ARCHITECTURE OP DIFFERENT AGES. 475 



hecessary part of the building. Thus we frequently see small build- 

 ings haying buttresses on the sides. These are necessary in a large 

 vaulted building, for withstanding theoutward thrust of the vaulting ; 

 but they are useless when there is a flat ceiling within. Pinnacles 

 on the heads of buttresses are now considered as ornaments ; 

 but originally they were put there to increase the weight of the 

 buttress: even the great tower in the centre of a cathedral, which 

 now continues its chief ornament, is a load almost indispensably ne- 

 cessary, for enabling the four principal columns to withstand 

 thecombined dependences of the aisles, of the naves, and transepts. 

 In short, the more closely we examine the ornaments of this archi- 

 tecture, the more shall we perceive that they are essential parts, 

 or derived from them by imitation : and the more we consider 

 the whole style of it, the more clearly do we see that it is all de. 

 duced from the relish for arcades, indulged in the extremes, and 

 pushed to the limit of possibility of execution. 



From the end of the 15th century, this architecture began to 

 decline ; and was soon after supplanted by a mixed style, if we 

 may venture to call it so ; wherein the Grecian and Gothic, how. 

 ever discordant and irreconcilable, are jumbled together. Con. 

 cerning this mode of building, Mr. VVarton, in his observations on 

 Spencer's Fairy Queen, has the following anecdotes and remarks: 



" Although the Roman or Grecian architecture did not begin to 

 prevail in England till the time of Inigo Jones, yet our communi- 

 cation with the Italians, and our imitation of their manners, pro. 

 duced some specimens of that style much earlier. Perhaps the 

 earliest was Somerset. house in the Strand, built about the year 

 1549, by the duke of Somerset, uncle to Edward VI. 



In the year 1613, the magnificent portico of the schools at Ox. 

 ford was erected, in which, along with the old Gothic style, the 

 architect has affectedly displayed his extraordinary skill in the 

 Grecian and Roman architecture, and has introduced all the fire 

 orders together. 



" In the 15th and l6th centuries, when learning of all kinds 

 bpgan to revive, the chaste architecture of the Greeks and Romans 

 seemed, as it were, to be recalled into life. The first improve, 

 ments of it began in Italy, and even owed their existence to the 

 many ruins of the ancient Roman structures that were to be found 

 in that country, from whence an improved method of building was 

 gradually brought into the other countries of Europe : and though 



