the former.

It was impossible that the abstract imitation of nature, which constitutes almost the essence of architecture, which is founded upon the most refined observations of the impressions of different objects on our senses, which indicates numberless experiments and successive trials, and which therefore requires the independence of the artist, could be developed in a country where the restrictions of religion and the spirit of routine became the dominant genius of all the arts. In positive imitation, whose existence and principles have been already traced from grottoes and hollowed subterranean apartments, the types of Egyptian architecture were unsusceptible of variety, and very remote from that which characterises invention. The monotony thence resulting was attended by another effect, that of endeavouring to correct it by a profusion of hieroglyphics. As to the other ornaments employed, they seem to have flowed from caprice, both in selection and employment, resting on no fixed principles of necessity or fitness, nor subject to any laws but those of chance. The original forms, indeed, of Egyptian architecture, unfounded, like those of Greece, on a construction with timber, would not suggest the use of ornament. Nothing seemed fixed, nothing determined by natural types. We must, however, except some of their columns, which do appear to have been formed with some regard to imitation.

89. In the architecture of Egypt we find great want of proportion, or that suitable ratio which the different parts of a body should bear to each other and to the whole. In all organised beings, their parts so correspond, that, if the size of a single part be known, the whole is known. Nature has thus formed them for the sake of dependence on and aid to each other. In works of art, the nearer we approach a similar formation, the more refined and elegant will be its productions. Solidity is abused in the works of the Egyptians; the means employed always seem greater than were necessary. This discovers another cause of their monotony. The masses of material which the country produced measured their efforts and conceptions, and their invention was exhausted by a very restricted number of combinations. Their monuments are doubtless admirable for their grandeur and solidity; but the preponderance of the latter, when carried beyond certain bounds, becomes clumsiness; art then disappears, and character becomes caricature. Though we think it useful thus to analyse Egyptian art, it must not be supposed that we are insensible to its imposing, and often picturesque, effect. It can never be revived, and our observations upon it must be understood as in comparison with Greek art, which has proved so susceptible of modification that it is not likely to be abandoned in any part of the world where civilisation has appeared.

90. Though the private dwellings of the Egyptians were not comparable with their public edifices, they were not altogether devoid of splendour. Examples of them from sculptures may be seen in Sir G. Wilkinson's work above quoted. In the towns they of course varied in size and plan. The streets were narrow and laid out with regul..rity; and the mixture, as frequently met with in eastern towns, of large houses with low hovels, appears to have been avoided. In Thebes, the number of stories were, according to Diodorus, in some cases as much as four and five. Houses of small size were usually connected together, rarely exceeding two stories. They were regular in plan, the rooms usually occupying three sides of a court-yard, separated by a wall from the street; or on each side of a long passage from a similar entrance court. The court was sometimes common to several houses. Large mansions were detached, having often different entrances on their several sides, with portals very similar in form to those of their temples. These portals were about 12 or 15 ft. high, and on each side was a smaller door. Entering through the porch, the passage was into an open court wherein was a receiving room for visitors, and this was supported by columns, and closed in the lower part by intercolumnal panels. On the opposite side of the court was another door, by which the receiving room was entered from the interior. Three doors led from this court to another of larger dimensions, ornamented with trees, communicating on the right and left with the interior parts of the building, and having a back entrance. The arrangement of the interior was the same on each side of the court; six or more chambers, whose doors faced each other, opened on a corridor supported by columns on the right and left of the area, which was shaded by a double row of trees. A sitting room was placed at the upper end of one of these areas, opposite the door leading to the great court; and over this and the chambers were the apartments of the upper story. On each side of the sitting-room was a door opening on to the street. Of course there were houses on other plans, which are given by Wilkinson; but the above conveys a sufficient idea of their general distribution. On the tops of the houses were terraces, serving as well for repose as exercise. The walls and ceilings were richly painted, and the latter were formed into compartments with appropriate borders. Some of their villas were on a very large scale, and were laid out with spacious gardens, watered by canals communicating with the Nile.

91. We close this section with a list of the principal ancient remains in Egypt (for which we are indebted to the Handbook, 1873, by Sir Gardiner Wilkinson), whose situations are marked on the accompanying map (fig. 66.). At Heliopolis, modern name Matureenh (No. 1.), a little to the north of Cairo, the obelisk of Osirtasen I., and the remains of walls

Near Cairo, on the west

Eight

and houses. bank, the pyramids (fig. 46.) of Geezeh (No 2.), Sakkarah and Dashoor. At Mitrahenny, on the east bank (No. 3.), a colossus of Rameses II.; the mounds of Memphis, fragments of statues, and remains of buildings. About thirtyeight miles above Cairo, are the mounds of Aphroditopolis (No. 4.); and on the opposite bank a false pyramid. At seventy-three miles on the west bank is Benisouef (No. 5.), where a road leads to the Fyoom; a rick pyramid at Illahoon (No. 6.), another at Hawarah and traces of the Labyrinth; an obelisk of Osirtasen I. at Biggig; with ruins near Lake Moeris, and at Kasr el Kharoon (No. 8.). Mounds at Aboo Girgeh (No. 9.), from whence a road to Oxyrhinchus (Behnesa) (No. 10.), where are mounds but no ruins. At Gebel el Tayr is an underground church. miles below Minieh (No. 11.) is Acôris (Tehneh), on the east bank, where is a Greek Ptolemaic inscription on the cliff, tombs in the rock with inscriptions on the doors, hieroglyphic tablets, &c. On the cast bank, seven iniles above Minieh, Kom Ahmar, where are mounds of an old town; at a short distance beyond is Metahara with sepulchral grottoes. 27 Nine miles further up are the grottoes (fig. 90.) of Beni Hassan (No. 12.); and about a mile and a half further on a rock-cut temple of Bubastis or Diana, At Antinoe (Sheykh Abádeh), some traces of the town, theatre, streets, baths, hippodrome, &c., erected by Hadrian. At El Bersheh or El Dayr, a grotto, wherein is a colossus on a sledge. Hermopolis magna, on the west bank ( Oshmoonayn) (No 13.), only tombs. Not far away is Gebel Toona with mummy pits and statues in high relief. At Saeed or Upper Egypt (No. 14.), the mountains recede to the eastward, leaving the river; a little beyond the village of Tel el Amarna, are catacombs, and to the north of which are the remains of a small town, and to the south the ruins of the city, having houses built of crude brick, from which a more correct idea of the ground plans can be obtained than any in the valley of the Nile. To the east are grottoes with sculptures; and on the summit of the hills an alabaster quarry. At El Hareib (No. 15., the ruins of an old town. At Asyoot (Lycopolis) (No. 16.), are ton.bs. At Gow (Antæopolis), a few stones of the temple close to the river. At Sheykh Hereedee, small caves; and a statue of a man clad in the Roman toga at the base of the mountain cut out of the rock. West of Soohag (No. 17.), is the old town of Athribis, where a ruined temple, with extensive

26

25

Assooan (28

24

30

NUBIA

32

23

34.

33

132

is

MAP OF THE SILE.

mounds, and rock-cut tombs. Opposite is Ekhmeen (Panopolis) (No. 18.), Greek inscrip

tion of Temple of Pan, and remains of other stone buildings. Extensive mounds at Mensheeyah (No. 19.) (Ptolemais Hermii); twelve miles south from Girgeh, is Abydus (Arabat el Matfoon), where are two temples and many tombs. How (Diospolis parva), a few mounds. Denderah (No. 20.) (Tentyra) has two temples (figs. 67. and 68.), in

scriptions, zodiac, &c. At Koft (Coptos), on east side, ruins of the old town, a pillar, and of

temples; and at the village of El Kala, to the north, a small Roman Egyptian temple. Koos (No. 21.) (Apollinopolis parva), no ruins. At Thebes or Keneh (Diospolis magna), on the east bank,

re Carnak and Luxor (No. 22.) (figs. 62. and 63.); on the west, tombs of the kings, private tombs, several temples, colossi of the plain, &c. At Erment (No. 23.) (Hermonthis), a temple and early Christian church. At Tofnees and Asfoon (No. 24.) mounds of old towns Esneh (Latopolis) (No. 25) possesses a fine portico (fig. 69.) cleared out in 1842, zodiac, and quay. On the east bank, four miles beyond, is El Kub (Eileithyias), ruins of a very ancient

town; the temples lately destroyed; grottoes in the mountain; and a short distance

up the valley three small temples. Edfoo (No. 26.) (Apollinopolis magna), has two temples, one cleared 1864 (figs. 50. to 54.). At Gebel Silsileh, west and east banks, are the sandstone quarries. At KomOmbo (No. 27.) (Ombos) are two temples, and a stone gateway in a crude brick wall on the east side of the inclosure, showing an earlier temple. At Assooan (No. 28.) (Syene), ruins of a small Roman temple, columns, and granite quarries, in one of which is a broken obelisk. Island of Elephanta, opposite to Assooan, is a part of the Nilometer, with Greek inscriptions relating to the rise of the Nile; a quay, and a granite gateway. At Phila (No. 29.) temples (fig. 55.), and ruins. On the Island of Biggeh, opposite Philæ, a small ruined temple, tablets, &c.

Fig. 69.

PORTICO AT ESNEH.

A

92. In Nubia, temples at Dabod (No. 30.) (Parembole), and at Kalabsheh (No. 31.) (Talmis), apparently thrown down before it was completed. To the north of the last at Bayt el Welly a small but interesting rock-cut temple, of the time of Rameses II. temple at Dendoor (No. 32. ); and one rock-cut, of the time of Rameses II., at Gerf Hossuyn (Tutzis), on west bank. At Wady Sbooah (No. 33.), a temple of the same

period, with an avenue of sphinxes, the adytum rock-cut, the rest built. At Amada (No 34.), a temple of Thothmes III.; and nearly opposite, on the east bank, is Dayr, the capital of Nubia, where is a rock-cut temple, of the date of Rameses II. At Aboo Simbel

or Ipsambool (No. 35.) two fine temples (figs. 70. and 71.) cut in the rock, of the time of Rameses II., and the finest out of the Thebes. Above the last named place there are no buildings of importance mentioned by our author.

SECT. VIII.

CHINESE ARCHITECTURE.

93. In the first chapter, the reader will remember, we have said that in the tent is to be found the type of this architecture; and one which, M. de Pauw justly observed, cannot be mistaken. We are not aware of the utility of a very minute investigation of its style, which in this country is of no importance, the decoration of gardens with imitations of its productions being no longer attempted; but as the object of this work would not be fully attained without some account of it, we propose to consider it, firstly, with respect to its principles, character, and taste; secondly, with respect to its buildings, their parts, and the method of construction adopted in them.

94. (1.) To judge of the arts of a people, we ought to be acquainted with the people themselves, the constitution of their minds, their power, their habits, and the connection of the arts with their wants and pleasures. As one man differs from another, so do these differ among nations. The desire of improving on what has been done before us, no less distinguishes nations than individuals from each other. Whatever may be the cause, this faculty does not seem to be possessed by the Chinese. Unlike their Indian neighbours, amongst whom appears an exuberance of invention, the arts of imitation in China have been bound in the chains of mechanical skill. Their painters are rather naturalists than artists; and an European, engaged on the foreground of a landscape, tells us that the criticism by a native artist on his work was confined to the observation that he had omitted some fibres and sinkings in some of the leaves of the foliage employed in it. The political and moral subjection of the people seems to have doomed them to remain in that confined circle wherein long habit and repugnance to change have enclosed them.

95. In speaking of the principles of Chinese architecture, the word is used in application to those primitive causes which gave birth to it, and which, in every species of architecture, are the elements of its character and the taste it exhibits. The imitation of the tent, as we have before observed, is the true origin of their buildings; and this agrees with our knowledge of the primitive state of the Chinese, who, like all the Tartar tribes, were nomadic. On this is founded the singular construction of their dwellings, which would stand were the walls destroyed; inasmuch as, independent of them, their roofs rest upon timber framing, just as though they had surrounded tents with enclosures of masonry. Indeed, from the accounts of travellers, a Chinese city looks like a large permanent encampment, as well in respect of its roofs as its extent. If, again, we recur to their concave sloped sides, we can arrive at no other conclusion; and though the carpentry of which they are raised has for ages been subjected to these forms, when we consider the natural march of human invention, especially in cases of necessity, we cannot believe that, in a country where the primitive construction was of timber, the coverings of dwellings would at once have been so simple and so light. Their framing seems as though prepared merely for a canvas covering. Again, we have, if more were wanting, another proof, in the posts employed for the support of their roofs. On them we find resting nothing analogous to the architecture for receiving and supporting the upper timbers of the carpentry; on the contrary, the roof projects over and beyond the posts or columns, whose upper extremities are hidden by the eaves; thus superseding the use of a capital. A canvas covering requires but a slender support: hence lightness is a leading feature in the edifices of China. The system of carpentry (if such it can be called) thus induced, will be noticed under the second head; but we must here observe, that lightness is not at all incompatible with essential solidity of construction; and whilst other materials than those which formed tents have been substituted for them, the forms of the original type have been preserved, making this lightness the more singular, inasmuch as the slightest analogy between those of the original and the copy is imperceptible. This change of material prevents in the copy the appearance of solidity, and seems a defect in the style, unless we recur to the type.

96. A characteristic quality of Chinese architecture is gaiety of effect. Their coloured roofs, compared by their poets to the rainbow, - their porticoes, diapered with variegated tints, the varnish lavished on their buildings, - the keeping of this species of decoration with the light forms of the buildings, all these unite in producing, to eyes accustomed to contemplate them, a species of pleasure which they would with difficulty relinquish; and it seems reasonable that the architecture of Europe must appear cold and monotonous to men whose pleasure in the arts is more dependent on their senses than on their judgment.

97. Taste in art is a quality of vague signification, except amongst those whose lives are

passed in its practice; neither is this the place to say, upon that subject, more than that, in the application of ornament or decoration to architecture, it must depend on the method of construction. This is not found in that whereof we are writing. With the Chinese, the art of ornamenting a building is an application of capricious finery and patchwork, in which grotesque representations of subjects connected with their mythology often prevail: yet, in this respect, they exhibit a fertility of invention, and produce beautiful abstract combinations quite in character with the general forms. Indeed, the parts of their architecture are in harmony with each other. All is based upon natural principles, and is so adapted to the few and simple wants of a nation whose enormous population alone seems to render it inde pendent of every other people, that no period can be assigned to the future duration of an architecture which, we apprehend, has existed amongst them from the earliest date of their dwelling in cities.

98. (2.) TIMBER is the chief material in use among the Chinese; that of which the country produces, the principal is the nan-mo, which, according to some, is a species of cedar; others have placed it among the firs. It is a straight thick tree, and improves with age. De Pauw says that it furnishes sticks from twelve to thirteen feet high, of useful wood; but Chambers limits it to a smaller size. Respecting its beauty and duration, all travellers agree. Davis (Description of the Empire of China) says that the man-mo is a kind of cedar, which resists insects and lime, and appears to be exclusively used for imperial dwellings and temples. It was an article of impeachment against the minister of Kien-loong, that he had presumed to use this wood in the construction of his private palace. According to Du Halde, the iron-wood, the ly-mo, is as tall as the oaks of Europe, but is less in its trunk, and differs from it in colour, which is darker, and in weight. The author does not tell us whether it is employed for columns. The tse-lau, also called mo-yâng, or king of woods, resembles what we call rosewood; but its use is confined chiefly to articles of furniture. The tchou-tse, or bamboo, grows to a g eat height in China. Though hollow, it, is very hard, and capable of bearing great weight. It is employed for scaffolding and sheds of all kinds; and the frame-work of their matted houses for theatrical exhibitions is carried up with bamboos in a few hours. It is in universal use. The missionaries inform us that BRICK has been in use with the nation from the earliest period, and of both species, — burnt and merely dried in the sun. Chambers describes the walls of the houses built of this material as generally eighteen inches thick. He says, the workmen bring up the foundations for three or four courses in solid work; after which, as the walls rise, the bricks are used in the alternate courses as headers and stretchers on the two faces of them; so that the headers meet, and thus occupy the whole thickness, leaving a void space between the stretchers: they then carry up another course of stretchers, breaking the vertical joints. STONE and MARBLE are little employed; not on account of their scarcity, for they are abundant, nor on the score of economy, for they are acquainted with the method of working them, as is proved from their use in public buildings and tombs. Neither can it arise from the difficulty or want of acquaintance with the means of transport; for we find in their gardens immense blocks introduced for the purposes of ornament; and in their marble staircases, the steps, whatever the length, are always in a single piece. The fear of earthquakes, moreover, does not appear to have been a motive for their rejection. That is rather to be found in the climate, which, especially in the southern parts, would, from the great heat and moisture, tend to render their houses unwholesome. In the scaffolding they use for the erection of their buildings, security and simplicity are the principal features; not, however, unmixed with skill. It consists of long poles, so inclined as to make the ascent easy, and is executed without any transverse bearing pieces.

99. The police of architecture among the Chinese is, to an European, a singular feature in its practice; and we cannot refrain from presenting to the reader the curious restrictions imposed upon every class in their several dwellings. Police, indeed, may be said to govern the arts of China. Its laws detail the magnitude and arrangement permitted for the lon, or palace of a prince of the first, second, or third degree; for a noble of the imperial family, for a grandee of the empire, for the president of a tribunal, for a mandarin, - for, indeed, all classes. They extend, also, to the regulation of the public buildings of capitals, and other cities, according to their rank in the empire. The richest citizen, unless bearing some office in the state, is compelled to restrict the extent of his house to his exact grade in the country; and whatever form and comfort he may choose to give to the interior, the exterior of Lis dwelling towards the street must be in every respect consistent with these laws. According to the primitive laws on this subject, the number of courts, the height of the level of the ground floor, the length of the buildings, and the height of the roofs, were in a progressive ratio from the mere bourgeois to the emperor; and the limits of each were exactly defined. The ordinary buildings are only a single story high: the climate seems to discountenance many stories. Though Pekin is in the fortieth degree of north latitude, the police obliges the shopkeepers and manufacturers to sleep in the open air under their penthouses in the hottest part of the summer.

100. The levu is a building of several stories. Of this sort are almost all the small palaces