1843.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



25D 



the common street elevation of a door and window on each side, it is 

 perhaps not safe to say ; but the mere facility with such coincidences 

 may be made to appear in all buildings, and in particular the. constant 

 and necessary combination of three objects, shows the necessity of ex- 

 treme caution in speculating upon the subject. A writer in the Gentle- 

 man's Magazine well remarks, that those parts to which symbolism 

 has been most commonly applied, are deficient in the most essential re- 

 quisites, as the three divisions of the nave, and of the triple lancet, are 

 in co-equality. That, so great a variety of rules, have been at differ- 

 ent times, given for proportioning the parts of edifices, all nevertheless 

 agreeing in the results, goes to prove that the particular system to be 

 adopted is of less importance, than the use of some system, from 

 which may result that veiled grace, always delighting the mental 

 vision in a structure projected by symmetrical rules. Such rules the 

 Gothic architects are proved to have observed. — It is said that " co- 

 lumns or supports might be any number of diameters in height, and 

 were only bounded by possibility." Let us admit this, and examine 

 what practice has been pursued in other styles. By the elaborate ex- 

 periments of Mr. Eaton Hodgkinson, on the powers of resistance of 

 different bodies to compression, it has been proved, that in cylin- 

 drical forms, there is a certain proportion of height to diameter, be- 

 yond which it would be dangerous to go, the resistance rapidly les- 

 sening in proportion with the height. To pass that limit would en- 

 danger the stability of the fabric ; to keep much below it would be a 

 needless expenditure of material. From a non-observance of this 

 propriety, we have frequently seen columns of harder material of the 

 precise dimensions given to those of stone. Now such a practice is 

 foreign to the principles of Gothic architects, as may be seen by 

 the most casual comparison of their works in wood, stone, and metal; 

 in which they had reference to the properties of each. The rules of 

 classical architecture require, that no alterations should be made in 

 the proportions of columns which are engaged, coupled or clustered, 

 though it is clear, that, in accordance with the principle hinted at 

 above, aud a feeling, which, without reference to the results of experi- 

 ment, exists in every mind, the same proportions should not be ob- 

 served. At least, the Gothic architects pursued a different mode, on 

 sounder views than have usually been attributed to them. Their cir- 

 cular columns, placed singly, were shorter than those which were clus- 

 tered or united as shafts to piers and arches. Further, when these 

 shafts were of great length, they were encircled by bands as at West- 

 minster Abbey. In the Ladye Chapel at Hereford, and in the Chapter 

 House at Chester, the isolated shafts to the windows are banded to 

 the adjoining mullion by ties of stone, which are converted into fea- 

 tures of decoration. But the absolute constructive necessity for such 

 ties is shown in the failure of slender shafts, in which such precaution 

 has been neglected. Shafts without bands, and at the same time 

 of great length, occur at Salisbury Cathedral ; while in the Ladye 

 Chapel are isolated shafts, supporting the roof, of the slenderest di- 

 mensions, and uncombined with a larger column. Such examples are 

 extremes, or exceptions to the usual practice, and though as in this 

 wonderful edifice, calling forth our admiration and delight, they are not 

 what the modern architect would emulate. I venture to assert, that 

 we are justified in craving of those, who deny the existence of prin- 

 ciples and proportion in Gothic design, that they should compare the 

 cathedral, the abbey church, the parish church, and the collegiate 

 chapel, marked each by clear and distinctive lineaments ; that they 

 should closely scrutinise and balance every minute part of a compo- 

 sition; that they should examine whether the different tendency or 

 number of lines, the different character or quantity of ornament, or 

 some other cause or influence, has not dictated a manner of treatment 

 varying from that they have observed in another composition, but in 

 strict accordance with the same first and inviolable principles of both; 

 or whether the example is not such an exception to the usual style 

 and principles, as all ages have witnessed. Our delight in Gothic 

 architecture is indeed the result of elegant outline and proportion, 

 richness of detail, sincerity and scientific construction, along with ad- 

 miration of the high purpose and untiring labour of the architect, 

 rather than of a " love of the marvellous," or mere respect for what 



is old. The " love of the marvellous," of which the Gothic architects 

 are accused, was seen in the " large stones" of the Grecian temples, 

 the columns of one block of the temple of Diana at Ephesus, in the 

 temple of Jupiter at Agrigentum, in the costly structures of Baalbec 

 and Palmyra, in the Colosseum, in the domes of St. Peter's at Rome, 

 and Sta. Maria at Florence, and in the gigantic order and all the con- 

 ceptions of Michael Angelo. " Another enemy to the beautiful, and 

 even to the sublime," says Forsyth, " was that colossal taste which 

 arose in the empire and gave an unnatural expansion to all the works 

 of art." As it is beyond the power of man to create a style, all styles 

 being the work of ages and of circumstances, rather than of archi- 

 tects, who should be able to infuse new beauties into all, and as, 

 in the words of Reynolds, " it is vain to endeavour to invent without 

 materials on which the mind may work, and from which invention 

 must originate ;" are these the styles for which we must close our 

 eyes to the expressive architecture of our own land ? Is there any 

 distinction between the end sought in the colossal works of the Egyp- 

 tians, the Greeks, and the Romans, and that " love of the marvellous" 

 ascribed to the Gothic architects? or is not the raising of surprise a 

 legitimate end of all architectural skill ? I cannot think that the plan 

 of the middle age church was wholly founded on superstitious associ- 

 ations, and that the spire and cross are not appropriate emblems of 

 both the Catholic and the Protestant faith. From the plan of the 

 cross result the most beautiful outline, both externally and internally, 

 and the most captivating effects of light and shade. It is not exclu- 

 sively Gothic; and no higher testimony to its merits could be gained, 

 than its adoption by so great an artist as Sir Christopher Wren. The 

 majority of (he English churches are not cruciform, which is sufficient 

 to show the form was not indispensable. That some particular sanc- 

 tity was attached to one side of the nave in cathedrals, may be in- 

 ferred from the fact that in the majority, the monuments on the 

 southern side and in the southern aile preponderate. But it should at 

 the same time be noted, that in several examples the monuments on 

 the north side are equal in number, or nearly so; and, that at Wells, 

 when there is a chantry under one of the southern arches, a corres- 

 ponding position is similarly occupied on the north side. As regards 

 the inclination of the choir to the south, I believe no perceptible in- 

 clination occurs in the English cathedrals; and at Litchfield, where an 

 inclination to the north is discoverable by measurement, the variation 

 is so slight, that I think few persons would discover it within the 

 building. The ladye chapel, though generally at the west end of the 

 choir, and certainly so placed with fine effect, is not unfrequently 

 elsewhere. In the cathedral of Bristol, the " elder ladye chapel " is 

 at the north side of the choir. A similar position is made use of at 

 Ely. 



But the strongest objection brought against the practice of the 

 Gothic architects, is that their buildings have failed through want of 

 constructive principle; and that though they manifested considerable 

 enterprise and dexterity, they lacked that theoretical knowledge 

 which grew under a better order of society, and " the chastening 

 counsel of a Locke, a Newton and a Bacon." Now it cannot for one 

 moment be supposed that the scientific knowledge of the middle ages 

 approached to the learning of a Galileo, a Napier, or a Newton ; nor 

 be denied that the mass of the people were utterly ignorant. But the 

 existence of a large number of mendicant friars, always al enmity 

 with the regular priesthood, yet as ignorant as those upon whose 

 fears they lived, seems to have led to the general belief, that all the 

 Catholic clergy had little in their heads but a knowledge of bad Latin; 

 or in their libraries, except the writings of the fathers. But, amongst 

 the churchmen was preserved all the knowledge of the age ; they di- 

 rected the architectural works and the engines of the state ; and 

 though their projects were often carried out by less skilful hands, 

 their expressed intentions bear the evidence of a knowledge of prac- 

 tical mechanics, of the composition and resolution of forces, which, it 

 is difficult to conceive, could rest on any other than a foundation of 

 geometry. Mere solidity is often best obtained in buildings, in which 

 but little science is called into play; but with a greater expense of 

 material and labour, and less scope for decoration and convenience. 



