256 Architecture in the United States. 



pose this variety of trees were disposed in the form of uniform av- 

 enues, stretching far as the eye could reach, whould he then be 

 greatly pleased ? But suppose these avenues in every variety, now 

 broad and open, now shaded and narrow, one while opening to a 

 wide stretch of landscape, and at another pointing to a rocky 

 glen : how our feelings change at the thought ! This is the effect 

 of variety. No city then should be uniform, not even uniform 

 in beauty, or it will pall and tire. I love, myself, in traversing a 

 city to be taken by surprise ; to be able to anticipate some new 

 form, or combination of forms, at every turn ; to have my admira- 

 tion constantly drawn upon by the taste and judgment shewn in 

 these combinations, and to have the city swell out and magnify its 

 dimensions from my only half successful effort to comprehend them. 

 A word or two on this last subject : it is of no great consequence, 

 but should not be altogether neglected, in our discussion. Every 

 one will recollect his surprise on ascending a steeple in an irregular 

 town, or an adjoining eminence, and looking dov^ni on it to find it so 

 small : it is but a short time since I took such a view of Hartford, 

 and found it but little more than half as large as I had imagined. This 

 is natural : the constant effect of partial obscurity is to magnify, and 

 no one will neglect it when he wishes to strike us by the vast or 

 grand. I recollect my chagrin at Niagara Falls, when after a toil- 

 some effort to see it from every point, I found that the best view was 

 most easily had. It was on a spot some dozen or twenty yards S. 

 W. from the table rock. The water there rushes by our feet, in 

 large volume and with terrific rapidity, is precipitated over the ledge 

 and lost to our sight : further on we can trace the roaring element 

 nearly to the bottom, but the bottom can no where be seen, and 

 from the shaking of the ground, the deep roar and the spray, our 

 imagination makes the descent twice as great as it really is. 



The conclusion then from the whole is this : that rectangles are 

 convenient for building, and should therefore be used ; but that they 

 produce a tiresome sameness, against which we should carefully 

 guard : that irregular cities are best accommodated to motion or change 

 of place ; that they keep our interest alive by their variety, and other 

 things being equal, affect us most by their size. Each has its ad- 

 vantages : they may be easily combined, and I shall proceed to some 

 remarks on the best character of such a combination. 



In laying out a town, we should first carefully study the ground. 

 There are no places, even the most level, that do not offer in some 



