The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1825-10-03 00:00:00

TO TIM Rilikr HON: Roar, psri,
PRINCIPAL' SECRWPA RY OF swim tOR THD

11031 E DEPAIITJIENT•.

Stn,—lt is quite Impossible, I thiukrfor nny one to view
the improvements now going on in the Parks without en-
tire kftisfaction. Certainly they are highly Creditable to
the taste and judgment With which they have been planned,
whoever may have suggested them, or caused them to be
carried into effect. It it With a view to promote objects of
the same, or I may say a higher nature, that I am indunal
thus to address you. Put I shall refrain from annexing my
name-to this communteation ; first, because I detest any -
thing like thrusting one's self forward, as it were, in quest
of notoriety ; and secondly, because, if there be any sort
of merit in the plan I am about to propose, it may be ap.
propriated exclusively to whoever may have the far-supetior
Merit of carrying it into execution.
But before I advert to this plan of improvement, let me
be permitted to remark on the singularity of the fact, that
of all the nations reputed warlike, whether of antiquity or
of modern times, this country alone it entirely destitute of
triumphal arches. The ancient Persians, Greeks, and :yen
Sc}tbtans,, had all their "gatet of tritiMpla ;" so had the
Egyptian:; not circular indeed,
like the moderns, but
square, as arches (even had they possessed the art Of turn-
ing them) would have been unnecessary, where they had
quarries producing such large and strong stones, fit for
transverse beams. Who is there, that ever es* the Subse-
quently built beautiful arctic& of Titus and of Cobstantinej
without admiration and delight? They attest at once the
glory of those mighty personage:, and the contliticin of the
Fine Arts at those periods. They may justly be deemed
linperishable monuments of fame and of art. Such
flees are at once the enticoMitants Ind the memorials Of al
high state of civilization. The great Frederick bdittleyed
the seine means in the embellishment of his comparatively
diminutive capital, in eSeerection of the "Brandenburgh
Gate." Nor was Bonapkite at all regardless of the celebrity
to be derived from such works, though it cannot be denied
that his artists miserably failed in the attempt. FOr whO cats
think of the nobleßoman structtires just mentioned, and the
trumpery thing yclept " A Triumphal Arch," at the
" Carousel," opposite the centre of the easternfont of the
Tuileries, without a sort-reign contempt for the latter
piece of absurdity?. Even the "gates" built by Louis
XIV (the " Porte St. Martin," for instance), though in
far better taste, are still very inferior and very inadequate
ttrdctures. Many of these erected by the Empress Cadre-
riue the Second are of very superior merit and magnifi.
cence. But it is time to look at home. Why are we,
surely the most glorious of existing nations, both in war
and in peace, as well as the most Vrealthy, and in so mans-
respects the most civilized of any, to be without one at
least of those most beautiful of structures? The half-en-
lightened and very effeminate Chinese bare had them front
time immemorial ; e have many of their tributaries; so
have the scarcely less effeminate petty Stain of Italy, in
almost every town of note; such, too, is also the case in.
many of the equally small brit far better principalities in
Germany. But 1 must stop, and at once brit fly tell what
I wish to propose.
The odious turnpike-gate at 11yde-pirk corner is about
to be removed. its present site is, above all other places
in the world, the very spat best adapted for a noble tri-
umphal arch. _

It is son elevated ground, which would augment the gran-
deur of its appearance.
It is a: a principal entrance to this great city, which it
would so much adorn.

It would greatly embellish both our noble Parks at ore
and the fame time.

It would contribute to give race and dignity to the
royal place now rebuilding.
It would be an appropriate ornament durirt tt e reviews
and military exercises that so often take place in Hyde-park.
It would tend to inspire the youthful soldiery at least.
if not oil era, with higher military zeal, when marching
from one park to the oTher, or to and from their barrack,
beneath such a monument of military glory. It can hardly
fail to elevate and ennoble the feelings toward, their own
country, sometimes, at any rate.
Lastly, It is near the resider ce of our own illustriove
hero, who has contributed so largely to his country's re-
nown, and who is identified with the brightest passages in
her military history.
If these reasons be insufficient to justify the selection of
that particular spot for such an edifice, in Heaven's name
let us have one somewhere else, and do not let us any
longer incur the just reproach of being entirely wanting in
that one evidence of national taste, national feeling, and
national gratitude. Let us hope, that if this mighty em-
pire be destined to perish, and this vast city to crumble
into dual, that one Such monument may at least remain,
to attest her grandeur and her civilization.
If it be asked on what precise plan I would have such s
trophy erected, I hesitate not to say, that I would take as
its basis the interior of St. George's, Bloomsbury. If you
stand under the organ, and look towards the phlpit, you
will at once comprehend my meaning, when you observe
the noble arch over head, which, built in a similar manner
at Hyde Park Corner, would amply suffice for any number
of vehicles to pass under at the same time. The smaller
arches on each side would conveniently accommodate alt
pedestrians. I would have the whole structure square as
to its ground plan, with equal arches on eaeh side, for in-
gress and egress to and from Kensington, as well as for the
transit or passage from one park to the other. The whole
of this structure should be raised and upheld on opens
c dueling only, and not on masonry, which always gives it
a mean appearance.
On the summit I would have an ancient war chariot.
wilt four noble steeds. These have ever been deemed the
apropriate emblems of active war, and may be here as•
aimed as representing the four warlike nations composing
this united kingdom. 'Within the chariot should hereafter
be placed the statue of the illustrious IVellington, guiding
those coursers, as he so bravely did the active ardour ot:
our heroic warriors in the field. I say "hereqfier," deem-
ing it better deferred until the sad event of his departure
shall take place, which we must all dzprecate, and which
I heartily hope and trust will be deferred for many, very
many years; for then (as all experience has shown) we
;nay be sure that malevolence of every Bert will be ills-
arund of i:s Lase hostility, and ample justice will be
awarded to the exalted merits and splendid services of the
hero.

Let not the question of expense be uteri, in apposition
to what may be termed such a patriotic edifice. It cannot
be very great, and for such noble national objects, ought
not to be considered at any time, btit more especially at
the present period of so very flourishing a public revenue.
Net having sufficient data before me, it is not easy to spe-
cify the amount, yet the following considerations will per-
haps enable us to appro4imate in some measure fe the
probable expense. The church of St. George's, Blooms..
bury, is said to have cost altogether (exclusive of the
steeple) the sum of 13,0001, It can hardly he tuiss;ble for
such a structure as 1 have proposed at Hyde l'ar:;-corner
to cost so much as the whole of that church. The arches
and whole of the frieze may be very cheaply and at the
same time most beautifully formed of cast Iron. The
columns and their capital, the same. The whole could
not, 1 think, cost so much as 13,0001. but if It amount to
5t.),0V0/. it ought not to weigh a single feather against it.
As to the statuary, by deferring it to a future period. its
cost would be unfelt for a long time at any rate.
Thus would we have one structure at least worthy of
our age and nation, furnishing some sort of additional en..
couragement to the most useful as well as most beautiful
science of architecture, to embellish its own sister art of
sculpture, to which it yields in usefulness alone. Such a
structure would and ought to surpass everything of the kind
that antiquity has &ft us, or that modern times have pro-
duced. Let our sculptors, too, endeavour to rival the ono-
sammate skill which the master hand of Lysippus is said
ttloh,eintatic.oce.vre.tris,h.unieltehinureaduri
iltvhomeu
imperishable
taws; ithfleesghplooowruynnoahat.
ajes:y King
contributing an ample share to the prolongation of its de-
served renown.
I am, sir, with the greatest respect,
A PATRIOT 04"ritE OLD 34.1100 L.
Lord Chief Justice Abbott, in acknowledging ilia free-
dom of the City of Cstiterbury, recently voted him by the
Corporation, said. " I shall be proud to call myself a
Freeman of the City within whose walls I was born and
educated."