Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1830-06-04

B,Itincre. on a visit to the .'Old Dominion
The third, which we publish to day, contains a
description of the University of Virginia.
To The Editors 9fthe american.
CHARLOTTESVILLE. May 16, 1850.
On our return from Monticello, where we
found entertainment for our curiosity several
hours, we descended the mountain by the usual
road, which winding among rather dwarflsl trees,
! much inferior to the grand vegetable growth
which we often had occasion to admire IN the
mountain solitudes Of Virginia, had little to re-
commend il but the recollection that 1t was Gas
sic ground, and had for many years been daily ira
ced perhaps, by the extraordinary man whose
dwelling and whose grave we had just Quilted.
| We dined indifferently at an indifterentlnn; and,
! talking of inns, | cannot help thinking that ira
yellers would render an acceptable service by
noting, for the benefit of others. those houses on
the road where sorry entertainment and high
charges 90, as they are apt to do, hand in hand.
The afternoon we spent in visiting the Cnlvcr-
sity. which lies. | have SAID, about a mile West of
Charlottesville, and makes, at a distance, a ra-
thcr imposing figure in a country where the rude
loo hut. the first essay of - the noble savage" in
architecture, has by no means been vet entirely
displaced BY more artificial structuresr | do not
make the remark quite in Jest, nor in disparaSe-
| mentof Virginia dwellings, when say that these
log ediices were among the most architeCturaltha
we saw; for we amused ourselves in tracing
the resemblance in outline of these rude struc-
lures to the forms adopted in the Greek temple,
The proportions of the square or parallelogram
were often happily hit, and the triangular pedl-
ment. the single entrance, and the absence OF
windows, concurrcd in furnishing the rude re-
semblance. Columns made of the rough trunks
of the OAK. composed the Doric porticoes of these
edlfces. In the interlacing of the massive logs,
which form the corners, one sees, without much
fancy, the origin of ali ornament often lmlta,ed
in palaces of marble; as in the deep indenhngs
which mark the junctures OF the tlmbers forming
the walls NAV be traced the origin of rustIc-work.
Where buttrcsscs of the same material sometimes
propped the crazy edihce, the same pyramldal
effect was roughly produced which has been so
much admired in the Egyptian temple. to say
nothing OF the nearer resemblance 10 the Gothic
buaress. Until you have read the theories Of
the origin of the different orders of architec-
ture. | will not give you leave TO smile at mine.
Ii makes somewhat against all OF them indeed,
that these limitations. if they be so. of the first
! rude shelters of the race, should be found in
the structures of Egypt. the earliest extant. a
| (DuutIN NlClC NpOu hiuS's tc dlilC
times, have been too much in demand for the
kitchen, TO have been much used in the construc-
ton Of fluctuations. But let us quit our digres-
sion for the University of Virginia, whose build
ings, bv the way, were designed by Mr.. Jefferson
as illustrations of the different orders of ancient
architecture.
These buildings principally surrounded three
sides of a parallelogram, forming a court which
is entered from the south. The opposite and to
the entrance is occupied by the Rotundo, which
contains the library, the museum, an apartment
for the philosophical and chymlcal apparatus, and
the lecture rooms. This circular edifice, the
largetsand the most striking. presents to the spec
tator entering the area, a very noble portlco Of
the Corinthian order. and is connected with the
sides of the court bv terraces. under which eX-
tends a gymnasium. intended for the recreation
Of the students in bad weather. The two sides
IF the court are composed of long ranges OF arch
ed dormitories for the students, a SINGLE story
high, fronted by a continued colonnade, and re-
Tweed at intervals By p%ayiions. faced by p~orticoes
! OF different architecture, as the Doric, the Ionic,
and the Corinthian. These p%avilions. which are
eight in number, and are individually very hand
some, are the residences Of the Professors of the
University. This arrangement should hay. been
an imposing one; but is disfgured in the details.
and 50 much disfigured. that the tom ensemble is
to my view totally spoiled. In the first place.
the court. instead of presenting an unbroken sur
face, is disposed in three terraces rising one a.
bove the other. and as the colonnade necessarily
conforms to this disposition Of the ground, the
line of the perspective is interrupted as often,
and conseq uently looks jumbled and confused.
The harmony of parts is also injured, indeed
wholly destroyed, by the circumstance, that the
colonnade being proportioned IN dimensions to
the dormitories. which are of a single story, com.
bines very awkwardly with the columns of the
p~avilions, which are of double the height. This
absurd irregularity could only have been avoid
ed by making all the buildings surrounding the
area of a uniform elevation. As they stand. all
architectural combination is lost. This low CO.
lonnade is, in one instance, continueda cross the
portico of one of the p%avilions. (Which, for some
unintelligibie reason, retires from the general line
Of the front. thus cutting the columns, asst were,
in half, and indeed nearly concealing them alto
gether. This is worse than any thing | ever saw
in bad architecture, and that is saying good deal.
Among the lesser marks of bad taste | may men
Z.