apartments of the king and queen are separated by a gallery 138 feet long, 42 wide, and 52 high. The palace contains a small elegant theatre, on a circular plan, divided into nine compartments, with four tiers of boxes. The chapel is rectangular in its plan, with the end terminated semicircularly, and decorated with isolated Corinthian columns on pedestals, with an entablature, in which the cornice is not omitted. The marbles and sculptures throughout are of the richest kind; the apartments generally well arranged and distributed, of magnificent dimensions, and of various forms. The whole is a rare assemblage of vastness, regularity, symmetry, richness, ease, and elegance. The multiplicity of windows may certainly be a little at variance with propriety.

"But the most wonderful part of this grand work has not as yet been described. There are ranges of aqueducts of a great height, and of sufficient length to unite the two Tifati mountains near the Furche Caudine. The waters on the mountains are collected into a canal for the purpose of supplying these aqueducts, and conducted to various lakes and fountains of every description. To the embellishments,” adds Milizia, "of this royal residence are added a convenience and solidity that throw into shade all that has been done before or since." The plans, &c. of this palace may be referred to in Durand's Parallele des Edifices.

2879. Great as this work is, it would not have eclipsed the palace at Whitehall projected by Inigo Jones, and published in Kent's Designs, (see fig. 207., supra,) had the edifice, whereof the banqueting-house is not the hundredth part, been carried to completion. This palace has already been described in the First Book of this work, in turning to which the reader will find that the proposed palace consisted of six courts, and, with greater beauties of composition, would have occupied a much larger site than the palace at Caserta. 2880. We have been diffuse in the description of the last-named palace, because it contains the leading, and, indeed, governing principles, upon which the palace for a sovereign should be constructed; and from the description, the student might almost be at once led to the design of such an edifice.

2881. The designs which Bernini made at the request of Louis XIV., instigated, no doubt, by his minister Colbert, (for they were both of them lovers and patrons of the fine arts,) for uniting the Tuileries and Louvre, would, had they been executed, added another palace to which the student might have been referred for information on the subject of palaces. They may be seen in Durand's " Parallel " above mentioned, and, we think, will bear out the propriety of reference; and we fully agree with Le Grand, except in the inflated language he adopts, that "Le gouvernement qui attachera son nom a cette execution sera proclamé grand dans la posterité; il honerera la nation par les arts en reunissant ainsi les beautés eparses, incomplétes de ces deux palais, pour n'en former qu'un seul, il s'assuréra la gloire d'effacer par cette merveille celles dont, excepté les pyramides d'Egyptes l'existence n'est plus que dans l'histoire."

2882. It is almost unnecessary to observe, that the site on which a palace is to be seated must be open and free in every respect, that a large expanse of gardens should be attached to it for the use of the public as well as the sovereign, in which respect the palaces of the Tuileries and Versailles are unparalleled. All should have a royal bearing, parsimony being inadmissible in works of this nature.

SECT. V.

GOVERNMENT OFFICES.

2883. The offices of government should be designed consistently as regards their distribution and magnificence, with some respect to the power and importance of the nation for whose use they are to be constructed. Whilst on the Continent, and especially in Paris, some of the finest examples of art provide for the convenience of the different departments, the only building that can be named here in this respect are the offices at Somerset House, built by the late Sir W. Chambers. And herein so mean and indifferent to the arts has of late been every set of ministers in this country, that but for the appropriation of the eastern part of the site to a joint-stock college, it is probable the river front would never have been finished.

2884. The nature of the disposition of government buildings must of course depend on the particular department for which the building is destined, full information on which must be had in every particular before the architect can begin to imagine the building to be designed. The most ample space should be allotted to them, and no rooms for the performance of the duties attached to the department should be allowed above the first story over the ground floor. The public, indeed, ought not to have to ascend or descend even one flight of steps. The access to the different apartments should be spacious and easy;

the quadrangles, where they are necessary, should be ample, so as to afford abundance of light and air; porticoes should be provided for the shelter of the public who have to transact business, and the façades should be in a broad simple style.

2885. Without intending any affection of the fanciful style adopted by their architect, we would, in this country, point to the mode in which the offices at the Bank of England were disposed and planned by the late Sir John Soane, and the beautiful method of lighting, as highly valuable studies for the architect. The skill here exhibited by him, if not obscured by his successors, and the restless desire of change that the directors seem to exhibit, will be lasting monuments of that architect's ability, however disfigured his designs may have been by the caprice of their ornaments.

2886. The splendour of the government offices in this country seems, in every case, to be in an inverse ratio to the renown of the department. Thus, let the Admiralty be the example for consideration, and it would be difficult to decide which was worst, the interior or the exterior. On the Treasury jumble of buildings, it would be difficult to bestow a serious word. If the country be too poor to accomplish all the works at once which would be necessary for putting us in possession of buildings worthy the country, surely designs on a proper scale for rebuilding all these edifices might be made, and rigidly adhering to the designs approved after due consideration, portions might be annually executed, so as to distribute the outlay over a series of years. But we regret to say that we fear any hints under this section will be thrown away, while political parties are contending for power, and consider the comfort of the public and the promotion of the fine arts subjects of comparative insignificance. The source of the evil is in the nature of the constitution; and though, speaking as Englishmen, we do not wish to see that changed, yet we think a little more absolute power, under which there is invariably less jobbing, would be in some measure beneficial to the arts.

2887. We have hinted that there is no government building to which we should wish to refer the reader, Somerset House excepted. In Paris he will find an abundance of examples. The Admiralty there, a recent building of the most simple exterior, on which there are neither dolphins, tridents, nor anchors, as in that near Charing Cross, is a stupendous mass of building, well calculated for the narrow street in which it stands, to which it imparts unmeasured dignity. The Garde Meuble, as it was formerly called, in the Place de la Concorde (formerly de Louis XV.) is one of the most beautiful compositions in Europe. This is, perhaps, an example rather too florid for imitation (we do not mean in lines, but in spirit) in this country, though it is known that a well and richly-designed building costs little, if any, more than a bad, ill-digested one. The Mint of Paris is another of the French government offices worthy of the nation. But we need not multiply the instances, Paris being now almost as well known to the Englishman as London itself. It is, however, to be recollected that in France all the government buildings are of as much interest to the government in the provinces as in its metropolis, and that the great hospital at Lyons, by Soufflot, is not surpassed in Europe. In England, we know not one that approaches it.

SECT. VI.

COURTS OF LAW.

2888. A court of law in this country, speaking in more senses than one, but chiefly, here, to preserve the gravity of our work architecturally, is a building in which every one, whose business unfortunately leads him to it, sits in pain, the judges and counsel excepted. Attorneys, witnesses, jury, and audience, or public, are equally doomed to be pent up and cramped like the poor sheep at Smithfield, or a sailor in the bilboes, if that punishment be still in existence. The practice is infamous and inexcusable; it originates not with the architect, but with the government, which affords neither space nor money for the erection of courts suitable to the administration of justice, though the public are, by a pleasing assumption of the administrators of the laws, supposed to know all the decisions that take place in them, and treated by an answer to those that plead ignorance, which, but from the little of their proceedings that oozes out by that useful organ, the public press, would really be the case — “ Ignorantia non excusat legem." It came out in evidence before a committee of the House of Commons on the late rebuilding of the courts at Westminster, that Sir John Soane, their architect, was told by a chief of one of the courts then proposed to be built and since executed, that his court, as planned, would be quite large enough to hold all that had any business there; rather a strange dictum for a personage whose duty, sitting on the judgment-seat, was to tell the people that their unaffected ignorance of the laws he was sworn to administer was no excuse for violating the law which might bring them before him.

2889. We have thus prefaced our short observations on this section for the purpose of impressing on the mind of the architect who may be called on to furnish designs in the provinces (for in London there is not much chance of his employment on such an occasion), that there are other persons who have equal right to as good accommodation as the judges and the bar, who are extremely well paid for the duties they perform; the parties to which we allude being the jury who are to decide upon the evidence, the witnesses from whom such evidence is derived, the attorneys whose instructions to counsel are from instant to instant necessary for the proper conduct of a case, and, though last not least, the public, who have an undoubted right to be present, not only because they are entitled to instruct themselves, as the axiom requires, that they may not be ignorant of the law, but because, in this country, the conduct of the judge himself may be open to public opinion, and his character properly transmitted to posterity, and estimated by the public.

2890. After the foregoing remarks, we apprehend it will be scarcely necessary to impress on the mind of the architect the importance of providing an ample space for the audience or public, rooms for jurymen in waiting, and full space for the latter when they are placed in what is called their bor, so that the pain of the body may not distract the mind from the evidence of the witnesses and the charge of the judge. The artist, therefore, must be careful to supply such accommodation as shall render the office of all parties engaged a pleasing duty rather than an irksome task.

2891. To every court of law should be attached a large vestibule or salon, sufficiently large to afford a promenade for those of all classes engaged in the courts. In Westminster, bad as the courts are, this is well provided in the magnificent room called Westminster Hall, to which had the courts that open on it been in character our opening observations had been spared. It is almost needless to observe that apartments and accommodation are to be provided for the robing and occasional refreshment of the judges, the bar, and the different officers attached to the court. In courts for the trial of felons it may be necessary, if the prison has no communication with the court, to add some few cells for securing criminals. This, however, will be dependent on the circumstance mentioned, and should be provided accordingly.

2892. In these, as in other buildings where there is often congregated a great number of persons, the entrances, and at the same time outlets, should be increased in number as much as convenience and the situation will permit; and another indispensable requisite is, that the court itself should be so placed in the design that no noise created on the outside of the building may be heard in the interior, so as to interfere with the attention of those engaged on the business before them.

2893. In the provinces the observations we have made may be of some use to the student, and on this ground we have thought it our duty to offer them..

SECT. VII.

TOWN HALLS.

2894. The town hall of a city or town will necessarily vary with their extent and opulence. In towns of small extent it should stand in the market-place; indeed, in a large proportion of the towns of this country the ground floor is usually on columns, and forms the corn market of the place, the upper floor being generally sufficiently spacious for transacting its municipal business. Where the sessions or assizes, as in cities, are held in the town hall, it is necessary to provide two courts, one for the civil and the other for the criminal trials; and in this case the observations on courts of law in the preceding section equally apply to this in that respect.

2895. In cities and corporations where much municipal business occurs, the number of apartments must of course be increased to meet the exigencies of the particular case; and, if possible, a large hall should be provided for the meetings of the corporation. A certain appearance of its being the property of the public is the character to be imparted to it, and this character must be stamped on the disposition as well as the elevation. Thus, on the ground floor of the first class of town halls, courts, porticoes, or arcades, and spacious staircases should prepare for and lead to the large apartments and courts of law on the first floor. Every means should be employed in providing ample ingress and egress to the persons assembling. Fire-proof rooms, moreover, should be always provided for the records and accounts belonging to the town. The exterior of the building should not be highly decorated, but designed with simplicity, yet with majesty, as it is an index to the wealth and importance of the place for whose use it is erected.

2896. For the disposition of these buildings the student may turn with profit to the examples abroad, in which, generally, apartments are provided for every branch of the

government of the city. Durand, in his Paralléle des Edifices, has given several examples, among which that of the city of Brussels is a beautiful instance of the application of Gothic to town architecture. It was commenced at the beginning and finished in the middle of the fifteenth century, having a tower and spire which, together, rise upwards of 360 feet from the level of the place. The interior of this edifice presents all the accommodations which are required for a municipality; and the principal façade, though a little disfigured by the tower not rising in the centre of it, is composed with great unity, harmony, and simplicity. Though rich, the ornaments are introduced with great order and symmetry, and the system of design pervading the front is by pyramidal masses, whose effect is exceedingly light though bold.

The

2897. The most celebrated of town halls in Europe is that of Amsterdam, erected during the first half of the seventeenth century by Van Campen. The design is given in Durand's Paralléle, and also forms the subject of a volume, in folio, published in Holland; the cost of its erection was more than thirty millions of florins, and the fabric stands, they say, on 13,659 piles, which were required from the marshy nature of the ground. plan is nearly a square; it is 282 feet long and 255 feet wide, and its height is 116 feet. To describe the disposition of the plan would be impossible; it can only be comprehended by reference to it. The ground story in the principal façade forms the basement on which rises an order of Corinthian pilasters, containing two ranges of windows; then an entablature, and above that a repetition of similar pilasters, containing two ranges of windows. The latter are simple, having no ornament except a festoon between each range. At the angles are two pavilions, ornamented with four pilasters, and in the centre one with eight, which projects forward a little. On this a pediment rises ornamented with historical bas reliefs, and thereover, more distant, is an elegant cupola for the clock. Instead of one large principal entrance there are seven small ones, alluding, as it is said, to the seven united provinces; and it is also pleasantly said that the smallness of the provinces are typical of the smallness of the doors.

2898. We cannot, however, laud the composition of this building, which, by the way, encloses the bank and public treasury. Its merit consists mainly in the disposition of the plan, the restraint in decoration, and the good construction of the work, whilst its imposing effect results from its magnitude as a mass. The use of the Corinthian and Composite orders for such a building was almost an abuse, for their proportions vary so little from each other as almost to create confusion between the two. Again, the similarity of the subdivision in the two stories, each divided into two ranks of windows, produces a cold monotony. The windows too, without architraves, have an effect as mean as the festoons which are introduced between the windows are insipid. Neither will the excuse given for the seven small doors justify the introduction of such poverty in a building whose dimensions are so great, besides their appearance seeming to give strength to the impression that they are only entrances to the basement story. The student, on the subject of town halls, may be referred also to those of Antwerp and Maestricht and Louvain. And here we cannot refrain from alluding to the works we noticed but a little time past in the restoration, and indeed completion, of the Hotel de Ville at Paris, first commenced in 1533 on the designs of François de Cortonne, in what is now called the style of the renaissance. The additions which became necessary in consequence of the extended business of the city are executing in the same style, and will present one of the most picturesque features of the city. Such an occasion as this is a legitimate one for the employment of the style of the renaissance, and not in the trumpery stuff that appears in the country, without any solid reason for its adoption. The interior of this building, with its court or quadrangle, is not without grandeur; and the interior distribution of it, with its beautiful staircase, is a sufficient proof that what the Germans and their admirers now denominate "æsthetics" in art was well understood and practised in Italy, France, and even England, on the renaissance, whilst their country, as respects architecture, was in a state of barbarism. We regret we have not the opportunity of referring to any town hall in England which meets in all respects what we deem the requisites of such a building. We do not say that none such exist, only that it has not come to our knowledge.

SECT. VIII.

COLLEGES.

2899. A college, which is an establishment for the education of young men, generally consists in this country of one or more courts or quadrangles, round which are disposed the rooms for the students, with the chapel, library, and eating hall; apartments for the head of the establishment and for the fellows; a combination room, which is a spacious apart

ment, wherein the latter assemble after dinner; kitchen, buttery, and other domestic offices, laitrines, gardens, &c.

2900. In these particulars, we are speaking of English habits, for on the Continent the college is quite a different sort of thing. As, however, we consider the best instruction to the student will be concise information on those which exist, we shall shortly mention the most celebrated abroad and in England.

2901. At Rome, the college formerly that of the Jesuits, now the Roman College, is a very large edifice, simple in character, as this species of building seems to demand. Its length is 328 feet, and its height, without the attic, 87 feet. Two large gateways are placed in the middle compartment, and form the entrances to the building. In these there is nothing particularly to admire, nor in the façade generally, which is encumbered, from the nature of the edifice, with a great number of windows. The great quadrangle is, however, one of the finest in Rome, consisting of two stories of arcades, a distribution particularly applicable to buildings of this class, and which we are surprised has never found adoption in this country. In these galleries the different classes or lecture rooms are placed, under their divisions of literæ humaniores, rhetoric, and philosophy. Had the building been finished as Ammanati designed it, there would not have been in Italy a finer structure nor one more suitable to its destination. It has, by the alterations from the original plan, been much cut up; yet it is a magnificent pile of building, consisting of corridors, dormitories, gardens, refectories, and other accessories, which, with the church which forms a part of the plan, occupy a circuit of upwards of 1500 feet. The other buildings in Rome which pass under the name of colleges are not to be considered as establishments for education, being destined to the study of theology and other sciences: such are the Propaganda and the Sapienza, which last is one of the finest modern buildings of the eternal city.

2902. At Genoa is a magnificent college, which was formerly the palace of the Balbi family, by whom it was given to the Jesuits for a place of education; but, from the original destination of the building, it possesses none of the essential character which belongs to an edifice of this class.

2903. Paris, we believe, still contains nine colleges, hardly one whereof, says the author of the article " College" in the Encyclopedie Methodique, deserves notice. The same writer says that in England alone are found examples of what a college ought to be; and from all that we have seen on the Continent, we believe him to have come thereon to a correct conclusion.

2904. The universities of Oxford and Cambridge furnish a study for the architect in this class of building nowhere else to be found; and though the greater part of their colleges are extremely irregular in plan, they are generally convenient in disposition and highly picturesque in effect. In Oxford, the most regular in plan is Queen's College, and this is of modern construction, having been commenced as late as 1710, and in the Italian style. We are not, however, about to describe the style, which is not an example for study, but the disposition of the building. The principal front stands towards the High Street. The whole site on which the college stands is 300 feet by 220, which is divided by the chapel and hall on the right and left of the intervening building into two spacious courts. The south court, which is that nearest the street, is 140 feet long and 130 broad, having an arcade round it on the south, east, and west sides. Over that on the west side are two stories, which contain the apartments of the fellows, those of the provost, and a gallery communicating with the hall and common or combination room. The east side, which is uniform with that on the west, comprises the apartments for students of the society, and on the north side are the chapel and hall. The south side of the court or quadrangle has no dwelling in it, but is composed of a decorated wall, in whose centre is the great entrance, above whose arch an open cupola stands upon columns, and under the cupola the statue of Queen Caroline, the consort of George II. The interior court or north quadrangle is 130 feet by 90. On the north, east, and south sides are provided apartments for the members of the society, and the west is occupied by the library: the entrance to it is by a passage between the hall and chapel. The dimensions of the hall are 60 by 30 feet; those of the chapel are necessarily, as to width, the same, but it is 100 feet long. The library, which was completed earlier than the rest of the building, is 123 feet long and 30 feet broad. That the student may form an idea of the accommodation afforded on the site described, it may be taken as holding about 170 persons, including the provost and fellows, whose apartments, of course, occupy a considerable portion of the space. Hawksmoor is, as we believe, the architect; certainly, as far as we can judge, not Sir Christopher Wren, to whom some have attributed it.

2905. We have no intention to pursue the description of the colleges in either of the universities. We have selected the above as a model of disposition only, because, as we have hinted, it is in very bad taste: so bad, indeed, in that respect, as to be a model for avoidance. We shall, however, give a few more memoranda as to the parts of colleges in existence, here merely observing that a bed and sitting room, both of moderate dimensions, are as much as can be afforded to the students of the establishment.