Mr. Austin of London; the plans of these gentlemen being entitled to the same, according to the rule laid down by the board. Notwithstanding this, the plan which the parish au thorities have recommended for adoption is not the plan which obtained the first premium, but the plan of a favourite candidate, who did not adhere to the instructions given him, but deviated from the same, by exceeding the sum proposed to be expended by upwards of 2000l.

Now, Sir, can this be called fair competition? Is it not unjust and dishonourable on the part of the judges in this competition, to lay down instructions for the guidance of all competitors in preparing their plans, and then to deviate from them for the purpose of adopting the plans of a favourite candidate? The terms of the competition should, in all cases, be strictly adhered to by the candidates, as well as by all judges in competitions of this nature; and, if this rule had been followed up in the present case, I am confident a very different decision would have been

come to.

From this, and other communications on the same subject in this Magazine, it appears to me quite necessary that something should be done by the profession, to put a stop to such unprincipled decisions as those in question; and, if all my professional brethren would agree to act upon some general rules in cases of competition, such as those stated in page 325. or 377., I am of opinion it would afford that protection to the profession which is essentially necessary for its welfare, and be the means of instituting fair and impartial decisions in all cases of competition.

I should hope that all my brethren will take this matter into consideration, and assist those who have already used their abilities to remove the evils complained of: for my own part, only wish for a "fair field and no favour;" and, when this old adage is fully adhered to, it must follow that merit alone will be the rule of decision in all cases of competition.

Yorkshire, August 31. 1835.

ART. IV. Old Fuller's Ideas on Building. Communicated by J. A. PICTON, Esq., Architect.

DIPPING the other evening into old Fuller's Holy and profane State, a singular book, but full of acute and shrewd remarks, I met with the following chapter, "Of Building," which I have been at the trouble of extracting, in the hope that, if you print it, it may amuse the readers of the Magazine as much as it has done me. Most of the observations are quite as applicable at the present day, as they were at the time of their being

written (the reign of Charles I.). If you think the extract worthy of insertion, be kind enough to preserve the orthography of the original, or it will lose much of its quaintness and piquancy. 28. Warren Street, Liverpool, Feb. 18. 1835.

"Of Building.

"He that alters an old house is tied as a translatour to the original, and is confin'd to the phancy of the first builder. Such a man were unwise to pluck down good old building, to erect (perchance) worse new. But those that raise a new house from the ground are blame-worthy if they make it not handsome, seeing to them method and confusion are both at a rate. In building we must respect Situation, Contrivance, Receipt, Strength, and Beauty. Of Situation,

"Chiefly choose a wholesome aire. For aire is a dish one feeds on every minute, and therefore it need be good. Wherefore great men (who may build where they please, as poore men where they can) if herein they prefer their profit above their health, I refer them to their physitians to make them pay for it accordingly.

"Wood and water are two staple commodities where they may be had. The former I confess hath made so much iron *, that it must now be bought with the more silver, and grows dayly dearer. But 'tis as well pleasant as profitable to see a house cased with trees, like that of Anchises in Troy:

quanquam secreta parentis

Anchisæ domus arboribusque obtecta recessit.'

Eneid, ii. 32.

"The worst is where a place is bald of wood, no art can make it a periwig. As for water, begin with Pindar's beginning, apiσTov Ev dwp. The fort of Gogmagog Hills, nigh Cambridge, is counted impregnable for want of water, the mischief of many houses where servants must bring the well on their shoulders.

"Next a pleasant prospect is to be respected. A medly view (such as of water and land at Greenwich) best entertains the eyes, refreshing the wearied beholder with exchange of objects. Yet I know a more profitable prospect, where the owner can only see his own land round about.

"A fair entrance with an easie ascent gives a great grace to a building where the hall is a preferment out of the court, the parlour out of the hall (not as in some old buildings), where the doores are so low pygmies must stoop, and the rooms so high, that giants may stand upright. But now we are come to Contrivance.

* Alluding, I suppose, to the great consumption of charcoal in smelting iron, before coke began to be used.

"Let not thy common rooms be severall, nor thy severall rooms be common. The hall (which is a pandocheum) ought to lie open, and so ought passages and stairs (provided that the whole house be not spent in paths). Chambers and closets are to be private and retired.

"Light (God's eldest daughter) is a principal beauty in a building yet it shines not alike from all parts of heaven. An east-window welcomes the infant beams of the sun, before they are of strength to do any harm, and is offensive to none but a sluggard. A south-window in summer is a chimney with a fire in't, and needs the screen of a curtain. In a west-window in summer time toward night, the sun grows low and over familiar, with more light than delight. A north-window is best for butteries and cellars, where the beere will be sowr for the sun's smiling on it. Thorow-lights are best for rooms of entertainment, and windows on one side for dormitories. As for Receipt,

"A house had better be too little for a day, than too great for a year. And it's easier borrowing of thy neighbour a brace of chambers for a night, than a bag of money for a twelvemonth. It is in vain, therefore, to proportion the receit to an extraordinary occasion, as those who by overbuilding their houses have dilapidated their lands, and their states have been pressed to death under the weight of their house. As for Strength,

"Countrey houses must be substantives, able to stand of themselves. Not, like city-buildings, supported by their neighbours on either side. By strength we mean such as may resist weather and time, not invasion, castles being out of date in this peaceable age. As for the making of motes round about, it is questionable whether the fogs be not more unhealthful than the fish brings profit, or the water defence. Beauty remains behind, as the last to be regarded, because houses are made to be lived in, not lookt on.

"Let not thy front look a squint on a stranger, but accost him right at his entrance. Uniformity also much pleaseth the eye; and 'tis observed that free-stone, like a fair complexion, soonest waxeth old, whilst brick keeps her beauty longest.

"Let thy office-houses observe the due distance from the mansion-house. Those are too familiar which presume to be of the same pile with it. The same may be said of stables and barns; without which a house is like a city without works, it can never hold out long.

"Gardens also are to attend in their place. When God (Genesis ii. 9.) planted a garden eastward, he made to grow out of the ground every tree pleasant to the sight, and good for food. Sure he knew better what was proper to a garden, than those, who now adayes therein only feed the eyes, and starve both taste and smell.

"To conclude, in building rather believe any man than an artificer in his own art for matter of charges, not that they cannot, but will not be faithful. Should they tell thee all the cost at the first, it would blast a young builder in the budding, and therefore they sooth thee up till it hath cost thee something to confute them. The spirit of building first possessed people after the floud, which then caused the confusion of languages, and since of the estate of many a man."

ART. V. A few Observations on Church Towers.
BRIGDEN, Esq., Architect, Bristol.

By EDWARD

PERHAPS there are few tasks of greater difficulty to the architect, than that of adapting a tower to a church designed in a classical style, whether it be Grecian, or Roman, or a modification of either. This difficulty is sometimes equally felt in a new building, where the architect has the power, in some degree, of adapting the structure to the tower, and the reverse, as in adding to a building already erected. In the Gothic style of course no difficulty exists, as tall spiry forms are its main and prominent features; but in classical architecture the lines are horizontal, and a lofty tower erected on such a composition must produce emotions of an unpleasant kind, as harmony, a principle of paramount importance, is entirely violated.

We know that the vulgar prejudice is in favour of lofty towers, and that an architect is sometimes compelled to sacrifice his own ideas of propriety to please the taste of the many: not that aspiring towers are to be objected to, for I consider them to be the greatest beauty of which a city can boast; but that we should endeavour to adopt some plan by which the incongruity of placing perpendicular lines in such a connexion with those of a purely horizontal nature may be avoided.

It has often been noticed, that the most objectionable practice is to raise a tower above (or rather upon) a temple, or an adaptation of the temple form. It seems difficult to determine why the form of a temple should be such a favourite with our modern architects, considering the general inapplicability of such a structure to the uses of a Christian church: for the beautiful peristyle must be abandoned; windows must be introduced in the flanks; and the roof must be anything but what appeared on a temple of antiquity: to say nothing about the necessity, perhaps, of obtaining accommodation for a peal of bells; to provide which accommodation a tower is often placed on the apex of the roof, and appears to be supported by it. In buildings of this kind, two inconsistencies are winked at; namely, this incongruity of the roof seeming to be the foundation of the steeple,

and the want of accord in the main lines of the two parts of the edifice. This has, doubtless, led to the idea of raising a superstructure above the church, immediately at the back of the portico, that rises pyramidally, and upon which the steeple is placed of this an example may be seen in the church in Eaton Square. It may be admitted that this contrivance prevents the tower from appearing to rise out of the roof; but then it gives an air of great depression to the portico, especially when viewed in front; and the discordance between the different lines is not avoided.

If a temple form be observed, no more should certainly be placed on it than a small turret; and this not a little temple, adorned with columns, that can have no possible appearance of being any useful appendage, or of performing any useful office, but a light ornamental accessory of subordinate character; for columns in towers generally suggest the idea that they are the only ornaments architecture can command in such a situation. A contrivance might be adopted to conceal the bell behind the tympanum, and thus a considerable saving in expense might not only be effected, but the means afforded of adding some additional richness to the body of the church, which no one who has noticed many of our modern churches would have cause to regret.

If the portico, instead of extending the whole width of the front, consisted only of four columns, a tall tower would be less objectionable, as the outline of the portico would approach nearer to the vertical (at least, in comparison with a hexastyle portico). But if the tower be carried up from the ground, the eye, in following up its outline without interruption, is not offended by any want of harmony. This we shall find to have been the practice, in most cases, of the architects of the time of Queen Anne; and it is to be observed, that they always made the lower part plain and bold, the whole composition increasing in lightness as the pile ascended.

The Italian method of erecting the campanile separately from the church might, I think, be adopted with success in many cases; and our church builders would not be altogether without authority, as there are examples of this nature in England of considerable antiquity. The architect, in this case, would not be confined in his design, and the public taste for tall belfries would be gratified at the same time.

Bristol, Aug. 5. 1835.