The Press. — London, England, 1854-02-04 00:00:00

tation of a state of occasional difficulty into absolute destitution. We have perhaps dwelt too long on this p or tion of his work. The course of his inquiry leads him to seek the origin . of mediaeval cem ar. c ; - c hit e cture, whether Byzantine or Sara and he admits their common descent from the classic, though passages might be . cited which s eem to assign them an originality to which decidedly they have no claim. The Greek orders were adopted, altered, and debased by the Romans. The arts of the lower Greek empire were imported from Rome considerably degenerated from their ancient mod '1; but they for a time preserved harmony in propor tion and beauty in form, first by imitation and afterwards by robbery. A single step conducts us from the debased Roman to the style called Byzantine, which is nothing more than a clumsy attempt of artists without taste and dexterity to imitate the fine models of antiquity. The degenerate Greeks soon lost, however, the fine feeling for proportion which had been better preser ved in Italy, and which is so remarkable in the northern Gothic. The principle of classic architecture, at its best period, is simplicity of design and moderation in ornament, the real and apparent utility of ever y constructive member, perfect harmony of proportion, and the nice adjustment of the void and solid. In the Byzantine style, on the contrary, the effect is painfully visible to ennoble a faulty and mean design by au excess of superficial decoration, and by this means to procure the effect which the ancients sought by size and beauty of proportion. The materials for the new buildings were supplied (and perhaps the design suggested) by the Roman baths, temples, and villas which were at hand. Statues and bas-reliefs were removed from a heathen temple to decorate a Christian church, or perhaps to become the idol wor shipped on the altar. All theories which assign an independent and original existence to Gothic architecture may be ingenious and poetical, but are erro neous and fantastic. Nor are we more inclined to accept Mr. iluskin's derivation of the pointed arch, its principal characteristic, from the gable.—Vol. 1., chap. x. Gables have ever existed, and the first example must have been coeval with the first attempt at habitation, when two poles were bent together to form a sloping roof to turn a shower or afford pro tection against the midday heat. The pointed arch was obviously suggested by the intersec tion of two semicircular curves, but its strength, convenience, and beauty were instantly recog nised by an imaginative people, eager for no velty and restrained by no classical prejudices. The enrichments of this beautiful style were borrowed from the Corinthian order : the columns, though exaggerated in height and clustered in groups, stand on bases of various members, and are surmounted by capitals bearing distinctive evidence of their origin. The Gothic architects, having made this ac- ' knowledgment to their classic predecessors, may fairly claim the merit of originality in the varied combinations of existing materials, in the new principles which they developed, and the sprightly audacity with which they raised up difficulties only to overcome them. In Italian Gothic beauty of detail was more prized than fine proportion or general effect. Classic tradition, in fact, encumbered the free dom of Gothic development. The principles of each are different and irreconcilable. The vertical tendency of the one can never be har monised with the lateral extension of the other, and the attempt to combine them must ever fail. The pointed arch and the narrow va ultin g , inseparable from the Gcthic style, the Italian always regarded as a barbarism, which, though fashion compelled him to adopt, he was ever ashamed of and anxious to discard. At Rome, where classic tradition was strongest, and classic remains most numerous, there are no specimens of pure Gothic ; very little at Florence ; more certainly at Venice , from its near neighbourhood to Germany, but even there we have . few examples of clustered piers. The Corinthian pillars will be usually found supporting a pointed arch, and the in fluence of the Eastern type renders Venetian Gothic peculiar and abnormal. The period of Gothic architecture, accord ing to Mr. Ruskin. lasted from the middle of -., THE PRESS. the thirteenth to the beginning of the fifteenth century. But the prosperity of Venice, so far from declining with the introduction of the R ena i ssan ce architecture, did, in fact, rise with it ; and it was during the fifteenth century, while she made the largest strides towards her supremacy in Italy, that some of the most magnificent buildings, both private and pub lic, were founded. The following century found her strong enough to make head against that European conspiracy known as the league of Cambray ; and during two succeeding centu ries, amidst the apathy of all other Italian states, she alone resisted the domination of Spain, and opposed a bulwark against the encroachments of Turkey. So far from piety having diminished during this period, as Mr. Ruskin supposes, the Church did much to purify itself from the foul reproaches that had been cast upon it, and its ministers improved both in zeal and decorum of life. The Venice to which these days of peace gave rise is the Venice of romance and poetry ; the Venice which now delights us compounded of the collective beauties of many ages, which Mr. Ruskin terms " a stage dream that the first ray of daylight must dissipate to dust. No prisoner whose name is worth remember ing, or whose sorrows deserved sympathy, ever crossed The Bridge of Sighs,' which is the centre of the Byronic ideal of Venice; no great merchant ever saw that Rialto under which the traveller now pas th us turbs wi n reathless Lord interest."—Vol. 11., p. . Let to Byron's lines : But unto us she bath a spell beyond Her name in story. • • • • Ours is a trophy which will not decay With the Rialto. Shylock and the Moor, And Pierre, cannot be s wept away. Childe Harold, Canto lv. The buildings which Mr. Ruskin pronounces " the efflorescence of decay," and which still exist in monumental solidity, are certainly most indissolubly connected with the fate of the ideal personages which Lord Byron thinks The so interesting to Englishm en. It is true The Giant's 'Staircase did not exist when Marino Faliero was executed ; but the iinagi nation is no antiquarian, and will never con sent to separate the tragedy from the magnifi cent scene in which it is supposed to have been enacted. It was upon the island of Rialto, and within sight of the bridge, that Antonio took his walks of meditation and rated the Jew with his usuries ; but, if at that period the political importance of Venice was diminished, her merchants were amongst the richest (which we suppose means the greatest in Europe) ; and, though Mr. Ruskin can feel no sympathy with the sufferings of men who have lived since the fall of "pointed Gothic," Lord Byron is quite correct in fixing his own poetical associations amidst modern Venice. Jaffier and Pierre crossed the Bridge of Sighs on their way from prison to trial; and Schil ler's Ghost-seer walked amidst the maskers in St. Mark's, and frequented the gay casinos in its neighbourhood. (To be continued.) Letter to John Bright, Esq., M.P., on the India Question. By James Wilson, Esq. London : Edward Stanford. MR. JAMES WILSON, " twenty-five years' resident in Bengal," was not examined by the Indian committee of last year, as he evidently ex pected to be,—a circumstance which does not prepossess him in favour of that over-worked and much-enduring body. He accordingly gives us his testimony in pamphlet-form ; and, although totally dissenting from his strictures on the committee (which he describes by im plication as both ignorant and prejudiced, if not packed), wo are very glad to have the support of a competent witness for the views of Indian policy which we have uniformly advo cated. Mr. Wilson does not think—nor do we —that Sir C. Wood's bill has done much for the people of Hindostan. To throw open the civil service to competition is good as far as it goes, but until natives are systematically em ployed and fairly remunerated the root of the evil remains untouched. To the coN:enanted or exclusive service Mr. Wilson is not partial. As a class, he says, " they may be well edu " cated, and as pure as the English bar," but SATURDAY, they want professional experience, and have the faults of a corporate body, " pride of rank, " bigoted partiality, zeal for their order, and " hatred of interference from without." This picture is strongly coloured, but we cannot deny the resemblance ; and there is an equally unpleasant admixture of truth in what fol lows :- I will briefly picture the career of one of these young men of educational qualifications. He arrives at, say Calcutta, having iu a great measure forgotten the little smattering that ihe ever acquired of the dead language— Sanserit, which s supposed to qualify him for the Indian bench : he is surprised to find himself exalted to a rank of which he had no conception when he left England : feels himself already one of an exclusive and imperious aristocracy, and the conviction of his elevated position is confirmed by the deference of those who crowd around him ;—the shopkeeper's door flies open at his appearance, the usurer is - liberal in his credit, and all who have any thing to gain, now or hereafter, profess themselves his dearest friends, or devoted slaves. From the day of the date of his commission the lad draws some 341. a year : able or otherwise, indolent or energetic, this is the point from whence he starts; and his advance throughout con tinues as regular and unchecked as the years of a mail's life. So jealous are his peers of the condemnation of one of their number, that his punishment is almost unknown ; his trial and conviction are rather in his favour. A judge condemned by the Court of Directors for open fraud in the performance of his judicial duty is deprived of an appointment yielding '2,3001., and is installed in another worth 6,0001. per annum. This one instance is given as au illustration where twenty could be added. It will help to show the impressions deeply implanted in the native mind, that opposition to such a power is hopeless, and even a murmur, ruin. In a short period after his arrival, the future ruler passes a slight examination, and is, to keep him out of further harm's way, sent up to one of the interior districts, and placed wider the nominal guardianship of a province magistrate, who presides sole arbiter over •from one to three millions of inhabitants. This functionary, it might have been supposed, had quite enough on his hands before, with such a jurisdiction ; but it seems that, when the duties are already so extensive as to be I2eyond the power of one man, a little additional burden is of no consequence. • • • • • The language of the court is not the dialect of the people. The evidence, therefore, of the witnesses, the ac cuser, and accused, must be taken in writing, by a natiN e examiner, and the whole proofs of the most trivial assault, or the foulest murder, are carefully arranged by a man who receives tau shillings a month! A douceur modifies the evidence materially. When all is ready, the papers are read aloud by the head native functionary, while the young magistrate is drawing a horse or a ship on some blotting paper, or hacking the table with his penknife. At the conclusion, the bench intimates to his sable mentor to give a " suitable order." We cannot follow Mr. Wilson into all the details of judicial administration, but his sketch of the daragah, or native sergeant, is truthful. It may be proper to remark that this official, on whose report the magistrate decides, receives a salary notoriously below the importance and cost of his position : The sergeant, ou receiving instruction to do so, pro ceeds to the neighbourhood where the assault, robbery, or murder, has been perpetrated. Himself carried on the shoulders of four men, with eight others in attendance, to relieve each other, he is preceded and followed by a long train of baggage•carriers, paid police on horseback, and unpaid on foot,—the watchmen from the nearest villages on his route swell the length of the Indian file, and the inhabitants tremble at the impending storm which may perchance break over themselves. If he passes on with his train, they satirically remark to each other that the " carrion is somewhere, when the vultures are on the wing." This potent official, on his arrival at the place of his destination, causes the wealthier rank of inhabitants to be brought to him. The country is swept for four or five miles, and each victim is only released by a timely offering of money. If the case which he investigates be of a serious nature, he proceeds to put all suspected parties to the torture, and, if that does not bring a confession, he sets to work to prove it against those who are too destitute to pay for their release. To convey under the garments of a policeman some utensil, not the property of the man whose house is searched, is an easy matter, and, while he secures the person of the accuser, the hired witnesses and the victims, he concerts with the enemy of the latter the safe wording of the evidence, and the bearing of his re port. The cavalcade, after some days' residence, at the expense of the neighbourhood, returns to the police station, now lengthened out further by a string of witnesses, and pinioned prisoners ; the sergeant, who receives two pounds ten shillings a month from the State, has probably pocketed fifty by the venture. This routine must be gone through iu the most trifling cases as well as the most im portant. Months elapse befo re a decision is come to, and it is then often a wrong one :— No man could have his servant punished for the appro. priation of a pound of sugar withou t la y in g out six or seven pounds and dancing attendance on the court for three or four months. I have known a case of common assault tope ten months, and then the innocent were imprisoned. With an indigent and agricultural people, such tribunals are the most terrible curse that could be inflicted upon them. Indeed men seldom seek them to obtain redress. An accuser, torn from his fainily,—eho subsisted on his 111 liallitn %...11. , ‘Liat. ....,.........4 ... prized than fine proportion or general effect. Edward btantoru. to the torture, and, if that does not tiring Classic tradition, in fact, encumbered the free- MR. JAMES WILSON, " twenty-five years' resident sets to work to prove it against those w ho are too destitute dom of Gothic development. Th e p rinci p les in Bengal," was not examined by the Indian to pay for their release. To convey under the garments of each are different and irreconcilable. The committee of last year, as he evidently ex- of a policeman some utensil, not the property of whilethm liiie secures h ho th u e s e i e s rs s e e n ai n v f h t e h d e , vertical tendency of the one can never be her- petted to be,—a circumstance which does not i ac a cuse an a r asy the in h a ir ti e e d r, witnesses a and monised with the lateral extension of the other, prepossess him in favour of that over-worked the victims, he concerts with the enemy of the latter the and the attempt to combine them must ever fail. and much-enduring body. He accordingly safe wording of the evidence, and the bear in g of his re- The pointed arch and the narrow vaulting, gives us his testimony in pamphlet-form ; and, port. The cavalcade, after some days' residerece, at the inseparable from the Gothic style, the Italian although totally dissenting from his strictures expense o f the ne i g hbourhood, returns to p tne o li e se s s tati always regarded as a barbarism, which, though on the committee (which he describes by im- ripw . lengthened out further by a string of witnesses, fashion compelled him to adopt, he was ever plication as both ignorant and prejudiced, ten shillings a month from the State, has probably pocketed if pinioned prisoners ; the sergeant, who receives two pounds ashamed of and anxious to discard. At not packed), wo are very glad to have the fifty by the venture. Rome, where classic tradition was strongest, support of a competent witness for the views of This routine must be gone through iu the and classic remains most numerous, there are Indian policy which we have uniformly advo- most trifling cases as well as the most im- no specimens of pure Gothic; very little at cated. Mr. Wilson does not think—nor do we portant. Months elapse before a decision is Florence ; more certainly at Venice, from its —that Sir C. Wood's bin has done much for come to, and it is then often a wrong one : near neighbourhood to Germany, but even the people of Hindostan. To throw open the No man could have his servant punished for the appro• there we have few examples of clustered civil service to competition is good as far as it priation of a pound of sugar withoutlaying out six or seven piers. The Corinthian pillars will be usually goes, but until natives are systematically em- pounds and dancing attendance on the curort for three or found supporting a pointed arch, and the in- ployed and fairly remunerated the root of the four months. I have known a case o cmmon . assau d lt finance of the Eastern type renders Venetian evil remains untouched. To the coN:enanted or take ten months, and then the innocent were immsone Gothic peculiar and abnormal. exclusive service Mr. Wilson is not partial. g e terriblen t and nurse i. cn thatt i i The period of Gothic architecture, accord- As a class, he says, " they may be well eau them . to Mr. Ruskin. lasted from the middle of " cated, and as pure as the English bar," but W are ith th am e m in o d st i them. Indeed men seldom seek them to obtain redress. sil h et t e n d bu n n re al i s i Au accuser, torn from his fsraily,—lio animated on his wai co r ni e r be . • • 1._...;- ... . . _ . ___..... ---e - . -- MP