338 



licve there are at least as many perfect 

 buildings as there are ruins, in the works 

 of the most eminent artists. If, then, 

 painters themselves balance between the 

 two, it is very natural that you, when you 

 look at that picture, should think with hor- 

 ror of any possible change ; and not con- 

 ceive how the most prejudiced person, could 

 make the smallest comparison between the 

 building you now see, and any future state 

 of it : but the fact is, that however Striking 

 the effect of ruins, when they are fully 

 mellowed by time, the first beginning of 

 decay is no less odious to the painter, than 

 to the rest of mankind. When that gilded 

 roof, those finished ornaments, those pre- 

 cious marbles, shall first begin to be soiled 

 and broken, while the greatest part of them, 

 will still remain perfect, each crack, each 

 stain, will obviously destroy so much beau- 

 ty; that is, so much of its original charac- 

 ter : and this inoongruitv continues, till the 

 whole, by degrees, assumes a new, and to- 

 tally distinct character. Such a building, 

 is not a phosnix, that arises with renewed, 



