Page:Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal, Volume 1, 1869.djvu/336

 276 Sloan's Architectural Review and Builders' Journal. [October, is not obliterated, even at the present day. That the Romans admired natural scenery, with as much enthusiasm as nations of more modern times, is mani- fest from the writings of their poets and historians. That they also considered excellence in the culture of culinary vegetables a great, or at least a praise- worthy acquirement, is evident from the fact that many of their family surnames were derived from some fruit or vege- table, in the culture of which they be- came noted. Such are the Piso, the Fabii, the Cicero, and the Lentuli. In colonizing a country, they introduced their knowledge of science and the arts among its inhabitants ; and a degree of wealth and prosperity followed in their footsteps, such as the world has rarely seen. But history informs us, that with the fall of the Republic the taste for country life was extinguished. The abodes of wealth and grandeur were ruthlessly destroyed ; and the reign of barbarism was triumphant. Pruning-hooks were turned into swords ; and the earth was cultivated only from dire necessity. Architecture was encouraged, so far as concerned the building of castles, forti- fications and other warlike structures ; and, under later ecclesiastical rule, the erection of convents and churches ; and those were considered countries of the greatest eminence, that were the richest in convents. Knowledge slept on the shelves of the fathers. The feudal sys- tem induced some activity in rural pur- suits ; but gardening was only preserved by the inhabitants of the convent and monastery, who, for five centuries, were almost the only class in Europe that employed themselves in the culture of fruits, vegetables, flowers and medicinal plants. All honor, therefore, to the memory of the monks, who, during the dark ages, preserved and handed down the designs and arts of architecture and gardening. Light again dawned upon the world, with the art of printing, about the mid- dle of the fifteenth century. The arts of peace and commerce prevailed ; and these blessings again revived the long- dormant love of the fine arts, which prosperity alone can foster. The re- mains of ancient grandeur still further increased the desire to attain former magnificence ; and Italy, during a long course of prosperity, set an example to the world, as the first of nations in intel- ligence and refinement. What political and social changes lost her this pre-emi- nence, it is not our purpose to inquire. W. S. Washington, D. C. LETTERS: IN THEIR PROPORTION AND SPACING. Ordinary observers, perhaps, would not ascertain any difference between the- form and arrangement of the characters comprising the words whereby we express onr thoughts, whether displayed in the " Letter Press " of books, the L ttering of Signs, or the : ' Plates" of Bank Notes and the National Currency. Yet these differences are very decided ; and that which is a beauty in one case is a blemish in another. In printing, such letters as A, V, W, and Y, on account of the obliquity of their members, are spaced wider than other letters, from the necessarily square form of the types. In painting, the space between the adjoining oblique limbs of A and V, would be just the same as that between the upright limbs of I and M, &c, so that, in letters of exactly the same size in the same words, sign-painting is more condensed laterally than printing. Note plates for the same sizes and styles condense more than either, for the engravers not only use the sign-painter's spacing, but also run the minor limbs of letters into one another, without division, especially in the heavy shading; and this always with a good effect and often with a very happy oue. C. J. L.