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allied to heaviness, it is (in this age especi- 

 ally) by no means a popular quality* ; for 

 in whatever regards the mind itself, or the 

 works that proceed from it, the reproach of 

 heaviness is of all others, the least patiently 

 endured: it is a reproach, however, that has 

 heem made to some of the most striking 

 buildings both ancient and modern. Among 



* It might be thought somewhat strained to suppose, 

 that the most fashionable style of writing in any age should 

 at all influence the character of other arts ; yet something of 

 the same general taste is apt to prevail in them all during 

 the same period, and a distaste for whatever is opposed to it. 

 Voltaire was, without comparison, the most fashionable 

 writer of this century ; and in addition to the charms of the 

 lightest and most seducing style, he did not neglect any oc- 

 casion of insinuating its excellence. For fear his writings 

 should be thought too light and superficial, compared with 

 others of a more solid and argumentative kind, he turned 

 the keen edge of his wit against any appearance of that 

 quality, which has been so ridiculed in Vanbrugh's architec- 

 ture : he called the great Dr. Clarke (it must be owned 

 with some humour, however unjustly) " une vraie machine 

 a raisonnement ,•" and, indeed, he summed up the whole 

 matter in one short maxim, which equally characterizes his 

 mind and his style — " // riy a qun mauvais genre; c' est le 

 genre ennuyeux? 



