ARCHITECTURE. 
H- 
fo far below tbs claflical notice of Greece and Rome, as to 
be deemed unworthy of notice in the fcience of architec¬ 
ture. To this, bifhop Warburton, in his notes on Pope’s 
F. pi fries, makes the following ingenious reply :—“Our Go¬ 
thic anceftors, (fays he,) had jlifter and manlier notions of 
magnificence, on Greek and Roman ideas, than thefe 
mimics of tafle, who profefs to ftudy only clalTic elegance; 
and becaufe the thing does honour to the genius of thefe 
barbarians, I (hall endeavour to explain it. All our an¬ 
cient churches are called without dillinftion Gothic. They 
are of two forts; thq; one built in the Saxon times, the 
other in the Norman. When the Goths had conquered 
Rome, and the genial warmth of religion had ripened 
their wits, and inflamed their piety, they ftruck out a new 
fpecies of architefture, unknown to Greece and Rome, 
upon original principles, and ideas much nobler than what 
had given birth even to claflical magnificence. For this 
northern people having been accuftomed, during the gloom 
of paganifni, to worlhip the deity in groves (a practice com¬ 
mon to all nations); when their new religion required co¬ 
vered edifices, they ingenioufly projected to make them 
refemble groves, as nearly as the diltance of architecture 
would permit; at once indulging their old prejudices, and 
providing for their prefent conveniences, by a cool recepta¬ 
cle in a fultry climate : and with what fkill and fuccefs they 
executed the project, appears from hence, that no atten¬ 
tive obferver ever viewed a regular avenue of well-grown 
trees intermixing their branches overhead, but it prefently 
put him in mind of the long vifto through the Gothic ca¬ 
thedral ; or even entered one of the larger and more ele¬ 
gant edifices of this kind, but it prefented to his imagina¬ 
tion an avenue of trees ; and this is what may be truly 
called the Gothic ftyle of building. Under this idea of fo 
extraordinary a fpecies of architecture, all the irregular 
tranfgreftions againft art, all the monftrous offences againft 
nature, difappear ; every thing has its reafon, every thing 
is in order, and an harmonious whole arifes from the ftu- 
dious application of means proper and proportionate to 
the end. For could the arches be otherwife than pointed, 
•when the workmen were to imitate that curve which 
branches of two oppofite trees make by their infertion 
with one another ? or could the columns be otherwife 
than fplit into diftinft (hafts, when they were to reprefent 
the Items of a clump of trees growing clofe together >. On 
the fame principles they formed the fpreading ramification 
of the (tone-work in the windows, and the (tained glafs in 
the interftices ; the one to reprefent the branches, and the 
other the leaves, of an opening grove, and both concurred 
to preferve that gloomy light which infpires religious re¬ 
verence and awe. Laftly, we fee the reafon of their ftu- 
diedaverfion to apparent folidity in thefe ftupendous mafles, 
deemed fo abfurd by men accuftomed to the apparent as 
well as real ftrength of Grecian architecture. Had it been 
only a wanton exercifeof the artift’s (kill, to (hew he could 
give real ftrength without the appearance of any, we might 
indeed admire his fuperior fcience, but we imilt needs con¬ 
demn his ill judgment. But when one confiders, that this 
furpriling lightnefs was neceflary to complete the execu¬ 
tion of his idea of a fylvan place of worfliip, one cannot 
fufficiently admire thp ingenuity of the contrivance. This 
too will account for the contrary qualities in what we call 
the Saxon architecture.. The firft places of Chriftian vvor- 
(hip were fepulchres and fubterraneous caverns, low and 
heavy from neceffity. When Chriftianity became the re¬ 
ligion of the date, and fumptuous temples began to be 
■erected, they yet, in regard to the firft pious ages, pre- 
lerved the maffive ftyle, made (till more venerable by the 
church of the Holy Sepulchre, where this ftyle was fol¬ 
lowed.” 
Many other ingenious men, who have carefully exa¬ 
mined the beft churches executed in this ftyle, allow they 
are highly deferving of attention, whether we confider 
them as veftiges of art, or monuments of the induftry and 
manners of former ages. Sir William Chambers, who was 
certainly very competent to judge of their merit, remarks 
that, “ to thofe ufually called Gothic architects, we are 
indebted for the firft confiderable improvements in con- 
ftruCtion ; there is a lightnefs in their works, an art and 
boldnefs of execution, to which the ancients never arrived, 
and which the moderns comprehend and imitate with dif¬ 
ficulty.” Thefe circumftances might be confidered a dif¬ 
fident, inducement to inveftigate the principles on which 
thofe edifices are built ; but they have other claims to our 
notice. No other mode of building feems fo well calcu¬ 
lated to excite fublime fenfations ; and if we admire the 
heathen temples of ancient Greece and Rome, becaufe 
they awaken thefe emotions in us, we muft furely efiteem 
thefe Chriftian temples ; for they certainly produce that 
effect in a fuperior degree, though, in the conftruCtion of 
molt of them, nothing is ufed but the fimple produce off 
the quarry. And when we confider the difficulty the ar¬ 
chitects of thefe edifices had to contend with, from the 
ignorance of the times, and the debafed (late of fcience and 
literature, we muft confefs they had much more merit 
than is generally allowed them; for, notvvith (landing thefe 
powerful barriers, their works difeover traces of mathe¬ 
matical knowledge, of philofophical penetration, and re¬ 
ligious fentiment, which future generations may perliaps 
feek for in vain, in the produdtions of the architects o£ 
this enlightened age. 
Of the original Saxon Gothic architecture, many curious 
remains are yet to be traced, in fome of our old cathedrals 
and monadic buildings. A very complete fpecimen of this 
ftyle, is the northern tranfept of the cathedral church of 
Winchefter; ereCted about the year 1093. The weft end 
of the fame cathedral, rebuilt by William of Wykeham in 
the thirteenth century, affords a very fingular inftance of 
a mixture of both the Saxon and Norman (tyles, which 
neverthelefs produces a very folemn and noble effeCt. 
“ This aide,” fays bifliop Lowth, “ was originally of the 
Saxon architecture, with round pillars, much (tronger than 
the Doric or Tufcan, with round-headed arches and win¬ 
dows, and plain walls without buttreffes. Wykeham*s 
defign was to rebuild the whole of it in the Norman ftyle 7 
but perceiving the foundation to be precarious, on low, 
moift, and loofe, ground, he determined to leave the old 
Saxon pillars (landing, and cafed them round with new 
work, imitating in fome degree the cluftered pillar and 
pointed arch of the Normans. Thefe circumftances, in 
which (lability and fecurity were very wifely in the firft 
place coh-fulted, have been attended, however, with fome 
inconvenience, as it feems owing to them that this build¬ 
ing has been cenfured for want of that lightnefs and free¬ 
dom, and that elegance of proportion, which might have 
been expeCted from Wykeham’s known tafte in architec¬ 
ture, and from the ftyle and manner of his other works in 
this kind ; of which we have evident examples in the cha¬ 
pels of both his colleges, efpecially in the weftern part of 
that of New college in Oxford, which is remarkably beau¬ 
tiful. However, with all its defeCts, there is no fabric of 
its kind in England, after thofe of York and Lincoln, which 
excels this part of the cathedral church of Winchefter in 
greatnefs, ftatelinefs, and majefty.” To which the laureat 
Warton adds, “ the folemn profpedt through this middle 
aide to the eaft window beyond the choir, muft forcibly 
ftrike every mind fufceptible of thofe awful feelings that 
arife from the contemplation of that greatnefs and extent, 
which are peculiar to the proportions of Gothic architec¬ 
ture.” Other genuine remains of the old Saxon ftyle may 
be feen in the cathedral church of Ely, in Chepftovv priory, 
in the conventual church of Rumfcy, in Canterbury and 
Gloucefter cathedrals, and in mod of our ancient churches 
throughout the kingdom. 
The Norman, or improved Gothic, fays Rious, “ is 
diftinguiftted by the lightnefs of its work; by the peculiar 
boldnefs of its elevations and fettions; and by the deli¬ 
cacy, profufion, and extravagant fancy, of its ornaments ; 
fo peculiarly fanciful and abfurd, that its real origin can 
only be attributed to the Moors ; whence its true appel¬ 
lation is Arabic, Saracenic, or Morefque.” Mr. Grofe, 
3 however, 
