474 ARCHITECTURE OF DIFFERENT AGES. 



of stone. The form which had been adopted for a Christian torn, 

 pie occasioned many intersections of vaultings, and multiped the 

 arches exceedingly. Constant practice afforded opportunities of 

 giving all possible varieties of those intersections, and taught the 

 art of balancing arch against arch In every variety of situation. In 

 a little time arches became their principal ornament, and a wall or 

 ceiling was not thought properly decorated till it was filled full of 

 mock arches, crossing and butting on each other in every direc- 

 tion. In this process in their ceilings these architects found that 

 the projecting mouldings, which we now call the Gothic trac*ry, 

 formed the chief support of the roofs. The plane surfaces included 

 between those ribs were commonly vaulted with very small stones, 

 seldom exceeding six or tight inches in thickness. This tracery, 

 therefore, was not a random ornament. Every rib had a position 

 end direction that was not only proper, but even necessary. Ha- 

 bituated to this scientific arrangement of the mouldings, they did 

 not deviate from it when they ornamented a smooth surface with 

 mock arches ; and in none of the highly ornamented ancient build- 

 ings shall we find any false positions. This is far from being the 

 case in most of the modern imitations of this ipecies of architecture. 



We call the middle ages rude and barbarous, and give to their 

 architecture the appellation Gothic; but there was surely much 

 knowledge in those who could execute such magnificent and difficult 

 works. The more appropriate terms, w conceive, would be those 

 of Saxon and Norman architecture, at least, so far as relates to 

 such works in Britain ; giving the first term to that kind distin. 

 guished by the circular arch, and the latter to that distinguished 

 by the pointed arch : for under the guidance of these respective 

 nations did each kind principally display its grandeur and pecu. 

 liarities. 



The architects of whom we now speak do not appear to have 

 studied the theory of equlibrated arches : but, for a long period, 

 they adopted an arch which was very strong, and permitted con- 

 tiderable irregularities of pressure ; we mean, the pointed arch. 

 The very deep mouldings with which it was ornamented, made tlit 

 arch. stones very long in proportion to the span of the arch. They 

 had, however, with great care,- studied the mutual dependence of 

 arches on each other ; and they contrived to make every invention for 

 this purpose become an ornament, so that the eye required it as a 



