Minnesota weekly times. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1854-1859, 1856-05-03
ArCkit0clure.

AZ nation thinks 80 it is. Tho character of
civilization expresses itself no where SO truthfuly
as in its architecture. And by architecture, we
do not mean simply those grand chefs d'cuvrcs
which stand out apart from their time, embodying
and eternizing sublime originality or pure
ideal. We mean none Of the conventional or cias-
sic models OF taste--ncither Grecian nor Gothic
nor Egyptian. We speak Of the common archi-
lecture of the people a mode and measure OF
material MISREPRESENTATION domic!les, their
shops, their public and private buildings, as a
whole, in their relation to the social condition of
the community. The inward life of nation here
clothes itself in external forms of beauty and du
rabii;y, and nature all about it grows into the
likeness of mans interior soul. AS a general
rule we believe it will be found to be true, that
nation is patriotic, sterling and true to itself and
its traditions, in proportion to the sOldty and
durability Of its Gom;ciles; and that its aesthetic
culture holds even pace with the tastefulness and
elegance of its private buildings. The great
thoughts, the earnest purposes, and the noble as
pirations which have no written history, no ut
tcrance in mere words, seethe not in vain in the
profound alchemy of the popular heart-they de-
velope in the social status-they precipitate IN
the substantial facts of physical prosperity-they
crystalline in railroads and bridges and churches,
and above all, in the homes of the people. When
we would gage the civilization of Il people, We
ask first of all-What do they live in ? The wig
wan of the Ojibwa, the hut of the Irish peasant,
the shanty of the western pioneer, the villas of
the Hudson, the palaces of the Seine. are the cx-
ponents of many distinct gradatiOns of progress
from aboriginal barbarism to metropolitan refine
ment. Measured by this rule and taking the style
of huilding as the index Of our social condition,
what shall we say of st. Paul? What shall We
say to the higgledy- piggledy rows of shantes and
cabooses which constitute the principal attraction
of our streets-to the hasty notifications of dry
goods boxes-the paste board booths and stalls
and novels and cock-lofts in which we 1--we and
move and have our being and do business with Il
grand air of aristocratic pretensiOn-somc of Us.
What shall we say to the calculated cheapneSs
and assiduous meanness of the fragile impromptu
barracks in which We store away our goods-our
public spirt--our wives and our children-llcav-
EN- pity them One naturally enquiries, whether
after ALL in view Of our ephemeral blocks of clap
boarded c:o :kery crates, and our unsubstan;ial
streets Of glass frOnted hen. coOps, if ST. Paul is
q serious purpose or a mere joke, a fixed fact or
an elaborate Feature Of the bamboo metropolis
of Congo. Are these the permanent homes of
real citizens, or or the temporary encampment of
an Armenian caravan-a bazaar of nomadic ped
dlars hurrying here to sell their wares and has
ten;ns away with their gains. Such, somewhat
modified by the increasing number of good and
handsome edfces, is the impression Of the stran-
ger.
The general effect of our transtory style of
building is that of wretched make shift, in which
chcapness and immediate gain are the predomi-
nant ideas. l1esres no future-no rermanence--
no solid base in anything. lie soon finds strange
inconsistency in the superficial himsiness of our
improvements and the earnest home feeling ard
local pride AMI prophetic faith of our citizens in
St. Paul and Minnesota. lie finds it difficult to
understand how much genuine public-spirit and
hOme-feelng can twinc itself around such weak
supports rs IL balloon frame. He forgets that a
splinter VIII uphold the first shoots Of the vine
that clings i'll its maturity to the sturdy WALL We
who understand the West better, can afford to
miles ut these natural prepo~essions, and to rev.
crencc n balloon frame. We h,re prepare
tions, not results-the breaking up of the soil
not the blooming of the harvest. decade in
Western growth measures more cycles of progress
than century in fogydom. We leap at once
from an obscure village to a great tity-so that
the properties of bath become mixed up in us, and
one finds here every intermediate stage of transit
ton between the two extremes-huts and palaces
and all the notifications of one and the other,
side by side. ST. Paul, it must be recolectcd, is
a city of only six years growth-and some seven
thousand people, male and female, peremptorily
demand shelter somewhere. balloon frame in
such circumstances, is benevolent institution,
and should be encouraged. Suddenly waking to
find itself city-St. Paul has hastily covered
its nakedneSS with fig leaves till it can find time
to weave more gorgeous rament.
Our architecture is not therefore, the measure
of civilization. 1t is the product Of pas.
sing exigency. We are better than we seem.