1 90 State of ArchiteEiure to the end of 



cian of this age is expert enougli to pro- 

 duce the fame effect ; it confided in nothing 

 but placing fever al caldrons of hot water 

 againft the walls of Zeno*s houfe. The 

 fame au.hor has cited Procopius for the ori- 

 gine of dams to reflrain the courfe of ri- 

 vers, the method of whofe conftruclion was 

 revealed to Chr\'fes, an architect of Alex- 

 andria, in a dream. Dreams, lies, and ab- 

 furdities are all one finds in fearching into 

 early times. In a fcarcity of fa<fts probabi- 

 lity was the laft thing to which fuch au- 

 thors attended, and confequently they left 

 a mark by which, if v/e pleafed, we might 

 diftinguifn between the truth and what they 

 inv^ented. 



In Felibien f the only thing I find to my 

 purpofe, and all that he really found irt 

 Matthew of Wefbminfter, is, that in the 

 kingdom of the Mercians Sexulphus, abbot 

 and afterwards bifhop, built a confiderable 

 monaftcry called J Medes Hampfbede : un- 

 lefs it may be a fatisfadlion to antiquaries to 

 know who firfl invented thofe Grotefque 

 monfters and burlefque faces with which the 



t Felib. p. 185. 

 X Peterborough, 



fpouts 



