53 



lines of the roof are strait; and even when 

 varied and adorned by a dome or a pedi- 

 ment, the whole has a character of sym- 

 metry and regularity. But symmetry, 

 which, in works of art particularly, accords 

 with the beautiful, is in the same degree 

 adverse to the picturesque; and among the 

 various causes of the superior picturesque- 

 ness of ruins compared with entire build- 

 ings, the destruction of symmetry is by no 

 means the least powerful. 



In Gothic buildings, the outline of the 

 summit presents such a variety of forms, 

 of turrets and pinnacles, some open, some 

 fretted and variously enriched, that even 

 where there is an exact correspondence of 

 parts, it is often disguised by an appear- 

 ance of splendid confusion and irregu- 

 larity*. In the doors and windows of 

 Gothic churches, the pointed arch has as 



* There is a line in Dryden's Palamon and Arcite, 

 which might be interpreted according to this idea, though 

 1 do not suppose he intended to convey any such mean- 

 ing; 



*' And all appeared irregularly great/* 

 E 3 



