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cftabliflicd in this town, on the phn of that of Upfal. Tlic 

 aifts, written in the Sw.-dirti tongue, and printed in Svo. 

 contain difquilitions on various fubjefts, in the fovcral 

 branches of fcieticc, nr^tural hiilory, antiquities, hidory, 

 and pol'#f lettt-rs. Th'* population amounts to 20,oco 

 perfons, in conlequence of an iiicrcafe, occafioned by the 

 cKlt-nlion of its commer,-?, particularly on account of the 

 K:ui India comp:my, and ilie fuccefs of the herring fifliory. 

 The Eall India company was ellablilhed in 1731, and on 

 account of the ice, which clofes the port of Stockholm, in 

 tho gulf of Boll'.nia, at the proper feafon of the departure 

 of {hips for the Eaft Indies, the company carries on its 

 commerce from Gotheborg, whofe harbour, lying in the 

 German ocean, is moi-e open. In 1740, the herrings, which 

 had not hitherto ufuaUy approached the weftern (liore of 

 Sweden, flocking in ikoaln, the inhabitants of Gothcborg 

 cflablidiei a filh.'ry, which has been very lucrative. The 

 fiihery begins in November, vid though it continues fcarcely 

 three vveeks, it fiippli?s the fidicrmen of Gotheborg with 

 not lefs than 6oo,oco b:.rrels. Of thefe, 200,000 are i'alted, 

 and train-oil is drawn from the remainder; fifteen barrels 

 of herrings yielding one of oil, v.hich is principally export- 

 ed to Holland and Spain. One barrel of fait, procured 

 ■from Spain, cures three barrels of herrings: the average 

 exportation of farted herrings may be eftimated at 150,000 

 barrelf, and the inland coniunr.ption of Sweden at 50,000. 

 An Engiifli conful and factory refide at Gotheborg; and a 

 chapel, with a regular cluolain, is appropriated for their 

 ufe. The fortifications ot Gotheborg are fo weak, that in 

 ths year 1788 it mull have fidlen into the hands of the 

 Danes, if foreign powers had not interfered. N. lat. 57' 40'. 

 E. long. 11'' 44'. Coxe's Travels in Sweden. 



GOTHIC, or GoTlllcx, fofnething that has a relation 

 40 the Goths, an ancient people, originally inhabiting that 

 part of Sweden called Gothland; whence they fprer.d them- 

 iclves over Greece, Dalmatia, Bulgaria, Italy, Spain, &c. 

 See GoTiis. 



GoTiuc Archltrr.urr, a term of reproach to dsnote one 

 or more kinds of architecture whicli prevailed during the 

 middle ages. It fcems to have been invented by the rellorers 

 of the Grecian orders in Italy, about the middle of the i6th 

 century, to iignify every preceding fpccics of European 

 arcliiteclure not conformable to them, and it was imported 

 in the fame fenfe into England by Mr. Evelyn and iir 

 Chrillopher Wren, tlioiigh the latter appears fometimcs to 

 confine the term to the pointed ilylc, in which particular he 

 is followed by the greater part oi late writers. Mr. Evelyn, 

 quoted by fir Chrillopher Wren, in his " Parentalia,'' lays: 

 •' Gothic architecture is a congeltion of heavy, dark, mclan- 

 •choly, monkifli piles." In the fmie fenfe, fir Chrillopher 

 iiimfelf, fpeaking generally of what he terms Gothic archi- 

 teclure, calls it " Mountains of ilone; vaft, gigantic build- 

 ings, but not worthy the name of architerturc. This we 

 now call the Gothic mauner: fo the Italians called what 

 was not after the Roman ftyle." In oppofition to t!ie idea 

 which this eminent architect here gives of the architecture 

 in queilion, he, in another part of his Parentalia, defcribes 

 tlie inventors of it as " letting up flcnder and mis-(hapcn 

 •pillars, or rather btuidles of itaves and other incongruous 

 props, to fupport ponderous arched roofs without entabla- 

 ture." In conformity with this latter notion of fir Chrlf- 

 topher, Mr. Rious, a profefTional writer, fays: " Modern 

 Gothic is diftingmflied by the lightnefs of its work, the cx- 

 ■ceilivc boldnefs of its elevations and of its IcCfions, by the 

 delicacy, profuiion, and extravagant fancy of its ornaments.'' 

 The fame confufion of language, if not of ideas, prevails 

 r.mongll the admirers of the Gothic ftyle, fo called, as 



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amongfl the declared foes of it. The late poet hur'at, 

 Thomas Warton, who has written a great deal on the fub- 

 jeft, and who had planned a- " Hiftory of Gothic Archi- 

 tefture," fpeaking of Salilhury catlicdral, expreUly denies 

 that it is in the Gothic ftyle, while two other celebrated 

 writers in the fame line, the Rev. James Bentham and Capt 

 Grofs, as pofitively aliirm that this cathedral is " entirely 

 in^thc Gothic ftyle." The perplexity and uncertainty of 

 an ordinary read'jr muft necelfarily be encreafed by the dif- 

 ferent fenfos in which the terms, ancient architecture, mo- 

 dern architefture, Saxon architethire, Norman architecture, 

 and Enghili arcliitec^ure, are now ufed by different writers. 

 To clear up this confufion, and to prefent dillinft and clear 

 ideas on thefe much agitated fubjeiits, it feeins beft to treat 

 them in an hillorical manner. 



It is dtmonllrable that the regular orders of Gr?ci;e» 

 architecture were upon the decline throughout the Roman 

 empire after the reign of the Cxfars, and ftill more fo after 

 that of Conllantine the Great. A centurv lattr the Ollro- 

 goths over-ran and fubdued Italy, the Vifigoths, Spain, 

 the Huns, Germany, the Vandals, the Roman provinces of 

 Africa, the Franks, France, and the Saxons, Britain. 

 Thefe ieveral barbarians deftroyed innumerable monu- 

 ments of architefture as well as of the other arts, but 

 they none of thcin intro-'uccd a llyle of building differenl 

 from jhat which they found p-aftifed in the conquered coun- 

 tries. They did not iiiftruft the ancient inhabitants to 

 build in a new manner ; on the contrary, they learnt of then- 

 fo much of the art as they aftuallv acquired. But the arf 

 itfelf being vallly degraded in the fifth and fisth centurjr!, 

 and thofe warlike hordes not being very apt fcholars, i^ 

 wonder their firil ftruftures were executed in a rude and 

 heavy ftyle. Still nothing is more groundlefs than to fpeak 

 of Gothic architefture in the manner of Mr. Evelyn and 

 fir Chrillopher Wren, as of a ftyle of building -invented 

 or introduced by the Goths. The fadt is, the heavy circu- 

 lar manner of building which prevailed throughout Chrif- 

 tcndom, from the fall of the Ronian empire, in the fifth cen- 

 tury, down to the twelfth centurv, was the Roman, or, what 

 is the fame thing, the Grecian ftyle, incorretlly and rudely 

 executed. Amongft us it is called tlie Saxon Ilylc, bccaufe 

 it prevailed during what is called the Saxon perio<l or dynafty 

 in South Britain ; but the firil teachers and the modeU ot 

 it were both of them ftriClly Roman. 



On the firft introduClion of Chriftiaiiity amongft our 

 Saxon anceftors, at the conclufion of the fixth century, they 

 confecratcd many of the exifting Pagan temples to the 

 Chriftian worlhip, according to the inftruclions uhuh 

 they received to this efi'ecl from pope Gregory tie 

 Great, and they ran up other temporarv oratories of wood 

 or whattles, as we learn from Bede, and other original \\\(- 

 toriarks. Very foon, however, the fame Roman milfionariL-s, 

 who converted them, taught them to build churches of 

 ftoiie after the Roman manner ; for this denomination of ii, 

 the Rowan manna; {wire Romano,) is always mentioned by 

 the aforefaid hiftorians. The firft archbiftiop of the Nor- 

 thuntbrians, Pauliuus, who was a Roman n.oi.k, apjH-ar.-- 

 to have been the chief architert amongft the Englilh Sas- 

 oiisat the beginning of the fevcuthceiitury Hebuilt churches 

 of ftone at York, Lincoln, and other pl.ices. His next 

 fucceflbr but one, ^Vilfrid, was an Englilhman, who not 

 only equalled but greatly furpaffed his mailer in architci'luro. 

 For the churches which he built at Rippon and at Hexham 

 were long celebrated for being the finell buildings of their 

 kind nor'th of the Alps : but then it is exprefslv recorded, 

 both of him, and his rival in architeclure, Benedict Bilcop. 

 abbot and founder of the church and monaftery of ^Vcre. 

 3 .P 2 mouihj 



