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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



[ApriLj 



made the sine qua iion to which all otliPr considerations must yield, 

 the Gothic is not particularly -nell calculated, bec.iuse it must be vio- 

 lated more or less, except when galleries can be dispensed with 

 altogether, and open seats and stalls be substituted for pews. We 

 do not blame architects for not accomplishing impossibilities; for if 

 similarly blocked up and built up, the beauty of the finest Gothic 

 interior would inevitably be greatly impaired," if not destroyed: but 

 we regret that such style should be so applied, or rather misapplied, 

 since even a tolerable semblance of it can hardly be kept up. For 

 this last reason, perhaps, it is that generally no attempt whatever is 

 made to keep it uj)atall; and we have seen churches in that style 

 which, though tolerable enoi gh on the outside, have been most intole- 

 rably bad within — without the slightest pretensions to siyle, without 

 any sort of architectural beauty, and without any solemnity of cha- 

 racter, unless dismalness and pauper-liUe meanness can be considered 

 equivalent to solemnity. If, in addition to the rest, aisles also are to 

 be blocked up by pews, they had better be omitted, since they certainly 

 contribute nothing to architectural effect, and as little to commodious"- 

 ness, those there seated not being in the very best situation for hearing 

 distinctly. 



It seems to us, that by employing the Gothic style — at least, as it is 

 now employed — we inevitably force comparisons iiot very flattering to 

 Protestantism in its relationship to art. It admits of no dispute that 

 Catholicism is infinitely more favourable to architecture and the other 

 arts. Its very character — its taste for religious parade, and panto- 

 mime, and pageantry, and processions, and for all the paraphernalia 

 and pomp of devotion, render it pre-eminently picturesque and scenic 

 — the religion for the artist, guoad artist ; which unconditional ad- 

 mission on our part must satisfy both the Dublin Review and jSIr. Pugin ; 

 for were we to exjiress our sentiments of Catholicism as a religious 

 system, and to be as free in our remarks as the writer in the 

 Kevievv is upon Protestantism, we should not satisfy them at all. 



In regard to the symbolical character of church architecture, to 

 ■which so much importance is attached bv the Reviewer, we shall 

 merely observe that it appears to us very' fanciful — historically inte- 

 resting, perhaps, as showing the religious spirit of farmer ages, but 

 not at all likely to be revived now, it being, in fact, totally disregarded 

 in Catholic countries. Indeed, though they do not care even to hint 

 as much, many recent specimens of ecclesiastical architecture, both in 

 France and Italy, must scandalize Messrs. Pugin & Co. not a little. Not 

 to mention others. La Madeleine at Paris, and Canova's church at Pos- 

 sagno, must appear to them awfuUy heterodox — manifestations of the 

 "blasting influence of Paganism," mlhoitt Protestantism. The Re- 

 viewer, however, does speak of "the Pagan courts of the Medici;" 

 and while he was casting reflections upon the questionable taste which 

 attaches such high value to the Elgin marbles, he might have added a 

 few upon that which has converted the sovereign abode of St. Peter's 

 successor into a Pantheon of Pagan divinities, and a storehouse of 

 heathen mythology : but those scandals were of course in the wallet 

 behind his back. 



Dismissing the rest of the article without further comment — for if 

 not so already, the Review itself will doubtless be in the hands of most 

 of our readers, ere long — we now turn to the plates, which, with one 

 exception, are representations of buildings erected by Mr. Pugin. And 

 hardly can he be accused of having flattered them, or attempting to do 

 so, since they are drawn and etched in a most aS'ectedly rude manner; 

 and some of the subjects are rendered still moie uncouth by being 

 shown in bird's-eye perspective — a most unnatural and unpictorial 

 mode of representation. It is, perhaps, chiefly owing to these circum- 

 stances combined, that the illustrations are" so little prepossessing, 

 except to those who may admire them because they studiously imitate 

 all the defects of old engravings at a time when architectural delinea- 

 tion was in its infancy. .Spirit and freedom are very desirable, but 

 accuracy of loiin is an indispensable requisite in drawings whose 

 value depends upon their truth as graphic descriptions, and that such 

 accuracy is not incompatible with artist-like feehng the publications 

 of the elder Pugin sufficiently convince us; in this respect, therefore, 

 the son appears to have degenerated from the sire. Granting, how- 

 ever, that as etchings they may be called spirited, soraeof the designs 

 themselves appear to us not a little insipid, and to be very deficient in 

 that s|)irit which the style derives from well expressed detail. Such 

 character there may be in the buildings themselves, yet so far from 

 being shown, it is not even indicated here. Un the contrary, in some 

 of the subjects, for instance St. John's Hospital, Alton, and tlie bishop's 

 residence, Birmingham, it appears to lie wanting altogether; there 

 being a good deal in them that looks scarcely of better quality than 

 those spurious " Gothicisings" which Mr. Pugin himself has so loudly 

 reprobated. This is particularly the case with regard to the bishop's 

 house, which, besides being remarkably cjiiur ana uncouth, has the 

 appearance of being an old structure 'altered and pa'tched up and 



huddled up, from time to time, without the slightest attention to con- 

 sistency of design. So far, indeed, it may pass for being picturesque; 

 yet Mr. Pugin must surely be aware that though such kind of pictu- 

 resqueness is agreeable enough in itself, where it has reallv been the 

 growth of time and successive changes, and where beautvis out of the 

 question, it becomes little better than an offensive piece of aflectatiou 

 when perpetrated for the nonce, and to the extent in which he has 

 indulged in it. Difficult as it may be to eifect, in design we look for 

 picturesque quality combined with architectural unity of expression, 

 if not always with perfect regularity. In his horror of the frigid for- 

 mality and smirking pertness of the carpenters' Gothic school of 

 design, Mr. Pugin has run quite into the contrary extreme ; while the 

 former, therefore, are clearly in the wrong, he himself is far from 

 being yet quite in the right. He is too apt to give us architectural 

 farragos, instead of designs : he succeeds in individual features and 

 parts, but he is by no means happy in composition. His reverence for 

 precedent causes the antiquary to prevail in him over the artist to 

 such a degree, that he may be compared to the precedent-loving 

 Chinese tailor, who, being employed to make a new coat, copied every 

 patch upon the old one sent him as a pattern. 



Memoir on the Practicability of slortening the duration of Voyages by 

 the adaptation of Auxiliary Steam Potter to Sailing Vessels. By 

 Samuel Seaward, F.R.S., M. Inst. C.E. From the Transactions of 

 the Institution of dvil Engineers. Part V, Vol. 3, 1S4I. 



The fearful expense which has been found to attend the extens'ion 

 of steam navigation to voyages of extraordinary length appears to 

 constitute an insuperable obstacle in the present state of the steam 

 engine to the beneficial establishment of lines of uninterrupted steam 

 intercourse between distant continents. The imjierfect success which 

 has attended the development of the several enterprises which had 

 for their object the maintenance of a steam communication between 

 Great Britain and New York, is a proof of the difficulties which wait 

 upon the performance of long steam voyages, and furnishes a lesson 

 which will not be readily forgotten by future speculators. The suc- 

 cessive disappearance of the Sirius, Royal William, Liverpool, United 

 States, British Queen, &c., from the Atlantic station, proclaims with 

 a voice as authoritative as that of a messenger from heaven, that the 

 Atlantic enterprise has been a failure, and that a perseverance in its 

 prosecution, nnder the same circumstances which drove those vessels 

 from the field, can only add energy to ruin and flagrancy to guilt. 



For several years past the project has been in contemplation to 

 adapt steam power to sailing vessels, in such a manner that it may be 

 used or discontinued at pleasure, and it is the object of the author of 

 the work betbre us, to recommend the extended adoption of steam 

 power in sailing ships, as being productive of the most prominent of 

 the benefits which steam navigation confers, without entailing any 

 serious expense for the maintenance of its operation. A good ship, 

 when impelled by a favourable wind, will realize a velocity which few 

 steam vessels are able to surpass, and it is only in calms, or when the 

 wind is adverse, that the peculiar powers of a steam vessel are pro- 

 ductive of benefit. It becomes a question, then, whether it would not 

 be advantageous to so adapt steam power to sailing ships as to be 

 on!v used in calms, or in adverse circumstances of wind and water. 



in order to form any comparative estimate of the benefits of this 

 proposed application of steam power, it is necessary to refer to the 

 circumstances which attend the voyages of sailing ships and of regular 

 steameis upon the open sea. In some of the lines of intercommuni- 

 cation between distant countries, vessels are exposed to strong peri- 

 odical winds or protracted calms, whilst other lines are distinguished 

 by winds which sweep across the ocean in one direction for nearly the 

 whole vear. In calms such as those that prevail about the line, and 

 by which vessels on the route to India are often for a long period 

 detained, a small proportion of steam power might be most beneficially 

 employed in transporting the vessel from the region swept by the cur- 

 rent of wind which flows from the pole towards the equator, into the 

 locality of those laud and sea breezes which enable the vessel to con- 

 tinue her voyage ; but the same pro]iortion of steam power would be 

 perfectly unserviceable in propelling a properly rigged ship against a 

 strong adverse wind. For such a service a proportion of power to 

 tonnage similar to that observed in our fastest steamers is indis- 

 pensable, and it is only therefore in voyages v^'here calms are likely to 

 be met with that the adaptation of auxiliary steam power to sailing 

 ships can be productive of benefit. Upon the superior economy of 

 vessels supplied with auxiliary steam power, Mr. Seaward makes 

 several verv sensible observations:^ 



