Page:A history of architecture on the comparative method for the student, craftsman, and amateur.djvu/336

 ENGLISH ARCHITECTURE. ANGLO-SAXON, ROMANESQUE (NORMAN), AND GOTHIC. " Diffused in every part, Spirit divine through forms of human art, Faith had her arch, — her arch when winds blew loud, Into the consciousness of safety thrill'd ; And Love her towers of dread foundation, laid Under the grave of things. Hope had her spire Star high, and pointing still to something higher. " — WORDSWORTH. I. INFLUENCES. i. Geographical. — The position of England may well be considered unique. " England, bound in with the triumphant sea, Whose rocky shore beats back the envious siege. This fortress built by nature for herself Against infection and the hand of war : This happy breed of men, this little world, This precious stone set in the silver sea, Which serves it in the office of a wall. Or as a moat, defensive to a house. Against the envy of less happier lands.' Shakespeare, Kichani II. England being an island with natural harbours, and lying opposite the rich and populous plains of Europe, owed much of her development to the intercourse effected by her ships. Isolation by the sea has had two alternating influences, for it has assisted in the development of purely national characteristics, and by giving rise to an incurable habit of travelling, has led to the importation of continental ideas in architecture. ii. Geological. — The geology of the country is, in soine way, responsible for the special character of the buildings in different parts of England, thus the transport of stone by sea was an