention must not 

 be drawn to little errors, but to the prevailing beauties which 

 atone for them. Small blemishes are excusable in a grand build- 

 ing—though of course the fewer the better ; yet a building, 

 faulty in parts, the great effect of which is imposing, is greater 

 in art than one whose only praise is, you do not see any faults, 

 neither do its beauties impress you. We must adjudge an archi- 

 tect's place in the rank of artist, by virtue of the quantity of 

 sound intellect and true taste which he displays. On this subject Sir 

 C. Wren says:* — "An architect ought to be jealous of novelties, in 

 which fancy blinds the judgment; and to think his judges, as well as 

 those that are to live five centuries after him, as those of his own 

 time. That which is commendable now for novelty, will not be a 

 new invention to posterity, when his works are often imitated, and 

 when it is unknown which was the original: but the glory of that 

 which is good of itself is eternal." — Hence the necessity of referring 

 to and studying those principles of grace, harmony, and proportion 

 which exist in the human mind, and making them the foundation on 

 which we proceed in all matters of design. 



HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE IN GREAT BRITAIN. 



A Brief Sketch or Epitome of the Rise and Progress of Architecture in 

 Great Britain. Bj Jamgs Elmes. 



" Epitomes are helpful to the memory, and of good private use." 



Sir Henry Wotton. 



Although the ancient Britons may have dug caves in their bill sides and 

 built hutsiu tlieir woods Tor dwellings, like most aboriginal people, and 

 formed temples from the inteilaced buuglis of trees in their groves — all of 

 which are types and prefigurations of styles in architecture; yet its first 

 approach to the dignity of a Fine Art in Britain must be attributed to its 

 Uumaa discoverers. This great and powerful people carried their arts 

 inlo every country they subjugated, and civilisation followed their eagles 

 among the remotest barbarians of the North. M hen Caesar lauded in Bri- 

 tain, be found its inhabitants in as rude a state of barbarism as we did the 

 New Zealanders or the inhabitants of Tahiti, on our first visit to those 

 places. The newly discovered country benelitted greatly by the arts, 

 learning, and civilisation of their invaders, who, wisely appreciating the 

 natural wealth and resources of the country, planted it as a Ronjan colony, 

 — to the reciprocal benefit of both people. 



From the period of the establishment of the Romans in Britain to about 

 the middle of the fouitli century, the arts of civilised life made rapid pro- 

 gress; domestic aichiteclure brought comfort and lasle into their dwellings ; 

 and the sister arts of painting and sculpture added taste and elegance to 

 the most wealthy. A Roman army always brought in its train a body of 

 anists, artisans, literati, and priests. Their commanders, w ho were alwayi 

 liberal and well educated men, of the equestrian order, ware often, like 



