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
portion of his work. The course of his inquiry
leads him to seek the origin. of mediaeval
cem ar. c
;
-
chitecture, whether Byzantine or Sara
and he admits their common descent from the
classic, though passages might be. cited which
seem 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 preserved 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
every 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 vaulting,
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

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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
Renaissance 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 Englishmen. 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 before 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 without laying 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 who are too destitute
dom of Gothic development. The principles 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 hothues e iesrsseenainvfhtehde,
vertical tendency of the one can never be her- petted to be,—a circumstance which does not iaca cuse an arasytheinhairtieedr, witnessesa 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 bearing 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 of the neighbourhood, returns to ptneoliesesstati
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
.assaudlt
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 Wareiththame minodsti
them. Indeed men seldom seek them to obtain redress.
silhettendbunnrealisi
Au accuser, torn from his fsraily,—lio animated on his
wai
cornier be
. • • 1._...;- .... . _ . ___..... ---e
- . --