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(the imchanging testimonials of their former greatness) 
oppose, in the strongest manner, the reckless conclusions of 
the atheist. Could we possibly conceive the entire removal 
of every relic of former days, what a blank would the page 
of history present I The writings of the poets, the histo- 
rians, and the philosophers of old, would appear as so many 
visionary and Utopian productions; but the architectural 
remains which an all-wise God has permitted to exist so long 
after the removal of the nations by which they were reared, 
tend, in a remarkable degree, to corroborate the prophetical 
and historical part of holy writ, and to explain the writings 
of heathen authors. It may be truly said that the Acropolis 
of Athens, and its beauteous structures, vouch for Pausa- 
nias, the pyramids of Ghiza for Herodotus, while Rome owes 
its most lasting celebrity to architecture. 
Flinging back our thoughts upon the past," we cannot 
contemplate the ruin of empires without noticing the peculiar 
character of the remains of their former architectural great- 
ness and splendour. In Assyria, Egypt, Greece, and Italy, 
we look in vain for the dwellings of the former inhabitants. 
Of the gigantic works erected for warlike purposes but few 
remnants exist ; but of temples reared, whether to the true 
or false Gods, abundant remains are to be found in every 
country, fully proving the disposition of the human mind, in 
every age and under every clime, to acknowledge a supreme 
and superintending power. 
Seeing, then, the importance which attaches itself to the 
religious structures of a country, as indicating the character 
of its inhabitants, we naturally inquire what is the style of 
architecture in which our own are enshrined ; and we cannot 
hesitate to claim that as our national style which was so suc- 
cessfully practised by our forefathers from the twelfth to the 
sixteenth century. " Gothic or pointed architecture took 
root and grew with the greatest vigour in Great Britain, 
