angles; a Latin cross has the upright limb much longer than the transverse one; and a St. Andrew's cross resembles the letter X.-J. W. L.

Patent Lever Flooring Cramp.. Can you, or any of your readers, give me a description of this instrument? I saw it a few years back in the National Repository, and thought it seemed a very useful invention.-T. W. Barnsley, Yorkshire. Ash-pans and Hearths. Would it not be a good plan to have ash-pans, or the part of the hearth under the grate, slope backwards, so as to throw the ashes as far back as possible? Tredgold recommends some things of the kind in his treatise On Warming and Ventilating, &c. Id.

Towel Stands.- Might not a towel stand be fixed on the top of the washingstand, in the same manner as a rail is often affixed to sideboards? Where room is wanted, it would take up no additional space, and would protect the wall or paper. Id.

A Gothic Arch, of great Antiquity and Curiosity, is said to have been discovered, in the crypt of the cathedral at Armagh, by that eminent Gothic architect, Mr. Cottingham. Has any account of it been published, and where? Will you oblige your readers by a notice of it? A general impression rests on my mind that the cathedral at Armagh was either rebuilt or repaired by the father of the learned Mr. Ensor, now a resident in the neighbourhood of that city; but perhaps I am mistaken. I should be glad if some of your correspondents would set me right. Investigator. Glasgow, March, 1834.

We have applied to Mr. Cottingham respecting the arch at Armagh, and hope to be able to give some account of it in our next Number.

Cond. Street Architecture. Which is in best taste, the mode of treating street houses singly, as in Oxford Street, or collectively, in elevations embracing several fronts, as in Regent Street? I recommend this subject, as a most important one, for discussion in your Magazine. — B. London, March, 1834.

ART. VI. Obituary.

DIED, lately, at Milan, the Marquis of Cagnola, a celebrated architect in that city. To this distinguished artist we owe, unquestionably, the most remarkable architectural monument of the present age. We allude to the triumphal arch which, at the end of the road over the Simplon, forms the entrance to the town of Milan. This arch, admirably adapted from the antique, is, from the elegance of its proportions, the purity of its form, the merit of its execution, and the richness of its materials, far superior to any thing else which we possess of the same kind. Destined by Napoleon to serve as a memorial of his triumphs in Italy, it has, of course, changed its object since Milan has been under the Austrian government. Its execution was, indeed, long delayed; but its author had the pleasure of living long enough to see it finished, and to know that he left behind an admirable work to bear witness of his architectural skill.

The following anecdote will show the enthusiasm which the Marquis of Cagnola felt for his art. Some years ago he came by inheritance into the possession of a very considerable fortune; and, satisfied with the competence which he had obtained by his profession, he devoted the whole of the fortune to which he had then succeeded to the construction of a villa, of which he had conceived the project many years before. In this villa he has endeavoured to realise all that luxury and good taste could imagine of perfection for such a species of residence. This work, which offered a wide scope to his imagination, occupied him so completely, that there is reason to fear it shortened his life.

Independently of the fortune that the Marquis of Cagnola acquired by his professional labours, he obtained several titles and dignities. He was made chamberlain of the Emperor of Austria, and Chevalier of the Iron Crown. (La Propriété, vol. ii. p. 138.)

THE

ARCHITECTURAL MAGAZINE.

MAY, 1834.

ORIGINAL COMMUNICATIONS.

ART. I. On the Causes of the different Kinds and Degrees of Taste which different Persons possess in Architecture. By the CONDUCTOR. HAVING pointed out (p. 49.) what we consider to be the means of forming a just and correct taste in architecture, we shall now endeavour to show the causes of the different kinds and degrees of taste which different persons have in that art.

We have stated that, architecture being chiefly an art of reason, all persons of common sense may acquire a just and a correct taste in it; but as architecture is also, to a certain extent, an art of feeling and imagination, a perfect taste in it must not only be just and correct, but delicate, intense, and refined. Delicacy and intensity depend principally upon organisation; and refinement, conjointly on organisation and intellectual cultivation. We shall first offer a few remarks on each of these qualities as far as they relate to taste; and next point out some of the causes which operate on individuals so as to prevent the taste of any one from attaining that perfection which ought to be the beau idéal

of all our endeavours.

A delicate taste, it will be evident to every one, must depend on the delicacy of the organisation of the individual; it cannot, therefore, be communicated by instruction, except in a very limited degree. It is very difficult for a person, who is without delicacy of taste in any art, to conceive what it is, and in what manner it operates on any individual. Some idea, however, may be formed by every one for himself, by reflecting on the difference between common feeling, in any matter where the passions or affections are concerned, and what is called delicate feeling. The difference between an ordinary taste for architecture and a delicate taste, is not less great than between common and delicate feelings in ordinary life. A delicate taste in architecture will be sensibly affected by objects and details which would pass unnoticed by those who had merely a general taste, or even a taste just and accurate. To recur to the example we formerly gave of a Corinthian portico: a man of just taste would approve of it as a whole, and, if his taste were also correct, he would examine and approve or disapprove of the details; while a man who to a just and correct taste adds a

delicate one, would be sensibly affected by the mass of deep shade produced by the projection of the portico from the body of the building; the soft gradations of shadow on the dark side of each particular column; the lights softening into these shades on their light sides; the contrasted forms of the mouldings in the cornices; and the harmonious blending of light and shade among the foliage and other ornaments of the capital. Delicate taste is affected in this way, merely from the impressions made upon its organisation by the forms presented to it, without reference to the historical associations, either general or individual, which are, or may be, connected with a Grecian portico; but, when these are taken into consideration, there are a thousand ideas that will arise in the mind of the spectator of delicate taste, that would not occur either to the general observer, or to the observer possessing a taste in architecture merely just and

correct.

The intensity of taste, like the intensity of passion of any kind, depends also on the organisation of the individual. Passions and affections, every one knows, may be strong, without being delicate: and their strength will be found to depend chiefly on the strength of the organisation, or, in some cases, perhaps, upon the excitability of the nervous system. At all events, no one will deny that neither delicacy nor intensity of feeling can be communicated by instruction; though these feelings, like all others, may be so far taught as to be simulated by those by whom they are unfelt. Intensity of feeling, in the common matters of life, is indicated by the party being so enraptured with some one single quality in an object, as to overlook all the others; or with the general impression, so as to overlook the beauties or faults of the details. In architecture, intensity of taste is evinced by the rapturous admiration of a building, for the display of some particular quality which characterises it: say, for example, its grandeur: and this rapture is, perhaps, carried to such an extent, as to prevent the party from seeing faults that would be obvious to a taste which did not possess intensity, or which, to intensity, added a certain degree of delicacy and correctness. Intensity of feeling with respect to any art, when the party possessing it is willing to submit to intellectual cultivation, may generally be considered as the prototype of excellence; but, on the other hand, when this intensity of feeling is so great as to overpower the judgment, and when the will of the party is too weak to submit to that degree of intellectual cultivation which would bring it under due control, it becomes a positive defect in

taste.

A refined taste is one which is naturally either delicate or intense and which has been purified and corrected by the exercise of reason and reflection. There can hardly be such a

thing as a naturally refined taste; because the very idea of refinement implies the exercise of cultivation; or, in other words, the power of controlling and adjusting feelings and sentiments, by a consideration of all the various circumstances to which they are related. In general, it may be stated that no first feeling is to be depended upon, until it has been tested by an appeal to the reasoning faculties. First tastes, first passions, and first feelings of every kind, whether they are delicate or intense, are always more or less indiscriminate. A young enthusiastic architect is in raptures with whatever comes before him. He gives way to the excitement of his feelings, because these are keenly alive to impressions; while his reasoning powers are, in a great measure, dormant, from his being deficient in a knowledge of those principles of architecture by which alone the reason, as it relates to that art, can be exercised. There is always, however, hope for enthusiasm ; as it is seldom found unconnected with considerable powers of mind. Wherever we find a delicate taste, therefore, or even an intense one, however crude it may be at first, if the party be endowed with common sense, and willing to improve, it may be rendered a refined one.

A perfect taste, it thus appears, includes a just taste, which is one founded on reason; a correct taste, founded on rules; a delicate taste, founded on a delicate organisation; an intense taste, founded on powerful passions or affections; and a refined taste, founded on intellectual cultivation superadded to delicacy or intensity of feeling. No one person can have any taste in architecture, whose taste may not be classed under one or other of these heads; and no one can have a taste approximating to perfection, in which all these qualities are not united in a greater or less degree. The union of these qualities in the same mind may be considered as the beau idéal to which the artist and the critic ought to aspire; but which, from the conditions inseparable from human nature, he can never absolutely attain.

The principal circumstances which prevent individuals from attaining a perfect taste in architecture may be included under the heads of locality, education, public opinion, fashion, and received prejudices.

The influence of locality on a taste for architecture is much greater than might be at first sight imagined. If we suppose an individual with a taste just, correct, delicate, intense, and refined, living in a country where any particular style of architecture prevailed, we must perceive that he would hardly be able to avoid certain prejudices in favour of that architecture. For example, if he lived in a country where almost all the churches and cathedrals were in the Gothic style, as in England, he could hardly avoid entertaining an opinion that that style is particularly

adapted to churches and cathedrals; and if he went to Italy, or to Russia, where he would find ecclesiastical buildings everywhere built in the Grecian or Roman manner, he would consider them gloomy and unsuitable. In like manner, a man of architectural taste, living in a country where the houses have flat roofs, or roofs of very low pitch, as in the higher class of dwellinghouses in Italy and England, could, if he were travelling through a country where all the houses were high-roofed, as in the greater part of Germany, hardly avoid disliking them, from his prejudice in favour of low roofs. The Italian artist who was the biographer of Winkelmann relates that he, though a German, after residing many years in Rome occupied solely with the study of the fine arts, became so prejudiced in favour of flat roofs, that, when passing through Switzerland, on his road to his native country, he could not be reconciled to the high roofs of the cottages, though he was told that they were necessary to prevent the snow, when melting, from penetrating the roof. Now Winkelmann appears to have been a man, notwithstanding his prejudices, whose taste was both intense and refined, though it was far from being just, as may be learned from the following passage:

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"From Verona, we proceeded to the Tyrolean Alps. When we reached the first defile of the mountains, I observed that Winkelmann suddenly changed countenance: he then said to me, in a pathetic tone, See, my friend, what a horrible country; what terrible heights!' A short time afterwards, when we had entered on the German territory, he cried out, What poor architecture! Look at those roofs, how steep they are!' This he said with so much vehemence, as strongly to express the disgust with which these objects had inspired him. At first I thought he was jesting, but when I found that he was in earnest, I replied, that the height of the mountains had a grandeur which charmed me; and that, as to the steepness of the roofs of the houses, this ought rather to shock me, who was an Italian, than him, who was a German. Besides,' continued I, we must judge of all things relatively; in a country subject to heavy falls of snow, these high steep roofs are indispensable.'" (Vie de Winkelmann, p. cxxviii.)

We see, by this example, that the great in art and taste, as well as the great in wealth and worldly influence, are not more exempt from prejudices than the little. We consider it of importance to be aware of this; because the prejudices of those who are looked up to with respect are apt to mislead men who cannot, like Winkelmann's Italian friend, exercise their reason.

It is easy to conceive the influence which the prevalence of any particular style in any given locality will have on architectural taste, however good it may be in other respects; and the