Architechre And Archæology.

scrupulously attend to ; bufc have no self-doctoring' on his part , no interference in your especial province ; here the artist should reign supreme . Ifc may well be doubted whether architects , as a class , do not tell their clients , the public , to much about the names and outward characteristics of various styles in an easy , smattering-mannerwhich leads them to believe thafc they not only

, may , but are invited to choose for themselves , as the caprice or fancy of the moment may dictate . Ifc is ten fco one that Avhen Ave hear an old gentleman in public or private discussing the relative merits of Classic and Gothic ( a subject of which he is most likely profoundly ignorant , and for which he really cares not a sfcraAv ) , ho is making use of haskneyed terms and threadbare descriptions AvhicliAve architects have put into his hands ,

and Avhich ho flings about as intelligently and usefully as a boy throwing stones in the street . No doubt , one of the most formidable difficulties a young architect can haA'e to encounter in commencing his career is to mako people ( particularly friends AA'ho only think aboufc his " getting on ") understand clearly that he has such a thing as a principle , Avhich prevents him from attempting to practise a variety of styles ;

and the sooner he faces this difficulty boldly and grapples with it , the better for the public auct the better for him . Let him , by all moans , study good art of every description , but the style which he AVOOS and Avins , —Avhich he can SAvear to love , honour , and obey , —must be one and one only . If ifc were possible for us , as a body , to agree on this point ,

our progress Avould , indeed , be certain and immediate , but I knoAV very well that the vision is Utopian ; such a thing is , at present , at least , au impossibility . Perhaps one of the greatest obstacles to anything like unanimity on this subject is tho intolerable rage for so-called originality in our day . . Each young architect seems to think himself bound to outdo every one else in brofceu-baoked AVUKIOAVS , or in some

diseased form of chamber ; but the worst stage ofthe malady is Avhon Ave hear a complete neiv style talked of . The very mention of the Victorian style is enough to mako one ' s heart sink within one , and tremble for the prospects of art . Such a thing as tho creation of a IIOAV style would be so complete a falsification of all history and all analogy , that Ave may at once safely disabuse our mind of any such expectation . In

architecture , at least , if in nothing else , the development theoi * y is tha true one , and thafc development must be gradual , and , to acertain extent , almost unconscious . As in the human -frame , the varionsvital processes are carried on unconsciously to himself in the healthy man , and any continued introversion of thought directed to a particular organ mosfc surely causes derangement and disease , —so Ave may Avell fear lest

amy attempt to force tho natural development of our art by a morbid straining after originality may havo the most disastrous results . This very fault was ono of the chief causes of the decline of Medkeval art . Let us guard against it IIOAV , and remember that the man who , from selfish motives of vanity and caprice , attempts to force himself to the front by extravagant sallies and inflated attempts at originality , is no true benefactor to art , but rather thc reverse .

On this point I cannot resist quoting - an admirable passage from an address delivered nearly a hundred years ago by thc first President of tho E , oyal Academy : — " It is evident , " says Sir Joshtia Reynolds , "that a great part of every man ' s life must be employed in collecting materials for the exercise of genius . Invention , strictly speaking , is little rnorc than a UOAV combination of those images which have

been previously gathered and deposited iu the memory ; nothing can come of nothing ; he who has laid np no materials can produce no combinations . A student unacquainted Avith the attempts of former adventurers is always apt to overrate his OAVU abilities , to mistake the most trifling excursions for discoveries of moment , and every coast IIOAV to him for a IIOAV found country , if , by chance , he passes

beyond his usual limits , he congratulates his OAVII arrival at those regions Avhich they AA'ho have steered a better course have left behind them ; and the productions of such minds are seldom distinguished by an air of originality . They are anticipated in their happiest efforts , aud if they are found to differ in anything from their predecessors , it is only in irregular sallies and trifling conceits . The more extensive , therefore , your acquaintance is Avith the works of those who

Architechre And Archæology.

havo excelled , tho more extensive will be your powers of invention , aud , whafc may appear still more like a paradox , tho more original ii'ill be your conceptions . Bufc the difficult } ' on this occasion is to determine what ought to bo proposed as models of excellence , aud Avho ought to be considered as fche properest guides . " Thc difficulty AA'hich Sir Joshua found on that occasion

Avill probably be felfc fco lie much the same on this , but the discussion of styles is ono of Avhich AVO are all rather tired ; and as my own A'iews are , I believe , pretty AVCII known , I shall not attempt to apologise for Avhat may seem fche exclusiveness of my advice on this point . I address myself to the young student Avho has chosen what i believe to be the true foundation for his efforts , and

AA'ho subscribes to Sir Joshua ' s dictum , that the greater part of his life must be spent hi collecting materials , and thafc the more extensive his acquaintance Avith Avorks of excellence , tho more likely is ho to be original in his OAATI conceptions . To him I say , begin afc once ; let your sketch-book be constantly in 3 'our hand : never lose au opportunity of examining , measuring , and sketching Mediarval buildings for

yourself , and learning their uses and thc principles AA'hich guided their architects : and in sketching them take care to sketch intelligently , nofc always with a A-ieev fco picking up little bits here and there to make use of afterwards ( that is not the Avay to collect materials ) , but with a leading purpose of understanding some principle , or of illustrating some phaso or developement hitherto new to you .

I recollect once seeing a young architect spend about two hours in tracing the profile of a cluster of vaulting ribs on an Early English cap . When he had finished Avith great labour , thc dravriing Avas quite correct , I believe , and very neat , but it was perfectly useless and unirrfcelligible . If he had made a little plan of a bay of the A'anlting , Avith a perspective sketch , and added a section or plan above the point

where the ribs parted , his sketch would have been complete and useful , and he Avould have carried down his ribs and gofc the profile on his cap in a few minutes . I mention this anecdote merely to illustrate what I mean by intelligent as distinguished from untintelligcnt sketching , and it is much to be wished that many amongst us AVIIO haA'e plenty of ability , could bo led to feel tho fascination as well as the use of this manner of collecting materials . ( To he continued . )

The New Post-Office Buildings And Industrial Museum At Edinburgh.

THE NEW POST-OFFICE BUILDINGS AND INDUSTRIAL MUSEUM AT EDINBURGH .

H . R . H . tho Prince Consort has just laid the foundationstone of tho neiv post-office , on the site formerly occupied hy tho Theatre Royal , and Shakcspeare-squaro . Tho edifice will be more or less seen on all sides , tho north , Avest , and south elevations being particularly conspicuous . Of these three , hoAvever , tlie north and Avest may be considered tho

most important—the one facing tho Register House , and the other , or side elevation , extending along . North Bridge-street , opposite Avhat is called tho New Buildings . Thc south end , which will be seen vei-y prominently from the North-bridge , is also an important and difficult feature , and thc ai-chiteefc seems to have handled ifc' very successfully . The frontage

towards Princes ' -streefc ivill extend to about i 50 fc , and that to ' . varcls the bridge about 180 ft . The style of architecture adopted is the Italian . The UAVO chief facades present a broken outline , the central portion being of tAVO stories , while the ends rise with something of tower-like effect into throe stories . The cornice of the building will bo on a level wifch the top of the domes on tho corner towers of the

Register House . The southern and eastern elevations , necessarily from the nature of the ground , each exhibit six stories . " The main entrance , that to the public , lobby , is from Princes ' -streefc , aud consists of throe large open archways . The pi'inciple of design throughout on the basement floor is a succession of deeply-recessed arched windows , Avifch .