Page:Architectural Review and American Builders' Journal, Volume 1, 1869.djvu/338

 278 Sloan's Architectural Review and Builders' Journal. [October, PROGRESS OF ARCHITECTURE IN THE UNITED STATES. THERE is no more conclusive testi- mony of the state of civilization of a people, than that to be found in their Architecture. The genius that flashes from Litera- ture, or from Science, may be but the reiterated proof, that God has, in all ages, gifted individuals to dazzle their fellow-mortals, as meteors are sent to show that there is something still more brilliant, than that which the mind has been accustomed to view, even in the starry heavens. Still, these emanations of monarch minds are but exceptional, at best, and are not to be taken as a prominent fea- ture in the character of a nation. Not so with Architecture. We be- hold in it the development of a people's intellectuality — the design, it is true, of one man — but, still elegancies collected from the many ; and, as displayed, form- ing an integral part of monumental progress. Should the Architect venture to erect something that does not meet the public taste — how soon, and how severely will the effort be decried ! The poet may produce poor verses, meagre in every thing ; yet the failure is not looked upon in the same light, for his abortive issue is still-born ; and lives not to draw down the criticism of the future. A distortion in Architecture is, on the contrary, a monument of humiliation to stand up in judgment against the era that tole- rated — rather than the Architect, who designed it. . How easily can we, in our day, dis- criminate between the different eras of civilization, through the vista of Ar- chitectural Styles. As, for instance, in the "dark ages," how palpable is the absence of that refined arrangement, which is born of a cultivated taste ; and h<;w distinctly do the deep shadows of its demerits individualize the dark pe- riod to wiiich it belongs. Architecture is the Acropolis of Egyptian, Grecian and Roman great- ness, without which traditional or writ- ten testimony, alone, would fail to keep their fame alive. Were it not for the architectural re- mains of Central America, would Mr. Stevens ever have been able to discover, and convince the wOrld, that a once mighty and polished people lived and flourished, where is now worse than desolation ? The Aztec race have left the solid assurance of their power in the mighty specimens of the great Art of Building, which they placed, in memo- riam, to sentinel their past. From all this we, in our day — anxiously constructing a Republic which we fondly hope will be the greatest that time has ever yet known — should look well to the purity of the great Art, which is, perhaps, to chronicle our past magnifi- cence, when other lands shall claim the sunshine of prosperity in their turn. The birth of Architecture among our- selves may be said to be of recent date. He is not an old man who can vividl}- remember when what were classically termed the Grecian and Roman styles alone were the models by which our Architects undeviatingly designed. And one or two books were the sole monitors to guide the youthful aspirant to the honors of the " Square and Drawing Pen." In those days Mr. Lefever was the leading spirit in "Modern Grecian." And, indeed, there are many remains of his peculiar genius to be found in our dwellings, which may still draw forth the award of approbation from the greatest lover of novelty. That there was grace in the ornamentation of many of the works alluded to, is undisputable.