Mexican architecture.-Resemblance to Oriental.-Cholula.

Merican Architecture.

THE specimens of architecture found in Mexico, resemble, in many respects, those of the ancient Egyptians and Hindoos, not only in the vast magnitude of the structures, but in the general character, in the use of the pyramidal form, and in hieroglyphic inscriptions on the walls. They were not the productions of the natives found in Mexico by the Europeans, but probably of the Toltecans, a more ancient nation, who had inhabited the country.

The temple of Cholula is one of the largest structures ever erected on our globe. The base is 1440 feet in length, and the height is 177 feet. It consists of eight stories, each forming a platform, on which stands the one above it. The walls are not perpendicular, but are inclined in an angle of 70 degrees, and the terraces are very wide; the upper stories are much smaller than the base. Some of these appear to have contained sepulchral chambers for the priests, and descending galleries lead down to immense dark halls, probably used for religious mysteries.

Cholula much resembles the tower of Belus, at Babylon, as described by Herodotus.

The remains of a palace at Mitla show that it must have been an edifice of great extent and grandeur, and the walls appear to have been sculptured or tooled externally, in imitation of mat or basket work, a species of decoration characteristic of Toltecan taste, and often found in sepulchral chambers. The same building has also a portico, with plain cylindrical columns, differing from any found elsewhere.

At Teotihuacan, a few leagues to the north-east of the city

Fifteenth century.-St. Peter's, Rome.

of Mexico, are an immense number of pyramids several hundred small ones, ranged in files or lines, and two larger ones, consecrated to the sun and moon. Each of the latter was divided into four platforms, the slopes between which consisted of steps, and on the summit was a colossal statue covered with plates of gold, which were stripped off by the soldiers of Cortes, who also destroyed the statue. With frantic zeal the Spaniards endeavoured to destroy every vestige of idolatry, even while they violated every precept of the Prince of peace, in whose name they committed their ravages.

Besides monuments which are chiefly works of magnificence, others exist which attest the high degree of civilization attained by the Toltecans, such as roads and bridges.

Modern Architecture.

WHILE the moderns have invented little essentially new, they have employed the principal parts of ancient architecture in new combinations. The era of modern architecture may be said to have commenced about the latter end of the 15th century. One of the best specimens of modern skill and taste is the cathedral of St. Peter, at Rome. It was begun in 1506, by Bramante of Urbino, by the direction of Pope Julius II., who resolved to construct an edifice superior to any thing then in existence. But death overtook both Pope and architect, in 1514. The work, however, was continued for 135 years, under twelve successive artists. The dome and cupola were designed by

Size of the building.-Western façade.-St. Paul's church, London.

Michael Angelo, who made a model of it in fifteen days, which cost only twenty-five crowns. It is one of the largest structures ever erected; though the ground-plan does not quite equal that of Karnac on the Nile, it reaches six times its height. The groundplan is a Latin cross, 720 feet in length and 510 feet in breadth; the height to the top of the cross which crowns the summit is 500 feet. The western and principal façade is 400 feet in length. The columns supporting the entablature are nine feet in diameter, and one hundred in height. The dome rests upon a pedestal, which is surrounded by a colonnade fifty feet high, its base being 200 feet from the ground.

The extent of the outlines rivals the Egyptian pyramid, and the skill displayed in the construction, far exceeds any thing connected with those enormous heaps of almost rude stones.

The multiplicity of breaks in the western façade, destroys the simplicity of the horizontal lines of the entablature, which ought to represent wooden beams. The mind is perplexed in determining how timber could be worked or connected in this way, and is displeased to observe this deviation without any good cause; the same objection is more palpably evident in the colonnade which encompasses the pedestal of the dome; here the columns are placed in pairs, and there is a break over each pair, by which their connexion with each other is entirely interrupted. Instead of preserving the face of the building plain and simple, to accord with its great outlines and gigantic order, the entrance doorways are of various dimensions and shapes, and the whole building is covered with small tablets, and perforated with small windows, even the dome itself.

St. Paul's church, London, is built on the same general plan, but differs greatly in details, and is of much smaller dimensions. Its height is much greater in proportion to its base than St.

Power of expression in architecture.

Peter's. The façade consists of two orders, one above the other, which renders it greatly inferior in grandeur to that of St. Peter's. Its dome, however, is superior in point of good taste, for the entablature of its colonnade is one unbroken feature, and its columns are placed singly: the dome, also, is free from the small variousshaped windows which disfigure that of St. Peter's.

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A great fault in modern architecture is caused by a desire to exhibit in the same building decorations of different ages and incongruous characters, which mar the general expression. building should convey but one prominent idea. If it be large, majesty will be the most appropriate characteristic, but this can only be preserved by keeping all the parts on one grand scale, and by making the ornaments subordinate. If a façade, for instance, be broken by a portico in the middle, the attention must be divided three ways, and grandeur is sacrificed. In smaller fabrics, beauty, elegance, or gracefulness, may be aimed at; still the expression of a single idea should be preserved, even playfulness, gentleness, contentment, may be typified by the architect.

British Architecture.

WHEN Julius Cæsar invaded Britain, (A. D. 55,) the Britons were entirely unacquainted with the art of building in stone. The Romans not only extended their improvements over the whole province, but encouraged and instructed the Britons to follow their example. From the year A. D. 80, to the middle of the fourth century, architecture, and all the arts connected with it,

Wall of Severus.-Pieranzabuloe.-Roman buildings.

made a rapid progress. The cities were surrounded with walls and adorned with temples, palaces, basilicæ, porticoes, baths, aqueducts, &c., displaying the splendor and magnificence of Roman architecture. The wall of Severus, extending from the Solway to the Tyne, with numerous towers, military stations, deep ditches, and strong outworks, was a work truly characteristic of Roman enterprise and grandeur. The native Britons had improved so much by the instructions and example of their conquerors, that in the third century they became famed as architects and artificers. About the end of the fourth century, British architecture, from various causes, began sensibly to decline, chiefly owing to the civil wars and incursions of the barbarians rendering it necessary for the Romans gradually to withdraw their troops from Britain, even at the risk of leaving the colony unprotected. Christianity had now made considerable progress in the British isles. Of the small churches in which the converts assembled for worship, few remain. One of the most remarkable is at Pieranzabuloe, in Cornwall, built by St. Pieran, about 430.*

Deserted by the Romans, the Britons became a prey to the Picts, Scots, and Saxons, and relapsed into their former barbarism.

Vestiges of Roman architecture are still numerous at York, Lincoln, and other places; but, however interesting to the archæologist, they offer little that is worthy of attention to the architect, except in the massy and substantial mode of construction. the monuments of remote British antiquity, Stonehenge, on Salisbury plain, is the most remarkable. The most probable opinion

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*It is twenty-five feet long, and twelve and a half wide. The walls are twelve and a half feet high. It has been imbedded in the sand for centuries, and was recently uncovered and found in a state of perfect preservation.