REMARKS 
 
 ON THE 
 
 INTENDED RESTORATION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 PARTHENON OF ATHENS 
 
 AS THE 
 
 NATIONAL MONUMENT 
 
 OF 
 
 SCOTLAND. 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2011 with funding from 
 
 Research Library, The Getty Research Institute 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/remarksonintendeOOcleg 
 
REMARKS 
 
 ON THE 
 
 INTENDED RESTORATION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 PARTHENON OF ATHENS 
 
 AS THE 
 
 NATIONAL MONUMENT 
 
 OF 
 
 SCOTLAND. 
 
 EDINBURGH: 
 
 PRINTED FOR 
 
 ARCHIBALD CONSTABLE AND CO. EDINBURGH; 
 
 AND HURST, ROBINSON, AND CO. 
 
 LONDON. 
 
 1824. 
 
EDINBURGH: PRINTED BY JAMES BAI.LANTYNE AND CO. 
 
In a discussion on the various styles of 
 architecture in the Quarterly Review, Oc- 
 tober 1822, the Reviewers take an opportu- 
 nity of declaring their decided hostility to 
 the restoration of the Parthenon as the Na- 
 tional Monument of Scotland, and likewise 
 to the introduction of pure Grecian archi- 
 tecture, as unsuitable to modern times. 
 Though distinguished by much eloquence 
 and research, and many excellent remarks, 
 the general scope of the doctrines inculca- 
 ted, and inferences attempted to be drawn, 
 must appear to every unprejudiced reader, 
 who has any acquaintance with the subject, 
 full of paradox and sophistry. An able an- 
 
2 
 
 swer appeared in the Edinburgh Keview, 
 (February 1823,) superseding the necessity 
 of a particular refutation ; yet, in the follow- 
 ing desultory remarks, the Author will oc- 
 casionally find it necessary to allude to some 
 of the subjects already discussed. 
 
 Edinburgh, 20th June, 1824. 
 
REMARKS, &c. 
 
 At the conclusion of the late war, it was in 
 contemplation to raise a splendid edifice in 
 the Metropolis or its vicinity, as a Nation- 
 al Monument, in commemoration of the 
 Naval and Military Achievements of the 
 British Arms. The proposal was at first 
 countenanced by the Legislature, and a 
 sum of money, it is believed, actually voted 
 by Parliament, for carrying it into effect ; 
 but whether the enthusiasm excited by the 
 battle of Waterloo was allowed to cool, or 
 some unforeseen obstacle occurred, the 
 scheme was ultimately abandoned, no far- 
 ther proceedings having taken place. 
 
4 
 
 In the northern part of the island a si- 
 milar proposal was agitated, for erecting a 
 Scottish National Monument at Edinburgh. 
 A considerable sum was obtained by private 
 contributions, before any definite plan was 
 fixed. Some suggested a Modern Church, 
 some a Roman Triumphal Arch, others a 
 fanciful Gothic Edifice.* It occurred at 
 length to a few public-spirited individuals, 
 of more refined taste, that a restoration of 
 the Parthenon of Athens would be the 
 most eligible ; and that the Calton-hill, 
 from its resemblance to the Acropolis of 
 Athens, should be chosen as the site. This 
 suggestion, which at first encountered vio- 
 lent opposition, continued gradually to gain 
 ground, till, at a General Meeting of Sub- 
 scribers, a resolution to that effect was at 
 last carried by a great majority. Several in- 
 
 * Of this kind may be mentioned an ingenious and beauti- 
 fully finished Gothic model, on a large scale, executed after 
 the designs of Mr Spalding, Heriot Row 
 
dividuals of the minority protested against 
 the measure, and threatened to withdraw 
 their contributions unless a Church were 
 adopted. No idea, however, was then en- 
 tertained of occupying the intended restora- 
 tion as an ordinary place of public worship. 
 The dissentients, it would appear, with- 
 drew their support, because they had been 
 originally led to suppose, that the plan 
 would embrace a modern church, in which 
 event they had calculated on acquiring a 
 right to pews, in proportion to the amount 
 of their subscriptions. This was the real 
 ground of opposition. Matters remained 
 in this state for nearly a year, when it was 
 announced, probably with the view of uni- 
 ting all parties, that a Meeting of the 
 Committee of the " National Monument, 
 held at London, the 24th April, 1822, had 
 resolved, in unison with the original views 
 and intentions of the Subscribers, to make 
 it (the proposed restoration of the Parthe- 
 non) comprehend a place of divine worship, 
 
6 
 
 where the Contributors, and also his Ma- 
 jesty's Forces, both Sailors and Soldiers, sta- 
 tioned in and about Edinburgh, who have 
 no adequate provision of the kind, might 
 be accommodated." 
 
 Lord Binning brought the subject before 
 the Houseof Commons, Session 1822, by pre- 
 senting a petition, praying that a sum of 
 ^§10,000 might be granted, in aid of the Na- 
 tional Monument, out of the funds already 
 voted by Parliament for the building of 
 Churches. Sir George Clerk supported the 
 petition, and stated, as apowerful recommen- 
 dation, that it was the intention of the Com- 
 mittee to set apart 1500 seats gratis, for the 
 use of the Public. It was observed, by several 
 memberswho opposed its reception, that the 
 petition came with a bad grace from such 
 a quarter, after the large grants already 
 voted by Parliament for the Caledonian 
 Canal, College of Edinburgh, and other 
 public works. That it could not be expect- 
 ed the people of England and Ireland, al- 
 
ready borne down by distress and taxation, 
 should be burdened still more for the pur- 
 pose of raising a National Monument for 
 Scotland — much less under the plausible 
 pretext of erecting a place of divine wor- 
 ship ; for had that been their real object, 
 it would have been incumbent on them, in- 
 stead of applying ^§10,000 to the partial 
 construction of one very expensive and or- 
 namental structure for the embellishment 
 of the city of Edinburgh, to have expend- 
 ed it on building several plain Churches, 
 equally and perhaps better suited to every 
 purpose of true religion. Mr Gurney op- 
 posed the grant, because he thought the 
 building would turn out a " poor meagre 
 and miserable imitation of the Parthenon." 
 His Lordship, finding such determined op- 
 position, without a shadow of support even 
 from the Ministerial benches, withdrew the 
 petition, though, it is understood, with the 
 intention of again presenting it at a more 
 favourable opportunity. 
 
The Quarterly Reviewers, with much 
 naivete, assign a different and rather extra- 
 ordinary motive for the rejection of the pe- 
 tition : — " Our readers are aware, that up- 
 on a late application for Parliamentary aid, 
 a proposed grant of §£10,000 was refused to 
 the Committee of Subscribers. Upon finan- 
 cial grounds, the opposition was captious 
 and futile in the extreme, and such as could 
 never have been engendered but by the 
 comfortable spirit of contradiction, which it 
 is difficult to resist ; but if we are to examine 
 the project as lovers of architecture, we 
 must cordially acknowledge, that the pro- 
 priety of sanctioning such a restoration as 
 is now proposed, deserves serious consider- 
 ation. In a circular printed letter, to which 
 several signatures, purporting to be the sig- 
 natures of the Sub-committee, are affixed, 
 it is stated." — (Here follows a quotation 
 from the circular, which it is unnecessary to 
 repeat.) " The names subscribed to the letter 
 command so much of our respect and esteem, 
 
9 
 
 that we feel considerable difficulty in ven- 
 turing to state our doubts respecting the 
 expediency of the scheme. We confess, 
 however, that ice earnestly hope that it will 
 prove abortive ; but our ill wishes arise sole- 
 ly from the respect which we bear towards 
 the country, which has produced the worth 
 and excellence of those by whom the plan 
 is understood to have been recommended." 
 — Should such reasons appear not altoge- 
 ther satisfactory or conclusive to our north- 
 ern capacities, we must at least concede to 
 the learned authors the praise of candour, 
 and the merit of having expressed their dis- 
 sent, with all the insinuating flattery, and 
 polished address, of the most finished cour- 
 tiers. 
 
 In the Courier of the 31st July, 1822, it 
 was stated, that the Eoyal assent had been 
 given to the Bill for erecting the National 
 Monument of Scotland, as a fac simile of 
 the Parthenon, and that the public ivas to 
 be accommodated with 3000 seats. But the 
 
10 
 
 Act of Parliament makes no provision what- 
 ever for the restoration of the Parthenon, 
 to which there is not throughout the slight- 
 est allusion. It declares, (page first,) " And, 
 whereas it is expedient that this Monu- 
 ment should comprehend a place of divine 
 worship, for the use of the Contributors to 
 its erection, and of his Majesty's Naval and 
 Military Forces, stationed in its vicinity, 
 thus increasing the number of places of 
 public worship, and thereby furthering one 
 great object of the Royal and paternal so- 
 licitude of his Majesty, and of the wishes 
 of Parliament." , It is afterwards enacted, 
 (page 25,) " That the said Association, or 
 their Committee of Management, shall and 
 may build and erect, or cause to be built or 
 erected, upon the grounds and premises to 
 be acquired by them, as before mentioned, 
 a building or erection, buildings or erections, 
 of ornamental architecture, appropriate to 
 the purposes of a National Monument as 
 aforesaid, in such manner, and upon such 
 
11 
 
 plan or plans, as they shall see fit. Provi- 
 ded always, and be it enacted, That part of 
 the said building or erection, buildings or 
 erections, shall be appropriated as a Church, 
 or place of divine worship, to be maintain- 
 ed in all time by the said Association." — A 
 Church, or place of divine worship, is thus 
 most anxiously provided for, whatever plan 
 may be adopted; but there is no notice taken 
 of 3000, or even 1500 seats, or any seats at 
 all, being set apart for the accommodation 
 of the public. Perhaps we may be told it 
 is not the custom in such Acts of Parlia- 
 ment, to restrict the parties to any precise 
 plan. Be it so ; yet why then should the 
 Contributors be tied down to make the 
 building comprehend a place of divine wor- 
 ship ? for a National Monument does not 
 necessarily include a Church. The truth 
 is, this clause seems to have been introdu- 
 ced in so prominent a manner, for the sole 
 purpose of securing a participation in the 
 Parliamentary fund for the building of 
 
12 
 
 churches, and " thereby further i?tg o?ie great 
 object of the Royal and paternal solicitude 
 of his Majesty^ and of the wishes of Parlia- 
 ment" Whether it will have the desired 
 effect remains to be seen. 
 
 If, however, the interior must be convert- 
 ed into an ordinary place of worship, it is to 
 be hoped a large part of the area will be 
 thrown open to the public, without any re- 
 servation. With regard to the boon held out 
 to his Majesty's Forces, on which so much 
 stress is laid, when we consider the average 
 peace establishment, naval and military, on 
 tins station — the military consisting of half 
 a regiment of foot in the Castle of Edin- 
 burgh, two or three troops of dragoons at 
 Piershill, and a handful of artillery-men at 
 Leith Fort — all of whom have convenient 
 access to divine worship, which, in point of 
 fact, they regularly attend — the naval con- 
 sisting of the crew of one guard ship, moored 
 in Leith Roads, at the distance of four miles 
 from the Calton-Hill — when we consider all 
 
13 
 
 these circumstances, it is really not very 
 probable that either description of his Ma- 
 jesty's Forces will be in a situation to avail 
 themselves of such a privilege.* 
 
 Should the application for parliamentary 
 aid be again resumed, it ought not to appear 
 under the questionable shape of a claim on 
 the fund set apart for the building of Church- 
 es — a pretext which must be at once seen 
 through — but an appeal to the Legislature 
 in its real and proper character of a National 
 Monument. It has been publicly announced, 
 on the authority of the Committee, that his 
 Majesty, when in Scotland, recommended a 
 renewal of the application to Parliament. 
 If his Majesty really patronizes the measure, 
 the result cannot, of course, be doubtful. The 
 Committee would, however, do well not to 
 
 * Though the site on the Calton-hill be peculiarly appro- 
 priate for a Grecian Temple and National Monument, it must 
 be exceedingly inconvenient for an ordinary place of worship. 
 The ascent on either side is very much exposed to the wea- 
 ther, besides being so steep as to preclude all access to car- 
 riages and chairs, without making a long circuit. 
 
14 
 
 trust too much to ministerial promisesor Par- 
 liamentary aid, but use their most strenuous 
 exertions to fix the attention, and rouse the 
 enthusiasm, of the public. Itisnowmorethan 
 a year and a half since the act of Parliament 
 was passed. The foundation of the edifice 
 has been already laid, with all due circum- 
 stance of pomp and ceremony, by Commis- 
 sioners specially appointed by his Majesty. 
 Contributions to a large amount have been 
 obtained. The Directors and Committees 
 hold frequent meetings. The structure is 
 on the eve of being commenced. Yet it is 
 not a little extraordinary, that in none of 
 the circulars or notices published by the 
 Committees, or Sub-committees, is there the 
 slightest allusion to the subject of sculpture, 
 or how it is proposed to reconcile the usual 
 conveniences and accompaniments of a mo- 
 dern Church, with the simple grandeur and 
 severe beauty of a Grecian Doric Temple. 
 In a question of so much importance, invol- 
 ving so much difficulty and delicacy of exe- 
 
15 
 
 cution, and on which the ultimate success of 
 the undertaking may possibly hinge, it is 
 matter of surprise that they should not have 
 been more explicit. There can be no excuse 
 for precipitation ; but, in the mean time, 
 without relaxing their efforts to obtain con- 
 tributions, their duty, both to the Contribu- 
 tors and the Public, should prompt them to 
 lose no time in procuring the designs and 
 opinions of the most eminent artists and 
 architects, in reference to the details and 
 execution of the plan, and particularly to 
 the subject of a national sculpture. After gi- 
 ving them publicity, along with the result 
 of their own deliberations, let them patiently 
 await the opinion of the public, and avail 
 themselves of the suggestions of men of 
 taste and learning wherever they are to be 
 found. 
 
 It is easy to talk of restoration and imita- 
 tion — of a work of art being after the model 
 or manner of another, and so forth — modes 
 of expression in high favour with dilettanti 
 
16 
 
 and professional men,and admittingof much 
 latitude and modification, according to their 
 different tastes and opinions. We are told, 
 for instance, in the Guide to the Metropo- 
 lis, when describing the facade of Covent- 
 Garden Theatre, Bow Street, that the archi- 
 tect, Mr Smirke, junior, took for his model 
 the finest specimen from the ruins of Athens, 
 the grand Temple of Minerva, situated on 
 the Acropolis. In a recent periodical publi- 
 cation, the new church of St Pancras is men- 
 tioned, as " the finest edifice that has been 
 built in England on purely Grecian princi- 
 ples of architecture, and with strict adherence 
 to the Grecian model. It is designed from 
 the Erectheum, or Triple Temple, on the 
 Acropolis of Athens, the eastern portico of 
 which was dedicated to Erectheus, the sixth 
 King of Athens — the western to Minerva 
 Polias, and the wing to Pandrosus, the 
 grand-daughter of Erectheus. The tower, 
 or steeple, is after the manner of the Temple 
 of the Winds, also at Athens, and follows as 
 
 8 
 
17 
 
 closely as possible the classic beauty of that 
 celebrated building — its form being octago- 
 nal, consisting of two stories, supported by 
 eight pillars — the whole surmounted by a 
 cross. The vestibule of the Church is a cor- 
 rect representation of the interior of the 
 Temple of the Winds. The interior is chaste 
 and appropriate. Its form is semicircular, 
 in the recess of which is the altar. There 
 are two side galleries, supported by eight 
 antique pillars. The whole of the pews 
 are of oak !" Accordingly, we have only to 
 betake ourselves to Bow Street, of classic 
 notoriety, and then to the purlieus of Rus- 
 sel Square and the City-road, to behold mo- 
 dern restorations of the finest edifices that 
 anciently adorned the Acropolis, viz. the 
 Parthenon, the Temples of Erechtheus and 
 Pandroseum, with the Temple or Tower of 
 the Winds into boot. A difficulty, indeed, 
 might be started as to the propriety of clap- 
 ping the Tower of the Winds, which was 
 situated in Athens, but not on the Acropo- 
 
18 
 
 lis, on the top of another temple, with which 
 it had no connexion or analogy. But then 
 this would be regarded as mere envy and 
 cavilling at the superior taste and original 
 conceptions of modern architects. Unfortu- 
 nately, however, when we compare them 
 with their originals, we must be convinced, 
 after making ample allowance for transposi- 
 tion and modification, that they bear little 
 or no resemblance in form or general cha- 
 racter. The only points of similarity are, in 
 the one the Grecian proportions of the four 
 Doric columns and entablature of the scanty 
 portico of Bow Street, in the other the mere 
 portico of the church and the four carya- 
 tides of the little temple of Pandrosus, at- 
 tached, without any meaning, to each flank 
 of the Cella. But does the addition of a Gre- 
 cian portico transform a building into Gre- 
 cian, which could, in other respects, have no 
 pretensions to the title ? or do four pillars 
 and a pediment of the order and proportions 
 of those of the Parthenon, attached to a fa- 
 
19 
 
 cade of a totally different kind, metamor- 
 phose it into that of the building from which 
 the columns were borrowed ? Restoration 
 implies a strict adherence to general form 
 and character, as well as an attention to mi- 
 nute details of proportion and execution. 
 Both must combine to ensure success. A 
 finical and affected display of the latter in 
 particular parts cannot compensate a total 
 neglect of the former. With regard to Ca- 
 ryatides or Persians, the Temple of Pandro- 
 sus at Athens, and the celebrated Persian 
 portico at Sparta, alluded to by ancient au- 
 thors, (of which no vestige now remains,) 
 are the only examples in Grecian architec- 
 ture of human figures being substituted for 
 columns in the support of an entablature. 
 The remains of Thessalonica described by 
 Stuart, though apparently of the same kind, 
 are suspected to have been the production 
 of a later age. Besides, the Temple of Pan- 
 drosus owed its origin to the casual circum- 
 stance of a laurel, sacred to Minerva, having 
 
20 
 
 flourished on the spot over which the por- 
 tico was raised as a protection. It has no 
 affinity in style or character with the edifice 
 to which it is attached. It was hardly, there- 
 fore, a legitimate subject for restoration ; 
 especially when united to a modern build- 
 ing like St Pancras. It might with equal 
 propriety be applied to St Martin's, St 
 George's, or any other church of the metro- 
 polis. The Tower of St Pancras has three 
 stories, and, except its octagonal shape, 
 bears no similarity whatever to the Tower of 
 the Winds, which is an octagon of one story, 
 and celebrated chiefly for its roof and sculp- 
 ture. The Tower of the Winds, too, is a 
 detached building, standing on its own foun- 
 dation ; nor would it have entered into the 
 imagination of a Greek architect of the most 
 corrupt period to have hoisted it on the top 
 of an Ionic temple of the Acropolis. To 
 atone for such trifling deviations and ano- 
 malies, we are presented with a correct re- 
 storation of the interior of the Tower of the 
 
01 
 
 AJ 1 
 
 Winds in the vestibule of the church ! and 
 tiro ?°anges of tapering windows in the walls 
 of the Cella, in imitation of three in the west 
 front of the Minerva Polias ! — the only ex- 
 ample of windows in such a situation to be 
 found in the Grecian remains. In short, 
 the classical effect of the Portico of St Pan- 
 eras, how handsome soever it may be in 
 itself, is completely neutralized by the tow- 
 er or spire, and the other accompaniments 
 of a modern church. 
 
 Since the revival of Eoman architecture 
 by the great Italian architects, and the ac- 
 cess in later times to the purer models of 
 Greece, how few of the celebrated ruins of 
 antiquity have been successfully imitated, 
 far less restored. Architecture is, for obvi- 
 ous reasons, more limited by fixed princi- 
 ples and mathematical precision, and affords, 
 in the proportions of its component parts, 
 as well as their combination, less legitimate 
 scope for the fancy than any of the other 
 
22 
 
 arts. Yet, unfortunately, its professors have 
 in all ages been remarkable for capricious 
 innovation and vain attempts, from a de- 
 sire of originality, to alter what they can- 
 not improve — propensities " that would 
 seem to prevent perfection from being sta- 
 tionary for any length of time in the works 
 of man." This rage for novelty and repug- 
 nance to correct imitation, has introduced a 
 variable and corrupt taste, and engendered 
 a species of architecture in modern Europe, 
 — Italy even not excepted, — neither Grecian 
 nor Iioman, but a vicious compound of 
 both, mixed up with many later innovations. 
 It is remarked by Gibbon, that " genius 
 may anticipate, but the artist cannot hope 
 to equal or surpass, till he has learned to 
 imitate the works of his predecessors." The 
 Pantheon and its unrivalled Portico, " shi- 
 ning inimitable upon earth," — designed and 
 measured by architects and amateurs of all 
 nations, have never yet been restored, either 
 
23 
 
 in whole or in part, in their purity and real 
 dimensions.* 
 
 Before proceeding to the subject of the 
 Restoration of the Parthenon as the Na- 
 tional Monument of Scotland, it may be 
 necessary, for the sake of perspicuity, to en- 
 ter into a short detail of the different styles 
 of architecture. 
 
 * Forsyth observes, when treating of the modern architecture 
 of Rome, that " man, though the child of imitation, imitates 
 with reluctance : his ambition as an artist, is to invent. In 
 architecture, however, the grand objects of invention are anti- 
 cipated — the constitutive parts and portions are already fix- 
 ed ; the mind must circulate round those, and must be satis- 
 fied with innovations only in combinations. The artist must 
 recur to the models established in his art, and from them he 
 derives notions of excellence which confine him but the more. 
 He cannot safely depart from those models ; yet he grudo-es 
 every approach that he makes. ' His poverty, and not his will 
 consents.' Whatever he steals he disfigures. He changes the 
 scale ; he transposes the parts ; he tries to efface the marks of 
 the original master, and inserts something of his own to hide 
 the theft. No other principle can account to me for the dege- 
 nerate architecture of a city which contains the Pantheon ; or 
 why artists should daily borrow the details of that edifice, and 
 never adopt the simplicity of its design."— Forsyth's Italy, 
 p. 178. 
 
24 
 
 The Greeks are supposed to have been 
 indebted to the Egyptians for their first 
 knowledge of architecture, and probably to 
 the Phoenicians for the subsequent im- 
 provement of the column. From the slight 
 allusions to architectural subjects in the 
 Iliad and Odyssey, it would appear that the 
 art had made little progress, except in the 
 working and carving of wood. Mr Wil- 
 kins* is of opinion, that according to the 
 most probable results, its origin in Greece 
 may be fixed at some interval between the 
 863 and 821 years before Christ. Before 
 that period temples and public buildings 
 were constructed chiefly of wood ; and it 
 was only the walls of cities, treasuries, and 
 other buildings calculated for protection 
 or defence, that were built of vast blocks of 
 stone, such as the walls of Tiryns and re- 
 mains of Mycenae, a species of masonry 
 
 Topography of Athens. 
 
25 
 
 which has been designated Cyclopean. But 
 whatever may be the precise era of its in- 
 troduction, it must have arrived, in a com- 
 paratively short period, at great perfection 
 — affording a remarkable contrast to the 
 gradual progress of the Gothic. The Gre- 
 cian orders indeed, continued to receive in 
 after ages additional lightness, symmetry, 
 and elegance, till sculptural decoration shed 
 its highest grace. Yet the general charac- 
 ter and leading features are to be found 
 in the early specimens of the Doric of the 
 European, and the Ionic of the Asiatic 
 Greeks, which remained unimpaired for 
 many centuries.* And it is astonishing 
 with what invincible constancy, and almost 
 
 * Modern writers on the art seem to think nothing more is 
 required, than to lay down certain precise and pedantic rules, 
 for the relative proportions of the different orders, the slight- 
 est infringement of which they regard as downright heresy. 
 Yet among the Greeks and Romans there was no fixed stand- 
 ard ; the examples of each being found to vary more or less 
 from others of the same class, though the individual character 
 of each order was invariably preserved. 
 
26 
 
 religious enthusiasm, each nation adhered 
 to that of its own invention, as if conscious 
 of having attained the desired perfection, 
 and anxious to preserve it inviolate. The 
 Corinthian, though Grecian in its origin, 
 was little practised in Greece till the Ma- 
 cedonian conquest, when taste had begun 
 to decline. It became, however, the fa- 
 vourite order of the Eomans, who carried 
 it to great perfection. With regard to what 
 are called the Tuscan and Composite, they 
 can be viewed in no other light than cor- 
 ruptions — the former of the Doric — the lat- 
 ter of the Ionic and Corinthian. 
 
 The next important era in the history of 
 the art, is the modification of Grecian archi- 
 tecture by the Komans, from the conquest 
 of Greece to the decline of the Empire. 
 The brightest period of Grecian art, inclu- 
 ded the lives of Pericles and Alexander. 
 After the death of the latter, the arts gra- 
 dually declined. The Macedonian Con- 
 quest introduced much additional magnifi- 
 
27 
 
 cence at the expense of the ancient simpli- 
 city and purity of taste. The Roman Con- 
 quest hastened the progress of corruption. 
 The Romans imitated, it is true, the archi- 
 tecture of Greece, and employed Grecian 
 architects for that purpose ; but a sensible 
 deviation from the style of their masters is 
 observable in most of their works. Columns 
 were latterly calculated more for ornament 
 than use. They adorned the wall, or at 
 most supported the pediment ; in the Gre- 
 cian, they supported the edifice, and form- 
 ed the wall itself.* Amidst the splendid 
 structures and gorgeous display of Impe- 
 rial magnificence, the marks of barbarism 
 
 * " The Doric appears here (Rome) in very few monu- 
 ments, and is so Latinised, that we lose the original order. 
 In the Roman Temples, columns were a mere decoration, or, 
 at most, supported the pediment alone. In the Greek, they 
 were an integral part of the edifice, not engaged in the wall, 
 but the wall itself. Hence arose a necessary difference in their 
 proportions. At Rome, the Doric is about 7^ diameters — At 
 Athens, the greatest height of the columns is about 6 — At 
 Pestum, 4^ — At Corinth, 4." — Forsyth's Italy, p. 166-7- 
 
28 
 
 are sufficiently conspicuous, when compared 
 with Grecian models. " It is only neces- 
 sary to compare the Doric and Ionic of the 
 Greeks with the Roman orders of the same 
 name, to be struck with the decided superi- 
 ority of the former, not only in the form 
 and execution of the parts in detail, but in 
 the chaste grandeur and symmetrical effect 
 as a whole. In the Roman, the ornaments 
 and mouldings are crowded and meagre ; 
 the curvilinear profiles being segments of a 
 circle. In the Grecian, they are simple and 
 well defined ; the echinus and ovolo as- 
 suming uniformly the more varied and ele- 
 gant contours of the conic sections."* The 
 Grecian Doric in particular, displays in its 
 contrast, variety and chaste symmetry, a 
 striking example of architectural richness 
 and beauty, independent in a certain de- 
 gree of sculptural decoration — the moulded 
 
 Edinburgh Magazine, July 1821. — Parthenon, p. 50. 
 
29 
 
 capital, the fluted shaft — the frize naturally 
 rich by the distribution of triglyphs — the 
 repose of the broad and massive architrave 
 — the whole crowned with the well propor- 
 tioned cornice and mutules. Yet, it must 
 be admitted, the Romans improved the Co- 
 rinthian ; and by the successful combina- 
 tion of the arcade and column, laid the 
 foundation of a new and original order — 
 capable of great variety and magnificence, 
 but which, being essentially different in cha- 
 racter, ought not to be confounded with the 
 pure Grecian style. 
 
 The third era, is its restoration by the 
 great Italian architects, — Brunelleschi Bra- 
 mante, Michel Angelo, Julio Romano, Pal- 
 ladio, Bernini, &c. and their followers in the 
 other countries of Europe. In England, 
 Inigo Jones and Sir Christopher Wren, 
 were the most distinguished of that school. 
 It is founded entirely on a study of the 
 Roman remains, and necessarily retains all 
 their defects. Like their masters too, they 
 
30 
 
 did not imitate correctly, but indulged in 
 frequent deviations, and fanciful inventions, 
 thus removing it still farther from its ori- 
 ginal standard * We are indebted, how- 
 ever, to the Italian masters, for the applica- 
 tion of the dome to a peculiar modification 
 of the Koman in Ecclesiastical Architecture, 
 of which St Peter's at Rome is the finest 
 specimen. The dome would appear to be 
 of Eastern invention. Circular temples with 
 cupolas, were indeed frequent in Italy, and 
 Pausanias makes several allusions to them 
 in Greece; but the circular temple, support- 
 ed on walls, can scarcely be assimilated to 
 the modern dome raised on high, resting 
 on pillars or arcades, though it may have 
 suggested the idea of its construction. The 
 first example of the modern dome, is that 
 
 * The modern pedestal is but a corrupt innovation of the 
 ancient stylobata. The only examples of pedestals in the Ro- 
 man remains, are those of the pillars of Trajan and Antoninus, 
 which in other respects exhibit a mixture of all the orders. 
 
31 
 
 of St Sophia at Constantinople, erected by 
 Anthemius of Tralles, and Isidore of Mil- 
 etus, in 637, under the Emperor Justinian : 
 The next, St Mark at Venice, in the 10th, 
 which was followed by that of Pisa, by Bus- 
 chetto, a Greek, in the 11th ; the Duomo 
 of Florence, by Brunelleschi, early in the 
 15th century ; — when, at length, Bramante 
 and Michel Angelo carried it to its height 
 of perfection, in the unrivalled dome of the 
 Vatican. 
 
 To the Italian architects, likewise, we owe 
 the adaptation of the Roman architecture to 
 modern public edifices, and to the palaces 
 and country-seats of Princes and Nobles — 
 splendid examples of which abound in Italy. 
 The republican jealousy, and sumptuary 
 laws of Greece and Rome, precluded citi- 
 zens, of whatever rank or wealth, from adorn- 
 ing their private dwellings. Whilst mag- 
 nificent public buildings, decorated with 
 sculpture and painting, bronze and gold, 
 multiplied on every side, their private 
 
32 
 
 houses were uniformly simple and modest. 
 A portico and pediment was a decoration 
 reserved for the temples of the gods. The 
 house of Augustus was as plain and un- 
 adorned as that of any other citizen of con- 
 sular rank. In the decline of the Empire, 
 when luxury and extravagance exceeded all 
 bounds, those distinctions were soon lost. 
 Yet there is every reason to believe, that 
 the finest villas and private houses of the 
 ancients, as far as regarded elegance and ac- 
 commodation, have been surpassed by the 
 noble palaces of modern Italy, and other 
 countries of Europe.* 
 
 The term Grecian, is in general loosely 
 
 * a If indeed we travel to Vicenza and Verona, and view the 
 matchless inventions of Palladio, &c. we shall be disposed, I 
 think, to conclude that nothing was ever conceived by the wit 
 of man, appropriate to the convenience and comfort of a resi- 
 dence, superior in grace and elegance to these noble palaces. 
 The public buildings of antiquity, certainly exceed anything 
 we have been able to raise in later ages ; but their private edi- 
 fices, it is probable, would look meanly by the side of an ordi- 
 nary dwelling of a wealthy modern gentleman."— Wilson's 
 Tour in Italy, p. 208. 
 
 9 
 
33 
 
 applied not only to the architecture proper- 
 ly so called, but to the Roman and Italian 
 styles, and even to every modern building, 
 however corrupt, that is not Gothic. It 
 would, however, be of essential advantage 
 to the progress and purity of the art, were 
 the three styles already alluded to — the 
 Grecian, Koman, and Italian, carefully dis- 
 tinguished from each other, both in theory 
 and practice. 
 
 In recapitulating the different styles of 
 architecture, it would be inexcusable to pass 
 over the Gothic. Its origin has been the 
 subject of much controversy — of many theo- 
 ries and learned treatises. It has been re- 
 ferred by different authors to the Goths, 
 Normans, Saracens, and Persians. Yet it 
 is more than probable it may be traced to 
 a gradual deviation from the corrupt Ko- 
 man, (or Saxon,) combined with the casual 
 discovery and subsequent improvement of 
 the pointed arch. It has been conjectured, 
 that the northern nations, having been ac- 
 
34 
 
 customed to assemble for the worship of 
 their deities in woods and groves, endea- 
 voured in their buildings to imitate the um- 
 brageous character of the stems and spread- 
 ing boughs. Sir James Hall has suggested 
 a very ingenious variation of this theory, by 
 supposing the Gothic arcades and roof an 
 imitation, not of a natural grove, but of a 
 rude building constructed entirely of wick- 
 er work. Unfortunately, however, the Go- 
 thic structures that offer themselves as pe- 
 culiarly illustrative of such supposed imita- 
 tions, are the latest specimens of the order, 
 and the farthest removed from the era of 
 its invention. But though neither of these 
 theories be sufficient to account for its ori- 
 gin, it is not improbable that the similitude 
 of avenues of trees in perspective, to build- 
 ings already erected, may have afforded 
 hints with respect to much of the arrange- 
 ment, tracery, and delicate ornament. Had 
 the Goths been the inventors, they must 
 have brought it either from their own coun- 
 
35 
 
 try, or invented it after having established 
 themselves in Italy and other countries of 
 Europe.* Both suppositions appear equal- 
 ly improbable. Besides, there exists no pro- 
 per standard for this order. Vasari says, it 
 (the Tedesca) is so defective in systematic 
 rules, that it may be deemed the " order of 
 confusion and inconsistency."! It is mo- 
 dified by the habits, genius, and architec- 
 ture of the respective countries where it 
 is to be found. The Gothic of Florence 
 and the north of Italy differs widely from 
 that of the rest of Europe. J That of Spain 
 
 * Essays by Sir Christopher Wren— Warton, Bentham, 
 Grose, Milner — particularly, Gunn's Enquiry into the Origin 
 and Influence of Gothic Architecture. 
 
 + Vasari Vite de Pittore, T. 1. C. III. p. 128. 
 
 X " In Italy there are no lofty spires, or pinnacles, remark- 
 able for their airy lightness, but square opaque towers, with 
 round arches meeting in lines, generally standing detached 
 from the Churches with which they are connected. It is ra- 
 ther singular, that no Gothic is to be found within the walls 
 of Rome, though it prevails all over Italy. The only approxi- 
 mations are the Ciboria of the insulated altars of some of the 
 Basilic Churches — and two pointed arches in the Convent of 
 
36 
 
 exhibits features essentially distinct from 
 the Gothic of Germany, France, and Eng- 
 land. It has been generally classed under 
 three styles — The Saxon and Norman — 
 the pointed — and the Tudor or florid — of 
 which the pointed is reckoned the purest. 
 The Tudor, loaded with excess of ornament, 
 and frittered into affected delicacy, betrays 
 a meretricious taste and fantastical pretti- 
 ness of detail, inconsistent with the true 
 character of the order. 
 
 But to return to the subject of the Na- 
 tional Monument. — We have seen that the 
 Parthenon of Athens has been adopted as 
 the model, by a great majority of the Con- 
 tributors, that the interior is to compre- 
 hend a place of divine worship, and that 
 an Act of Parliament has been obtained for 
 carrying it into effect. Now, if by a place 
 of divine worship, be meant an ordinary 
 
 Annunziata, refitted out of the ruins of the Forum of Nerva, 
 by Pius V., so late as 1571." — Gunn's Enquiry, p. 164. 
 
37 
 
 Church, or Chapel of Ease, where divine 
 service is to be performed weekly, there 
 seems some reason to apprehend, that the 
 attempt to follow out such an arrangement 
 may eventually prove fatal to the success of 
 the restoration. Admitting the propriety 
 of dedicating it to God as a National Tem- 
 ple, it ought assuredly to occupy a higher 
 rank than that of a mere Parish Church or 
 Meeting-house. Should the whole or prin- 
 cipal part of the interior be destined for 
 that purpose, is there no risk of its under- 
 going such a modification, on the plea of 
 necessity or convenience, as may be subver- 
 sive of its consistency and simplicity as a 
 Grecian Temple ? Is there no risk of gal- 
 leries and boxed-up pews, of double rows 
 of semi-circular topped windows, glaring 
 through the columns of the peristyle — all 
 these being the uniform accompaniments 
 of a Modern Church ? Is there no chance, 
 too, of its being urged, as a matter of expe- 
 diency or ornament, that it should be sur- 
 
38 
 
 mounted by a dome, • tower, or spire, as a 
 belfry — or something compounded of all the 
 three, not only that it may rival St An- 
 drew's and St George's, but accomplish an- 
 other most important object in the eyes of 
 the citizens of Modern Athens — a pictu- 
 resque point of view, for which they are 
 prepared to make almost any sacrifice ? If 
 such deviations be permitted, can the edi- 
 fice claim any resemblance to a Grecian 
 Temple, far less to a restoration of its famed 
 original ? Though, for these reasons, seri- 
 ous doubts may be entertained with respect 
 to the propriety of the interior being con- 
 verted into a common Presbyterian Kirk, 
 it is impossible to contemplate the slightest 
 objection to its being consecrated to God 
 as a National Christian Temple, like the 
 great Churches of St Paul's, or Westmin- 
 ster Abbey. It would thus occupy a pre- 
 eminent rank, both as a Metropolitan 
 Church, where divine service might be per- 
 formed on solemn occasions, and as a Pan- 
 
39 
 
 theon, for the reception of sculptural mo- 
 numents in honour of national achieve- 
 ments, and distinguished Scotsmen. Such 
 a destination would confer the highest de- 
 gree of dignity and grandeur, not incompa- 
 tible with the strictest adherence to classi- 
 cal form, and purity of taste. 
 
 No exertion should be spared to make it, 
 not merely an imitation, but, as nearly as 
 possible, a true restoration — Carefully ex- 
 cluding everything, even in the minute de- 
 tails, characteristic of the Eoman, Italian, or 
 Modern styles. The subject of Sculpture 
 will be afterwards considered. Should any 
 difficulty occur in following the precise form 
 and arrangement of the original architecture, 
 care ought to be taken that the parts so 
 supplied shall be purely Grecian. With re- 
 spect to the two pediments and porticos, 
 the lateral peristyles, the posticum and pro- 
 naos — their positions and relative propor- 
 tions being clearly established from the re- 
 mains of the edifice, no deviations or modi- 
 
40 
 
 fications can with propriety be attempted. 
 Supposing the posticum or pronaos to be 
 adhered to, a certain latitude, on the prin- 
 ciple already recognized, may be allowed in 
 the disposition of the interior, the precise 
 plan of which cannot be ascertained from 
 the ruinous state of the original. Some are 
 of opinion, with Mr Stuart, that it was hy- 
 poethral, and, consequently, that the cella 
 consisted of two ranges of double columns, 
 leaving the centre uncovered; — others, with 
 Mr Wilkins, that, being octostyle, it must 
 have coincided with the uniform arrange- 
 ment of that species of temple.* But, what- 
 ever plan may be adopted for the interior, 
 arches or arcades, though disposed in the most 
 approved manner, and not encumbered with 
 galleries, are inadmissible, being not only 
 decidedly inferior to the colonnade in beauty 
 and classical effect, but strictly Roman in 
 
 • Stuart's Athens — Wilkins' Topography of Athens. 
 
41 
 
 their character, and therefore quite unsuit- 
 able to a Grecian edifice. In the celebrated 
 Churches of St Peter's of Home and St Paul's 
 of London, they are less offensive, because 
 the architecture is principally Koman and 
 Italian. With regard to St Peter's, however, 
 it must ever be regretted that Michel An- 
 gelo did not prefer a colonnade for the in- 
 terior, the more so, as it is well known his 
 original plan, which the jealousy of his ri- 
 vals succeeded in materially frustrating, em- 
 braced a noble colonnade, and portico in 
 front, for which the present flat and compa- 
 ratively paltry facade, was afterwards sub- 
 stituted by Maderna. Arcades resting on 
 columns, whether springing from the enta- 
 blature or abacus of the capital, are despi- 
 cable corruptions. From their facility of 
 execution, they were early introduced at 
 Kome, particularly the latter, which became 
 almost universal in the reign of Justinian. 
 They would seem, indeed, to have been one 
 of the first steps in the progress of corrup- 
 
42 
 
 tion towards the introduction of the Go- 
 thic.* 
 
 It is almost unnecessary to remark, that 
 galleries, whether supported by arcades or 
 columns, are equally objectionable. They 
 are a deformity even in the Gothic, as may 
 be observed in the modern attempts in that 
 style, and in all cases where old Abbeys or 
 Cathedrals have been converted into Parish 
 Churches. In ordinary places of worship, 
 where convenience and accommodation are 
 primary objects, they are, of course, indis- 
 pensable. In a National Monument, and 
 that Monument a restoration of the Parthe- 
 non, such a sacrifice would be monstrous 
 and inexcusable. Neither should windows 
 be permitted to deform the walls of the cella. 
 Some rare instances occur of ancient temples 
 receiving light from windows, as the three 
 
 * In some of the best Churches of last century, they are to 
 be found in the construction of galleries, as, for example, in St 
 Martin's Church in the Strand, where the arches spring from 
 the insulated entablature of the columns. 
 
43 
 
 already alluded to, in the west front of the 
 Erectheum, but they are under peculiar cir- 
 cumstances, and ought to be regarded rather 
 as exceptions to the general practice. The 
 interior might be lighted from the roof by 
 means of flat lanterns, or cupolas, at proper 
 intervals. Such a plan, it is true, would be 
 quite at variance with the taste of the pre- 
 sent day, if we might judge from the con- 
 struction of our modern churches and cha- 
 pels, which are uniformly provided with a 
 double row of large round topped windows, 
 admitting a glare of sunshine and cross- 
 lights in all directions — affording a strong 
 contrast to the mellow tone, and softened 
 lights, of the Continental Churches, as well 
 as our own Gothic structures of former days. 
 That light sufficient for every purpose of 
 divine service might be admitted from above, 
 can scarcely be disputed ; that it would be 
 best calculated to display the architecture 
 and sculpture to the greatest advantage 
 must be equally self-evident. The disposi- 
 
44 
 
 tion of light and shadow in the attelier of 
 every artist confirms the truth of this re- 
 mark. The Pantheon at Rome is illumina- 
 ted by one large orb ; and the Roman ladies 
 are said to be so convinced of the favour- 
 able effect of its steady and chastened light 
 in heightening their beauty, that they are 
 always anxious to make their first public 
 appearance under its classic shade. Double 
 rows of capacious modern windows staring 
 through the colonnade, would completely 
 destroy the illusion of a building having any 
 pretensions to a Grecian temple. In an ar- 
 chitectural design, it may be possible, by 
 keeping the windows in shadow, so to ma- 
 nage the effect, that the deformity shall not 
 be observable. In the building itself, the 
 result would be very different ; for, except 
 at a great distance, such as to preclude a 
 proper examination, they would be obtru- 
 sively conspicuous, and form a barbarous 
 contrast to the rest of the architecture. To 
 insist, that windows should in every case 
 
45 
 
 be rejected where a Grecian colonnade is 
 adopted, would be absurd and impractica- 
 ble. But, in a professed restoration of the 
 purest and most splendid example of Athe- 
 nian art in the age of Pericles, the exclu- 
 sion seems absolutely imperative. Should 
 they, however, be admitted, in defiance of 
 all consistency and good taste, it would be 
 nearly as absurd to call it afac simile of the 
 Athenian Temple, as to proclaim St An- 
 drew's Church, (George Street, Edinburgh,) 
 a restoration of the Pantheon of Pome, of 
 which, indeed, it is a kind of ludicrous cari- 
 cature. 
 
 Boxed-up pews, in the modern fashion, 
 are also quite destructive of the beauty of 
 an interior, even though the columns be 
 raised on pedestals, like those of St Ste- 
 phen's, Walbrook, by Sir Christopher Wren. 
 A congregation, of which a great proportion 
 are to be admitted gratis, might be more 
 conveniently accommodated by means of 
 light rush-bottomed chairs, or moveable 
 
46 
 
 benches, which could be easily withdrawn 
 when required. This mode of accommoda- 
 tion is very common in the great Churches 
 on the Continent. None of the English Ca- 
 thedrals, with the exception of a small part 
 devoted to the cathedral-service, are blocked 
 up with galleries or pews ; nor does it occur 
 to our brethren south of the Tweed to dis- 
 figure those fine structures, by converting 
 them intoordinaryplaces of worship, merely 
 to save the expense of erecting plain build- 
 ings, equally suitable for every purpose of 
 divine service. Why should not the Na- 
 tional Monument of Scotland be entitled to 
 the same privilege ? If, however, the inte- 
 rior must be occupied as an ordinary Church, 
 or Meeting-house, how much soever such an 
 arrangement may compromise its dignity as 
 a Metropolitan Church, or its destination as 
 a National Monument, it does not necessa- 
 rily follow that it must be loaded with all 
 the usual accompaniments of a modern Cha- 
 pel of Ease ; nor is the weekly performance 
 
47 
 
 of divine service absolutely incompatible with 
 architectural beauty and classic elegance. 
 
 On the subject of Grecian architecture, 
 the Quarterly Reviewers make the follow- 
 ing eloquent remarks : — " When employed 
 by its authors and inventors, the architec- 
 ture of Attica is faultless. The separate 
 members of the building have a definite re- 
 lation to the whole. They are aggregated 
 by affinity, and connected by apposition. 
 Each one is in its destined place ; no one is 
 extraneous or superfluous ; all are charac- 
 terized by fitness and propriety. Grecian 
 architecture is a composition of columns, 
 which are intended to assemble themselves 
 into the form of a Grecian Temple. They 
 seek to enter into no other combination. Beauty 
 and elegance result from their union. The 
 long unvaried horizontal line of the enta- 
 blature rests in stable tranquillity upon the 
 even ranging columns below, and the coni- 
 cal shafts are repeated in unbroken sym- 
 metry. The edifice is perfect in itself, there- 
 
48 
 
 fore it admits of no change in its plan — of 
 no addition to its elevation. It must stand 
 in virgin magnificence, unmated and alone. 
 The Grecian Temple may be compared to 
 a single crystal, and to the process of crys- 
 tallization. Disturb the arrangement of the 
 molecules of the crystal, and they will set 
 into a mis-shapen fragment. Increase the 
 number of their crystals, allow them to fix 
 themselves upon each other, and their indi- 
 vidual regularity will be lost in the amor- 
 phous mass. Thus, in the Grecian temple, 
 the component parts have settled themselves 
 into a shape of perfect harmony, such as is 
 required by their integral figure ; but it is a 
 shape that cannot be varied in its outline, 
 nor can it be changed in its proportions. 
 Neither does it submit to be annexed to 
 any other. Every attempt that is made to 
 blend the Temple with any other design, pro- 
 duces a lame and discordant effect. We 
 must reject the arch, the noblest invention 
 
 of architectural science. Porticos cannot be 
 
 u 
 
49 
 
 duplicated. Doric columns cannot be raised 
 in stories. No windows can open to the 
 cella — No wings can be added to the right 
 or to the left, which does not at once con- 
 vince the observer, that it has no real rela- 
 tionship to the centre, which it obscures — 
 No adaptation can be given which will re- 
 concile it to utility. Plate-glass windows 
 glaring through the intercolumniations — 
 chimneys and chimney-pots arranged above 
 the pediment, are just as appropriate as 
 English nouns and verbs in a Greek hexa- 
 meter."* 
 
 There is here much truth mixed up with 
 a good deal of exaggeration and sophistry, 
 clothed in elegant language and poetic 
 imagery. The panegyric bestowed on the 
 perfection and immutability of Grecian ar- 
 chitecture would appear, from the inferen- 
 ces afterwards attempted to be drawn, to 
 be conjured up only as a decent pretext for 
 
 * Quarterly Review, No. LIV. p. 311-15. 
 D 
 
50 
 
 rejecting it as altogether useless and un- 
 suitable to modern times. Grecian archi- 
 tecture is indeed a composition of columns ; 
 but do they " seek to assemble themselves 
 into no other combination than that of 
 a temple ?" Were temples the only pub- 
 lic buildings constructed by the Greeks ? 
 Vitruvius, in his treatise on Grecian archi- 
 tecture, describes many other combinations 
 of columns : The Forum, with its numerous 
 porticos, colonnades, basilica?, curiae — the 
 Theatre, including its porticos and hypethral 
 walks — the Gymnasium, or Pahestra, with 
 its xysta, double porticos, and extensive pe- 
 ristyle, exhedra?, baths, &c. But even the 
 Grecian Temple itself assumes a great di- 
 versity of form, proceeding not only from 
 the variety produced by the respective or- 
 ders and degrees of intercolumniation, but 
 from the several distinct species of temple, 
 differing materially from each other in size, 
 form, arrangement, and richness of decora- 
 tion ; from the simple temple in antis, to 
 
the prostyle, amphiprostyle, peripteral, pseu- 
 doperipteral, dipteral, hyphaethral, monop- 
 teral, &c. sufficient surely to satisfy the most 
 insatiable appetite for variety. Besides, 
 could we be justified in abandoning pure 
 Grecian architecture, acknowledged to be 
 so " faultless," " perfect," " beautiful," and 
 " harmonious," because the arch cannot be 
 introduced, — porticos cannot be duplicated, 
 — columns cannot be raised into stories, — 
 nor wings added ; in short, because we can- 
 not succeed in corrupting and vitiating it 
 according to our own wayward fancies ? 
 
 It might be supposed that the Reviewers, 
 to be consistent, would consider the applica- 
 tion of the spire, or tower, equally incompa- 
 tible with the Grecian temple, as the intro- 
 duction of the arch, chimneys, and chimney- 
 pots, or plate-glass windows glaring through 
 the intercolumniations. By no means. In 
 a subsequent page, we find the following 
 passage : — " There is considerable difficulty 
 in combining a steeple with the Grecian or 
 
52 
 
 Roman .architecture. Wren mastered the 
 difficulty, and produced combinations scarce- 
 ly inferior to the Gothic." This is, indeed, 
 " disturbing," with a vengeance, the " pri- 
 mitive molecules of the crystal," if not ma- 
 king a most barbarous attack on its " virgin 
 magnificence, unmated and alone." 
 
 The Temple of Minerva, or Parthenon, 
 though now ruinous and mutilated, still re- 
 mains the greatest ornament of the modern, 
 as it did of the ancient Acropolis. It was 
 built during the administration of Pericles, 
 by Callicrates and Ictinus, under the super- 
 intendence of Phidias, on the site of a for- 
 mer edifice called Hecatompedon, from its 
 being an hundred feet square. When Sir 
 George Wheler and Spon visited it in 1676, 
 it was comparatively in good preservation, 
 both with respect to the architecture and 
 sculpture. Its present state of dilapidation 
 was chiefly caused by the bursting of a shell 
 within the Temple, during the siege of 
 Athens by the Venetians, in 1686, under 
 
53 
 
 the command of Morosini and Konings- 
 mark. The explosion took place in the cen- 
 tre of the cella, levelling to the ground a 
 great part of the walls opposite the opistho- 
 domus ; six columns of the peristyle on the 
 south side, eight on the north side, inclu- 
 ding five columns of the pronaos. The 
 eastern portico suffered little, but the pedi- 
 ment and sculpture were much damaged. 
 The western pediment escaped the effect of 
 the explosion, yet most of the statues de- 
 scribed by Wheler and Spon are no longer 
 to be found.* Morosini attempted to re- 
 move one of the principal groups, but, whe- 
 ther from accident or unskilfulness, it fell, 
 and was shattered in pieces. Lord Elgin 
 has subsequently been more successful in 
 such operations. 
 
 It is evident, from the description of 
 Wheler, there were at that time in the inte- 
 rior of the cella, two rows of columns, one 
 
 * Stuart's Athens. 
 
54 
 
 above the other, standing at a certain dis- 
 tance from the wall. The Greeks, after their 
 conversion to Christianity, occupied it as a 
 church, and covered it with a roof and cu- 
 polas, according to the fashion of the times. 
 It was afterwards transformed by the Turks 
 into a Mahomedan mosque. As the ancient 
 roof was unquestionably of wood, covered 
 with marble sculptured in imitation of tiles, 
 it must have soon decayed. Wheler describes 
 the state of the temple when a mosque, and 
 confounds the modern additions made by the 
 Greeks and Turks with the ancient remains 
 of the edifice. Stuart and Chandler ap- 
 pear, without sufficient examination, to have 
 adopted the same ideas.* Mr Stuart, as al- 
 ready mentioned, supposes the temple to 
 have been an hypa;thros, namely, with two 
 ranges of columns of two stories, dividing 
 the cella into a nave and two side-aisles, 
 and leaving the centre uncovered. He re- 
 
 * Wilkins's Topography of Athens— Note, p. 105. Chan- 
 dler's Travels in Greece, pp. 48, 49. 
 
55 
 
 fers, as an authority, to the following pas- 
 sage of Vitmvius : — " The hypa3thros has 
 ten columns in the pronaos and posticus ; in 
 all other respects it is like the dipteros ; 
 within, it has two rows of columns, one 
 above the other, at a distance from the wall, 
 so that you may pass round it as in the por- 
 tico of peristyles ; but in the middle, it is 
 open to the sky, without a roof; the en- 
 trance is at each end by doors in the pro- 
 naos and posticus. There is no example of 
 this at Home, but at Athens an octostyle, 
 and in the Olympian Temple." Mr Wil- 
 kins has, however, satisfactorily shewn, in 
 his Civil Architecture of Vitmvius, and 
 his excellent discussion on the Topography 
 of Athens, that the Parthenon is not the 
 building to which Vitmvius alludes, in il- 
 lustration of an Hypaethral Temple, from the 
 want of an example of that kind at Rome.* 
 
 * Wilkins's Topography of Athens, p. 99. Ditto, Antiqui- 
 ties of Magna Greecia, Introd. p. 3 — Wilkins's Vitmvius., pp. 
 9, 10. 
 
56 
 
 Should this be admitted, the principal foun- 
 dation on which Stuart rests his hypothesis 
 being removed, there remains only the au- 
 thority of Wheler, which, from his ignorance 
 of architecture, is not entitled to much con- 
 sideration. Stuart thinks, the six channel- 
 led pillars alluded to by Wheler, as sup- 
 porting the roof of what he calls the pro- 
 naos, were placed in the opisthodomus, 
 and, though he confesses no remains or 
 marks of them are to be discovered, makes 
 no hesitation in including them in his plan 
 of the interior. Mr Wilkins contends, with 
 more appearance of probability, that Whe- 
 ler'* description applies to the six columns 
 of the posticum, and that the expression, 
 " supported the roof," means, that they up- 
 held the marble ceiling over the interval 
 between them and the western front. He 
 observes, that " Wheler assigns the same 
 office to the columns of the hexastyle por- 
 tico, of the Erechtheum, which were still 
 less connected with the roof of the build- 
 
57 
 
 ing, than the six columns belonging to the 
 posticum of the Parthenon. The story of 
 the demolition of one of the columns, 
 and the fruitless attempt to replace it, is 
 one of general currency at Athens. It was 
 told, with some variation, of one of the 
 columns of Jupiter Olympius, to Dr Chan- 
 dler, and repeated to me, when the building 
 which suffered by its removal was the Poi- 
 kile Stoa. It was probably told to Wheler 
 of the posticum of the Parthenon, and in- 
 troduced by him without investigating its 
 accuracy ; although, if he inserted it at the 
 moment he was examining the building, it 
 would have been an admission less scruti- 
 nized than many that are to be found dis- 
 persed throughout his work. The origin 
 of the story, and of Wheler's error, seems to 
 have been this. — The angular column of 
 the posticum is almost wholly immured in 
 the mass of modern masonry, raised for the 
 purpose of supporting a minaret, when the 
 Temple was used as a mosque. This is 
 
58 
 
 the rude pile, which, as he imagines, sup- 
 ported the place of the angular column."* 
 Moreover, the particulars related in Whe- 
 ler's description of the interior of the Par- 
 thenon ; viz. the canopy supported by por- 
 phyry pillars, with Corinthian chapters — 
 the double peristyle of galleries — arches 
 supporting columns — the semicircular form 
 of the holy place to which light was ad- 
 mitted from the east, and separated from 
 the rest by jasper columns — evince strong 
 internal evidence that they must have been 
 the production of a later age. Stuart has 
 nevertheless introduced this peristyle of 
 columns, one above the other, into his plan 
 of the interior, as if they had formed a part 
 of the ancient building. Mr Knight, in 
 his Analytical Enquiry, has asserted, that 
 the practice of placing one order above an- 
 other, is not older than the theatres and 
 amphitheatres of the Eomans. But there 
 
 * Wilkins's Topography of Athens, pp. 108-9- 
 
59 
 
 is reason to suppose, that the practice, 
 though extremely rare, was in some cases 
 adopted, and particularly in Hypaethral 
 Temples. In illustration of this opinion, 
 Lord Aberdeen refers to the mode of ar- 
 rangement actually observed in the re- 
 mains of the Temple of Apollo, near Phi- 
 galia, compared, by Pausanias, with the Hy- 
 paethral Temple of Minerva at Tegea * 
 
 It may, therefore, be assumed, that the 
 Parthenon was not hypaethral. — Neither 
 was it decastyle, nor dipteral — nor in its 
 general plan and details did it coincide with 
 temples of that description. Stuart con- 
 siders the circumstance of the floor next 
 the walls being a little raised above the 
 level, to favour such an idea ; but, on the 
 other hand, the Hypaethral Temple of Pes- 
 tum has the floor in that part lower than 
 the rest. The dimensions of the columns 
 
 * Earl of Aberdeen on Grecian Architecture, pp. 175-7. 
 
60 
 
 ascertained from the marks of the lower 
 range still remaining on the pavement, and 
 corresponding with fragments lying in the 
 cella, present, in Mr Wilkins's opinion, an in- 
 superable objection to the internal peristyle 
 being the remains of an hypaethros. They are 
 only two feet two' inches in diameter, and 
 from the examples of Hypaethral Temples, 
 in which the higher orders ranged within 
 a certain distance of the roof, and nearly 
 on a level with the upper members of the 
 external order, he thinks it is impossible, by 
 any calculations, to make a double order 
 reach within a given distance of the proper 
 height.* In that description of Temple at 
 Pestum and Egina, the proportions of the 
 external to the internal order, are nearly as 
 three to two ; those in the Parthenon, as 
 three to one. Hence, they must have been 
 
 * Wilkins's Top. of Athens— Note to p. 100.— Do. likewise 
 to p. 105. 
 
61 
 
 double their present size had they formed 
 a part of the ancient building. Stuart's 
 Plan of the Interior, therefore, as far as re- 
 gards the disposition of the columns, both 
 of the cella and opisthodomus, would seem 
 destitute of authority, as well as probabi- 
 lity.* 
 
 With respect to the interior of the pro- 
 posed restoration, the author would suggest, 
 that instead of forming it into divisions 
 corresponding to the cella and opisthodo- 
 mus of the ancient Temple, it should be 
 thrown into one large hall, lighted from 
 the roof, decorated somewhat in the style 
 of the Basilica, with two ranges of Grecian 
 Doric columns supporting the ceiling, and 
 
 * Forsyth, when describing the Hypaethral Temple of Pes- 
 tum, seems so far to enter into Mr Stuart's ideas. He says, 
 " This (the double peristyle of the interior) corresponds with 
 Vitruvius and the Parthenon," which, however, he qualifies 
 with the following reflection : — " Yet surely two stories of 
 columns, when no frize nor listet denotes an intermediate floor- 
 ing, seem unnecessary and mean." Had Mr Forsyth visited 
 Athens, it is more than probable his opinion would have coin- 
 cided with that of Mr Wilkins. 
 
G2 
 
 subdividing the area into a nave and two side- 
 aisles. The pronaos and posticum might 
 be retained precisely according to Stuart's 
 plan. Were the interior divided into two 
 portions, like the cella and opisthodomus, it 
 might afford more convenience and accom- 
 modation, though at the risk of impairing the 
 architectural effect as a whole, a matter of 
 great importance in a national structure, 
 destined for monumental sculpture. It is 
 well known, that the basilicas of ancient 
 Rome were found so convenient for divine 
 worship, by the early Christians, that their 
 successors built their churches nearly after 
 the same plan ; and hence the origin of the 
 modern term basilica, as synonymous with 
 a Church of the higher order. They who 
 have seen the basilica? of St Paulo fuore 
 delle mura, and St Maria Maggiore at 
 Rome, making the necessary allowance for 
 their corrupt innovations, can form some 
 idea of the beauty and magnificence of such 
 an interior. It would combine elegance and 
 
63 
 
 grandeur with classic simplicity — without 
 presenting any serious obstacle to the per- 
 formance of divine worship. The congre- 
 gation might (as already suggested) be ac- 
 commodated with light chairs or moveable 
 benches, and the pulpit, instead of forming 
 a detached and conspicuous object, might 
 be conveniently attached to one of the co- 
 lumns, with a spiral stair. 
 
 But suppose the interior were divided 
 into two portions, the larger fitted up as a 
 modern Church, with galleries, pews, &c. — 
 the other like a vestibule, destined for archi- 
 tectural decoration — would not such a he- 
 terogeneous mixture of objects and styles, 
 of beauty and deformity, call forth the de- 
 rision and disgust of every person of good 
 taste ? If the Directors are determined to 
 transform the National Monument into an 
 ordinary place of worship, with all its usual 
 comforts and accompaniments ; if that is 
 really their chief object ; let them at once 
 
64 
 
 abandon the idea of restoring the Parthe- 
 non, and build a modern Church. They 
 cannot attain both objects. On the con- 
 trary, were it thrown into one great un- 
 broken nave, and two side-aisles formed by 
 the colonnades, with a portal at each end 
 communicating with the pronaos and pos- 
 ticum, it would unite the classic beauties of 
 the hypaethros and basilica, without their 
 defects — possess all the characteristic fea- 
 tures of an Athenian edifice — besides be- 
 ing singularly well adapted for the recep- 
 tion of statues and sculptural monuments ; 
 one description of which might be ranged 
 along the walls of the aisles, the other be- 
 tween the columns. The noble and sub- 
 lime effect of such a perspective, varying 
 at every point of view, may be more easily 
 imagined than described. " How beautiful 
 do columns become when they support the 
 roof, how superior to their effect as an idle 
 decoration, and what variety in their still 
 
 13 
 
65 
 
 changing combinations as you pace along 
 the aisles."* 
 
 Pilasters ought to be carefully avoided, as 
 an ornament quite foreign to the Greeks. 
 Modern architects are fond of introducing 
 them in all the orders, and make them uni- 
 formly correspond with the columns in the 
 mouldings and ornaments of their bases and 
 capitals. This was the practice of the Ro- 
 mans in the Corinthian, though it seems 
 doubtful if it extended to the other orders.f 
 The Greeks adopted a different system. 
 Their antes, which in temples are only found 
 as facings to the walls of the pronaos, have 
 no correspondence with the Doric or Ionic 
 orders, in their capitals, mouldings, and le- 
 vels, but seem intentionally distinguished 
 from them. This would appear at first a 
 violation of symmetry and uniformity ; yet, 
 
 * Forsyth's Italy, p. 16. 
 
 + It is remarkable, that Vitruvius, throughout his whole 
 work, makes no allusion whatever to pilasters. 
 
 E 
 
66 
 
 as Mr Aiken observes, " they must have 
 had good reasons for its adoption ; and in 
 this instance as well as many others, pro- 
 bably relinquished a lesser, for the sake of 
 gaining a greater, advantage."* 
 
 With respect to the architecture and me- 
 chanical execution of the columns, mould- 
 ings, &c. of the original, no person is so 
 eminently qualified to aiford the best in- 
 formation as Mr Cockerell of London, who 
 has already been professionally employed to 
 give the drawings and plans of the edifice. 
 As a proof of the refined delicacy display- 
 ed in the ancient masonry, may be men- 
 tioned the circumstance of the entasis, or 
 swelling of the shafts of the columns, descri- 
 bed by Vitruvius, having been actually dis- 
 covered by the same distinguished archi- 
 tect, to exist in those of the Parthenon 
 and other Grecian remains, though it had 
 
 * Aiken's Essay on the Doric Order of Architecture, pp. 2 1 , 
 
 22. 
 
67 
 
 escaped the laborious research of Stuart, 
 Kevett, and later travellers, who supposed 
 them to be truncated cones, diminishing 
 gradually in their diameter from the base 
 to the summit of the shaft. * 
 
 It has been proposed to lay out the un- 
 der part of the National Monument as 
 vaults for sepulture or dormitories ; and 
 by their immediate sale, to realize a large 
 fund for prosecuting the building. But 
 supposing such dormitories could be exe- 
 cuted without any risk of impairing the 
 foundation, it would at all events be prudent, 
 not to attempt disposing of them at present, 
 
 * Earl of Aberdeen, "p. 155-7- 
 
 " It deserves to be remarked, that Stuart and Revett have 
 omitted to notice the entasis or swelling in the columns of the 
 Parthenon, the Temple of Theseus, the Propyloea, &c. when it 
 is so very apparent not only in those structures, but in all the 
 remaining antiquities of Greece. It may, however, be proper 
 to state, that this circumstance has likewise escaped the ob- 
 servation of more recent travellers, who, from a long residence 
 in Athens, may be presumed to have had greater facilities of 
 ascertaining every minute circumstance relating to these splen- 
 did ruins." — Allasin's Picturesque Views of Pola — Note to 
 page 3d. 
 
68 
 
 or entering into rash contracts, which might 
 eventually be found difficult to fulfil. If 
 they can be sold to advantage by anticipa- 
 tion, and converted into an available fund 
 before they are begun, it is obvious they 
 would bring a much higher price when the 
 building was finished. Yet ought we not 
 to hesitate as to the propriety, or even de- 
 cency, of making them a subject of commer- 
 cial speculation and promiscuous sale. One 
 of the chief features of the National Mo- 
 nument, must be its destination as a Scot- 
 tish Pantheon for the reception of sculp- 
 tural monuments, in honour of distinguish- 
 ed Scotsmen. Now, if these dormitories be 
 put up to the highest bidder — to every 
 grocer and tallow-chandler who has fifty 
 pounds to spare, would it be consistent 
 with the dignity or character of the edifice, 
 that vulgar ashes should repose under a 
 pavement destined for monumental sculp- 
 ture ? To pretend that these vaults will be 
 quite distinct from the National Structure, 
 
69 
 
 because they are to be provided with a se- 
 parate entry, is a fallacy that can deceive 
 no one. Under the same roof, and within 
 the same walls, they must necessarily form 
 as essential and integral a part of the 
 building as the upper tier of vaults reser- 
 ved for names of higher renown. The 
 glory of possessing a place in the upper ce- 
 metery will not indeed be much enhanced 
 by such a participation. What would be 
 thought of putting up to public sale, the 
 vaults of St Paul's and Westminster Abbey? 
 According to the same principle, we might 
 expect, were the situation suitable, to see 
 them occupied as taverns, wine and spirit 
 cellars, porter houses, and chair-offices, as 
 may be exemplified in most of the Chapels 
 and Meeting-houses of Edinburgh. Nel- 
 son's Monument, on the Calton-hill, within 
 a few yards of the site of the Parthenon, 
 has been occupied as a kind of tavern for 
 many years ! !* 
 
 * The dormitories, consisting of 150 separate cells, arc 
 
70 
 
 It has been already remarked, that in all 
 the printed circulars, and appeals to the 
 
 now actually advertised for public sale in all the newspapers, 
 under the pompous title of The Grand National Ceme- 
 tery, authorized by Act of Parliament ! As an inducement to 
 the public to come forward, the advertisement dwells on the 
 absolute and most perfect security which it must afford against 
 " every attempt to disturb the dead ; and the pious desire which 
 many families in Scotland must naturally feel, to have the re- 
 mains of their illustrious and gallant friends and relatives re- 
 posited under the spot where their honourable names are to be 
 inscribed, &C. and their noble deeds recorded by a grateful 
 country ! !" 
 
 This measure is at once absurd and ludicrous, and can only 
 be viewed as a paltry expedient for raising money, which, if 
 successful in its object, must materially injure the underta- 
 king, as degrading to the dignity and respectability of the Na- 
 tional Monument. 
 
 If the funds of the Royal Association do not present so flat- 
 tering a result as might at one time have been anticipated, it 
 cannot be justly imputed to a want of taste or spirit on the 
 part of the public, but mainly to the ill-judged resolution, so 
 early announced, and anxiously provided for in the Act of 
 Parliament, to convert the interior into a place of ordinary 
 public worship. How much soever our countrymen both at 
 home and abroad, might be disposed to contribute towards a 
 National Monument, it could scarcely be expected they should 
 come forward to build a Presbyterian Church for the accom- 
 modation of the citizens of Edinburgh — (even though its ex- 
 terior should put on the semblance of the Parthenon,) and still 
 less to supply them with cheap and secure dormitories after 
 death. One would think that the Directors, instead of endea- 
 vouring to render the undertaking as public and National as 
 
71 
 
 public by the Committees and Directors, a 
 cautious silence is observed on the subject 
 of sculpture. Deprived of sculptural decor- 
 ration, the National Monument might be 
 a handsome Doric Temple — it could have 
 no pretensions to be styled a restoration of 
 the Athenian Parthenon. A body without 
 a soul ; it would be a mere model or frame* 
 work, void of meaning or expression. " The 
 arts are all connected together, but archi- 
 tecture and sculpture may be said to be 
 twin sisters. The latter cannot appear to 
 advantage without the former — nor can the 
 former attain its highest elegance and grace 
 without the latter."* They are not so much 
 separate arts, as branches of the same art. 
 
 possible, by placing it on a grand and liberal footing, are stri- 
 ving to narrow its object to the local interest of Edinburgh ; 
 er, in other words, to reduce it to a mere Church-building job, 
 to support which, they are constrained to have their pews and 
 burying-vaults puffed in the newspapers, somewhat in the 
 style of the patriotic wine companies of Scotland. 
 
 * Edinburgh Magazine, under the article Parthenon. — 
 July 1S21. 
 
72 
 
 In Egypt and Greece they grew up and 
 flourished together. In the dark ages, 
 though corrupted and degraded, they are 
 still found united. It would be impossible 
 to strip the Gothic of Lombardy, and the 
 North of Europe, of its sculpture, rude as 
 it is, without deranging the beauty and 
 consistency of the whole. In England sculp- 
 ture is in its infancy, in Scotland scarce- 
 ly in embryo. Of all the arts, architecture 
 and sculpture, from their superior excel- 
 lence and durability, have the most power- 
 ful claims on the encouragement of a great 
 nation. What imperishable fame have not 
 these arts, even in a state of dilapidation 
 and decay, reflected on the nations of anti- 
 quity for a long succession of ages ? Had 
 they not remained to us, could we have 
 formed so high an estimate of the national 
 power and glory of Egypt, Greece, and 
 Rome ? To the remains of sculpture we are 
 solely indebted for the revival of the fine 
 arts, and the true principles of taste. From 
 
73 
 
 them Michel Angelo and Raphael caught 
 the spark of inspiration, which was soon to 
 blaze forth in the sublime works of the 
 Sestine Chapel and Vatican Chambers. 
 Without these remains we could not have 
 appreciated the proficiency of the Greeks 
 in painting and design, of which we might 
 have remained as ignorant as we now are 
 of their music and theatrical recitation. 
 With the exception of the paintings pre- 
 served by a kind of miracle in Hercula- 
 neum and Pompeii — the imperfect re- 
 mains in the Baths of Titus — and a few 
 others in a better state of preservation, such 
 as the Aldobrandini Marriage, what had we 
 to guide us in our research ? We could 
 have received little assistance from the 
 faint and obscure allusions to art in an- 
 cient authors, not excepting the indiscri- 
 minate criticism and gossipping tales of 
 Pliny. * The best paintings, whether in fres- 
 
 * The question of comparison between ancient and modern 
 
74 
 
 co or oil, cannot retain their colouring be- 
 yond a certain lapse of time, should they 
 
 painting has given rise to much difference of opinion. Rea- 
 soning a priori and from analogy, we are entitled to suppose 
 that the art of painting among the Greeks must have kept 
 pace, in a great degree, with the extraordinary perfection of 
 their sculpture. But it is going too far to assert, on the pre- 
 tended authority of ancient authors, that, in the arts of colour- 
 ing, and even of chiaro scuro, they had attained a proficiency 
 equal to that of the moderns. The passages on the subject 'of 
 art in classic authors, as Cicero, Pliny, Quinctilian, Plutarch, 
 Philostratus, &c. are so vague, obscure, and inconsistent with 
 each other, that no satisfactory information can be derived 
 from them. All the translators of the ."5th Book of Pliny ; viz. 
 Durand, Jaucourt, and Falconet, have laboured hard to dis- 
 cover his meaning and reconcile his contradictions, by turning 
 and twisting the text into a variety of forced constructions, 
 often at variance with each other. Neither do any of the an- 
 cient specimens hitherto discovered, whatever truth of ordi- 
 nary light and shadow or linear perspective they may possess, 
 authorize us to draw such a conclusion. They exhibit no know- 
 ledge of aerial perspective, a quality intimately connected with 
 chiaro scuro. The painted designs on Etruscan Vases, the earli- 
 est specimens of European art, display an astonishing boldness, 
 ease, and beauty of outline. The Aldobraudini Marriage, and 
 some of those at Pompeii, and the Museum at Portici, have been 
 justly admired for their simple attitudes, correct drawing, and 
 finely cast drapery, in which they have been supposed to ap- 
 proach the designs of Raphael, though at the same time they 
 cannot be regarded as fair specimens of ancient art, but, under 
 all circumstances, rather as inferior copies by secondary artists. 
 It is to be regretted, that none of their moveable paintings on 
 
75 
 
 even escape the numberless accidents to 
 which they are continually exposed. Yet 
 a few revolving ages, and the most of them 
 will no longer exist, The art of engra- 
 ving, it is true, promises, in a certain de- 
 gree, to remedy the defect ; but still, 
 when the original and engraving are com- 
 pared together — how feeble and incorrect 
 is, in most cases, the resemblance — how 
 
 wood, stone, and ivory, which must have heen the most high- 
 ly finished, have been preserved to modern times. Of all the 
 different modes of painting now in use — oil, water, fresco, en- 
 amel, glass, mosaic, &c. the first alone appears to have been 
 unknown to the ancients. It has even been conjectured, that 
 the varnish used by Apelles and his pupils, differed little from 
 oil painting. Indeed, an ingenious essay has lately been pub- 
 lished, attempting to prove, that the Venetian Masters must 
 have produced their effects nearly in a similar manner, by 
 using dry crayons for the ground, and afterwards glazing them 
 with oil and varnish. But it need not be matter of surprise, 
 that the ancient modes of colouring should not have been hand- 
 ed down to the present times, when even the colours, oils, and 
 manner of mixing them, adopted by the old masters of the 15th 
 and Kith century, whether Italian, Flemish, or Dutch, have, 
 in many respects, been entirely lost. On the whole, it would 
 seem, that the art of chiaro scuro, properly so called, arose 
 out of the discovery and cultivation of oil painting, of which 
 it may be regarded as the natural result. In fresco, and dis- 
 temper painting, it would be difficult, and in many cases impos- 
 sible, to produce such an effect. 
 
76 
 
 imperfect the expression ! Every paint- 
 er cannot hope, like Kaphael, to find a 
 Mark Antonio, to hand down his works to 
 posterity. The great number of excellent 
 artists that Scotland has produced in the 
 other departments of art, is a proof there 
 is no want of talent for sculpture, but of 
 encouragement and opportunity to call it 
 into action. That encouragement, to be 
 effectual, must proceed from the rich and 
 powerful ; it must be public and national. 
 It is not the modelling of a few busts for 
 private individuals, to be stuck up in an 
 exhibition -room, that will enable it to 
 take root and flourish. " A taste for the 
 fine arts is no plant of the desert that will 
 shoot forth unheeded, and spread its blos- 
 soms where there are none to enjoy their 
 fragrance ; nor a sturdy weed that can 
 struggle into vigour through rubbish and 
 neglect ; it is a plant whose seeds will re- 
 main inert, until called into life by culture, 
 and will spread into luxuriance exactly in 
 
77 
 
 proportion to the care taken of it."* Though 
 sculpture embraces fewer objects than paint- 
 ing, those that are peculiar to it, and com- 
 mon to both, are the most important and 
 difficult, viz. design, expression, grouping, 
 and the art of draping. The sculptor has 
 not, like the painter, the advantage of sha- 
 dow, chiaro scuro, distance and foreshorten- 
 ing, to produce illusions and conceal defi- 
 ciencies ; his work being accessible from all 
 points of view, must be finished on every 
 side. Hence the practice of this art, re- 
 quiring a more intimate knowledge of the 
 human frame, its bones and muscles, its in- 
 finite variety of attitudes and expressions, 
 tends directly to the improvement of art in 
 general, by introducing a correct taste and 
 thorough knowledge of design. " To the 
 painter likewise, it affords peculiar facilities 
 of studying the soft gradations — the bold 
 and abrupt transitions of light and shadow, 
 
 * Brewster's Encyclopaedia—Art. Painting, p. 222. 
 
78 
 
 so necessary for the perfection of a pic- 
 ture;" 
 
 Before proceeding to the question of 
 sculpture, in reference to the National Mo- 
 nument, it will be necessary to make a few 
 remarks on the marbles of the Parthenon. 
 
 The east and west pediments were adorn- 
 ed with groups of statues of the heroic 
 size, some of them entirely detached, em- 
 blematical of the birth of Minerva, and her 
 contest with Neptune about naming the 
 city of Athens. The figures were so ar- 
 ranged from the erect to the recumbent, as 
 to fill the entire space of the tympanum. 
 The metopes on the frize, were enriched 
 with relievos, representing the combats of 
 the Lapithae with the Centaurs — each me- 
 tope including a Centaur and Lapitha. The 
 zophorus or frize, under the soffit of the 
 peripterus, which went quite round the out- 
 side of the wall of the temple, uninterrupt- 
 ed by the insertion of triglyphs, was fitted 
 with sculpture in basso relievo, of slight re- 
 
79 
 
 lief, descriptive of the Panathenaic Proces- 
 sion in honour of the Goddess Minerva. 
 Within the cella, covered with the purple 
 peplum, stood the famous statue of Miner- 
 va, by Phidias, of ivory and gold ; accord- 
 ing to Pliny, 24 cubits in height — the gold 
 of which, Thucydides says, weighed 40 ta- 
 lents — equal to afi 120,000. Her position 
 was erect — her garments reaching to her 
 feet. Her head covered with a helmet, her 
 breast with a Medusa's head ; she wielded 
 in one hand a spear, in the other a victory. 
 Acroteria are placed at the angles of the 
 pediments, which it is probable supported 
 vases of gilt metal. It has been likewise 
 conjectured, that shields of the same de- 
 scription adorned the principal front, from 
 the triangular holes observed in the epis- 
 tylium of the eastern pediment. 
 
 We are now enabled to form a more cor- 
 rect estimate of those sculptures since the 
 Elgin marbles have been brought to Eng- 
 land. We must not, however, allow our- 
 selves to be carried away by an excessive 
 
80 
 
 and indiscriminate admiration, on the idea 
 of their being the undoubted works of Phi- 
 dias, as it is more than probable they were 
 executed by other artists after his designs, 
 and under his superintendence. It would 
 appear from Pliny, that the works of Phi- 
 dias were chiefly confined to metal and ivory. 
 The few instances to the contrary recorded 
 by Pausanias, rather tend to confirm such a 
 supposition, notwithstanding an opinion of 
 Visconti, founded on a forced construction 
 of an expression of Aristotle.* He is repre- 
 sented by Pliny as the director and super- 
 intendent of the architects and workmen 
 employed in its construction. The relievos 
 both of the cella and metopes are, in the 
 opinion of the best judges, of unequal exe- 
 cution, and by different artists. The sculp- 
 ture of the pediments, if we may judge from 
 the few detached statues belonging to them 
 in the Elgin collection, the Theseus or Her- 
 cules, Ilyssus, &c. must have been executed 
 
 * Wilkius's Top. Note to p. 122. 
 
81 
 
 by artists of a superior description, though 
 it would be rash to affirm they are from the 
 chisel of Phidias. Such a supposition is, 
 nevertheless, no disparagement of their ex- 
 cellence, for even the Apollo Belvidere, 
 Venus de Medici, Laocoon, &c. have been 
 suspected, though perhaps unjustly, of be- 
 ing but good copies of former originals.* 
 
 Ancient sculpture may be classed under 
 two descriptions, architectural and monu- 
 mental, differing considerably in object and 
 style. The latter, which was subjected to 
 the closest inspection, exhibits the highest 
 degree of correctness and finish. In the 
 former, the figures being raised to a greater 
 height, a bolder style of execution, with less 
 finish, is observable. The object was to fill 
 up space, and produce a richness of effect. 
 The ancient relievo has been defined by 
 Forsyth to be an assemblage of little statues 
 
 * It is remarkable, that of all the various repetitions of an- 
 cieut statues, none of the finest are to be found, except a few 
 of the Venus de Medici. 
 
82 
 
 illustrating some event in history or mytho- 
 logy, and descriptive of the manners and 
 customs of the times. " The figures," he 
 remarks, " generally in pairs, are linked to- 
 gether by a certain undulatory connection, 
 returning in alternate spaces, and balanced 
 attitudes." Such is the arrangement of the 
 relievos of the Parthenon, and those of most 
 of the Grecian and Eoman temples. Those 
 on the metopes of the Doric are generally 
 in bold relief, but when on a frize, within a 
 peristyle, they are flattened to harmonise 
 with the walls of the cella. With regard to 
 the Elgin Marbles, it is remarkable, as ob- 
 served by Mr Gunn, that in all of them, 
 " whether the bold projections of the Cen- 
 taurs and Lapithae of the metopes, the lar- 
 ger figures of the tympanum, or the flatten- 
 ed reliefs of the frize, — neither figures nor 
 draperies are rounded or softened so as to 
 sink into the back ground, but are abruptly 
 and angularly cut off, so as to produce a 
 strong and deep shadow." 
 
83 
 
 Imperfect from the nature of the mate- 
 rials, in the relations of space and perspec- 
 tive, the ancient relievo presumed not to en- 
 croach on the province of painting. The 
 figures in front are as large as the houses, 
 ships, and trees of the back ground. What- 
 ever may be the subjects or attitudes of the 
 figures, they are generally so disposed as to 
 fill up the entire space, not without some 
 sacrifice of proportion and consistency, Mo- 
 dern sculptors have, however, attempted to 
 give it the effect of a picture. They intro- 
 duce complicated groups, and endeavour to 
 produce aerial as well as linear perspective, 
 by diminishing the size and projection of 
 the figures. It is difficult to imagine how 
 this can be accomplished on a flat surface, 
 wdthout the aid of shadow 7 or colour. With- 
 out aerial, of what avail is linear perspec- 
 tive ? * 
 
 *Tlie following passage frota the works of Falconet, the sculp- 
 tor* Will sufficiently illustrate the pretensions of the hiodefri re- 
 
84 
 
 Had the sculptures of the Parthenon been 
 sufficiently entire to admit of any reasonable 
 
 lievo. — " Nous qui vraisemblablement avons porte notre pein- 
 ture au de la des anciens pour l'iutelligence du clair obscur, de 
 la magie de la couleur, de la grande machine, et des ressorts de 
 la composition, n'oserions nous prendre le meme essor dans la 
 sculpture ? Bernini, Le Gros, Alegarde, Melchior Caffa, An- 
 gelo Rossi, nous out m outre qu'il appartient au gout et au 
 genie, d'elendre le cercle trop etroit que les anciens ont trace 
 dans leur has reliefs. Ces grands artistes modernes se sont af- 
 franchis, avec succes d'une autorite qui nest recevable quautant 
 quelle est raisonnable. 
 
 " Je n'introduis done aucune nouveaute puisque, je m'ap- 
 puye sur des examples qui ont un succes decide. Apres tout, 
 si mon opinion sur le bas-relief etoit une innovation ; comrne 
 elle tendroit a une plus juste imitation des objects naturels, son 
 utilite la rendroit necessaire. 
 
 " Je ne veux laisser aucune equivoque sur le jugement que 
 je porte des bas-reliefs antiques. J'y trouve, ainsi que dans 
 les belles statues, la grande manicre dans chaque objet particu- 
 liere et la plus noble simplicite dans la composition. Mais quel- 
 que noble que soit cette composition elle nc tend en aucune 
 sorte a I' illusion d'un Tableau ; et le bas-relief y doit toujours 
 pretendre puisque cette illusion nest autre chose que Timitation 
 des objects naturels? 
 
 " Si le bas-relief est fort saillant il ne faut pas craindre que 
 les figures du premier plan ne puissent s'accorder avec celles 
 du fond. Le sculpteur saura mettre de l'liarmonie entre le9 
 moindres saillies et les plus considerables : il ne lui faut qu' une 
 place du gout et du genie. Mais il faut l'admettre cette har- 
 monic; il faut l'exiger meme et ne point nous elever contre 
 elle, parceque nous nc la trouvons pas dans les bas-reliefs an- 
 tiques." — CEuvres de Falconet, torn. I. p. 35. 36. 
 
85 
 
 hope of successful restoration, a doubt might 
 possibly have been entertained, how far it 
 might not have been desirable to make the 
 attempt. The sublime effect of so perfect 
 a union of architecture and sculpture, and 
 the advantages necessarily accruing to the 
 fine arts, might have more than overbalan- 
 ced the anomaly of transferring the subjects 
 of Athenian history and mythology to a 
 Scottish National Monument. Unfortu- 
 nately, however, they are so ruined and de- 
 faced, as for ever to preclude that hope. 
 Nor is it possible, from the vague descrip- 
 tion of ancient authors, the imperfect and 
 disputed drawings, and the conflicting opi- 
 nions of travellers and antiquaries, even 
 though elucidated by the elaborate re- 
 searches of such men as Stuart and Vis- 
 conti, to supply the deficiencies, or even 
 offer a satisfactory explanation of the sub- 
 jects of many of the most important groups.* 
 
 * For a particular account of these sculptures, see Stuart's 
 
86 
 
 But, admitting the hopelessness or im- 
 propriety of such an attempt, enough re- 
 mains yet entire, assisted by the Elgin mar- 
 bles in the British Museum, to afford ample 
 facility for studying the style and manner of 
 the original.* Why not, therefore, endea- 
 vour, as already suggested, in a discussion 
 on the same subject, to " execute a sculp- 
 ture emblematical of Scottish history and 
 achievements, approaching as nearly to the 
 grouping style and general character of the 
 original, as circumstances and a humbler 
 execution will permit." It is impossible to 
 figure a nobler subject for the display of 
 modern genius. Such an opportunity once 
 lost, can never be regained. It is no answer 
 
 Work; Visconti on the Marbles of the Parthenon ; Specimens 
 of Ancient Sculpture ; Laurence on the Elgin Marbles ; Wil- 
 kins's Topography of Athens. There are likewise some good 
 remarks in Gait's Letters from the Levant, pp. 17> 18. 
 
 * The Phigalian marbles in the British Museum might 
 likewise be consulted for the same purpose. It is much to be 
 regretted, that the Egina Marbles have been lost to the na- 
 tion through the unaccountable supineness of the Commission- 
 ers of the British Museum. 
 
87 
 
 to say, with the Quarterly Reviewers, that 
 " the dress of the horse-guards and grena- 
 diers is ill adapted for effect in marble." 
 That is perfectly true, " but the expression 
 of heroism is the same in all ages of the 
 world ; and the artist must have but little 
 invention who cannot surmount such an in- 
 considerable obstacle."* It is almost un- 
 necessary to observe, that the ancients sel- 
 dom adhered to the real costume of the 
 times. Much was suppressed and altered 
 by the sculptor, for the purpose of display- 
 ing the naked figure, and producing greater 
 beauty and simplicity of effect. In the Ro- 
 man statues, some have only a cloak (palu- 
 damentum) over the shoulder, or a lorica 
 round the middle, leaving the rest of the 
 body naked, — others have the upper part of 
 the figure uncovered, and the lower wrap- 
 ped in loose drapery. The Greeks were 
 fond of exhibiting the naked figure, but 
 
 * Edinburgh Review, lxxv. p. 142. 
 
88 
 
 when drapery was used, it certainly was not 
 the national costume. Can it for a moment 
 be imagined, that the half-naked figures of 
 the Panathenean procession of the Parthe- 
 non represented the real dress and appear- 
 ance of the people on that occasion ? In the 
 ancient equestrian statues, neither saddles, 
 spurs, nor horse shoes, are to be found. Are 
 we hence to infer, that such necessary ap- 
 pendages were unknown to antiquity ? Nor 
 is it often that the ancient relievos on vases, 
 coins, lamps, triumphal arches, &c. repre- 
 sent chariot-horses with yokes or traces. 
 Trajan's Pillar is, perhaps, the only classical 
 monument of antiquity that gives the true 
 costumes of the different nations sculptured 
 on its surface.* How unreasonable, then, to 
 assume, that modern artists are to be chain- 
 ed down to the precise dresses of the day, 
 — to the exact military uniforms and ap- 
 pointments, according to the latest orders 
 
 * Forsyth's Italy. 
 
89 
 
 from the Horse Guards ! Fashions in dress 
 soon pass away, particularly military uni- 
 forms, which have at least undergone a do- 
 zen complete changes during the last twen- 
 ty years, and are at present, as every mili- 
 tary man well knows, far from being station- 
 ary. There is nothing, surely, so incorri- 
 gibly formal and unseemly in the ancient 
 Scottish, or modern British costumes, whe- 
 ther Gothic or Celtic, civil or military, that 
 they could not be fashioned and reduced 
 into a form approaching to classic drapery* 
 
 * In spite of the Celtic mania that now prevails, the present 
 Highland dress should be sparingly introduced ; for allowing 
 it to be the ancient Celtic garb, which is far from being clear- 
 ly established, (the greater part bearing strong marks of be- 
 ing modern and fanciful,) it is truly absurd to call it the an- 
 cient Scottish dress. At a very remote period, it is possible, 
 both Scotland and England might have been peopled chiefly 
 by Celts, but for the last thousand years the Scots and Eng- 
 lish have been, and are, a Gothic people. Whatever fame 
 Scotland has anciently acquired in arms, arts, and learning, 
 must undoubtedly be attributed more to her Saxon than her 
 Celtic population. The Highlanders, indeed, were always in 
 a state of comparative ignorance and barbarism. They had 
 little or no influence on the national councils, or warlike 
 achievements of the earlier part of our history. Nay, in spite 
 
90 
 
 Taking it for granted, then, that a Na- 
 tional sculpture is to be attempted, great 
 
 of all that has heen expended hy government for more than 
 half a century in endeavouring to improve and civilize them, 
 hy means of roads, bridges, and canals, — in spite of all the ex- 
 ertions and munificent encouragement of the Highland Socie- 
 ties of London and Edinburgh, and other Societies for Propa- 
 gating the Gospel and Establishing Schools, it would appear, 
 from a Report laid before the last General Assembly, that at 
 the present moment a great proportion of the inhabitants of the 
 Highlands and islands are in a state of the most abject igno- 
 rance and heathenism. The real Celtic Highlanders do not 
 bear a much greater proportion to the present inhabitants of 
 Scotland, than the Welch Celts do to those of England. The 
 Celtic garb and Celtic tongue were, in truth, little known at 
 the Court of Holyrood. It was, therefore, very bad taste in 
 those who advised his Majesty to appear at the levee in the 
 Highland garb, a dress none of his royal Scottish ancestors 
 ever wore, with the exception of Prince Charles, who adopted 
 it merely as a matter of policy. However familiar it may be 
 to the readers of the Popular Novels, the frequenters of Free- 
 masons' Hall, and Almack's Caledonian Balls, the London and 
 Edinburgh Exhibitions, and Theatres, it is not to be found 
 among the old family portraits of any Scottish nobleman or 
 gentleman, or even Highlaud chieftain of the longest pedigree. 
 It is, in short, neither more nor less than a provincial Scottish 
 costume, and that, perhaps, none of the most ancient. As 
 6uch, it is highly picturesque and martial in appearance, when 
 worn by persons who have been accustomed to use it ; but to 
 see it paraded and caricatured by Celtic Clubs and convivial 
 meetings in Edinburgh and London, the majority of whom 
 are Lowlanders, is really ridiculous and disgusting. This 
 
91 
 
 care will be requisite to avoid the glaring 
 faults and mannerism of the modern, and, 
 more especially, the English school. The 
 English sculptors adopt the most opposite ex- 
 tremes. In St Paul's, for instance, we have in 
 one corner, a naval or military hero, in com- 
 plete uniform, with tight coat and breeches, 
 full dress shoes and stockings. In another, a 
 general officer expiring on the field of battle, 
 stark naked, like a porter or dying gladiator. 
 Here, a general officer in full military cos- 
 
 rage is carried to such a height, that even in London, the 
 little urchins belonging to the Caledonian' Asylum, the sons of 
 Scottish soldiers, both Lowland and Celtic, are all bedizened 
 out in the Highland dress. In Edinburgh, too, we have the 
 Royal Archers, or, Body Guard, equipped in bonnets and tar- 
 tan, though the Highlanders knew just as much of archery, as 
 they did of horsemanship. Their uniform should have been 
 Lincoln green, like that of the Bowmen of the Border. It 
 would be equally consistent were our yeomanry cavalry pro- 
 vided with tartan trews, and our militia with kilts and purses. 
 Indeed, it is by no means surprising, that the London Cock- 
 neys, as well as hundreds of other persons in England, in 
 other respects well informed, should suppose that all ranks 
 in Scotland wear tartan and kilts, and that we only mount 
 the breeches and " broad cloth," when business or pleasure 
 induces us to visit the sister kingdom. 
 
92 
 
 tume, mounted on a capering animal, more 
 like an ox than a horse, has just received 
 his death-wound in the midst of his staff. 
 There, another gallant commander, in a state 
 of colossal nudity, is in the act of being 
 lowered into the grave by angels, who ap- 
 pear to totter under the weight. The taste 
 of the present day, if we are to judge from 
 most of the specimens in St Paul's, Guild- 
 hall, and Westminster Abbey, erected with- 
 in the last twenty years, would appear to 
 be satisfied, provided there is an imposing 
 mass of marble worked into colossal groups 
 of common-place allegorical figures, as Nep- 
 tunes, Britannias, Victories, British lions, 
 and so forth, however ill arranged, or worse 
 executed. Would not rows of statues, with 
 appropriate drapery, somewhat in the Ko- 
 man style, or like that of Mr Horner by 
 Chantrey, or even well-executed busts, be 
 preferable to such cumbrous and unmean- 
 ing masses, which neither harmonise with 
 each other, nor the building in which they 
 
93 
 
 are placed. The relievos, too, are very in- 
 different, exhibiting, with a few exceptions, 
 all the faults and peculiarities of the mo- 
 dern system already alluded to, with none 
 of the taste and delicacy of execution to be 
 found in the French and Italian schools. 
 In those of a military character, the figures 
 and dresses are stiff and formal, and the 
 troops in the back-ground are seen char- 
 ging the enemy with as great regularity and 
 precision of step, as a squad of the Cold- 
 stream drilling in the Bird-Cage Walk. 
 Monuments have lately been voted by Par- 
 liament in honour of Lords St Vincent and 
 Duncan. Are we doomed to behold a re- 
 petition of the same Neptunes, Tridents, 
 and British lions ? Now that all those alle- 
 gorical and mythological personages have 
 been long ago banished from poetry, even 
 school-boy themes and birth-day odes, one 
 might hope, if they must be retained in 
 monumental sculpture, that they would be 
 used with at least some regard to modera- 
 
94 
 
 tion and propriety. It is not intended to 
 exclude subjects derived from Holy writ, — » 
 angels, cherubim, &c. which, when proper- 
 ly treated, are highly appropriate. But 
 they should not be associated with profane 
 mythology, a mixture of frequent occur- 
 rence in Italian churches, and even in St 
 Peter's itself In external architectural 
 sculpture, where richness of decoration is a 
 principal object, a greater latitude of alle- 
 gory and mythology may be admissible. 
 
 Two late cotemporary works of statuary 
 have attracted a good deal of public atten- 
 tion and criticism, the Achilles, or Ladies' 
 Statue, in Hyde Park, by Westmacott, and 
 the Cenotaph of the Princess Charlotte of 
 Wales, by Wyatt. The latter is not yet put 
 up, but is exhibited in the artist's house in 
 Henrietta Street, Cavendish Square. Both 
 have been raised by private subscription, at 
 the cost of many thousand pounds. They 
 afford, altogether, a remarkable and ludi- 
 crous contrast. Mr Westmacott seems to 
 
95 
 
 have adopted the maxim, GrcEca res est nihil 
 velare, for he has displayed, on a truly gi- 
 gantic scale, unsophisticated nudity, leaving 
 nothing to the imagination of his fair con- 
 tributors. Mr Wyatt proceeds on an en- 
 tirely opposite principle. He allows fancy 
 to expand her wings, and take a boundless 
 flight, having most ingeniously cast a veil, 
 or rather thick shroud, nearly over his 
 whole group, and contrived, out of some 
 four or five figures, to expose to the vulgar 
 gaze but one or two heads, and three hands ! 
 For legs or feet we should search in vain. 
 The Achilles in the Park, when considered 
 merely as an academy figure, or cast from 
 the antique, is, without doubt, a fine and in- 
 teresting work of art. But laying aside the 
 want of judgment displayed in its choice 
 and site — awkwardly placed in the most 
 public corner of the Park — it merits the 
 severest reprobation as a glaring example 
 of that sort of bastard restoration, or rather 
 senseless plagiarism, which, under the mask 
 
96 
 
 of antiquity, tends to barbarism instead of 
 improvement. An equestrian statue would 
 have been the most appropriate monument 
 in honour of his Grace of Wellington. Since 
 Mr Westmacott was of a different opinion, 
 it is to be regretted that his patronesses, the 
 ladies of England, did not extend their ge- 
 nerosity so far as to enable him to execute 
 bronse casts of both of the equestrian 
 groups of Monte Cavallo, instead of select- 
 ing one of the figures ; and by the awkward 
 expedient of clapping a buckler on his left 
 shoulder, and supposing a sword in his right, 
 metamorphosing him into an Achilles is- 
 suing from the bath. The two groups en- 
 tire, would indeed have had a magnificent 
 effect, placed on pedestals of a proper height, 
 in some open and more retired situation — 
 in front of Kensington Palace, or in the Re- 
 gent's Park. Still, it might have been dif- 
 ficult to trace any rational connexion or 
 analogy between the Duke of Wellington's 
 exploits in the Peninsula, or at Waterloo, 
 
97 
 
 and the equestrian statues of Castor and 
 Pollux, any more than a naked Achilles, with 
 a helmet on his head, issuing from the bath. 
 If the ladies of England cannot now over- 
 throw this mighty brazen idol, which they 
 themselves have been the means of raising 
 to their own shame, they should at least, 
 for the sake of decency and national charac- 
 ter, endeavour to get the inscription erased 
 from its pedestal. 
 
 In the discussion already referred to, the 
 Quarterly Eeviewers, besides ridiculing the 
 idea of executing a National Sculpture, an- 
 nounce their marked aversion to the prac- 
 tical introduction of Grecian architecture, 
 more especially to the restoration of the 
 Parthenon in Scotland. The only reasons 
 attempted to be assigned are, that the Go- 
 thic, for which they entertain the most en- 
 thusiastic admiration, is, in their opinion, 
 infinitely superior to the Grecian for Eng- 
 lish Churches ; that Scotland is not Attica, 
 nor the Calton-hill the Acropolis of Athens. 
 
 In support of such powerful arguments 
 
 o 
 
98 
 
 they give a quotation from Marmion, about 
 " mine own romantic town," &c., not very 
 applicable, it must be confessed, to the pre- 
 sent state of the new city of Edinburgh — 
 " The assertion made in the circular, that 
 the Calton-hill is, in the opinion of those 
 who have seen both, a finer situation for the 
 display of the peculiar beauties of the Gre- 
 cian Temple than even the Acropolis, which 
 its able authors selected for that purpose — 
 might be true, provided the Calton-hill 
 stood in Attica, where the Acropolis stands, 
 but it does not ; and we have some suspi- 
 cion that the circumstance makes a good 
 deal of difference : How can the Calton- 
 hill be a proper situation for the peculiar 
 beauties of the Grecian Temple, so long as 
 other beauties of so peculiar a nature are 
 displayed around it — and well do they de- 
 serve the picturesque and glowing verses 
 of the Minstrel of Scotland." (Here fol- 
 low some lines from Marmion,) " To adapt 
 the Parthenon to this scene, we must be- 
 gin by blotting out every memorial of Scot- 
 
99 
 
 tish antiquity, power, independence or piety, 
 by which the Doric Temple is surrounded. 
 Though the name of Walter Scott be in- 
 serted among the signatures to the circular 
 letter, can he consent to such a sacrifice ? 
 Whilst the Abbey and Castle continue to 
 hold their state, the Parthenon will be a per- 
 petual and painful solecism. Justly may 
 the people of Scotland be proud of their 
 own romantic town, and of him whose tran- 
 scendent genius has conferred upon all its 
 historic monuments a more than classic im- 
 mortality. Therefore they should seek to 
 decorate it worthily, and nobly — obeying 
 the yearnings of his mighty spirit, and so 
 as to recall the memory of the ancient days 
 of energy and independence, not by erect- 
 ing a perpetual dissonance of landscape, jar- 
 ring to all moral perception, and hostile to 
 all national feeling." " The rudest cairn 
 would be a treasure in comparison."* 
 
 * Quart. Rev. No. LIV. 
 
100 
 
 The Reviewers must have been reduced 
 to their last shift, when they could stoop to 
 such empty declamation. They do not deny 
 that the Calton-hill bears a striking general 
 resemblance to the Acropolis — nor that the 
 situation would be peculiarly well adapted 
 for a Grecian Temple, were it in Attica — 
 but being unfortunately in Scotland, and in 
 the vicinity of some Gothic buildings, the 
 result must, in their opinion, be quite the 
 reverse.* All structures of whatever stvle 
 
 * The Edinburgh Reviewers, in contending that there is not 
 a single Gothic structure to be seen from the Calton-hill, except 
 the High Church, and the ruins of Holyrood Chapel, state 
 ■what is not altogether correct. They seem literally to have 
 overlooked Bridewell, the New Jail, Jailor's House, and Nel- 
 son's Monument ; which, being all of a castellated Gothic, and 
 situated on the hill itself, form decidedly the most conspicu- 
 ous objects in the view. The only building on the hill of a 
 Grecian character, is the small Temple of the Observatory, 
 surmounted by a pitifully diminutive cupola, — and masked by 
 high walls, as if it were deemed sacrilege to be permitted to ap- 
 proach too near, or even catch a glimpse of it, except at a re- 
 spectable distance. It does not indeed necessarily follow, that 
 a Grecian Temple is inadmissible, because Gothic structures 
 happen to be in its vicinity, or within the range of its visible 
 horizon, though it must be confessed, the National Monu- 
 
101 
 
 of architecture, depend much on situation 
 for effect, especially the Grecian Temple, 
 from its unity and simplicity of form. The 
 Greeks generally chose elevated and com- 
 manding eminences, and, not unfrequently, 
 situations completely rural, and far remo- 
 ved from the bustle of cities. In illustra- 
 tion of which, besides the temples of the 
 Acropolis, the following examples, among 
 many others, might be enumerated : — The 
 Temple of Minerva, on the promontory of 
 Sunium — of Jupiter, on Mount Panhelle- 
 nius, in Egina — of Apollo, on Mount Coty- 
 lus, amidst the forests of Arcadia — the 
 temples on the rocky heights of Delphi and 
 Eleusis — the Temple of Esculapius, near 
 Ligurio, situated in a grove surrounded by 
 mountains — the Doric temple on the pre- 
 
 ment would appear to greater advantage had these structures 
 been less of a Gothic character, and still greater had they never 
 been built at all. With respect to Nelson's Monument, in par- 
 ticular, there can be but one opinion — it ought to be pulled 
 down as disgraceful to the taste of the age, and incompatible 
 with the favourable effect of the Parthenon on its proposed site. 
 
102 
 
 cipitous rocks of Segesta, the Temple of 
 Venus, on Mount Eryx, in Sicily, besides 
 those of Juno Lucina, Concord, Hercules, 
 and Jupiter Olympus, on the lofty ridge of 
 Agrigentum. — In modern times, too little 
 attention has been paid to this important 
 consideration. Great Britain, (and London 
 in particular,) affords innumerable and la- 
 mentable instances of such neglect .* Could 
 
 * In Edinburgh, for instance, nothing can be conceived more 
 unfortunate than the site of the New County Hall, with its 
 handsome Grecian portico. It is buried behind the old and 
 smoky houses of the Lawnmarket, nearly twice its height ; ob- 
 liquely in front rises the dark and venerable Gothic pile of St 
 Giles' Cathedral ; one flank is most awkwardly turned to the 
 street, below the level of which it is sunk several feet — the other 
 faces the new Courts and Libraries, with the architecture of 
 which it has nothing in common. — The building for the Royal 
 Society by Mr Playfair, now erecting at the north end of the 
 Earthen Mound, cannot appear to advantage, placed in a hollow 
 between the high masses of the Old and New Town, which must 
 be seen overtopping it from whatever quarter it is approached. 
 Its Grecian portico and principal front, like that of Mary- 
 bone New Church, will face the north — an unfortunate expo- 
 sure, which must deprive it of the sun's rays during the greater 
 part of the year, and all the pleasing effects arising from re- 
 flected tints and picturesque display of light and shadow. The 
 Pantheon of Rome has a portico so situated, but it is suppo- 
 sed to have owed its arrangement to some superstition con- 
 
%63 
 
 the Parthenon itself, renovated in all its 
 glory, appear to any advantage surrounded 
 by the mean and smoky houses of St Paul's 
 Church- Yard, and St Mary-le-Grand, — or 
 immersed in the filth of Bow Street, and 
 Covent Garden Market ? The site on the 
 Calton-hill is admirably suited to the dis- 
 play of the Athenian Temple. Inexhausti- 
 ble quarries of beautiful and durable free- 
 stone in the immediate vicinity, offer ma- 
 terials for its construction, equal in appear- 
 ance to the finest Pentelican marble. The 
 stone masons of Edinburgh are inferior to 
 none in Europe ; and have already proved 
 
 nected with its original destination. Mr Playfair's building, 
 it is true, is provided with extensive lateral peristyles, but the 
 pillars are placed so near the wall, that their effect will scarce- 
 ly exceed that of attached columns, with windows placed be- 
 tween them. The great beauty and peculiar feature of Prince's 
 Street, consists, not certainly in its architecture, but in its 
 noble situation, great extent, and uniform and uninterrupted 
 exposure as a terrace. Is it not to be feared the present edi- 
 fice, however handsome, may derange that feature, and form a 
 disagreeable obstruction to the view, both from the east and 
 west approach ? 
 
104 
 
 themselves capable of executing the most 
 difficult ornaments of Grecian architecture. 
 The climate is peculiarly favourable. Pure, 
 clear, and comparatively dry, it forms no 
 small contrast to the smoke, soot, and damp 
 mists, of the London atmosphere, which 
 soon blackens, begrimes, and even rots the 
 hardest stone — reducing all, whether mar- 
 ble, stone, brick, or plaster, to the same 
 gloomy, dingy, and motley hue. The re- 
 storation will be attempted under circum- 
 stances more propitious than perhaps any 
 other country of Europe can boast. Were 
 a modern church adopted, a fearful chance 
 of failure must be contemplated. In select- 
 ins the Parthenon as a model, no such risk 
 is incurred. Provided we adhere to the 
 original to the best of our ability, and ex- 
 clude all modern innovation, a certain and 
 glorious success must be achieved, the 
 powerful influence of which, on the future 
 efforts of national genius in the fine arts, it 
 is impossible to appreciate. 
 
105 
 
 What the Reviewers mean by asserting 
 that the proposed restoration would create 
 a " perpetual dissonance of landscape, jar- 
 ring to all moral perception, and hostile to 
 all national feeling ;" and, therefore, recom- 
 mending us to decorate " our own romantic 
 town worthily and nobly — obeying the 
 yearnings of Sir Walter Scott's mighty 
 spirit," — it is really very difficult to guess. 
 That celebrated person has already taken 
 too decided a part to afford the slightest 
 reason to suppose he has any wish to re- 
 tract. Do they mean, then, that in defiance 
 of his opinion, so openly manifested in fa- 
 vour of the Parthenon, we should endea- 
 vour to gather, in some shape or other, from 
 his poems and novels, " the yearnings of 
 his mighty spirit," for the purpose of en- 
 abling us to rear some Gothic Abbey, or 
 castellated pile, in imitation of those of the 
 middle ages, with tower and battlement, 
 donjon -keep, and draw -bridge, not for- 
 getting some convenient spot of ground in 
 
106 
 
 its vicinity, where the young Advocates, 
 Writers to the Signet, and the other spirited 
 youth of the Caledonian capital, when tired 
 of the theatrical exhibitions of Celtic clubs 
 and archery, might, now that the radicals 
 have disappeared, mount their yeomanry 
 war steeds ; and, armed cap-a-pie, like their 
 brave Saxon ancestors, amuse the ladies du- 
 ring the vacation with tilts and tourna- 
 ments. It would indeed be an amusement 
 fully as national and manly, as exposing 
 their bleached limbs and nether parts in a 
 fanciful Celtic garb — or equipped in a tar- 
 tan dramatic costume, (which only wants 
 the kilt to complete it,) shooting arrows at 
 the bull's-eye of a target — a pastime which, 
 in the southern part of the island, has of late 
 been almost wholly abandoned to the soft- 
 er sex. 
 
 The Quarterly Keviewers lavish the most 
 unbounded encomiums on the Grecian Tem- 
 ple, provided it exists in Attica or Ionia. 
 They denounce the principle of imitation 
 
107 
 
 and restoration, as degrading to the original 
 genius of modern artists. The Eomans are 
 lauded for inventing a new style, instead of 
 imitating that of the Greeks. The Italian 
 is preferred to the Eoman, and the works of 
 Sir Christopher Wren, who is called " the 
 Ariosto of English architecture," are placed 
 above those of Bramante, Michel Angelo, 
 Palladio, and, in short, all the Italian mas- 
 ters. Lastly, they eulogise at great length 
 the beauties and excellence of the Gothic, 
 which is extolled above all the rest, (be- 
 cause, perhaps, it is farthest removed from 
 the Grecian.) and is exclusively recom- 
 mended as most suitable for English 
 churches. " All things fairly considered, the 
 Gothic style appears to be the most reason- 
 able order for an English church. It is con- 
 secrated in its associations, and the most or- 
 dinary architect may easily learn to avoid 
 any marked impropriety."* Wren was un- 
 
 * Quart. Rev. No. LIV. p. 316-321. 
 
108 
 
 questionably a distinguished architect and 
 engineer, a man of great talents, deeply 
 versed in the science and learning of the 
 times, but it may be doubted, whether, as 
 an architect, he was not surpassed in genius 
 and correct taste by his predecessor, Inigo 
 Jones. Wren's churches, with the excep- 
 tion of St Paul's, and perhaps of St Stephen's, 
 Walbrook, are wretched mixtures of cor- 
 rupt Roman and Gothic. # We have been 
 
 * Mr Elmes, in his Life of Sir Christopher Wren, talks of 
 St Paul's being the most splendid of modern buildings, — of its 
 rivalling and surpassing, in purity of taste and scientific con- 
 struction, St Peter's at Rome, the work of more than twenty 
 architects, supported by the treasures of the Christian world, 
 under the reign of twenty different popes. The circumstance 
 of the number of architects and popes is more than once 
 brought forward as a peculiar advantage which St Peter's en- 
 joyed over St Paul's, while, in the opinion of every one wlio be- 
 stows a moment's consideration on the subject, it must be held 
 to be quite the reverse. Had Michel Angelo, like Wren, lived 
 to superintend the execution of his plan, for more than half a 
 century, under the patronage of many successive sovereigns, 
 St Peter's would have been very different from what it now is. 
 Instead of a Latin, it would have assumed the more elegant, 
 form of a Greek cross! Instead of the present front, by the 
 plasterer Maderna, it would have exhibited a portico and co- 
 lonnade, which, in magnificence and dimensions, would have ri- 
 
109 
 
 already told, indeed, " there is considerable 
 difficulty in combining a steeple with the 
 
 vailed any of ancient or modern times. Besides, in addition to 
 many other imperfections caused by wilful deviation from his 
 plan, or want of judgment in its execution, Fontana, after Mi- 
 chel Angelo's death, completed the dome in the short space of 
 twenty-two months, and thus injured, in a material degree, the 
 strength and solidity of its construction. It must be recollect- 
 ed, too, that though Michel Angelo was first employed by 
 Julio II. to plan his Mausoleum, no sooner was it resolved to 
 pull down the old church of St Peter's, and erect another in its 
 place, than Bramante was chosen as the architect. To him 
 succeeded Giulio de St Gallo, Giocondo, Antonio de San Gallo, 
 Baldazar Peruzzi, &c. who carried on the building for forty 
 years, though the plan during all that time remained unset- 
 tled. So that when Michel Angelo was at last recalled in his 
 old age from Florence, and entrusted with its execution, lie 
 found himself reluctantly placed in a situation much less fa- 
 vourable than if the edifice had never been begun; without ad- 
 verting to the jealousies of his rivals, and the caprices of the 
 different popes, to which he was continually exposed during 
 the few years that he survived. Mr Elmes proceeds to re- 
 mark, that the form of St Paul's is that of the Italian Cathe- 
 dral, cross like, and, to a superficial observer, after the manner 
 of St Peter's, which it neither adopts nor copies, bxitjreelij imi- 
 tates, almost even to originality, and, certainly, to superiority 
 over its Roman prototype. This is really carrying English no- 
 tions and prejudices a little too far, and is only exceeded 
 by Sir William Chambers, who boldly declares St Martin's 
 Church, in the Strand, a finer piece of architecture than the 
 
110 
 
 Grecian or Koman architecture, and that 
 Wren mastered the difficulty, and produced 
 combinations scarcely inferior to the Go- 
 thic." Are we then to infer, that the ex- 
 cellence they admire in Wren's Grecian and 
 Koman style, is chiefly to be attributed to 
 
 Parthenon of Athens. But keeping entirely o\it of view, on 
 one hand, the beautiful situation of St Peter's, its fine colon- 
 nades, its fountains and obelisk, — its marbles, sculptures, 
 bronzes, mosaics, and splendid decorations ; on the other, the 
 unfavourable site of St Paul's, — its dark, dirty, cold stone 
 walls, — its gloomy, naked vaults, devoid of all ornament except 
 the dusky faded paintings of the dome ; confining our atten- 
 tion solely to their architectural designs, how infinitely supe- 
 rior in simplicity, elegance, and grandeur, is the Vatican Tem- 
 ple to the complicated masses, innumerable projections, and 
 breaks of the English Cathedral ! The dome of St Peter's is 
 solid mason-work, consisting of two cupolas, that separate and 
 again unite to support the Temple of the Lantern. That of 
 St Paul's is merely false and apparent, consisting of wood, 
 copper, &c., attached to a cone of brick-work, constructed on 
 the ordinary principle of a glass-house. Hence the reason of 
 the interior being so dark and compressed. St Paul's, never- 
 theless, is, on the whole, a fine building, equally creditable to 
 the architect and the age in which it was produced ; but it 
 ought not to be held out as a model to the present times, still 
 less brought into comparison with the Vatican Basilica, of 
 which it is but a feeble and imperfect imitation. 
 
Ill 
 
 its approximation to the principle of Gothic 
 combination ? He himself would not, most 
 assuredly, have been much flattered by such 
 a compliment. While they are urging the 
 general adoption of the Gothic for English 
 churches, we find Sir Christopher, in his Pa- 
 rentalia, and his friend, Mr Evelyn, taking 
 every opportunity of reviling those struc- 
 tures, as " a fantastic light species of build- 
 ing," as " congestions of heavy, dark, me- 
 lancholy, monkish piles, without any just 
 proportion, use, or beauty ;" " full of fret 
 and lamentable imagery ;" " without sym- 
 metry, regular proportion, union, and dispo- 
 sition." The pillars and arcades are stig- 
 matised as " slender and mis-shapen, or, ra- 
 ther, bundles of staves and other incongru- 
 ous props." And again, in the following 
 passages, — " The universal and unreason- 
 able thickness of the walls, clumsy buttress- 
 es, towers, sharp-pointed arches, doors and 
 other apertures without proportion, nonsen- 
 sical insertion of various marbles imperti- 
 
lifc 
 
 nently placed, turrets and pinnacles thick 
 set with monkeys and chimeras, and abun- 
 dance of busy work and other incongruities, 
 dissipate and break the angles of the sight, 
 and so confound it, that one cannot consider 
 with any steadiness where to begin or end ; 
 taking off from that noble air and grandeur, 
 bold and graceful manner, which the ancients 
 had so well and judiciously established."* 
 
 To appreciate the beauty and superiority 
 of the Grecian, we are not called upon to 
 vilify and undervalue the Gothic. A person 
 must, indeed, be devoid of all taste and feel- 
 ing, who does not admire the best specimens 
 of that style, independently of their venera- 
 ble antiquity and historical associations. The 
 plain and unadorned kind is, it must be con- 
 fessed, extremely well adapted for country 
 churches, or where economy must be con- 
 sulted. But to imitate or presume to re- 
 
 * Parcntalia, or Memoirs of the Family of the Wrens, p. 
 306. 
 
 8 
 
- IIS 
 
 store such buildings as York Minster, Lin- 
 coln, and Winchester Cathedrals, or the 
 Chapel of King's College, Cambridge, is far 
 beyond our reach ; for had we the inclina- 
 tion, we possess neither the funds nor the 
 science necessary for their completion. 
 
 The allegation, that the Komans did not 
 adopt the Grecian architecture, appears to 
 be without foundation. They generally 
 employed architects and sculptors of that 
 nation, and it is highly probable Kome owed 
 her architectural fame and splendour, in a 
 great measure, to the predominance of the 
 Grecian in her temples, basilica?, porticos, 
 &c. The late excavations in the Piazza 
 Trajana at Rome, now cleared to its ancient 
 level, exhibit a variety of broken columns of 
 great magnitude, some erect, others fallen, 
 mutilated reliefs, statues, busts, proving be- 
 yond a doubt, that the Greek style prevail- 
 ed in the Forum of Trajan, so celebrated as 
 one of the greatest ornaments of ancient 
 
 H 
 
114 
 
 Home* Apollodorus a Greek, was em- 
 ployed by Trajan to build his Forum, Ode- 
 um, and Gymnasium. Metellus Mardoni- 
 cus raised a marble temple and portico 
 bearing his name, which was adorned with 
 numerous equestrian statues, the work of 
 Lysippus. The portico was inclosed by 
 two temples, one dedicated to Juno, the 
 other to Apollo, both Grecian, and decora- 
 ted with Grecian sculpture.f Porticos at 
 liome included, like the Thermae, a variety 
 of different buildings, as temples, libraries, 
 schools, &c. They were very numerous, 
 and generally colonnaded. J Grecian archi- 
 tects were not only in request at Rome, but 
 the columns and ornaments were sometimes 
 previously executed in Greece and trans- 
 
 * Wilson's Tour in Italy, Vol. II. p. 373-4. 
 
 t Stuart's Preface to Vol. I. p. iv. Veil. Pat. B. I. c xi. 
 
 + The late excavation by Laician Bonaparte on the site of 
 the villa of Maecenas at Tivoli, proves that there was but one 
 order of columns in the Grecian manner, and not two, as for- 
 merly conjectured. 
 
115 
 
 ported to Italy. Adrian raised a Lyceum 
 in imitation of the Greeks — a Prytaneum, 
 Pagcile, and Academia, after the model of 
 those at Athens. In the preface to the 
 third volume of Stuart's work, the author 
 remarks, that " the Doric Portico or Agora 
 at Athens, is another instance that the 
 Athenian manner was not difficult to trace 
 in the age of Augustus, and probably the 
 characteristic manner of the Greeks was not 
 departed from but by slow degrees." Vitru- 
 vius, himself a Roman, illustrates his pre- 
 cepts from Grecian examples, and is suppo- 
 sed, according to the most probable opi- 
 nion, to have formed his system from pre- 
 ceding treatises by Grecian architects.* In 
 the hands of the Komans, it is true, it never 
 reached its native perfection. But at the 
 period of the conquest of Greece, a sensible 
 decline had taken place in Grecian art, 
 which was accelerated in the course of time 
 
 * Wilkins's Vitruvius, p. 34. 
 
116 
 
 by the inferior taste and imperfect science 
 of their conquerors, aided by that rage for 
 novelty and originality, so fatal to the per- 
 manence of excellence in works of art. The 
 Koman architecture, therefore, though in 
 many respects corrupt, must have been in 
 its origin and early stages essentially Gre- 
 cian. If the Doric and Ionic lost much of 
 their beauty and simplicity, the Corinthian 
 in their practice rose to its highest perfec- 
 tion. Subsequently, indeed, they had the 
 merit of successfully uniting the Grecian 
 column and entablature with the arch and 
 vault, derived from their Tuscan ancestors 
 — thus producing a new and original com- 
 bination, well suited to the wants of a great 
 nation, and worthy the grandeur and mag- 
 nificence of the masters of the world. Yet, 
 can it be supposed their efforts would have 
 been crowned with success, had they not 
 previously, and for a length of time, prac- 
 tised a close imitation of the Grecian ? 
 We are warranted, therefore, in conclu- 
 
117 
 
 ding, that the Romans adopted and imita- 
 ted as nearly as their circumstances and in- 
 ferior skill would admit, the architecture of 
 Greece. We do not indeed learn they ac- 
 tually restored any of the most celebrated 
 Grecian temples. The reason is obvious. 
 Greece and her colonies, more especially 
 Sicily, and that portion of Italy denomina- 
 ted Magna Graecia, formed a central and 
 prominent part of the empire, equally ac- 
 cessible to a Roman as Ireland or Scotland 
 is now to an Englishman. In such circum- 
 stances, restoration would have been super- 
 fluous. Moreover, those fine structures 
 were then in a perfect state of preservation ; 
 nor did there appear the most distant chance 
 of their destruction either by conquest or 
 spoliation. The Italian architects were, in 
 some degree, in the same situation in re- 
 ference to the Roman remains in their im- 
 mediate vicinity. " It is quite true, that 
 the Romans did not copy the Grecian tem- 
 ples ; and that the modern Italians have 
 
118 
 
 not thought of attempting a restoration of 
 the Colyseum or the Pantheon. But it is 
 to be recollected the originals were within 
 their reach, and had already exercised their 
 salutary influence on the public taste. The 
 ancient Eomans had only to go to Pestum, 
 Agrigentum, or Syracuse, to behold the 
 purest Grecian temples ; and their warlike 
 youth, in the course of the military expedi- 
 tions to which all citizens were liable, had 
 perpetually in their eastern dominions the 
 Grecian edifices placed before their eyes."* 
 It may be admitted to a certain extent, 
 that as a model, the restoration of the Par- 
 thenon " will teach nothing to the architec- 
 tural student which he cannot learn from 
 the accurate drawings by which he is pre- 
 sented by his contemporaries. "f Yet, of 
 what avail is such knowledge, if it is never 
 to be reduced to practice, but reserved 
 for the portfolios and libraries of amateurs 
 
 • Edinburgh Review, No. LXXV. p. 137- 
 f Quarterly Review No. LIV- 
 
119 
 
 and professional men ? It would be just 
 as consistent as a certain philosopher, who 
 was so great an admirer of swimming, 
 that he actually procured a person to give 
 him instructions in the theory of the art, 
 while sprawling on the table of his own 
 study, though he had previously resolved 
 never to practise it in water, an element to 
 which he happened to have a mortal anti- 
 pathy. When the architecture of a country 
 is so mixed and corrupt as that of Great 
 Britain, the only chance of improving the 
 public taste, is to retrace our steps — to re- 
 store in whole, or in part, some of the most 
 admired monuments of antiquity, as land- 
 marks to guide us in our future progress. 
 The eye soon gets accustomed to deformity 
 in works of art. It is only by comparison 
 that we are able to appreciate the differ- 
 ence, and wean ourselves from the effects of 
 habit and prejudice. The most splendid 
 drawings and engravings, the most correct 
 models, fail in making a forcible impression 
 
120 
 
 on the mind, or conveying a just idea of 
 their originals. " Engravings, it has been 
 justly observed, never become an object of 
 interest, till the originals have been seen." 
 The works of Stuart, Kivett, Chandler, and 
 Le Koi, first laid open the treasures of Gre- 
 cian art. Before that period, the remains of 
 Greece were almost as completely lost to 
 the world, as if they had been buried under 
 the lavas of Etna or Vesuvius. They are 
 now more or less in a state of dilapidation 
 and decay — those of Attica in particular, 
 which it is to be feared the present sangui- 
 nary and protracted struggle between the 
 Greeks and their brutal oppressors, will vi- 
 sit with additional destruction, if not in 
 many cases with total annihilation. Admit- 
 ting the alarm to be groundless — placed at 
 the distance of some thousand miles beyond 
 seas and continents, among a semi-barba- 
 rous people — they must always be inaccess- 
 ible but to a few favoured and adventurous 
 travellers. Architectural works, such as 
 
121 
 
 those of Stuart and Le Roi, &c. on the Gre- 
 cian — Palladio, Piranesi, &c. on the Ro- 
 man remains are much too expensive and 
 scarce, ever to get into general circulation. 
 They are not to be found in the best sub- 
 scription and circulating libraries — and 
 rarely indeed in the collections of private 
 gentlemen. But supposing they were as ac- 
 cessible as books of an ordinary description, 
 can we place implicit confidence in the 
 truth and correctness of their designs ? It 
 will scarcely be disputed, for example, that 
 those of Piranesi and Le Roi, however pic- 
 turesque and beautiful as works of art, are 
 notorious for their glaring inaccuracy and 
 embellishment, and can therefore be of lit- 
 tle practical use to the architectural stu- 
 dent. Stuart's work, and a few others, are 
 perhaps honourable exceptions. Yet a late 
 professional traveller, whose accuracy can- 
 not be questioned, imputes a good deal of 
 error and general imperfection to the mea- 
 
122 
 
 surements and designs in that work.* Stuart 
 and Kivett's oversight in detecting the en- 
 tasis of the columns has been already re- 
 marked. 
 
 It would appear likewise that magnitude, 
 an essential ingredient in the sublime, is 
 absolutely necessary to display architecture 
 
 * " Having submitted these observations, -which seemed to 
 be essential in publishing a work so immediately after that of 
 Stuart on the same subject, it may be necessary to add, that I 
 have laboured principally to supply what I conceive to be its 
 defect: His views of most of the buildings by no means convey 
 adequate ideas of their taste, simplicity, and elegance. This 
 remark extends, in a great measure, to all the views from the 
 pencil of Stuart, but particularly to those of the Acropolis of 
 Athens, which are extremely imperfect. It is matter of surprise, 
 that the almost exclusive merit of having measured and drawn 
 the antiquities of Athens, &c, should have been attributed 
 to that gentleman, when in fact so small a share of this valuable 
 work was the result of his personal labour and experience. It 
 will appear, in referring to the original materials, that Rivett 
 measured and delineated the principal parts, if not the whole 
 of the architectural subjects, while Pars contributed several of 
 the views, and the more considerable proportion of the sculp- 
 ture contained in the second and third volumes. Some of the 
 plates also were added by Reveley ; thus leaving little more 
 than the editorship to Stuart, who, it must be acknowledged, 
 deserves no common praise for his very careful and judicious 
 arrangement." — Pref. p. 3. AUason's Antiquities qfPola. 
 
123 
 
 to advantage. Mr Burke, in his Essay on 
 the Sublime and Beautiful, remarks, that, 
 " To the sublime in building, greatness of 
 dimension seems requisite ; for on a few 
 parts, and those small, the imagination can- 
 not rise to any degree of infinity. No great- 
 ness in the manner can effectually compen- 
 sate for the want of proper dimensio?is." 
 Hence one reason why models or epitomes 
 of buildings, however correct, fail in produ- 
 cing the same impression on the mind of 
 the beholder. Another, perhaps, is the ab- 
 sence of that brilliant play of light and sha- 
 dow, and diversified effect of perspective, 
 owing to the object not being seen at the 
 proper angle of vision, and under the na- 
 tural breadth of shade. All travellers are 
 struck with a certain indescribable emotion 
 of wonder and sublimity, on beholding the 
 Pyramids of Egypt, independently of their 
 peculiarity of form, or the interest excited 
 by their remote antiquity : Let the most 
 correct models be exhibited, and they will 
 
124 
 
 be viewed with cold indifference. This re- 
 mark is equally applicable to the simplicity 
 and severe grandeur of the Grecian Doric 
 Temple, of which no specimen worthy the 
 name is to be found in modern Europe. In 
 England, there are a few late examples of 
 meagre detached porticos, such as that of 
 Covent-Garden Theatre, Bow Street, (the 
 most favourable,) the small brick and plas- 
 ter chapel in the Kegent's Park — and se- 
 veral others of a similar kind erected with- 
 in a few years, in different parts of the king- 
 dom. English architects, indeed, seem to 
 think this order best adapted to the petty 
 decoration of the porches of town-mansions 
 and shop-fronts. Pestum and Doric pillars, 
 of dwarfish dimensions, may be observed 
 attached to almost every second house or 
 shop in Waterloo Place and Kegent Street, 
 from Pall-Mali to Oxford Street, while the 
 portico of the new church in the same line, 
 which afforded at least a better opportunity 
 for their display, is a sort of corrupt Roman 
 Doric. 
 
125 
 
 One of the most formidable objections, in 
 the opinion of the Quarterly Reviewers, to 
 the introduction of the pure Grecian, is the 
 necessity of excluding the arch. The beau- 
 ty, science, and utility of the arch, when 
 properly applied in the Eoman, Italian, and 
 Gothic styles, or when regarded as a branch 
 of engineering in bridges, aqueducts, &c. 
 cannot be disputed.* Yet in an order where 
 it is not required — where it would not only 
 be superfluous, but a deformity, it is surely 
 carrying the partiality for it a ridiculous 
 length, to abandon the most perfect archi- 
 tecture the world ever beheld — the parent 
 source from which all later systems have 
 
 * " Bridges excepted, in which alone modern architecture 
 is greater than the ancient, (and in none more than those of 
 England,) where arches are justified by necessity, I do not con- 
 sider the adoption of them as conferring cither beaut y or stabi- 
 lity to architecture. The classic Temples of ancient Greece, 
 those wonders of human ability, so completely arrest and ab- 
 sorb the mental powers of the spectator, that no scope is left 
 for the allurements of the imagination, nor the intrusion of the 
 idea that they might have been improved by the admission of the 
 arch." — Gunn, on Gothic Architecture, p. 186-7- 
 
120 
 
 sprung ; because, forsooth, we cannot in- 
 dulge our predilection for Gothic combina- 
 tion of arcades. In the fine arts, science 
 and utility, it must be recollected, do not 
 always involve grace and beauty. The mo- 
 derns have perhaps excelled in the two for- 
 mer — the ancients, unquestionably, in the 
 latter. But, are arches or arcades, in any 
 form or combination, comparable to the 
 pillared architecture of Greece ? Does the 
 restoration of a few examples of the origi- 
 nal and standard order in its purity, neces- 
 sarily corrupt and exclude the others ? or, 
 would it not rather tend to fix and improve 
 them ? On the subject of the arch, the Earl 
 of Aberdeen, in his late Treatise on Gre- 
 cian Architecture,* makes the following 
 just reflections : — " We cannot wonder that 
 a discovery so powerfully recommended by 
 its character of utility, convenience, and 
 cheapness, should, when once known, have 
 
 * P. 210-11. 
 
127 
 
 been speedily adopted throughout the ci- 
 vilized world. How far these advantages 
 may have contributed to the employment 
 of the arch to situations in which it was ill- 
 suited, and indeed inapplicable, it is not ne- 
 cessary to inquire. We may doubt whether 
 a very material addition has been made to the 
 ornamental architecture of the Greeks by its 
 construction. Few will deny, that its abuse 
 has perpetuated a greater corruption of style, 
 and a more truly vitiated taste, than would 
 probably have been witnessed had it never 
 existed" 
 
 After exhausting every possible argu- 
 ment against the introduction of the Gre- 
 cian and restoration of the Parthenon, the 
 Eeviewers " beg leave to state distinctly, 
 that their objections are mainly gathered 
 from the most competent judges in their 
 behalf:" — That " they have hardly ventu- 
 red to make any remark which has not been 
 sanctioned in substance by the sculptors, 
 architects, and dilettanti, of the southern 
 
128 
 
 Metropolis." In short, they confidently 
 assert, that " they are the faithful organ of 
 the general sentiment ;" and, that the best- 
 informed artists and lovers of art in Eng- 
 land, oppose themselves to the scheme, be- 
 cause they are fairly convinced that it will 
 powerfully impede the progress and culti- 
 vation of original design." They seem to 
 regard the Earl of Aberdeen as one of their 
 conclave, and rather triumphantly quote a 
 passage from his work in illustration of 
 their doctrine. It is to be regretted, in- 
 deed, his Lordship should have expressed 
 any opinion that could afford a colouring 
 of support to such a system of narrow- 
 minded bigotry and exclusion, diametrical- 
 ly opposed to the scope and principles of 
 his excellent Essay. His Lordship recom- 
 mends an imitation of the Grecian — not 
 with the servile hand of a copyist, or with a 
 strict adherence to the details of the edifice, 
 but with a due regard to the changes of 
 customs and manners — to the difference of 
 
129 
 
 climate and condition of modern society.* 
 The Quarterly Keviewers, on the other hand, 
 supported by their professional and dilet- 
 tanti friends, being of opinion that the pure 
 Grecian is unfit for modern times, and un- 
 willing that its perfections should be impair- 
 ed by corrupt innovations, are determined 
 to reject it altogether. Both agree in extol- 
 ling its unrivalled perfection. The Ke- 
 viewers, with more appearance of consist- 
 ency, abandon what they do not choose to 
 corrupt. His Lordship, after exciting our 
 admiration and enthusiasm by his classical 
 descriptions and critical disquisitions, most 
 provokingly and unaccountably concludes, 
 by advising modern architects — not to re- 
 store or imitate correctly — but " to strive 
 to possess themselves of the spirit and ge- 
 nius with which the originals were planned 
 
 * Lord Aberdeen's Treatise, pp. 216-17, — likewise, Edin- 
 burgh Revievr, No. LXXV. p. 144, where the fallacy of this 
 reasoning is exposed. 
 
 1 
 
130 
 
 and directed ;" or, in other words, to open 
 a wide door to every kind of corruption and 
 vitious innovation. 
 
 But it might be asked, what right the 
 Reviewers, architects, sculptors, and dilet- 
 tanti of the southern Metropolis, have 
 " to oppose themselves" to the execution of 
 a scheme in the northern Capital, with 
 which they have no concern, in which they 
 have not been consulted, and for which, it 
 is presumed, they do not mean to contribute. 
 Can we really imagine these gentlemen take 
 so deep an interest in the success of our 
 National Monument ? Are they not rather 
 actuated on the present occasion by a slight 
 ebullition of pettish jealousy, lest its success- 
 fid accomplishment should eclipse the archi- 
 tectural glory of the southern Metropolis, 
 — not excepting the Athenian St Pancras, 
 with its double Pandrosium and Tower of 
 the Winds, or the boasted facades of Re- 
 gent Street ! 
 
 How the restoration of the Parthenon in 
 
131 
 
 Scotland should powerfully impede the pro- 
 gress of art and original design, " is a para- 
 dox not a little incomprehensible." Let us 
 suppose a case, that the Greeks were to suc- 
 ceed in finally throwing off the yoke of their 
 Turkish oppressors, and in raising them- 
 selves once more into a free and independ- 
 ent nation — an event by no means impro- 
 bable — would the Keviewers and their 
 friends " oppose themselves" to the modern 
 Athenians restoring their ancient Parthe- 
 non, because it would impede the progress 
 of art and original design ? Would they re- 
 commend them to adopt some plan of Sir 
 Christopher Wren's ? — or the Gothic ? — or 
 perhaps attempt a new style, better suited 
 to modern customs and manners ? 
 
 Mr Elmes, in his Life of Sir Christopher 
 Wren, takes an opportunity of vindicating 
 the doctrine laid down by the Reviewers and 
 the Earl of Aberdeen, relative to the subject 
 of restoration and close imitation, which he 
 
132 
 
 stigmatizes as "plagiarism and downright 
 theft,* without even enough of that inge- 
 
 * In the following passage, on the same subject, one would sus- 
 pect he had in his eye St Pancras, and its Tower of the Winds : 
 " It consists in imparting, as it were, such portions of a foreign 
 or ancient style, as appears suited to the purposes of its impor- 
 ters, and perverting them to their own use ; not as their au- 
 thors would have done in their time, hut forcibly torturing an an- 
 cient art to modern uses. Such as these are mean copiers, tra- 
 ding importers, common borrowers." 
 
 With respect to the contempt entertained by Mr Elmes 
 and his professional friends, for restoration, and their admi- 
 ration of the efforts of original invention, it might be suffi- 
 cient to refer to a passage from Seward's Anecdotes, (Vol. II.) 
 quoted in his own works. " Many of the buildings which 
 have remained to us from the ancients, are universally allowed 
 to be perfect models of the art of architecture. In spite of the 
 rewards offered by sovereigns, and of that innate desire of man 
 to do something more and better than his predecessors have 
 done, every attempt to add another order of architecture to 
 the five long since transmitted to us from the Greeks, has 
 been vain and fruitless, and has, in general, effected nothing 
 but a variation in the Corinthian order. The art of building 
 being an art, of which the constituent parts are utility and 
 beauty, must have soon arrived at its point of perfection. We 
 have but little left to do but to arrange and compare. What 
 has the rage of inventing in architecture produced in our 
 times ? May-poles, instead of columns, capitals of no order, 
 and adjuncts and decorations, so whimsical, so minute, so split 
 into small parts, tortured into grotesque forms, that, as Lord 
 Bacon observes of plots in gardens, you may see as good sights 
 often in tarts." 
 
133 
 
 nuity to conceal it, which among the Lace- 
 demonians procured a pardon for a thief." 
 He does not, indeed, make a direct allusion 
 to the restoration of the Parthenon in 
 Scotland ; but from his eulogiums on the 
 article in the Quarterly Review, the ap- 
 plication is sufficiently obvious. He is at 
 the same time a little out of humour with 
 the epithet, " Ariosto of English architec- 
 ture," bestowed on Wren by the Reviewers, 
 and contends rather quaintly, that Borromi- 
 ni or Bernini has a better claim to that 
 distinction ! while Sir Christopher ought to 
 be compared to Tasso or Virgil. (Note to 
 p. 32-4.) 
 
 When Stuart's Athens first began to di- 
 rect the attention of the public to Grecian 
 architecture, Sir William Chambers indul- 
 ged himself in a virulent attack on it, in 
 his Treatise on the Decorative Part of Ci- 
 vil Architecture. He is of opinion it should 
 be entirely excluded from the study of the 
 modern architectural student. He recom- 
 
134 
 
 mends him to "travel, as necessary to acquire 
 superiority in his profession." " Books," he 
 says, " cannot avail, descriptions and draw- 
 ings, and prints, are but weak substitutes for 
 realities. Since the Grecian structures, even 
 in the time of Pericles or Alexander, do 
 not deserve great notice, either for dimen- 
 sion, grandeur of style, rich fancy, or ele- 
 gant taste, it follows that our knowledge 
 ought not to be collected from them, but 
 some purer or more abundant source, which, 
 in whatever relates to the art, can be no 
 other than the Roman antiquities yet re- 
 maining in Italy." # In short, to give a true 
 specimen of his knowledge and taste, he as- 
 serts, (as already mentioned,) " that the fa- 
 mous Parthenon," as he calls it in derision, 
 " is inferior, both in size and beauty of ar- 
 chitecture, to St Martin's Church in the 
 Strand !" If it be difficult, even on the plea 
 of ignorance and prejudice, to find an ex- 
 
 * Sir William Chambers' Treatise on the Decorative Part of 
 Civil Architecture. 
 
135 
 
 cuse for such illiberal dogmatism, what shall 
 we say at this time of day in palliation of 
 the opinions so deliberately avowed by the 
 Reviewers and their professional and dilet- 
 tanti supporters ? Can the latter be mem- 
 bers of that society of dilettanti, to whose 
 zeal and exertions architecture and sculp- 
 ture have been so much indebted ? 
 
 The general scope of reasoning employ- 
 ed in the Quarterly Review, if it prove any- 
 thing, proves too much. For if no nation 
 be entitled to adopt the arts and architec- 
 ture of another that may happen to diifer 
 from it in climate and manners, or precede 
 it in the career of improvement ; if each 
 country must be confined to that precise 
 species of art that shall be defined to be 
 national or indigenous, there would be an 
 end at once to every kind of amelioration 
 and improvement. When a proposition in- 
 volves an absurd conclusion, it does not re- 
 quire a regular demonstration to shew its 
 fallacy. The same arguments might be di- 
 
136 
 
 rected against all arts and all systems of 
 architecture whatever, ancient and modern, 
 not excepting even St Paul's Cathedral, the 
 style of which has most assuredly no pre- 
 tensions to be English or national. If, in 
 Scotland, we are driven to the expedient of 
 raising a cairn, # let our southern neighbours 
 keep us in countenance, by battering down 
 St Paul's. Nay, it will be no easy matter 
 to prove the Gothic of English growth, the 
 French and Normans having prior claims 
 to it. If we are to believe their oracle, Sir 
 Christopher Wren, it is of Arabic or Sara- 
 cenic origin, which would only transfer them 
 to the other horn of the dilemma, j- 
 
 • Quarterly Review, No. LIV. 
 
 t Wren's ideas were so confused and contradictory on tlic 
 subject of the Gothic, that he ascribes the buildings of St Cross 
 and Winchester Cathedral, to the Saxons, before the Conquest, 
 while he denies them the use of glass for windows ; yet he at- 
 tributes the invention of tracery work " to the necessity of 
 disposing the mullions for the better fixing in of glass," which 
 he refers to the end of the thirteenth century. He traces the 
 invention of the pointed style to the Saracens in the seventh 
 and eighth centuries, though he quotes Mr Evelyn in support 
 of his theory, who assorts that " this fantastic light species of 
 
137 
 
 When we take into consideration the 
 wealth, learning, and science of the British 
 empire, the rapid improvements in some 
 departments of the arts, and the laborious 
 study and research bestowed on the theory 
 and history of all of them, it is surprising 
 how little good architecture is to be found 
 in the British metropolis. With the ex- 
 ception of a few buildings, like St Paul's 
 Cathedral, the Banqueting-House at White- 
 hall, St Paul's, Covent Garden,* the Mo- 
 nument, the Bridges, Greenwich Hospi- 
 tal, and some others of less note, what is 
 there in the shape of a public edifice of the 
 higher class, worthy a moment's considera- 
 tion in an architectural point of view?-)- The 
 
 building" was introduced by the Goths and Vandals of the 
 North, when they subverted the Western Empire two cen- 
 turies later. — Rev. Mr Milner's Letter to Mr Taylor, pp. 
 14, 15, and Note. 
 
 * This church, by Inigo Jones, conveys a general idea of 
 the ancient temple in antis ; yet it must be recollected, that 
 the rules laid down by Vitruvius for the Tuscan, refer to its 
 being constructed chiejiy of mood. 
 
 f Sir James Mackintosh, in a debate last session of Parlia- 
 ment, on the subject of the British Museum, makes the fol- 
 
138 
 
 Mansion-House, Custom-House, Bank of 
 England, East-India House, Somerset- 
 House, Carlton Palace, Admiralty, Horse 
 Guards, Drury-Lane Theatre, the Opera- 
 House, the late addition to Westminster- 
 Hall and the Houses of Parliament, the 
 Penitentiary at Millbank — are such struc- 
 
 lowing remarks on the architecture of the English capital : — 
 " London, though the greatest city, is the least ornamental me- 
 tropolis in Europe. For almost a century this city was with- 
 out any ornamental architectural additions. The late effort of 
 improvement, of which he wished to speak without any dispa- 
 ragement, partook more of the neatness of individual taste than 
 of general grandeur : This was perhaps owing to inadequate 
 encouragement ; and upon that suhject lie begged to deny that 
 the fine arts flourished under private patronage As to im- 
 provement of architecture in the capital, there were three great 
 causes to retard it ; the first, the distance of materials ; the se- 
 cond, the taste of the higher classes for a country life ; the 
 third, the taste of the middle classes for comfort, rather than 
 display. The first was unavoidable ; the second difficult to 
 surmount ; the third not to be removed." 
 
 The ad valorem duty of 20 per cent on all stone and slate 
 carried by sea from one port to another, only repealed last 
 session, might have been stated as an additional obstacle to the 
 improvement of architecture in the metropolis. It seemed not 
 only calculated to force the inhabitants of London to use no- 
 thing but brick and tile for building, but acted as a direct 
 discouragement to the architecture, as well as agriculture, of 
 the kingdom at large. 
 
139 
 
 tures to be held out as models for the study 
 of the professional student, or standards for 
 regulating the public taste ? As to eccle- 
 siastical architecture, almost all the churches 
 that are not Gothic, including nearly the 
 whole of Sir Christopher Wren's, are of a 
 mixed and vitiated style. Even his biogra- 
 pher and panegyrist, Mr Elmes, with the 
 exception of St Paul's, and a few others, 
 merely praises them for the economy, soli- 
 dity, and scientific ingenuity of their con- 
 struction. St Martin's Church in the Strand, 
 and St George's, Hanover Square, are in 
 better taste, and* highly respectable, accord- 
 ing to the taste of the times in which they 
 were built. The late structures of Mary- 
 bone # and St Pancras, on which such enor- 
 
 * " In the design of this church (Mary-bone) the Roman 
 style of order is mixed with some Italian peculiarities, and the 
 whole combined with reference to Grecian taste r - in fact, it 
 appears to have been the endeavour of the architect to unite in 
 this building, intended to form a dignified whole, whatever 
 might be usefully adapted from the various ages and countries 
 of systematized architecture ; and under the circumstances of 
 the alteration that took place, by which the building was in- 
 creased from a chapel to an edifice of superior magnitude and 
 
140 
 
 mous sums have been expended, are, with 
 much higher pretensions, entitled to little 
 preference ; nor are they more of a Grecian 
 character. The Eeviewers tell us, indeed, 
 that no church should be without a lofty 
 steeple, because " the heaven-directed spire 
 has a sacred dignity which should never be 
 sacrificed, except under the pressure of the 
 most imposing necessity ;" yet they confess 
 there is considerable difficulty in combining 
 a steeple with the Grecian or Koman archi- 
 tecture, though they allege Wren mastered 
 that difficulty ! In another passage they in- 
 form us, that " the Grecian or Roman stee- 
 
 character, it was a difficult task to unite the parts in such a 
 way that the combination should be complete : this is not 
 quite so perfect as could be wished, but perhaps is more so 
 than might have been expected. In builditig a Christian 
 church, the architect , from long established custom, is obliged to 
 contend with a difficulty arising from the absurd practice of ap- 
 pending a steeple to it. The steeple formed no pari of the Greek 
 or Roman Temple, the prevailing lines of which are horizontal ; 
 but that of the steeple is a vertical one, which, however suited 
 to its early and original style of architecture, and to the latter 
 forms of the Gothic character, in which such lines prevail, is 
 most inauspicious to the design of a Grecian edifice." — Reposi- 
 tory of Arts, Literature, Sfcfor October, 181 6, pp. 1.91-2. 
 
141 
 
 pie appears worst and ugliest when, as at 
 St Martin's-in-the-Fields, it is seen riding 
 athwart a Corinthian portico, to which it 
 does not bear the slightest affinity, and best 
 when, according to the favourite practice of 
 Palladio, it stands by the side of the edifice 
 as a campanile, or bell-tower." Yet what is 
 a Grecian or Koman steeple ? Had it any 
 existence among the Greeks and Komans ? 
 If worst and ugliest when riding athwart a 
 Corinthian portico, and best when detached 
 from the building altogether, how came 
 Wren to master the difficulty ? In ordinary 
 churches, though decorated with pediments 
 and porticos, it may not be possible to dis- 
 pense with towers or spires, because they 
 are useful as belfries, and ornamental to a 
 city when viewed at a distance. But then 
 such buildings, whatever may be the style of 
 their component parts, must forfeit all title 
 to be called Grecian or Roman : Let them 
 rather be classed under the Modern Ecclesi- 
 astic style. — In spite of the practice of Sir 
 
/ 
 
 142 
 
 Christopher Wren, the recommendation of 
 Sir William Chambers, and the authority of 
 the Quarterly Keviewers, spires, towers, or 
 belfries, of any form, are incompatible with 
 a structure having the smallest pretension to 
 be a restoration or imitation of an ancient 
 Temple. The prevailing lines of the Gre- 
 cian and Roman architecture are horizontal, 
 those of the steeple verticle, and conse- 
 quently at variance with the leading line of 
 the entablature above the columns. If the 
 architect attempt to assimilate the spire to 
 the laws of Grecian architecture, which is 
 so often done in the present day, the trans- 
 verse lines of the different entablatures, 
 cornices, imposts, &c. destroy its lineal har- 
 mony, and produce nothing but confusion 
 Neither can the dome be applied to the 
 pure Grecian, though its successful combi- 
 nation with the Roman by the great Italian 
 architects, must now be regarded as classic 
 authority. In Italy, during the middle 
 ages, square towers, often detached, and 
 
143 
 
 sometimes adhering to the buildings to 
 which they belonged, were in frequent use. 
 Spires were less common, and of later date. 
 In England, high towers and cross aisles 
 were first introduced in the time of Alfred, 
 or somewhat later. The Saxon churches 
 were generally of an oblong square form, 
 semicircular at the east end, like the Koman 
 basilica. Towers formed at first a part of 
 the building, and rose little higher than 
 the roof, being intended as lanterns for the 
 admission of light ; but the general use of 
 bells is supposed to have suggested the ex- 
 pedient of raising their height. Spires were 
 subsequently constructed on those towers, 
 such as that of Salisbury, and many other 
 examples. 
 
 The modern Grecian or Eoman spire, as 
 it is called, is therefore a monster in archi- 
 tecture, unknown to the ancients. That 
 which approaches the shape of a rounded 
 tower or elongated dome, is less offensive 
 when combined with the Eoman, though 
 
144 
 
 much inferior to the grandeur and fine pro- 
 portions of the Italian dome. The real 
 tapering Gothic steeple, springing from a 
 square tower, without any adventitious or- 
 nament, has a fine effect when united to a 
 Gothic pile. 
 
 In addition to the new Churches and 
 Theatres, the extensive range of Waterloo 
 Place and Eegent Street has afforded a 
 wide field for architectural display. It is 
 certainly a great improvement, and, as far as 
 regards a spacious street, handsome shops, 
 and facility of communication, is not to be 
 surpassed by any city of Europe. The first 
 impression on viewing the long and varied 
 lines of pillars, pediments, cupolas — of pro- 
 jections and decorations, in endless succes- 
 sion of perspective, is that of surprise and 
 magnificence. To those, however, who pos- 
 sess any knowledge of the art, a more par- 
 ticular examination must be followed by 
 disgust and regret, at the bad taste and gra- 
 tuitous affectation that predominate in the 
 
 11 
 
145 
 
 greater part of the line. Grecian and Ro- 
 man beauties are literally " clustered by 
 Goths." Excepting the colonnade of the 
 quadrant, which is chaste and handsome, 
 and one or two of the facades, particularly 
 the division between Conduit and Old Bur- 
 lington Street, which are rich and elegant* 
 considered as mere architectural elevations^ 
 could we get over the incongruity of their 
 being associated with shops, overtopped by 
 mean attics, and countless rows of chim- 
 neys — there is scarcely a corrupt deviation, 
 or capricious combination in the modern 
 application of the art, that may not be de- 
 tected in this street ; viz. massy porticos, 
 and pediments, colonnades and circular 
 temples hoisted on high — pediments over- 
 topped by pediments — innumerable projec- 
 tions and recesses, stuck with unmeaning 
 columns — windows glaring under the co- 
 lonnades, through them and above them — 
 of every possible form — round-topped, se- 
 micircular, Venetian, oval, round, square— 
 
 K 
 
146 
 
 heavy balustrades, surmounted by rows of 
 half-concealed mean attics and roofs — the 
 whole liberally interspersed with Caryatides 
 and Persians, Doric, Pestum, Egyptian, 
 eastern, and nondescript pillars, with various 
 petty and fantastic ornaments and acces- 
 sories, all mixed up and confounded toge- 
 ther. They are built on a short lease. There 
 is scarcely a stone employed in their con- 
 struction. All is thin brick walls, covered 
 with plaster, retained together by beams 
 of wood, and supported chiefly by iron 
 pipes. A building, as the Quarterly Re- 
 viewers well observe, which " we know to 
 be constructed of Canada deals and cast- 
 iron pipes, daubed with lithick paint and 
 patent mastic, will never please us as much 
 as if it was raised of free-stone" 
 
 The new-buildings fronting the Regent's 
 Park, which the Edinburgh Reviewers think 
 chaste and elegant examples of the applica- 
 tion of Grecian architecture, are liable in 
 some respects to the same objections as those 
 
147 
 
 of Regent Street ; though less offensive, be- 
 cause they are not shop-buildings. The 
 pediments and colonnades of the centres 
 and wings, are heavy and disproportionate, 
 andforcedinto awkward arrangements, from 
 the necessity of subdividing them into se- 
 parate dwelling-houses. The little Grecian 
 Chapel, with its Doric portico, is most piti- 
 ful. It is easy to produce an imposing ap- 
 pearance of confused magnificence by means 
 of projecting pediments and colonnades, 
 but difficult to apply them in a chaste and 
 correct manner in buildings of that de- 
 scription. The crescent at the north end of 
 Portland Place, with its basement of cou- 
 pled columns, is, however, simple and ele- 
 gant. The private houses of the Greeks 
 and Romans were plain and modest, while 
 their public buildings shone with unrivalled 
 splendour. We seem to adopt a system al- 
 together the reverse. Our private houses 
 and shop-buildings mimic, in mock majesty, 
 the style and decoration of palaces, while 
 
148 
 
 our public edifices, comparatively plain and 
 meagre, are calculated only for convenience 
 and accommodation. It has been said of 
 the English, that their hospitals are like 
 palaces, and their palaces like hospitals. 
 It has likewise been justly observed, by 
 Mr Gait,* that their churches are like thea- 
 tres, and their theatres like churches, f 
 Private houses in streets and rows may be 
 handsome and elegant, though plain and 
 chaste. The style of decoration for such 
 buildings, whether there is one order with 
 a basement, as is now generally adopted, 
 or two after the manner of the banquet- 
 ing-house at Whitehall,:]: should never ex- 
 
 * Mr Gait's Letters from the Levant. 
 
 •J- The Doric amoug the Greeks and Romans was reserved 
 almost exclusively for Temples. In England, the Theatres 
 are generally Doric, and the Churches Ionic or Corinthian. 
 
 X Among the great number of new buildings that are pro- 
 jected and in progress in Edinburgh, elevations somewhat in 
 the style of the Banqueting-house at Whitehall, with a flat- 
 roof and balustrade, would be a good variety. The breaks 
 above the columns might be avoided, and the orders and ar- 
 rangement rendered in other respects more simple. 
 
149 
 
 tend beyond attached columns, and pilas- 
 ters with a balustrade and flat-roof. The 
 town mansions (detached) and country-seats 
 of the higher ranks, are of course excep- 
 tions : They admit of the highest decora- 
 tion, particularly the latter, which exhibit, 
 perhaps, some of the finest specimens of the 
 art in the island.* 
 
 The modern architecture of Scotland, as 
 far as regards public buildings, partakes of 
 the same general character as that of Eng- 
 land. Private houses of every description 
 are, however, much more substantial and 
 
 * It is curious to observe, while streets and rows of houses 
 are rising every year in clusters round London and Edinburgh, 
 Cheltenham, Leamington, and all the watering-places — the 
 state of the country, and the habits of modern society, are such, 
 as not only to force a large proportion of the lauded proprietors 
 to abandon their seats, resort to towns and watering-places, 
 or retire to the Continent, but some actually to pull them 
 down, and many to let or sell them to those who cannot afford 
 to keep them in repair. Wanstead House is a melancholy ex- 
 ample of the former ; Prior Park, near Bath, of the latter.— 
 It is not impossible that Fonthill Abbey may one day share 
 the same fate/ 
 
150 
 
 durable, owing to the abundance of free- 
 stone and slate — and the system of build- 
 ing leases being unknown. Edinburgh is 
 justly celebrated for its beauty and fine si- 
 tuation ; yet, it must be confessed, the older 
 part of the New Town has very little to 
 boast of in point of architectural taste. The 
 high sloping roofs, and huge garret-win- 
 dows, projecting from them without parapets 
 or balustrades, are a great deformity, while 
 the monotonous regularity of the eleva- 
 tions, uninterrupted by balconies, verandas, 
 French blinds, or anything that the eye can 
 rest upon, conveys an impression of meagre 
 sameness, and naked insipidity. Prince's 
 Street, the cross streets, and St Andrew 
 Square, are now much improved by beings 
 partially converted into shops, hotels, &c. 
 Indeed, the more this part of the town is 
 cut up the better ; and it would even be 
 desirable, that an additional story, regular- 
 ly executed, with a flat-roof, like some al- 
 ready built in Prince's Street and St An- 
 
151 
 
 drew Square, were added to the whole of the 
 northern quarter of the New Town — which 
 is horribly disfigured by those projecting 
 windows on the roofs. Charlotte Square, He- 
 riot-row, Abercromby Place, and the build- 
 ings northward, how handsome soever in 
 other respects, shew too great a height of 
 roof. Our architects would do well in this 
 particular, to imitate the plan of the houses 
 of London and Bath, the roofs of which are 
 comparatively low, and generally masked 
 by a parapet or balustrade. The inequality 
 of ground on which the New Town is pla- 
 ced, precludes, it is true, the possibility of 
 entirely concealing the roofs — but a balus- 
 trade of a moderate height would go far to 
 remedy the defect ; and would, at all events, 
 have the desired effect, when viewed from 
 the opposite side of the broadest street in 
 the city. In the new buildings now erecting 
 on Coates, Hillside, and the Earl of Moray's 
 grounds, parapets, and an improved roof, 
 are beginning to be introduced. The ele- 
 
152 
 
 vation of that range fronting the west end 
 of Queen Street, is particularly simple and 
 elegant, and may well vie with any in the 
 neighbourhood of the Eegent's Park. # 
 
 There is little variety in the Ecclesiasti- 
 cal architecture of Scotland. The modern 
 Presbyterian Church is generally distin- 
 guished by a spire or steeple, ornamented 
 in the usual manner with pillars, pilasters, 
 &c. — a scanty colonnade and portico, having 
 no connexion whatever with the rest of the 
 building — a double row of round-headed 
 windows — and a high-pointed roof, at vari- 
 ance with the angle and level of the pedi- 
 ment. The portico is sometimes wanting, 
 in which case the steeple is either attached 
 to the gable, or placed on the top of it. 
 Those recently built, differ little in charac- 
 
 * It has one fault, however, in common with many others of 
 the present day.— The order is neither Tuscan, nor Doric, 
 but a sort of meagre substitute, with an attic base, divested of 
 the distinguishing marks of either. If economy be tbe ob» 
 ject, it is but a poor saving on buildings of that description. 
 
153 
 
 ter from the English modern Church, 
 though towers or belfries, like St Pancras 
 and Marybone, have not yet been introdu- 
 ced — for it is impossible to dignify with 
 that name the miserable attempts in that 
 style, exemplified in the two new Chapels 
 of Ease, at Stockbridge and Hopepark. 
 The greatest effort of modern church-build- 
 ing, is St George's, Charlotte Square. It is 
 built on a different and more imposing plan. 
 It is surmounted by a high and capacious 
 dome, springing awkwardly, and, it is be- 
 lieved, not very securely, from a square 
 foundation. The dome is not visible from 
 any part of the interior. Instead of a pedi- 
 ment and portico in front, there is a large 
 recess or opening provided with four co- 
 lumns, without a regular entablature — a fa- 
 vourite resource among Scottish architects, 
 as may be observed in many public build- 
 ings in Edinburgh and its vicinity.* The 
 
 * Viz. The Old Bank— The New Buildings connected with 
 
154 
 
 general effect is heavy and inelegant. The 
 interior, with its concave ceiling, in imita- 
 tion of a cupola, and flattened arcades, clum- 
 sily ornamented, and loaded with galleries, 
 is equally ponderous, bearing a strong re- 
 semblance to an overgrown cellar. Yet, it 
 is but justice to say, a better taste is rapid- 
 ly gaining ground in Scotland, which, it is 
 to be hoped, will soon extend to Ecclesias- 
 tical structures. The Regent's Bridge, with 
 all its defects, is a fine range of building, 
 and is disfigured by few of the corruptions 
 and peculiarities so conspicuous in the street 
 of the same name in London.* The New 
 
 the Courts of Law — The Regent's Bridge — The Custom- 
 House, Episcopal Chapel, Leith, &c. 
 
 * The most obvious defects, besides the practice of sinking 
 the columns in a nich already alluded to, are the diversity of 
 the different levels of the corresponding parts of the respective 
 ranges, and the unusual number and crowded state of the win- 
 dows, detracting considerably from the effect of the elevation. 
 The two narrow projectingpediments on the corners — and their 
 awkwardly tall Ionic columns, are, it must be confessed, as con- 
 temptible as anything to be found in Regent Street. They 
 have likewise been made to project about 13 feet beyond the 
 
155 
 
 College of Edinburgh, altered and new- 
 modelled by Mr Play fair, from the plans of 
 Adams, promises, as a specimen of the Ro- 
 man and Italian manner, to rival the best 
 designs of Palladio and Inigo Jones. 
 
 In no country was architecture in former 
 times more encouraged or better practised, 
 according to the taste of the age, than in 
 Scotland, whether we look to her Cathe- 
 drals, churches, and religious houses, redu- 
 ced to premature ruin by the barbarous 
 
 former houses, the consequence of which is, that the head of 
 Leith Street, the greatest thoroughfare in Edinburgh, has 
 been narrowed to such a degree as to cause much inconvenience, 
 if not danger, to the public. The appropriate elevation and 
 spacious sweep of the buildings leading from Leith Walk into 
 the new street at Hillside, form a striking contrast in every 
 respect. An extraordinary clamour was some time ago rai- 
 sed against the New Buildings, North Bridge, merely because 
 they were supposed to mask the Gothic towers of the Jailor's 
 House on the Calton-hill. But in that case, the Town-Coun- 
 cil and feuars, instead of encroaching, gave an additional 
 breadth of 12 feet to the Bridge — which of itself was confer- 
 ring a great benefit on the public. Yet, the same people who 
 were so outrageous against these buildings, unquestionably the 
 handsomest shop-range in the city — and a very great improve- 
 ment when compared with old St Ann Street, never dreamt 
 of resisting an unjustifiable encroachment, and irremediable 
 nuisance, that was rising up under their very noses. 
 
156 
 
 zeal of John Knox, and the early reformers, 
 — to the splendid remains of her Royal Pa- 
 laces, which have suffered so much from the 
 shameful neglect of their keepers, and the 
 culpable apathy of Government j* or to the 
 baronial and castellated residences of her 
 nobility and gentry, some of which still re- 
 main to attest their former magniflcence.f 
 The arts of carving in stone and wood, ne- 
 cessarily associated with the introduction 
 
 * Since liis Majesty's visit to Scotland, a liberal grant has 
 been made for the repair and restoration of Holyrood Palace 
 and Chapel. 
 
 -j- In addition to Holyrood, the Kings of Scotland possessed 
 the Royal Palaces of Linlithgow, Falkirk, Stirling, Scone, and 
 Dunfermline, which, for beauty and magnificence, were infe- 
 rior to none in Europe — besides others that formed occasional 
 residences, as Lochmaben, DunstafFnage, Dunoon, Carrick, 
 Castle of Rothsey, &c. To those who have seen the fine ruins 
 of Linlithgow Palace, the opinion pronounced by Mary of 
 Guise, James the Fifth's second Queen, — " That it was equal 
 to any of the Royal Palaces of France," will not appear much 
 exaggerated. Of the noblemen's seats, Winton House, and 
 Castle Seaton, belonging to Lord Seaton — no traces of which 
 now remain, are celebrated by contemporary writers, not 
 only for their architecture, but the singular beauty of their 
 grounds and gardens. — See Blackwood's Magazine, Vol. II. 
 under the article, Stirling Heads. — Pinkerton, Vol. II. Late 
 Expedition in Scotland in 1544-.— Dalzel's Fragments. 
 
157 
 
 and continuance of Gothic architecture, 
 seem also to have arrived at great perfec- 
 tion. The Stuarts, with all their faults, 
 were munificent patrons of architecture and 
 the fine arts. But the convulsions and dis- 
 sensions, both civil and religious, that so 
 long agitated the kingdom, not only arrest- 
 ed the progress of the arts, but plunged the 
 country into a state of stupor, distraction, 
 and poverty, from which she did not begin 
 to emerge till the middle of the 18th cen- 
 tury. Within the last 40 years, however, 
 she has made unprecedented advances in 
 every department of industry and wealth, 
 connected with national prosperity. The 
 progress in the fine arts has been equally 
 conspicuous. In architecture more especial- 
 ly, the spirit of enterprize and improve- 
 ment is, at the present moment, stronger 
 than ever, and only requires to be united 
 and properly directed, to produce the most 
 successful results. 
 
 It has been asserted, that architecture is 
 
158 
 
 not an imitation of nature, and that conse- 
 quently its forms being conventional, do not 
 admit of abstract perfection, but are sus- 
 ceptible of as many varieties of perfection as 
 of destination. Were this principle admit- 
 ted, it must extend to the individual forms 
 and proportions of the respective orders, as 
 well as to their combinations. Why then 
 stoop to borrow at all from the Greeks and 
 Romans ? Why not strike at once into bold 
 and original invention, and give birth to a 
 new conventional architecture, a new order 
 of columns, entablature, mouldings — new 
 forms and combinations of arches, accord- 
 ing to the yearnings of modern genius and 
 fancy — that shall at once supersede all gro- 
 velling imitation of the ancients, and found 
 an unequivocal and legitimate claim to 
 originality ? But should the pretensions 
 of those champions of an original architec- 
 ture, not soar quite so high — should they 
 be unable, as is most probable, to emanci- 
 pate themselves altogether from the esta- 
 
159 
 
 blished elementary forms of antiquity, round 
 which their imaginations continue to linger 
 — let them not be ashamed to imitate and 
 restore the works of their masters, before 
 they attempt new styles, and original com- 
 binations. 
 
 It is unreasonable to infer, that those 
 who are desirous of restoring the Parthe- 
 non as the National Monument of Scotland, 
 are so bigotted in their exclusive admira- 
 tion of the Grecian, as to imagine it could 
 be generally applied to all kinds of public 
 edifices — though it certainly remains to be 
 satisfactorily proved, that it could not be 
 successfully adopted in many structures of 
 a simple character, and with a slight modi- 
 fication (such as not to injure its character) 
 in much of the pillared and ornamental 
 architecture of modern times. Nay, after 
 restoring some of the best specimens of the 
 Grecian, why not proceed to a few select ex- 
 amples of the Koman — preparatory to a 
 study and imitation of the most celebrated 
 
1G0 
 
 Italian masters? — Even the Gothic should 
 not be neglected, the plain and unadorned 
 style being, in many cases, well adapted to 
 country churches. In short, a system of 
 select restoration and imitation of the dif- 
 ferent kinds of architecture, beginning with 
 the Grecian as the original standard, would 
 offer the best means of ensuring the purity 
 of each ; and, by establishing a school of 
 practice for professional men, afford the 
 most effectual preparation for new combi- 
 nations and original designs. 
 
 It has been alleged as a reason for with- 
 holding the sculpture, that, to a spectator, 
 placed at a certain distance, it would be in- 
 visible. This argument might have some 
 weight, were the National Monument erect- 
 ed merely to answer the purpose of a pic- 
 turesque object, to be seen from certain re- 
 mote points of view, like a mimic temple or 
 ruin, in the pleasure-grounds of a park. The 
 station best calculated for displaying its 
 architectural beauty, will be on the Calton- 
 
161 
 
 hill itself, so near as to embrace the whole 
 structure and its details — receive the full 
 impression of its magnitude — and by suc- 
 cessively changing the points of view — en- 
 joy the varied perspective of the pediments, 
 peristyles, and porticos. This will be pre- 
 cisely the range within which the external 
 sculpture, combined with the architecture, 
 will be viewed to the greatest advantage. 
 United to the majestic elegance and severe 
 grandeur of the Grecian Doric, it will im- 
 part a richness and finished grace enchant- 
 ing to every beholder. No distant view, 
 however picturesque, could compensate so 
 great a sacrifice. Admitting the presump- 
 tion of attempting a restoration of the an- 
 cient statuary, it is surely not beyond the 
 reach of modern art to compose and execute 
 a National Sculpture, that shall resemble, 
 at least in general effect, the appearance of 
 the original. Should marble be found too 
 expensive, the best free-stone would an- 
 swer extremely well, both for the larger 
 
162 
 
 figures of the tympanum, and the relievos 
 of the metopes, and frizes. It would neces- 
 sarily correspond in appearance and dura- 
 tion with the ornaments and masonry of the 
 rest of the edifice ; and since it is impossi- 
 ble to construct the whole of marble, like 
 the ancient temple, what more can be de- 
 sired ? Mr Alison, in his Essay on Taste, 
 remarks, that the mere consideration of fit- 
 ness is insufficient to account for the plea- 
 sure which is generally derived from the 
 established orders of architecture — that it 
 arises from different causes than from their 
 proportions — and that when the proportions 
 only are considered, the pleasure generally 
 felt is not greater than what is experienced on 
 perceiving in any great work the proper re- 
 lation of means to an end. The proportions 
 of the orders are, in his opinion, distinct sub- 
 jects of beauty, from the ornaments ivith which 
 they are embellished, from the magnificence 
 with which they are executed, from the pur- 
 poses of elegance they are intended to serve, 
 
163 
 
 or the scenes of grandeur they are destined to 
 adorn — and though we are accustomed to 
 observe them in such scenes, and with such 
 additions, and are disposed to feel the ef- 
 fect of these accidental associations, he 
 thinks we are seldom willing to examine 
 what are the causes of the complex emo- 
 tion we feel, and readily attribute the whole 
 pleasure we enjoy exclusively to the architec- 
 ture itself. He concludes with the follow- 
 ing remarks, which are peculiarly applicable 
 to the present subject : — " It will be found, 
 I believe, that the real beauty of such pro- 
 portions is, in fact, not greater than that 
 which we feel in many cases where we per- 
 ceive means properly adapted to an end ; 
 and that the admiration we feel from the 
 prospect of the orders of antiquity, is ne- 
 cessarily to be ascribed to other causes be- 
 sides these proportions. The common peo- 
 ple, undoubtedly, feel a very inferior emo- 
 tion of beauty from such obj ects, to that which 
 is felt by men of liberal education, because 
 
164 
 
 they have none of those associations which 
 modern education so early connects with 
 them. The man of letters feels also a weak- 
 er emotion than that which is felt by the 
 connoisseur or the architect, because he has 
 none of the associations which belong to 
 the art, and never considers them in rela- 
 tion to the genius, or skill, or invention 
 which they display. Deprive these orders, 
 in the same manner, of their customai'y or- 
 naments, and leave only the great and govern' 
 ing proportions; or, change only in the slight- 
 est degree their forms, without altering these 
 proportions, and their beauty will be in a 
 great measure destroyed. Preserve, on the 
 other hand, the whole of the ordeis, but di- 
 minish in a great degree their scale ; and 
 though they will still be beautiful, yet their 
 beauty will be infaiitely inferior to that 
 which they have upon their usual scale of 
 magnificence. It is possible, in the form of 
 a candlestick or some other trifling utensil, to 
 imitate with accuracy any of the orders. It 
 
165 
 
 is possible, in many of the common articles 
 of furniture, to imitate some of the greatest 
 models of this art ; but who does not know 
 that their beauty in such an employment, 
 would be lost ? Yet still their proportions 
 are the same, if their proportions are the sole 
 cause of their beauty" 
 
 Even allowing that Mr Alison is dis- 
 posed to ascribe rather too small a share 
 of the emotion of pleasure we enjoy in con- 
 templating a work of architecture to the 
 mere proportions of the order, it will scarce- 
 ly be denied, that his theory and analysis 
 are founded in truth and experience, and 
 that any attempt to reduce the scale of the 
 edifice, alter its plan, or withhold its sculp- 
 tural decoration, must be attended with im- 
 minent risk of failure. Taking it for grant- 
 ed, that no alteration will be made either 
 on the scale or plan of the original Temple, 
 let us not trust too implicitly to the effect 
 of the bare architectural proportions of the 
 order, however correct, divested of its legiti- 
 
166 
 
 mate ornament. The Doric, indeed, from its 
 triglyphs, fluted columns, and massive rich- 
 ness, is, perhaps, less dependent on sculp- 
 ture than the other orders ; and we know 
 that most of the ancient, and some of the 
 later examples, had no such decoration. 
 Had the present undertaking, therefore, 
 been merely an ordinary public building, 
 in imitation of a Doric Temple, the sculp- 
 ture might have been relinquished without 
 much risk ; but where it is a National Mo- 
 nument, aiming at the highest perfection of 
 the art — professing to restore the Athenian 
 Parthenon — and assuming its very name, 
 the circumstances of the case are materially 
 changed. Though the beauty and symme- 
 try of the Doric architecture on its full 
 scale, must always command admiration, 
 yet when we recollect the object and pre- 
 tensions of the structure, and the associa- 
 tions so intimately connected with it, a bit- 
 ter feeling of disappointment and regret 
 would be the inevitable result. In vain 
 
167 
 
 would the eye wander over the pediments, 
 metopes, and frizes, in search of their pro- 
 per attributes, it would meet nothing but 
 the flat and naked mason-work of a dead 
 wall. The soul and character of the build- 
 ing would thus be irretrievably lost. In 
 short, none of the requisites — not even the 
 usual and apparently trivial accompani- 
 ments, should be omitted, that can, in any 
 degree, contribute to insure its successful 
 accomplishment — nor, for instance, does 
 there appear any good reason why the gilt 
 metallic vases and shields, which formerly 
 adorned the pediments of the ancient Par- 
 thenon, should not be replaced on the Scot- 
 tish Kestoration. 
 
 If want of funds be pleaded as an excuse 
 for abandoning the sculpture, why should we 
 despair of additional contributions coming 
 in during the progress of the work ? Suppose 
 even the worst, that there may be a defi- 
 ciency of funds — the sculpture might, at all 
 events, be retained as a part of the plan, 
 
168 
 
 though at the risk of remaining for a time 
 incomplete. The deficiency will assuredly 
 be supplied by the taste and generosity of 
 the next generation. We ought to calcu- 
 late not so much on the amount of the 
 funds already realized, as what may be an- 
 ticipated from the patriotism and spirit of 
 the nation, were the undertaking really be- 
 gun with taste and vigour. Better far that 
 it should remain incomplete for half a cen- 
 tury — nay, that it should never be begun, 
 than finished within a short period on a re- 
 duced and imperfect plan, with the funds 
 already collected. What are a few years in 
 the eyes of posterity ? A century did not 
 suffice for raising St Peter's. — The Duomo 
 of Milan, the richest and most magnificent 
 (though not the purest) Gothic of Europe, 
 second only to the Vatican Basilica in size 
 and splendour, received the contributions 
 and united labours of seven centuries, till 
 the enterprizing genius of Napoleon near- 
 ly completed it at an enormous expense. 
 
169 
 
 The unrivalled mausoleum of the Medici 
 at Florence, has remained almost three 
 hundred years in its present imperfect state 
 — yet it is not the less celebrated, nor is it 
 possible to withhold our admiration of the 
 aspiring genius and grandeur of those 
 princely merchants, who projected such a 
 monument amidst their other great and 
 splendid works. 
 
 Public expectation is naturally high and 
 sanguine, after the warm professions and 
 eloquent appeals that have been made to 
 the public, and circulated through all cor- 
 ners of the Empire, in behalf of the Na- 
 tional Monument. Let not the Directors 
 deceive themselves ; any compromise or half 
 measure, must end in certain and disgraceful 
 failure.* A heavy responsibility attaches to 
 
 * It will afford no small subject of triumph to the Quarterly- 
 Reviewers and their professional friends, to learn that the 
 boasted Parthenon of Scotland, is at last to dwindle into a 
 Presbyterian Kirk. Besides, will Mr Cockerell condescend to 
 take charge of an undertaking from which he can derive nei- 
 ther honour nor credit ? 
 
170 
 
 the Committee of Management. It remains 
 perhaps with them to decide, whether, by 
 yielding to the contracted views, bad taste, 
 and interested suggestions of a few local sub- 
 scribers, they are so to alter and modify the 
 plan, that it shall incur universal contempt 
 — turn out " a poor, meagre, and miserable 
 imitation of the Parthenon," remaining a 
 monument of eternal disgrace to themselves, 
 and never-ceasing regret to their country ; 
 or whether, by adhering to a correct and 
 and classical restoration of its great origi- 
 nal, they are to raise an edifice not unwor- 
 thy of being consecrated to God as a Na- 
 tional Christian Temple — that shall reflect 
 honour on themselves and the Empire — 
 shed an extraordinary lustre over the Scot- 
 tish Capital — and by exhibiting a splendid 
 example of fine taste to posterity, elicit the 
 admiration of the present and every suc- 
 ceeding age. 
 
171 
 
 EQUESTRIAN STATUE 
 
 OF 
 
 HIS MAJESTY. 
 
 Subscriptions to a considerable amount 
 have been collected for erecting an Eques- 
 trian Statue of his Majesty George IV. in 
 Edinburgh. It is unquestionably the most 
 elegant and appropriate mark of respect that 
 can be paid by a free and loyal people to their 
 Constitutional Sovereign, in commemora- 
 tion of the Royal Visit, of which it will re- 
 main a splendid and lasting testimonial. It 
 will likewise have a powerful effect in rou- 
 sing a taste for sculptural decoration, the 
 want of which is much felt in the northern 
 Metropolis. There are several situations 
 well adapted for an equestrian statue — the 
 
172 
 
 middle of George's Street — the centre of 
 Charlotte Square — opposite the Eegister 
 Office, or even in front of Holy rood Palace. 
 But the best and most classical site would 
 be in front of the Parthenon on the Calton- 
 hill. Far removed from the smoke and 
 bustle of the city, it would there appear to 
 the greatest possible advantage, in the midst 
 of highly picturesque scenery, and associated 
 with architecture of the noblest character. 
 Besides, when we consider the particular 
 interest his Majesty has taken in the Na- 
 tional Monument, the foundation of which 
 has been laid under his own immediate 
 patronage, such a destination must appear, 
 in every respect, the most proper andhonour- 
 able. Moreover, it would powerfully con- 
 duce to the splendour and success of both 
 undertakings. It would be strictly in unison 
 with the taste and arrangement of the 
 Athenian Acropolis, where two equestrian 
 statues, the ruins of the pedestals of which 
 still remain, anciently adorned the front of 
 
173 
 
 the Propylaea on the brow of the hill, in 
 the immediate vicinity of the Parthenon. 
 One of the pedestals still bears an inscrip- 
 tion in honour of Agrippa.* 
 
 * There is a report in circulation, that it is to he placed 
 on the northern battery of the Castle, the point from which 
 his Majesty enjoyed the view of the City, and the sur- 
 rounding scenery. It is to be hoped this measure will never 
 be carried into execution. An equestrian statue on such a 
 situation, Mould be exposed without the least shelter, to the 
 unmitigated fury of the wind and the tempest — it would be 
 shaken to its very centre by every discharge of the great guns 
 — it could be seen to no advantage from any point within the 
 Castle — nor could it be recognized to be a statue at all from 
 Prince's Street without the aid of a telescope. The Pitt Club 
 of Scotland, have already voted out of their funds a monument 
 in honour of William Pitt; yet sculpture owes nothing to 
 him, for he was never known, in the course of his public or pri- 
 vate life, to afford the least encouragement to it or any of the 
 fine arts. It is said, a certain learned Lord has proposed that 
 the statue shall be erected on the top of the new building for 
 the Royal Society, at the north end of the Mound, for the pur- 
 pose, no doubt, of protecting it from the insults that might be 
 offered to it by the Whigs and Radicals of this City. — The 
 Whig Club, it is natural to suppose, will lose no time in fol- 
 lowing so good an example — and will forthwith proceed to 
 vote, if not out of their funds, at least out of their pockets, a 
 monument to Charles Fox, perhaps in the shape of Antonine's 
 Pillar. Nay, there are a set of malignant spirits in this our 
 modern Athens, who presume to affect independence, and even 
 refuse to bow themselves down before either of those political 
 Idols. Now, it is not impossible, in this monument-voting 
 
174 
 
 The Statue, it is presumed, will be exe- 
 cuted in bronze. Chantrey is, of course, to 
 be the sculptor. Without the slightest in- 
 tention of calling in question his acknow- 
 ledged talents and genius as an artist, when 
 it is recollected how many of the modern 
 equestrian statues have turned out failures, 
 it is not unreasonable to entertain some ap- 
 prehensions of the result of a first attempt 
 in so difficult a department of the art, in 
 which he can have had little or no experi- 
 ence. As the best means of insuring suc- 
 cess, and conferring much additional interest, 
 the author would suggest, that the eques- 
 trian statue of Marcus Aurelius of the Ca- 
 
 age, that it may occur to such persons to erect a statue to Mr 
 Joseph Hume, in which event they will not foil, as a most ne- 
 cessary precaution, to pitch it at an altitude far beyond the 
 reach of all placemen, pensioners, and expectants, whether 
 Tories or Whigs. 
 
 Seriously, however, it is much to be regretted, that the 
 Equestrian Statue of his Majesty, and all the sculptural Mo- 
 numents lately voted in Scotland — to Lords Melville, Hope- 
 toun, Mr Pitt, Lord Erskine, John Knox, Burns, James Watt, 
 &e. should not be reserved for the decoration of the Scottish 
 Parthenon. They would thus acquire a lustre and renown 
 which no other destination could bestow. 
 
175 
 
 pitol, should be selected as the model, — 
 That the horse should be cast precisely 
 from the same mould — and that the figure 
 of his Majesty, in the same attitude and 
 drapery, should be substituted for that of 
 the Roman Emperor. 
 
 Few of the equestrian statues of anti- 
 quity have been preserved to modern times. 
 The most celebrated, are the Corinthian 
 and Venetian Horses — those of the Balbi, 
 discovered in Herculaneum, the two groups 
 of Monte Cavallo — and that of Marcus Aure- 
 lius. They have incurred, indeed, the severe 
 censure of many modern artists and critics. 
 Mr Falconet the French sculptor, has, for 
 instance, devoted nearly a whole volume of 
 his works to demonstrate, that his eques- 
 trian statue of Peter the Great, at St Peters- 
 burgh, is infinitely superior to that of Mar- 
 cus Aurelius, the horse of which he charac- 
 terizes as false and unnatural in his actions 
 — heavy and inelegant in his proportions, 
 though he seems disposed to allow some 
 
176 
 
 merit to the figure and attitude of the Em- 
 peror. But unfortunately for Mr Falconet, 
 posterity has not confirmed this judgment ; 
 for while Marcus Aurelius still rides tri- 
 umphant on the Capitol, attracting uni- 
 versal admiration, his statue of Peter the 
 Great has long ago been consigned to obli- 
 vion, as a work scarcely above mediocrity. 
 Allowing that the ancient equestrian sta- 
 tues, particularly the groups of Monte Ca- 
 vallo, and the Corinthian horses, are not 
 correct imitations of nature, or equal in ex- 
 cellence to the other chefs-d'aeuvres of the 
 art — the Apollo, Venus, &c. it will scarcely 
 be denied, that they are distinguished by a 
 life and energy, by a fine taste and dignity 
 — in short, by a stamp of genius sufficient 
 to redeem a multitude of faults. Those 
 qualities are more especially applicable to 
 the statue of Marcus Aurelius, which may 
 boast among its numberless admirers, of 
 Michel Angelo, (by whom it was placed on 
 its present proud situation,) Pietro de Car- 
 
177 
 
 tona, Bernini, Winckelmann, Addison, — 
 names of no small authority in works of 
 art.* It has been alleged, that the carcass 
 of the animal is too large, and resembles an 
 ox more than a horse. The body is without 
 doubt large and full, but not more so than it 
 ought to be, were it placed at a proper dis- 
 tance from the eye, which its present site will 
 not admit of. The head, neck, and limbs, 
 are finely formed ; and, on the whole, after 
 repeatedly viewing it, the author cannot 
 help being of the same opinion as a late 
 tourist, who remarks — " We should not cer- 
 tainly wish a Eoman Emperor mounted for 
 official show and ceremony on a race horse, 
 however beautiful of its kind, but we should 
 wish to see him on the back of just such a char- 
 gey' as he here bestrides, full of spirit and ma- 
 jesty, and bearing with impatience the slow- 
 
 * Even the leaden equestrian statue of Charles II. in Par- 
 liament Square, possesses a certain air of grandeur and digni- 
 ty., proceeding entirely from its general resemblance to that of 
 Marcus Aurelius. 
 
 M 
 
178 
 
 ness of a pompous procession. His limbs 
 are fine, his carcass full and close, his shoul- 
 ders strong and fleet, his neck fleshy and 
 curved, his ears pointed, quite the aures mi- 
 cantes of Virgil ; his head small in propor- 
 tion to his body, and his hind quarters broad 
 and firm. But I had almost forgotten the 
 Emperor on his back, by which I have paid 
 him a compliment, for he sits so well that he 
 seems a part of his horse. The head is no- 
 ble — the drapery well cast — the arm admira- 
 bly placed, and the legs disposed with the 
 science of a riding-master. He is well down 
 on his seat, his body thrown back, but easy, 
 and rather giving to the position of his 
 right arm ; the thighs adhere closely, and 
 follow the bend of the horse's body, and 
 the legs, from the knee to the foot, fall with 
 ease and elegance, and hang free for use. 
 The man who designed this statue knew 
 what a good horse was, and how to ride it 
 well."* 
 
 * Wilson's Tour in Italy. 
 
179 
 
 The statue of Marcus Aurelius is the 
 more interesting, from being the only re- 
 maining equestrian statue of the many that 
 adorned ancient Eome. It is reported to 
 have owed its preservation to Totila, King 
 of the Goths, who was so struck with its 
 beauty, that he ordered it to be spared. 
 
 Should the Calton-hill be so fortunate as 
 to obtain this new accession of ornament 
 and dignity, in addition to the splendour 
 of the Parthenon and its own beautiful and 
 commanding situation, it might, without 
 presumption, claim some slight resemblance, 
 in character and association of objects, to 
 the Athenian Acropolis, and the Koman 
 Campidoglio. 
 
 THE END. 
 
Edinburgh : 
 Printed by James Ballantyne & Co. 
 
RESTORATION OF THE PARTHENON. 
 
 [Trom the Scots Magazine, February 1820.3 
 
 To the Right Honourable the Lord Advocate of Scotland, Convener of the 
 Committee on the National Monument. 
 
 My Loan, 
 
 I take the liberty of addressing 
 your Lordship on a subject which oc- 
 cupies, at this moment, a considerable 
 share of public attention ; and I do 
 so in the full confidence that, when the 
 improvement or embellishment of this 
 city, or, indeed, when the public inter- 
 est in any respect is concerned, I shall 
 have a most attentive auditor in your 
 Lordship. I am further induced to 
 
 Slace your Lordship's name at the 
 ead of this letter, in consequence of 
 a belief, which I trust is well found- 
 ed, that your Lordship is disposed 
 to think favourably of the plan re- 
 cently brought before the public, I 
 mean that of restoring the Temple 
 of Minerva, commonly called the 
 Parthenon, as the National Monu- 
 ment of Scotland. Your Lordship's 
 support on this occasion, is con- 
 sidered of much value by all persons 
 of taste and public spirit in Edin- 
 burgh, in consequence of the expe- 
 rience which they have had of the 
 judgment, the activity, and disin- 
 terestedness which have marked so 
 many successful measures in which 
 your Lordship has been engaged. 
 
 So much has already been written 
 upon this subject, that it seems su- 
 perfluous to enter again into a minute 
 consideration of it ; but I beg your 
 Lordship's attention to some points 
 upon which the public seem not to 
 be quite agreed, although the ques- 
 tion has been very much narrow- 
 ed by the frequent consideration it 
 
 has met with during the last twelve 
 months. The delay also which has 
 arisen in the choice of a model and a 
 situation has been productive of ad- 
 vantage, by allowing people time to 
 reflect and to inquire into the merits 
 of an undertaking so foreign to their 
 ordinary thoughts. The effect seems 
 to be, that, with a few exceptions, 
 only one opinion prevails as to the 
 objects, and very nearly a universal 
 opinion as to the plan and position, of 
 the National Monument. 
 
 These objects are, to commemorate 
 the glories of the late arduous and 
 honourable war, by some trophy cal- 
 culated duly to minister to so splen- 
 did a retrospect; and which shall tend, 
 by its magnitude and prominence, to 
 keep alive that ardent, generous, and 
 invigorating sentiment of national ho- 
 nour, to the influence of which we owe 
 all our prosperity ; whether that con- 
 sist of military triumphs, of civil li- 
 berty, or of domestic security and 
 peace : and it ought to be such that, 
 by its symmetry and beauty, our na- 
 tional taste may be improved, and 
 thence our national manners still fur- 
 ther dignified and refined. These 
 are lofty objects, even when consider- 
 ed with reference to ourselves: but 
 every true lover of his country, what- 
 ever be his station or his party, must 
 desire to transmit such ennobling sen- 
 timents to his posterity ; and though 
 history will certainly dwell with due 
 energy upon the great events of our 
 
Restoration of the Parthenon 
 
 2 
 
 day, it is beyond its powers to inspire, 
 or, at least, to impress permanently 
 that chivalrous and enthusiastic feel- 
 ing of patriotism which a great, and 
 beautiful, and conspicuous national 
 monument is alone capable of pro- 
 ducing. 
 
 It is of importance, therefore, 
 to consider what is the fittest mo- 
 del to be adopted, since the occa- 
 sion is obviously of too great moment 
 to admit of experiment, especially as 
 we have by no means unlimited funds: 
 and we are naturally led to take the ad- 
 vice of those who are allowed, on all 
 hands, to be the best qualified, by their 
 studies and pursuits, to give a practi- 
 cally correct and safe opinion. The 
 authorities which, on this occasion, 
 are entitled to the greatest atten- 
 tion, are, men of high reputa- 
 tion as artists, accomplished classi- 
 cal travellers, and all those who, 
 without being either artists or travel- 
 lers, have given much of their time 
 and attention to such subjects. And 
 it happens most satisfactorily to be the 
 ease, that all the artists who have been 
 consulted upon this point ; the travel- 
 lers who have visited both Athens 
 and Edinburgh ; and many gentlemen 
 whom this interesting topic has sti- 
 mulated to reflection and inquiry, are 
 of opinion, that no model, of which we 
 have any knowledge, is so well calculat- 
 ed as the Parthenon, for the National 
 Monument ; and that the Caltcn Hill 
 is not only as well fitted for its recep- 
 tion as the Acropolis was for the 
 Temple of Minerva ; but that the si- 
 tuation, of which we have here the 
 command, actually possesses some 
 striking advantages in size, figure, 
 and situation, over the position on 
 which the original temple has stood, 
 the wonder and admiration of all 
 ages. • 
 
 In support of these assertions, it 
 will probably be deemed satisfactory 
 to quote the opinion of a gentle- 
 man whose reputation in this city 
 
 " It is by no means the opinion of the 
 supporters of the present plan, that Nel- 
 son's Monument should be removed, the 
 effect of that monument, with all its faults, 
 being certainly very fine. There is ample 
 room for the Parthenon a little to the 
 northward and eastward of Nelson's .Monu- 
 ment, on a spot overlooking Prince's Street, 
 towards which one end of the Temple would 
 be directed* 
 
 stands deservedly high ; and whose 
 authority is of importance in this dis- 
 cussion, since he is well known as an 
 artist, a traveller, and an amateur. 
 
 " Is it too much, then," says this 
 animated writer, after expatiating on 
 the beauties of his own romantic 
 town, — " is it too much, then, to ex- 
 pect that a fac-simile, or a restoration 
 of the Temple of Minerva, may yet 
 crown the Calton Hill, as a monu- 
 ment, to proclaim to distant ages, 
 not only the military glory, but the 
 pure taste which distinguishes our 
 country in the present ? Is it too 
 much to expect, that an enlightened 
 patronage may call up genius, kindred 
 to that of ancient times, and may di- 
 rect our native talents to efforts simi- 
 lar to those which gave splendour to 
 the age of Pericles? Such an example 
 of perfection would purify the general 
 taste of the country in all subsequent 
 undertakings, and do more to ennoble 
 the age than all the trophies of vic- 
 tory." " 
 
 Dr Clarke observes, when speaking 
 of Edinburgh, that, in order to ren- 
 der the resemblance between it and 
 Athens complete, nothing is wanting 
 but a temple of great dimensions on 
 the Calton Hill. 
 
 The authority of our best archi- 
 tects is in favour of the expediency of 
 this restoration, in preference to any 
 experimental building ; an opinion 
 which does no less honour to their 
 taste than to their liberality, since this 
 plan is the least expensive that could 
 be chosen. 
 
 That the present is a fit moment for 
 making this great addition to the beau- 
 ty and importance of the capital, will 
 be very apparent, when it is recollect- 
 ed that the public taste is not taken, 
 as it were, by surprise, but has been 
 invited to come forth, and to deve- 
 lope itself by regular, though not 
 slow, degrees. The time is not very 
 distant when the most wealthy and 
 fashionable inhabitants of this town 
 were content to reside in wynds or 
 alleys, which their servants would 
 now disdain to lodge in. A taste for 
 higher comforts having sprung up, 
 the New Town rose to gratify it ; 
 
 " Travels ir. Italy, Greece, and the 
 Ionian Islands. By II. W. Williams, 
 Esq. Edinburgh, 1820. Vol. II. p. 
 iV.i. 
 
for the National Monument. 3 
 
 this indulgence naturally begot Btill It is not necessary to detain your 
 farther refinements : and the new Lordship with any observations upon 
 churches and chapels were soon erect- the advantages which may be looked 
 ed to the great advantage and orna- for at the present moment from a 
 ment of this singular city. It was judicious cultivation of our local 
 next considered, that, to such a magni- pride in these matters ; because the 
 ficenttown, the back of the Canongate fact of our consequence, our wealth 
 was but a despicable approach, and and our useful population, having in- 
 the Regent's Bridge and the Calton creased with the improvements^'and 
 Road were formed as if by magic, embellishments of Edinburgh, is ge- 
 Then followed works of pure taste; nerally felt and admitted. It 'is also 
 the Observatory, the County Hall, evident, that our manners have been 
 the new designs for the College ; improved, and that learning, refine- 
 in short, since the public taste ex- ment, and intelligence of every kind 
 panded, in proportion as it had wor- in Scotland have been most wonder- 
 thy objects to exert itself upon, we fully advanced by the recent augmen- 
 may infer that, if we take advan- tation and improvements of the capi- 
 
 tage of the liberal spirit which now 
 prevails, and secure in the centre of 
 the city an exact restoration of the 
 most perfect model of art which the 
 world has ever seen, we shall furnish 
 our country with the means of ex- 
 tending the national taste beyond 
 any assignable limits. We are there- 
 fore, it appears, just arrived at that 
 happy moment when we can appre- 
 ciate such a buildmsr as the Parthe- 
 
 tal. 
 
 Many people are not aware of the 
 facilities which we possess for un- 
 dertaking such a work as is propo- 
 sed. In the first place, it is not gene- 
 rally known, that the freestone of 
 Edinburgh is considered, by judges 
 fully qualified to decide upon such a 
 question, as being quite as good for 
 a great building as the marble of 
 Mount Pentelicus, of which the origi- 
 
 non ; a building which, to use the nal Temple of Minerva is built. This 
 words of Mr Dodwell, " is the most stone, of which we have such an un- 
 unriyalled triumph of sculpture and bounded command, though not abso- 
 lutely white, is of as fine a colour as 
 
 architecture that the world ever saw 
 The delight," he adds, " which it 
 inspires on a superficial view, is 
 heightened in proportion as it is at- 
 tentively surveyed. If we admire the 
 whole of the glorious fabric, that ad- 
 miration will be augmented by a mi- 
 nute examination of all the ramified 
 details." * It has the further and 
 
 the Athenian marble, after it has been 
 exposed to the air; it is equally hard ; 
 it works as well under the chisel; and 
 is held to be at least as durable. To 
 these advantages we may add that of 
 the quarries being close at hand, ac- 
 tually open, and at this instant wrought 
 by experienced workmen, who can 
 
 important advantages of being con- produce with certainty blocks or shafts 
 slructid on the most durable prin- of any required dimensions. It is 
 
 ciples ; or, as Mr Dodwell says, f con 
 trived for eternity." Plutarch re- 
 marks, " That the structures of Peri- 
 cles are the more admirable as being 
 completed in so short a time, they yet 
 had such a lasting beauty ; for as they 
 had when new the venerable aspect of 
 
 further the opinion of practical men, 
 that our masons and stone-cutters 
 have acquired a neatness and pre- 
 cision of chiselling, which give pro- 
 mise of success in the imitation of any 
 sculpture whatsoever. * 
 
 In the next place, it is known that 
 
 antiquity, so now they are old, they there are, in this country, plans, draw 
 
 have the freshness of a modern work : 
 
 they seem to be preserved from the 
 
 injuries of time by a kind of vital 
 
 principle, which produces a vigour 
 
 that cannot be impaired, and a bloom 
 
 that will never fade."-f- 
 
 mgs, and measurements of the Par- 
 thenon, made with the utmost care 
 upon the spot by the celebrated Mr 
 Cockerell, by Mr Basevi, and by Mr 
 
 Saunders. 
 
 * DodwelTs Travels, Vol. I. page 321. 
 
 ■f MS. of Plutarch, in the King's Libra- 
 ry at Paris, quoted by Mr Dodwell, Vol. 
 I. page 328. 
 
 " Why, indeed, should we despair of 
 producing in this country, by due encou- 
 ragement, workmen equal to those sculp- 
 tors who executed, with such exquisite} 
 rinish, the tracery of our Gothic cathedrals ? 
 
llestoration of the Parthenon 
 
 The most important point, how- 
 ever, is the choice of an architect ; 
 and here we must allow no consider- 
 ation whatsoever to interfere with the 
 freest competition ; for, if we employ 
 an architect who does not possess, in a 
 considerable degree, the genius and 
 taste of the ancient artists, and who 
 has nothing but mechanical power of 
 execution to recommend him, we may 
 be certain that this great restoration 
 can never be accomplished so as to 
 become an honour to this age and 
 country. 
 
 But, although it were too much to 
 expect that the occasion should all at 
 once call into being a British Phidias, 
 yet it were a most unworthy determi- 
 nation to stop short because we are 
 doubtful of commanding the highest 
 degree of excellence, or to take it for 
 granted that this great and free coun- 
 try, which has produced such states- 
 men, and warriors, and poets, and 
 philosophers, and great artists in every 
 other department, should be incapa- 
 ble, upon due encouragement, of send- 
 ing forth an architect not less worthy 
 of the age in which we live. 
 
 At all events, the Committee are 
 bound injustice, not only to the sub- 
 scribers, but to the whole country, 
 not to trifle with the national reputa- 
 tion in this matter, but to encourage, 
 by every means in their power, the 
 fairest competition ; to circulate in- 
 vitations, not only to architects, but 
 to men of genius of all descriptions, 
 to come before the Committee, in or- 
 der to substantiate their claims to the 
 great honour of restoring the Par- 
 thenon. 
 
 J f this be done in an honest spirit, as 
 we feel confident, from the known cha- 
 racters of the leaders in this national 
 undertaking, it will be done; if all job- 
 bing and favour be excluded ; if a 
 sufficient time be given ; and if able, 
 upright, and public-spirited judges be 
 appointed by the Committee to inves- 
 tigate the claims of candidates, and to 
 distinguish between the mere mecha- 
 nical copyist and the man of genius ; 
 we feel assured that this appeal to the 
 country will not be made in vain. 
 
 Such, then, being the fitness of the 
 occasion for raising a National Monu- 
 ment ; the advantages of situation 
 for placing it ; the model from which 
 to copy it ; and the materials where- 
 with to construct it ; and such the 
 expectations of procuring a fit archi- 
 
 tect ; there does really appear no so- 
 lid objection to its being immediate- 
 ly adopted by the Committee, except 
 the want of funds foi so great an un- 
 dertaking. 
 
 But a moment's consideration will 
 serve to show, that this very objection 
 is, in fact, one of the strongest argu- 
 ments in favour of the immediate and 
 unqualified adoption of the Parthenon 
 as the model, and the Calton Hill as 
 the situation, of the National Monu- 
 ment. Even the lowness of the sub- 
 scription is an indubitable and strik- 
 ing symptom of the justness of the 
 public taste ; for there is no man, 
 whatever be his politics, or whatever 
 his patriotism, who ought to subscribe 
 so freely, when doubtful of the uses 
 to which his money is to be appro- 
 priated, as he would do when he 
 has a distinct assurance that it would 
 certainly be devoted to an object 
 countenanced by persons of taste, 
 knowledge, and public spirit, un- 
 der the direction of an architect 
 of genius and talents. This is not only 
 obvious a priori, but is strictly con- 
 sonant to the fact in the present case, 
 as all who have heard the subject dis- 
 cussed in company will admit. We 
 hear in every quarter people asking, 
 u What is to be the plan of the Na- 
 tional Monument ?" " Who is to be 
 employed to build it ?" Some lament- 
 ing that they have subscribed before 
 the plan was fixed ; others declaring 
 that they will not subscribe at all 
 unless the Parthenon be adopted, and 
 unless every possible competition be 
 allowed before appointing an archi- 
 tect; and many more promising to 
 double, treble, and even some very e- 
 minent individuals have been heard 
 to declare, that they will quadruple 
 the amount of their subscription when- 
 ever these important points are finally 
 settled. It is exceedingly important 
 that such feelings should not be al- 
 lowed to subside, without due ad- 
 vantage being taken of them ; and 
 the Committee may rest assured, that, 
 if they allow the moment to pass, they 
 can never hope to restore the valua- 
 ble tone which now prevails amongst 
 all classes and parties, and which on- 
 ly wants a little well-directed im- 
 pulse to give it the irresistible mo- 
 mentum, that never fails to accom- 
 pany the exercise of right public opi- 
 nion in this country. The same rea- 
 soning will apply to our settlements 
 
jbr the National Monument. 
 
 abroad, particularly in India, where 
 there is not only wealth, but a very 
 pure taste for Grecian architecture, 
 and where, as I can testify, from hav- 
 ing resided some time in that country, 
 the motives just adverted to may be 
 expected to act most powerfully. 
 
 At all events, the experiment is 
 well worth trying ; and if, in the end, 
 the funds shall not prove sufficient, 
 we shall not be in a worse predicament 
 than we are at present. But of this 
 there is little fear, because the Par- 
 thenon is considered by skilful prac- 
 tical men to be the least expensive 
 form which could be selected ; and it 
 is thought, that, for thirty or forty 
 thousand pounds, the whole temple 
 might be restored in the manner pro- 
 posed; and that, for ten thousand 
 more, suitable sculpture might also 
 be added. It is evident that, with 
 this sum, it would be hopeless to aim 
 at distinction in any other known 
 style of architecture. 
 
 And here one reflection occurs, 
 which it is right that every lover of 
 his country and of the arts should at- 
 tend to, namely, that, if the present 
 project fails, there is no hope left that 
 it will ever afterwards succeed in this 
 country. No such opportunity as the 
 present can ever arise again in our 
 day ; and it is in Edinburgh alone that 
 this great edifice can be restored ; be- 
 cause in this city, and in no other, 
 all the requisite advantages are to be 
 found. In the first place, it is in the 
 capital alone that a National Monument 
 ought to be placed ; in the next, E- 
 dinburgh is adapted most wonderful- 
 ly, by its picturesque physical situa- 
 tion, as well as by its eminent moral 
 rank in the scale of cities, for the re- 
 ception of a great Classical Temple ; 
 and, lastly, it commands exclusively 
 an unlimited supply of the finest pos- 
 sible materials. 
 
 Were the Temple of Minerva, in- 
 deed, entire, there might be some 
 doubt whether it would be right to 
 attempt such an imitation as is pro- 
 posed ; but, alas ! the original is fast 
 disappearing, and in a few years will 
 be totally lost to the world. This 
 arises, as is well known, not at all 
 from the nature of the structure it- 
 self, which is of a character to pro- 
 mise unlimited duration, but entirely 
 from local circumstances ; so that to 
 restore, and to perpetuate in this 
 country, and in a perfect manner, an 
 
 edifice which has contributed proba- 
 bly more than all the other buildings 
 in the world, to the refinement of 
 taste, were of itself an object worthy 
 of any age or country. 
 
 If, then, as is most earnestly to be 
 hoped, the Committee shall lose no 
 time in publishing to the world that 
 they have decided upon adopting the 
 model proposed, and inviting sub- 
 scriptions on that understanding, it is 
 material that they should attend to the 
 following points, without a due re- 
 collection of which, they must not 
 hope to see the subscriptions in the 
 smallest degree augmented. 
 
 It ought to be distinctly stated to 
 the public, not only that the Par- 
 thenon is to be adopted as a model for 
 the National Monument on the Cal- 
 ton Hill, but that it is not to be a 
 church. This assurance is altogether 
 essential to the success of the proposed 
 measure, as will be apparent to every 
 one who recollects, that the objects of 
 this building are to record and com- 
 memorate deeds of military renown, 
 — to foster and rouse the national 
 pride ; to keep alive that lofty and 
 daring spirit, which has for its 
 object the advancement of national 
 glory, the resistance of foreign ene- 
 mies, and, in short, the encourage- 
 ment of every patriotic and energe- 
 tic feeling which the recent war called 
 into such useful action ; and without 
 the operation of which we should pro- 
 bably have become aprovince of France. 
 
 Now, although there is nothing in 
 these patriotic feelings incompatible 
 with our religion, there is not a little 
 inconsistency, in selecting a place de- 
 voted to such objects, as a house of 
 worship. Such an appropriation would 
 be destructive of those objects, and 
 the National Monument of Scotland 
 would soon merge in the Calton 
 Church of Edinburgh: Whatever, in- 
 deed, tends to alter its original purpose 
 would infallibly lessen, and eventual- 
 ly obliterate, its effect ; and we should 
 soon cease to regard this monument 
 in the spirit which it ought to be es- 
 timated, were we to make it a place of 
 daily or weekly resort, not with a 
 view of reflecting on the national 
 objects for which it was raised, but to 
 carry our thoughts to considerations of 
 an infinitely higher and more sacred 
 character, and which have no connec- 
 tion whatsoever with the monument 
 in question. 
 
Restoration of the Parthenon 
 
 It is no answer to this to observe, 
 that, in comparison with these exalted 
 reflections, the objects of a National 
 Monument are absolutely as nothing; 
 — it is on this very account that we 
 wish to keep these feelings separate ; 
 to prevent the certain destruction of 
 the one, without the chance of advan- 
 cing the other. 
 
 But there is still another objection, 
 which, injustice to a large proportion 
 of the public, cannot be surmounted. 
 If a Church be determined on, 
 to what persuasion is it to be appro- 
 priated ? On what principle can it be 
 maintained that it should be of the 
 Church of Scotland ? Are the Episco- 
 palians not fully entitled to participate 
 in all the advantages of the National 
 Monument ? Have not all other per- 
 suasions a similar claim ? They have 
 all contributed their share to theglories 
 which this Monument is intended to 
 record ; and there ought certainly to be 
 nothing done upon this occasion to 
 imply that there is, or has been, any 
 shade of difference in national spirit. 
 In point of fact, there is no such dis- 
 tinction ; it were a libel on the coun- 
 try to suppose it possible ; and it would 
 be a wanton and profitless insult to 
 propose a measure which should vir- 
 tually take for granted so humiliating 
 and unworthy an aspersion ! 
 
 As a matter of policy, too, this idea 
 (if it ever was seriously entertained) 
 must be speedily abandoned. The 
 numerous and wealthy members of 
 the Church of England here, though 
 possessed, as we know, of the highest 
 public spirit, and the most praise- 
 worthy zeal and liberality in every 
 thing that relates to the embellish- 
 ment of Edinburgh, cannot be ex- 
 pected to subscribe to a Scotch church. 
 The same will apply, but with still 
 greater force, to all other persuasions. 
 But, while we deprecate the idea of 
 devoting the National Monument to 
 that part of our religious observance 
 which consists in periodical service, 
 we would by all means recommend 
 that the spot should be consecrated, 
 and that it should be devoted to sa- 
 cred purposes alone. 
 
 The want of a fit receptacle for 
 tombs or cenotaphs, or, indeed, any 
 kind of memorial in honour of emi- 
 nent men, has long been felt in this 
 country, and never more than at the 
 present moment. 
 
 Where, for example, it may be ask- 
 
 ed, where arc the monuments that 
 commemorate the services of Duncan, 
 of Abercromby, of Moore ? Where 
 those which tell us of the discoveries 
 of Napier, or Gregory, or Maclaurin, 
 or that are to record the celebrity of 
 our lamented contemporary Playfair ? 
 And why is the memory of such wri- 
 ters as Smith, Robertson, Ferguson, 
 or of such poets as Thomson, Home, 
 and Burns, and of numberless others 
 dear and honourable to Scotland, and 
 which, in any other country, would 
 have been consecrated by superb mo- 
 numents, thus entirely neglected in a 
 land where nationality is so deeply 
 cherished ? 
 
 England, to her infinite advantage, 
 has Westminster Abbey, and St Paul's, 
 but we in Scotland have absolutely 
 no spot on which to raise a monu- 
 ment to any of the distinguished phi- 
 losophers, statesmen, or warriors of 
 Scotland, who have so greatly contri- 
 buted to bring our country to its pre- 
 sent degree of knowledge, security, 
 and glory. In every point of view 
 this is a most important national de- 
 sideratum, and it is impossible not to 
 see how admirably it would be sup- 
 plied by devoting the National Mo- 
 nument exclusively to this sacred ob- 
 ject ; an object which, it may be re- 
 in irked, could not be accomplished, 
 were the Monument to be a Scotch 
 Church, because the usages of this 
 persuasion forbid all such appropria- 
 tions. 
 
 The value of such a public receptacle 
 for monuments in sustaining the na- 
 tional character is so well understood, 
 that it is needless to dwell upon it 
 here; but it may not, perhaps, have 
 occurred to every one how directly it 
 would contribute to the improvement 
 of taste, by the encouragement it 
 would instantly give to sculpture ; 
 for, independently of the numerous 
 monuments which public respect, 
 pride, and gratitude, would be happy 
 to raise to departed learning, valour, 
 and talents, many families would be 
 stimulated by such an opportunity, to 
 erect monuments to relatives who 
 may have fallen in the service of their 
 country. Let those who have lost 
 friends in battle recollect how conso- 
 litnry is public sympathy and respect, 
 and how dreary and comfortless is the 
 idea that so much worth and valour 
 are to be forgotten, or to be recalled 
 only to the recollection of some vil- 
 
far the National Monument. 
 
 lagc congregation, by an obscure and 
 frail memorial in a country church- 
 yard ; and let them contrast with this 
 the enthusiastic pride they would feel 
 in knowing, that the glory which their 
 family had achieved was not to pass 
 away, but was to be publicly acknow- 
 ledged, and publicly recorded, in a splen- 
 did and conspicuous monument, raised 
 for this purpose by their exulting coun- 
 try ! We may be sure that there is no 
 person insensible to these valuable e- 
 motions; our country would be low in- 
 deed were it otherwise, it being clearly 
 essential toafree country that such feel- 
 ings should exist; since, where there 
 is no ambition to be venerated after 
 death, there is no such thing as devo- 
 tion to the public service when alive. 
 There will be, and ought to be, a vast 
 variety in the kind and degree of sen- 
 timent which will prompt us to raise 
 such monuments, but the result must 
 be the same in all — the security, the 
 glory, the happiness of the .coun- 
 try. 
 
 I shall trouble your Lordship and 
 the public with oiily one other Consi- 
 deration. ^ 
 
 It has often been asked, If such be 
 really the advantages of the Grecian 
 architecture above that which is the 
 growth of this country, why have we 
 not imported/iHi^fore now ? Tlr^an- 
 swer to which is, that we were, until 
 very lately, almost entirely ignorant 
 of the existence of the fine buildings 
 of Greece, or, to speak more correct- 
 ly, we were ignorant of their extraor- 
 dinary beauty, and of their effect in 
 forming the taste and chastising the 
 judgment in all matters connected 
 with the science of architecture. The 
 descriptions of a few old travellers 
 failed altogether to strike our imagi- 
 nation ; but, in process of time, as the 
 facilities of travelling increased, these 
 splendid monuments of ancient art 
 became the objects of more frequent 
 and careful examination, and nume- 
 rous travellers returned to spread in 
 this country, by their writings and 
 drawings, as far as such means could 
 do, the enlightened spirit which they 
 had but just acquired themselves. 
 The first effect of this was, to send a- 
 broad eminent artists and men of 
 science of all descriptions. The next 
 was, to induce many enterprising and 
 public-spirited individuals to send to 
 this country such detached fragments 
 of those glorious edifices as were ca- 
 pable of transportation. The effect 
 
 on the public taste which arose out 
 of these causes has been prodigious. 
 
 But, while every one allows the im- 
 portance of these researches and these 
 collections, in a national point of view, 
 it does not appear to have been so ge- 
 nerally felt, that a much greater ad- 
 vantage would arise from trans- 
 ferring to this country, not alone a 
 few mutilated fragments of the sculp- 
 ture which has ornamented a temple, 
 but the whole, or rather a facsimile 
 of the whole temple itself. 
 
 The reason of this appears to be, 
 that, to understand to any useful pur- 
 pose the merits of Grecian architec- 
 ture, it must be seen. The effect, in- 
 deed, produced on the mind by the 
 sight of Doric temples is most extra- 
 ordinary, and not easily described. 
 It imparts, in fact, a new sense, and 
 without the aid of this the mind is 
 not fitted to receive those ideas in 
 which a right apprehension of the 
 subject consists. There is no man of 
 sense and education who has examined 
 a temple of the pure Doric style with- 
 out being strongly affected, or with- 
 out being conscious of having there- 
 by acquired an unexpected accession 
 of correct taste, and sound judgment 
 on architectural subjects. The im- 
 pression left is never to be erased, and 
 it has, moreover, the power of giv- 
 ing birth to and of cherishing a new 
 class of perceptions, which are of 
 use in improving the understanding 
 not only when it is employed upon 
 works of art, but when the objects of 
 its consideration are in any way con- 
 nected with the elegancies and refine- 
 ments of society. 
 
 It is this strong impression of the 
 magical effect, which the presence of 
 such a temple as the Parthenon can alone 
 produce, that urges the advocates of 
 the present plan to recommend its a- 
 doption so earnestly. They feel per- 
 suaded that, to place the Temple of 
 Minerva before the eyes, not of one or 
 two travellers, but of the whole pub- 
 lic, is the most certain means of cul- 
 tivating our national taste and happi- 
 ness at home, and, consequently, the 
 power and importance of our country 
 among other nations. Nothing short 
 of this, it is greatly to be apprehend- 
 ed, can produce that ardent and va- 
 luable enthusiasm which, unhappily 
 for so good a cause, has found, upon 
 this occasion, such feeble and inade- 
 quate expression. 
 
 A Tkavki.i.er. 
 
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