The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1857-04-25
Architecture.


with nothing more than providing shelter
from heat or cold, has given birth to crea.
tions Of almost more than earthly majesty.
and won name which declares its suprem.
acy over all arts by pressing them each in
their turn into its service, and moulding
them at its will. The sculptor and tho
painter may look with contempt on the log
hut or cave Of the savage but their highest
works are subordinate decorations in the
shrine of the Oiympan Zeus and the home
OF the virgin Goddess. If we despise the
grotcsqIe designs Of Burmah or China. as
the monotOnous and barren repetitions Of
uncOuth forms, we gaze with silent wonder
al the gigantic strength which is enthroned
IN the stupendous minister's Of Amiens or
lork or Cologne. But the special exercise
OF great mental powers is not alone required
10 realize the vast interval which separates
the lowest from the highest architectural
creations: yet wider field opens before US,
as We examine the various influences, whe.
thcr political, ecclesiastical, or theological,
which have affected the growth Of this art
IN every age. The architectural remains of
past generations, sometimes scattered over
wastes in which the prmeval solitude has
regained It's empire over civilization, some
times buried under the strata Of more recent
=
and enduring monuments Of nations, 'of re-
gious, and Of empires which have left no
other trace upon this earth; and the hewn
stones or diIapidated edfices by which these
oNtinct races Of men once dwet, or reisned
or worshipped, still afford evidence of their
character ana their power, that may be COM
pared ~ their results TO the knowledge ex-
tracted by the Eeologist and the naturalist
from the physical condition Of the organic
remains Of the globe. The mere soidity of
Pclasgic or Cyclopean architecture, the gi-
Gantic grandeur Of that Of Egypt, the bar
barre magDticence Of the Assyrian, the low
iincss OF Greek design, exhibit the working
IL each case Of particular moral or political
Ideas on the natural genius Of each people.
In one We discover the impress of the crush
ing tyranny through the medium Of a sys.
t.natized superstition; in another, the joy
Gus IuXuriancc Of an exquisite taste, and
the highest intellectual freedom. But te.
yond this we can advance to distinctions OF
yet greater nicely. We can discern in the
peculiar character Of Egyptian and Hindu
art the supremacy of priestly power,-in
that Of Assyra and Persia the absolute au.
thority Of political despot; the former
seeking TO establish itself by the mainten-
ance Of gross and sensuous worship Of
material forms, the latter by upholdng tho
image Of irresistible and remorseless power.
But while the Hindu was content to carve
out of solid rock the monument of patient
drudgery and unskilled labor; while the
Egyptian submitted himself TO a gloomy
creed which fettered his artistic taste even
where it gave free scope to his consummate
mechanical g Mus; the Greek cared nothing
for the debasinC superstition which venera-
ted the forms of a calf or dog, or which EN-.
bodied It's ideas of power and majesty, nay
even of Deity itself, in the Asssyrian COM
pounds of winged and human headed bulls.
His eye sought throughout the wide king.
dom of nature for her highest forms Of
grace and loneliness; his idea Of God-like
dignity was found in the perfection OF hu-
man beauty. 1t is owing to this faultless
elegance and purity Of their taste, and, above
all, 10 the complete humanity of their reli.
gion, that the architecture Of the Greeks
leaves the impression of beauty rather than
Of extraordinary power. The god who ex.
cept in his deathless existence was altogeth-
er human, whose habitation was the sunny
summit; or the green dell with its
winding stream, needed not for his shrine
the tortuous caves Of Adjunta, Ellora, or tho
gloomy and mysterious temples Of Thebes
Or PhyiG. The desire fer gigantic height
was never reused in the mind of the Greek,
who had not only his Gods upon earth, but
his heaven also, in the Islands of the Blest
where the sun sets beyond the western wa.
ters. But the mind of the Eastern devotee,
dwelling amongst distractions and absorbed
in the contemplation Of the Infinite, must
have in his temples the expression Of un-
earthly mystery,-must signify the presence
If an abstract and unapproachabie deity.
From this desire sprang all that is grand
md impressive in the works whether Of As.
'yria and Persia, of Egypt or Hndoostan.-
Rerie,c.