THEBES. 77 
liUle parts, would call such capitals, unfinished; chap. 
although the grandeur of design, when viewed -' > 
at the distance in which such objects were 
intended to be seen, especially in the majestic 
temples of Greece, be thereby considerably aug- 
mented. It is to this cause that the Doric, 
in buildings of so much vastness, owes its 
superiority over all the other orders of archi- 
tecture — to that simplicity which is the very 
soul of grandeur; where nothing that is Utile 
can be tolerated for an instant. Excessive 
minuteness of design, and of execution, may 
suit the puny imitations of Grecian architecture 
seen in the buildings of modern cities ; upon 
the same principle that it is allowable in a 
piece of Chinese carving in ivory; because 
works of this kind are fitted for a small scope 
of observation ; but when such minuteness is 
introduced into the vast features of a gigantic 
style, it becomes superfluous and contemptible. 
