§ 94, 95. 



MODE OF COPYING. 329 



are not of that school. When what are called " effects " are 

 no longer the excuse for want of drawing; when shapeless 

 objects enveloped in the obscurity of unmeaning "washes" 

 cease to be considered proofs of talent ; when the brush 

 shall not assume too much the place of the pencil ; and each 

 tyro shall no longer trust to clouds, and storms to escape from 

 observation (like some of Homer's heroes), we shall feel 

 reason to remember with gratitude the minuteness of the 

 pre-Kaphaelite school. 



95. There are some cases, in which it is very obvious that 

 the beautiful in art cannot possibly be a reproduction of the 

 beautiful in nature ; as in the case of architecture, which 

 is the offspring of the human mind; and it is the more 

 surprising that some still persist in requiring the details of 

 this purely artificial creation to be taken from nature — the 

 inconsistency of which I have had occasion to notice (p. 216). 



The custom of copying in architecture from old and even 

 highly approved models, is also open to objection, unless it is 

 done with judgment, and with a proper motive; and some 

 architects have drawn their ideas too much from a particular 

 and favourite style, without considering whether it exactly 

 suited the general character of a building, its position, or the 

 nature of the climate. Thus, in this country, the Greek por- 

 tico is often appended to a new or a restored house, when it 

 suits neither its style, nor the position assigned to it, and 

 when the porch would begetter; (in addition to the latter being 

 a far more appropriate shelter in our climate) ; and a lofty 

 tower is copied from some public building (for which it was 

 very well suited) and attached to a private dwelling (for which 

 it is ill-suited) ; no account being taken of its accordance with 

 the character of the house, nor of its effect of making half the 

 chimneys smoke when carried to an unreasonable height 

 above them. Nor are towers always well-proportioned ; nor 

 always adapted to public buildings. Some are thin, and out 



