rejecting all others; on the contrary, many different proportions are made equally welcome. It is only when a proportion becomes loofe and diftant, that the agreeablenefs abates, and at laft vanifheth. In all buildings accordingly, we find rooms of diffèrent proportions equally agreeable, even where proportion is not influenced by utility. With refpect to the height of a room, the proportion `it ought to bear to the length and breadth, is extremely arbitrary; and it cannot be otherwife, confidering the uncertainty of the eye as to the height of a room, when it exceeds 17 or 18 feet. In columns again, even architects must confefs, that the proportion of height and thickness varies betwixt 8 diameters and 10, and that every proportion betwixt thefe two extremes is agreeable. But this is not all. There must certainly be a further variation of proportion, depending on the fize of the column. A row of columns 10 feet high, and a row twice that height, require different proportions. The intercolumniations muft alfo differ in proportion according to the height of the row.

Proportion of Parts is not only itfelf a beauty, but is infeparably connected with a beauty of the first magnitude. Parts that in conjunction appear proportional, never fail feparately to produce fimilar emotions; which exifting together, are extremely pleafant, as I have had occafion to fhow *. Thus a room of which the parts are all finely adjusted to each other, ftrikes us with the beauty of proportion. It produceth at the fame time a pleasure far fuperi

or.

The length, the breadth, the height, the windows, raife each of them separately an emotion. Thefe emotions are fimilar; and though faint when felt feparately, they produce in conjunction the emotion of concord or harmony, which is extreme

Chap. 2. part 4

ly pleasant. On the other hand, where the length of a room far exceeds the breadth, the mind comparing together parts fo intimately connected, immediately perceives a difagreement or difproportion. which difgufts. But this is not all. Viewing them feparately, different emotions are produced, that of grandeur from the great length, and that of meannefs or littleness from the fmall breadth, which in union are difagreeable by their difcordance. Hence it is, that a long gallery, however convenient for exercife, is not an agreeable figure of a room. We confider it, like a ftable, as deftined for ufe, and expect not that in any other refpect it should be agreeable.

Regularity and proportion are effential in buildings deftined chiefly or folely to please the to please the eye, becaufe they are the means to produce intrinfic beau ty. But a skilful artift will not confine his view to regularity and proportion. He will alfo study propriety, which is perceived when the form and ornaments of a structure are fuited to the purpofe for which it is appointed. The fenfe of propriety dictates the following rule, That every building ought to have an expreffion correfponding to its deftination. A palace ought to be fumptuous and grand; a private dwelling, neat and modeft; a play-houfe, gay and fplendid; and a monument, gloomy and melancholy. A Heathen temple has a double deftination it is confidered chiefly as a house dedicated to fome divinity; and in that respect it ought to be grand, elevated, and magnificent: it is confidered alfo as a place of worship; and in that refpect it ought to be somewhat dark or gloomy; because dimnefs produces that tone of mind which is fuited to humility and devotion. A Chriftian church is not confidered as a houfe for the Deity, but merely a place of worship: it ought therefore to be decent and plain, without much ornament: a fituation

:

ought

Ch. XXIV. ought to be chofen, humble and retired; because the congregation, during worship, ought to be humble and difengaged from the world. Columns, befide their chief deftination of being fupports, contribute to that peculiar expreffion which the deftination of a building requires: columns of different proportions, ferve to express loftiness, lightness, &c. as well as ftrength. Situation alfo may contribute to expreffion: conveniency regulates the fituation of a private dwelling-houfe; but, as I have had occafion to obferve*, the fituation of a palace ought to be lofty.

And this leads me to examine, whether the fituation of a great house, where the artift is limited in his choice, ought in any measure to regulate its form. The connection betwixt a great house and the neighbouring grounds, though not extremely intimate, demands however fome congruity. It would, for inftance, difpleafe us to find an elegant building thrown away upon a wild uncultivated country congruity requires a polished field for fuch a building; and befide the pleafure of congruity, the spectator is fenfible of the pleasure of concordance from the fimilarity of the emotions produced by the two objects. The old Gothic form of building feems well fuited to the rough uncultivated regions where it was invented. The only mistake was, the transferring this form to the fine plains of France and Italy, better fitted for buildings in the Grecian tafte. But by refining upon the Gothic form, every thing in the power of invention has been done, to reconcile it to its new fituation. The profufe variety of wild and grand objects about Inverary, demanded a houfe in the Gothic form; and every one muft approve the taste of the proprietor, in adjusting fo finely, as he has done, the ap pearance of his houfe to that of the country where it is placed,

Chap. 10.

The

The external structure of a great house, leads naturally to its internal structure. A large and spacious room, receives us commonly upon our entrance. This feems to me a bad contrivance in feveral refpects. In the first place, when immediately from the open air we step into fuch a room, its fize in appearance is diminished by contraft: it looks little compared with the great canopy the fky. In the next place, when it recovers its grandeur, as it foon doth, it gives a diminutive appearance to the rest of the house: paffing from it, every apartment looks little. This room therefore may be aptly compared to the fwoln commencement of an epic po

em.

Bella per Emathios plufquam civilia campos.

In the third place, by its fituation it ferves only for a waiting-room, and a paffage to the principal apartments. And yet undoubtedly, the room of the greatest fize ought to be referved for company. A great room, which enlarges the mind and gives a certain elevation to the fpirits, is defined by nature for converfation. Rejecting therefore this form, I take a hint from the climax in writing for another form that appears more fuitable. My plan is, first a handsome portico, proportioned to the fize and Fashion of the front: this portico leads into a waiting-room of a larger fize; and this again to the great room, all by a progreffion from fmall to great. If the house be very large, there may be space for the following fuit of rooms; firft, a portico; fecond, a paffage within the house bounded by rows of columns on each fide connected by arcades; third, an octagon room, or of any other figure, about the centre of the building; and, laftly, the great room.

Of all the emotions that can be raised by architecture, grandeur is that which has the greatest in

Auence

fluence on the mind. It ought therefore to be the chief study of the artist, to raise this emotion in great buildings. But it feems unhappy for architecture, that it is neceffarily governed by certain principles oppofite to grandeur: the direct effect of regularity and proportion, is to make a building appear lefs than it is in reality. Any invention to reconcile thefe with grandeur, would be a capital improvement in architecture.

Next of ornaments, which contribute greatly to give buildings a peculiar expreffion. It has been a doubt with me, whether a building can regularly admit any ornament but what is useful, or at least appears to be useful. But confidering the double aim of architecture, a fine as well as an useful art, there is no good reason why ornaments may not be added to please the eye without any relation to ufe. This liberty is allowed in poetry, painting, and gardening, and why not in architecture confidered as a fine art? A private dwelling-houfe, it is true, and other edifices where ufe is the chief aim, admit not regularly any ornament but what has the appearance, at least, of ufe: but temples, triumphal arches, and other buildings intended chiefly or folely for fhow, may be highly ornamented.

This fuggefts a divifion of ornaments into three kinds, viz. ornaments that are beautiful without relation to use, such as ftatues in niches, vases, baffo or alto relievo next, things in themselves not beautiful, but poffeffing the beauty of utility by impofing on the spectator, and appearing to be of ufe, blind windows for example: the third kind is, where the thing is in itself beautiful, and alfo takes on the appearance of ufe; the cafe of a pilafter. With refpect to the fecond, it is an egregious blunder, to contrive the ornament fo as to make it appear ufelefs. If a blind window therefore be neceffary for regularity, it ought to be fo difguifed, as not to be

diftinguished