Architecture in the United States. 105 



thoughts, his very soul ; he then surrendered himself to the subject 

 and he could not go wrong : in the other, taste was sacrificed for ef- 

 fect, and profusion of ornament must supply what was wanting in de- 

 sign. Indeed, so far is great wealth from being necessary to a flour- 

 ishing state of architecture, that from its temptation to excess of or- 

 nament, it is rather an injury than a benefit. Simplicity, not splen- 

 dor, must be the governing principle ; and for this we have abundant 

 means. At the time when Athens erected most of her celebrated 

 temples, she had not half the population, or half the resources, and, 

 probably, not half the wealth now possessed by New York. 



Athens ! our feelings kindle at the name. Much of this is no 

 doubt owing to the " men of renown" whom she has produced. De- 

 mosthenes, and Plato, and Socrates would have given imperishable 

 interest to any place. But take away the Acropolis, and the tem- 

 ples at its base, and what a chilling influence would it have on our 

 feelings ; transfer them to any other spot, and that spot will be an 

 Athens to us. If the effect on our feelings after this lapse of time, 

 and at this distance, — if the effect of ruins is so great, what must have 

 been the influence upon the ancient Athenians themselves. The 

 ancients understood these feehngs well, and in the days of calamity 

 and danger, each country looked to them as its strongest safeguard. 

 The magnificence and grandeur of their temples attached the hearts 

 of the people no less than the august character of their gods : to each 

 citizen they were the objects of wonder in childhood, of deep vene- 

 ration in after years ; his just pride and boast : he gazed upon them, 

 the monuments of his country's piety, and her honor ; he felt him- 

 self a sharer in their glory ; his feelings became Vv^armed, expanded, 

 refined and ennobled ; his attachment to his nation grew strong, and 

 pure, and active ; and he, who would otherwise have been a being of 

 selfish and contracted views, was now a devoted and unwavering 

 patriot. It was to these feelings their orators appealed, when they 

 wished to rouse them to action, and no other appeals were so efl^ect- 

 ual. These were a bond of union, unseen, but powerful : they nerv- 

 ed the arm, and steeled the heart : they were the last to fail ; they 

 followed the captive to other lands, and clung to him till death. 



Some of these feelings we need, perhaps more than we suspect. I 

 should like to see the character of our nation analyzed by some able 

 hand, for it has already begun to form ; I believe that such an analy^*- 

 sis, one that would give us credit for our merits, and encourage us 

 in them, and would at the same time, boldly, yet kindly, exhibit our 



Vol. XVIL— No. 1. 14 



