280 



Ie&v£«, scrolls, festoons, &c. utility is not 

 required ; but to make columns support 

 some trifle, manifestly placed upon them as 

 an excuse for their introduction, is to de- 

 grade a member of such great and obvious 

 use, to a mere gewgaw. 



1 know that there are very hi^h autho- 

 rities for introducing columns in bridges', 

 as little more than niere ornaments ; an4 

 that examples may be produced from the 

 works both of ancientand modern architects, 

 and also in those of some eminent painters : 

 hut although it may appear great presump- 

 tion in me to question such authorities, I 

 still must think that in a bridge, columns 

 can hardly be disposed and connected to- 

 gether in the most advantageous manner ;* 

 and of all the members of architecture, they 

 suffer most from disconnection. Tfro of 

 the noblest effects of columns, are where 

 tliey are grouped together in a bold projec- 

 tion, as in a portico ; or when, upon that 



* This remark, for very obvious reasons, is notmeanttd 

 extend to thfe tipper rjaft of covered bridges. 



