340 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



[October, 



relative to its internal architecture. To say that such " illustration" 

 formed no part of their plan, is anything but a satisfactory excuse 

 for the omission, the very thing complained of, being, that what was 

 very essential to its completeness has been purposely excluded from it, 

 and' that no cure has been taken to guard against disappointment by 

 making their titles announce that both works confined architectural 

 illustration to the mere exterior of the edifice. Not very much more 

 satisfactory is to be told, as we are by one of them, that if further 

 illustration has not been attempted, it is because Sir Jeffry himself 

 considered the interior to be comparatively — a failure, shall we call 

 it, or merely say, comparatively unworthy of attention ? and ac- 

 knowledged, virtually at least, if not expressly, that instead of being 

 left to his own judgment, he had been controlled by, and com- 

 pelled to give way to, the false taste and the caprices of his royal 

 patron, so far, therefore, in a manner disowning it as his own work, or 

 a work at all worthy of him. It is alleged, in excuse for not showing 

 the interior, that many parts of it, and much of its present decoration, 

 are likely to be altered and fitted up afresh, some time or other. No 

 doubt, for what structure of the kind escapes retouches from time to 

 time ; but it is not at all likely that alterations to any extent will take 

 place within the castle for a very long while to come ; nor whenever 

 made, would such alterations in any way diminish the interest and 

 value of illustrations which in such case would become faithful 

 records of what the interior of Windsor Castle is in its present state. 

 Whatever, too, may be the case with respect to the strictly private 

 apartments, or to those intended for the accommodation of visitors, 

 there must, at any rate, be some if not several which are more or less 

 worth being architecturally explained, or graphically described, on 

 account of their importance, their character, and their effect. Or are 

 we to conclude after all, that as far as architecture is concerned, there 

 is absolutely nothing within the castle that merits attention, nothing 

 in any degree worth studying, nothing to repay curiosity ? Are we 

 now to suppose that the" " Grand corridor" itself, which has been 

 spoken of as something quite extraordinary and superlative, is in 

 reality "no better than it should be " — of but very so-sois/i character — 

 perhaps somewhat too Strawberry-Hill gothic in style ? And then the 

 Waterloo chamber, St. George's hall, the state entrance and staircase, 

 — are not they worth showing either in views, or by particular sections 

 of them ? It is true these last-mentioned parts of the interior can be 

 seen by the jjublic; but if that be any good reason for no illustrations 

 of either kind, being given of them, the same reason might be made 

 use of as an argument to prove that there was no occasion for either of 

 the publications, which are now entirely devoted to the exterior of 

 the castle, since the latter is, by far, more open to public in- 

 spection, and that freelv, which is certainly not the case as regards 

 any part of the interior, where no time is allowed for examining, 

 much less for studying or deliberately taking note of what we are 

 permitted merely to view, and of which, therefore, only the general 

 effect can be judged. In order properly to understand the anatomy, if 

 we may so term it, of Windsor Castle, 'full as many plans and sections 

 (both general ones, and particular ones on a larger scale,) besides 

 views, would be required, as there now are engravings of the exterior 

 both in the work before us, and its predecessor. Though this is no 

 exaggeration, as any one who understands the subject may convince 

 himself, by examining the plan in Mr. Ashton's work, it would, we 

 admit, be unreasonable to look for illustration to anything like that 

 extent, except, perhaps, in a work published by government — and for 

 that being ever done in this country, we might as well look for a 

 miracle, or look for Windsor Castle's being swallowed up by an 

 earthquake. 



Because it could not be done after that extravagant fashion — as, no 

 doubt, what we liave above hinted at will be considered— is no reason, 

 however, wdiy nothing of the kind should have been attempted. Thank- 

 ful should we have been for something, had it amounted to no more than 

 three or four judiciously chosen sections, through some of the prin- 

 cipal and most interesting parts of the interior; ior the sake of which 

 we would willingly give up double that number of the present illustra- 

 tions, since some of the latter are hardly required at all, there being 

 little in them besides what is shown in other portions of the general 

 elevation to which they belong. With the exception of a single 

 section, and that not through the upper floors of the building, no part 

 of the interior was shown in that one of the two works which was first 

 completed, it was therefore to be expected that Messrs. G. & B. 

 would have taken advantage of that circumstance by introducing into 

 their own publication what would have formed a new and highly in- 

 teresting feature in it. Instead, however, of doing more in that respect, 

 they have, as we have already observed, done less, for their work 

 contains not even a plan, so that the interior of the castle is left to- 

 tally unexplained bv it. However well, therefore, they may have 

 manoeuvred in other respects, they have certainly shown no very 



great tact in thus flinging awav the very best trump-card of all that 

 was in their hand. The oulv p'erson who has turned the rival publi- 

 cation to his own advantage is their editor, and after what fashion he 

 has done so, we shall presently say. 



Admitting that it would have been too expensive to employ the 

 pencil for describing the interior of the castle or any part of it, what 

 was not attempted to be done by the pencil, might have been accom- 

 plished by the ;;£«— at least, as far as accurate and intelligent de- 

 scription can supply the place of drawings, without the aid of which 

 last, the best written description cannot be thoroughly satisfactory as 

 explanation, however interesting it may be in itself, and however in- 

 structive it may have been rendered, by the criticism mingled with 

 it. For such description, however, a very different pen is required 

 from that wielded. 



Mr. Britton, in the preface, boasts of his long acquaintance witU 

 Windsor Castle, and of having repeatedly written and pronounced 

 various historical, descriptive, and critical remarks on it. If so, he 

 must quite have exhausted his powers of description and criticism 

 before he wrote the present account of it, for it contains nothing that 

 amounts to either the one or the other. 



Ancienl and Modern Architecture. Edited by M. Jules GAiLHABAnn. 

 London, Dido , 



We have received trom the enterprising firm of Didot and Co. of Loiiaon 

 and Paris, the first, or specimen number of a serial work intended to Ulub- 

 trate the several stvles of architecture and their application to various 

 classes of buildings. ' Commencing with the Celtic and Pelasgic, the rude 

 heaps of barbarous ages, the architecture of the east and the west, ot tne 

 Pharaohs of the present dav, is to be exhibited from authentic examples. 

 Thus the present number contains three engravings of the Specs, dedicates 

 to Athor at Ebsamboul in Nubia, and two of the Kailasa at EUora, accom- 

 panied with descriptive letter-press from the pen of M. Jules Gai habaud, an 

 eminent archaiological writer, and translated and extended by Mr. 1. Arun- 

 dale. It is evident that the field is wide, and the mode in which it is to be 

 entered is sketched in the prospectus. Thus we find the temple of Edfou 

 in Egypt, that of Theseus at Athens, ihe temple of Segesta, the Basilicas of 

 Const'antine, St. Clement at Rome, and Torcello near Venice, the Chnrch ot 

 St. Vital at Ravenna, the Mosque of Elm Touloim at Cairo, the Certosa ot 

 Pavia, and the Cathedrals of Bonn, Frihourg and Pans, from part of tlie in- 

 tended course. ■ ^^ ^ -t 

 The first and most essential recommendation of the present plan is, that it 

 is cheap, the number before us containing four plates costing no more than 

 four shillings ; then we may remark that the engravings are admirably exe- 

 cuted, and 'that no expense has been spared in rendermg them worthy o a 

 work of such importance ; the letter-press is also exceedingly good, the list 

 of proposed contributors includes Messrs. Goraard, ChampoUion, Figeac, 

 Langlois, .\lbert Lenoir, and Radii Rochette; while the English translation 

 and illustration is undertaken by Mr. Arundale. All these advantages arc 

 sufficient to recommend it to the public patronage. 



ON DRAINAGE. 

 Lecture by Mr. Smith of DeansUm, delivered before the Members of the Roval 

 Agricultmal Society, at Bristol : JVednesdai/, July 13, 1842. 

 (From the Bristol Mercury.) 

 I need not, before such an audience, say that to the agriculturist the 

 dryness of land is of great importance-that, in fact the dry condition ot 

 tlie soil is the foundation of all good husbandry. It is beneficial, in the hrst 

 place, to the working of the soil ; it is beneficial also, to the after-growth of 

 the plants, and there is scarcely anv labour connected with agriculture which 

 is rot facihtated by the dryness of the soil. If we look on the face of nature 

 we may i?ather instruction on this subject; for if «e find a tree stronger 

 than its 'neighbour, we shall find that there the soil is deep and in a dry 

 condition. If we see a stronger and darker coloured herbage growing on the 

 hill side, there the soil will again be found deep, and in a dry condition. 

 There is not one ofl he various soils on the surface of the United Kingdom 

 which will not be much improved by being placed in a dry condition, if they 

 are not so by nature. I would say that even on a subsoil of gravel or sand 

 the inlroductiou of the thorough-drain system would be highly beneficial ; 

 but as there is only a small portion of that sort of soil in this country, the 

 oreater part being superimposed upon a wet soil, it becomes of the very 

 first importance to the progress of improvement in agriculture that means be 

 taken to render the condition of the soil dry. Many attempts have been 

 made with that view, but they have generally failed, in consequence ot not 

 having been done on a proper principle. The first system introduced into 

 this country, was to excavate deep drains, for the purpose of catching the 

 water that rose from below in the form of spring water. These were, to a 

 certain extent, effectual, and no doubt removed a great deal of the diftculty 

 which agriculturists had to contend with, on land partially wet and partially 

 dry ; but until the introduction of the thorough drain system, there was not 



