Page:An Encyclopædia of Cottage, Farm, and Villa Architecture and Furniture.djvu/27

 JNTRODUCTION. 3 The influence of Architecture on taste and morals has been argued, ina masterly manner, by Dr. Dwight, when speaking of what he saw of its influence in the towns of New England. Speaking of a city which had, when he saw it, in the beginning of the present century, been twice ravaged by fire, this admirable author observes, that though the tenants of the houses which were burned were, in many instances, sufferers, yet the town and the proprietors gained much. " The town," he says, " has already been improved not a little in its appearance, and will probably be much more improved hereafter. There are persons who will imagine this to be a matter of little consequence. I wish them to consider for a moment the following hints : — " There is a kind of symmetry in the thoughts, feelings, and efforts of the human mina. Its taste, intelligence, affections, and conduct, are so intimately related, that no preconcertion can prevent them from being mutually causes and effects. The first thing powerfully operated on, and, in its turn, proportionally operative, is the taste. The perception of beauty and de- formity, of refinement and grossness, of decency and vulgarity, of propriety and indecorum, is the first thing which influences man to attempt an escape from a grovelling, brutish cha- racter ; a character in which morality is effectually chilled, or absolutely frozen. In most persons, this perception is awakened by what may be called the exterior of society, particu- larly by the mode of building. Uncouth, mean, ragged, dirty houses, constituting the body of any town, will regularly be accompanied by coarse, grovelling manners. The dress, the furniture, the equipage, the mode of living, and the manners, will all correspond with the appearanceof the buildings, and will universally be, in every such case, of a vulgar and debased nature. On the inhabitants of such a town, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to wors a conviction, that intelligence is either necessary or useful. Generally, they will regard both learning and science only with contempt. Of morals, except in the coarsest form, and that which has the least influence on the heart, they will scarcely have any apprehensions. The rights enforced by municipal law they may be compelled to respect, and the corresponding duties they may be necessitated to perform ; but the rights and obligations which lie beyond the reach of magistracy, in which the chief duties of morality are found, and from which the chief enjoyments of society spring, will scarcely gain even their passing notice. They may pay their debts, but will neglect almost every thing of value in the education of their children. " The very fact, that men see good houses built around them, will, more than almost any- thing else, awaken in them a sense of superiority in those by whom such houses are inhabited. The same sense is derived, in the same manner, from handsomer dress, furniture, and equipage. The sense of beauty is necessarily accompanied by a perception of the superiority which it possesses over deformity ; and is instinctively felt to confer this superiority on those who can call it their own, over those who cannot. This, I apprehend, is the manner in which coarse society is first started towards improvement ; for no objects, but those which are sensible, can make any considerable impressions on coarse minds. On these grounds I predicted to my friends in this town a speedy change for the better in its appearance, and in the character and manners of its inhabitants. I have since seen this prediction extensively fulfilled." — (Travels in New England, vol. ii. p. 202.^ " The connexion of Architecture with the other fine arts," says the critic, in the Foreign Quarterly Review, " and the convenience of knowing at least as much of it as will enable us to judge how far the accessories in a picture are correct, where buildings are introduced, are too obvious to be insisted upon ; neither is it necessary to expatiate on the superior advan- tages possessed by the traveller who has qualified himself, by a competent study oi the subject, for enjoying the local beauties of the cities he visits. It might be conceived that the additional interest which an acquaintance with the various styles of Architecture imparts to historical studies, and the kind oi memoria technica furnished by the various reminiscences connected with celebrated buildings, would alone form a sufficient reason for directing the attention of the youthful pupil to such studies." — Foreign Quarterly Review, April, 1831. " He who criticises every fine building which he sees," observes one whom we consider the most philosophical of British architectural authors, " with a sincere desire to find out whatever in it is excellent, bringing everything to the test of his own unbiassed feelings and judgment, will form to himself a habit, profitable, not only when applied to Architecture, but to every subject on which the human understanding is exercised." — Wood's Letters of an Architect, Preface. By the principles of Architecture, many persons understand nothing more than certain established rules and precedents, drawn from the ancient buildings of Greece and Rome ; and, for the greater part, comprehended in the study of the orders used in Grecian and Roman temples. ' Are not those orders everything — the all in all of Architecture ?' say such persons. " Tlie whole science," observes the critic before quoted, " is commonly