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The Corinthian.

ΙΠ

The Tuscan.

The Composite.

people, as four enormous masses of stone, placed thus, support

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the stupendous pile of rude stones, which are laid in without order above. These masses, as far as can be judged by comparison, are not less than twenty-five feet by twelve. At Thebes there are arches formed of four courses of bricks.

Some writers have claimed for the Etruscans the invention of the arch; it is found in their sepulchral monuments, gates, &c. The date of these people is, however, only about six centuries before Christ, whereas the great pyramid was constructed above 300 years earlier, according to the account of Herodotus.

These wondrous structures, the pyramids, as well as the temples in Egypt, which are astounding both for their gigantic vastness, and the prodigious solidity of the materials and mode of construction employed, are, to the eye accustomed to Grecian and modern architecture, utterly devoid of beauty of proportion, and uncouthly sublime.

Of the immensity of all the structures of the ancient Egyptians, we only notice the vast hall of Karnak, which is 340 feet by 170 in extent; it has 134 columns disposed in nine parallel

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rows one way, and sixteen the other, the smaller pillars being nine feet in diameter, and the larger eleven feet. In comparison with such enormous dimensions, in every respect—for the whole structure extended several thousand feet-all other works of ancient and modern architecture shrink into insignificance.

There appears, as far as we can judge, one peculiarity which identifies Egyptian architecture with that of the Israelites: before the Temple were placed a pair of colossal pillars or obelisks.

Of Jewish Art or Architecture, beyond the descriptions of the Books of Kings and Chronicles, the sole memorials in existence are the sculptured transcripts on the Arch of Titus at Rome. But every description in the sacred records, from the calf of the wilderness to the twelve oxen of the molten sea, or the lions of the throne of Solomon,-these latter the work of our Master, Hiram, evinces the taste of the former bondsmen of Pharaoh.

In Egypt, a country destitute of wood, even the most ancient erections are of stone, and were in imitation of the natural caves in which the rude inhabitant had sought a wretched shelter. In Asia, the land of the Israelites, wood was abundant, and accordingly we find from the descriptions in Holy Writ, that this material was much employed in the most sacred and important buildings; for though few details capable of giving any just architectural notions are preserved of Solomon's Temple, it is plain that cedar wood was the chief material, both for roof and columns-that is, for supported and supporting members. Hence the temples of Palestine were less durable than those of Egypt. Of this we have a striking proof in the House of Dagon, which was wholly overturned by Samson pulling down two pillars. Of course such a catastrophe could not have

occurred with a structure of stone.

In the oldest ruin existing in Asia-Persepolis-the marble columns evidently bear marks of having been connected with cross-beams of wood, and doubtless supported a roof of the same

material. Hence the easy conflagration of this abode of the Persian kings in a debauch of Alexander.

Without further speculation on the styles of Architecture of other ancient nations, as Babylonian or Hindoo, we shall enter on a rather brief description of the Science of Architecture, as first framed by the Greeks, and afterwards enlarged by the Romans.

We first describe Architecture according to the scientific arrangement accepted by artists of all countries, and the height of the columns according to the universal mode. This is followed by noticing the most remarkable samples of the Orders whose remains exist; and we close our narration by a popular account, chiefly derived from Brother Preston.

Orders in Architecture.—What is termed an Order consists of two principal divisions, the Column and the Entablature,— i. e. the upright support, and the horizontal mass supported by it; the former being divided into Base, Shaft, and Capital (except in the Doric Order, where the shaft rests immediately upon the flooring); the latter, also, into three parts, Architrave, Frieze, and Cornice. These together constitute an Order, which is further distinguished as belonging either to the Doric, or Ionic, or Tuscan, or Corinthian, or Composite.

Of the Doric there are two kinds. The Greek, the column of which is generally executed without a base; the flutings of the shaft are twenty in number, very shallow and without fillets; but some examples are fluted only at the upper and lower extremities. The capital consists of a solid-looking abacus, the uppermost member, without a moulding, but supported by a very elegant echinus moulding, which swells gradually out of the line of the shaft, having three annulets or rings at the bottom. The features of the entablature are very simple, being plain and without ornament; the triglyphs are invariably placed over the centre line of the column, except the columns at the angles, when the triglyphs form the extremity of the frieze. Other triglyphs are placed in the centre between those before men

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