^{page 5 note *} This plan is now nearly completed, the whole Essay being written out, and accompanied with a set of drawings sufficient to render it intelligible, but by no means in a state for publication. To bring them to such a state must be a work of much labour and time, especially since the nature of the subject has hitherto compelled me to execute all of them with my own hands.

I have judged it adviseable, therefore, to lay before the Society a part of the Essay, which requires but few drawings, while it announces the fundamental and essential views of the theory; reserving the full illustration of it to another occasion, when I hope to produce the whole in a separate work.

In the mean time, it may not be improper to observe, further, with respect to my general plan, that the first part, comprehending the theory of Gothic architecture, has been arranged under three subdivisions; the first of these contains a view of its elements, all its forms being reduced to their simplest state; the second treats of the deviations from those elements, which, in the course of practice, have been occasioned by various circumstances; and, the last, combining the other two, contains an examination of the monuments of the art now in existence, and an application of our principles to every part of them.

The present publication consists of the introduction to the whole Essay, together with the elementary part, illustrated by six plates.

^{page 8 note *} Even, in this case, however, the natural form undergoes a certain degree of modification, by the device employed to produce the neck of the bottle. The fruit, while small and tender, is surrounded with a string, which remaining during its growth, prevents the, part, thus bound, from swelling with the rest.

^{page 9 note *} That they really did imitate a building of wood, is stated, in the clearest manner, in the work of Vitruvius, particularly in his chapter, ‘De Ornamentis Columnarum.’ He there speaks of architectural work in stone or marble, as a representation, (imago), and of the timber fabric as a reality, (in veritate), as will appear by the following quotation.

‘Itaque, in Græcis operibus, nemo sub mutulo denticulos constituit, non enim possunt subtus cantherios asseres esse. Quod ergo supra cantherios et templa in veritate debet esse collocatum, id in imaginibus, si infra constitutum suerit, mendosam habebit operis rationem. Etiamque antiqui non probaverunt neque instituerunt in fastigiis mutulos, aut denticulos sieri, sed puras coronas; ideo quod nec cantherii nec asseres contra fastigiorum frontes distribuuntur, nec possunt prominere, sed ad stillicidia proclinati collocantur.

‘Ita quod non potest in veritate sieri, id non putaverunt in imaginibus factum, posse certam rationem habere. Omnia, enim, certa proprietate, et a veris naturæ deductis moribus, traduxerunt in operum perfectiones. Et ea probaverunt, quorum explicationes, in disputationibus, rationem possunt habere veritatis.’

In one respect, this passage is extremely obscure, but, in another view, it is sufficiently clear to answer the present purpose. The obscurity arises from the difficulty, or rather impossibility, of discovering the meaning of several of the technical terms employed, these being very rarely used by authors, and relating to a mode of building different from any now practised. But, whilst commentators differ as to the precise meaning of the words cantherius, offer, and templum, as used in this passage, they all agree in considering them as denoting parts of the timber frame of a roof. At the same time, mutulus and denticulus are well known terms of architecture, and appropriated appropriated to buildings of stone. The latter part, which relates to the principle of imitation in general, is sufficiently clear. The passage, in English, is nearly as follows:

‘Thus, in the works of the Greeks, denticles were never placed under a modillion, because it is impossible that the asseres can be under the cantherii. If, then, what is situated over the cantherii and templa in reality, be exhibited as under them in the imitation, the principle on which the work proceeds is belied.

‘In the same manner, the ancients never approved of, or directed, the introduction of modillions or denticles in the frontispiece, but preferred a plain cornice; for this reason, that neither the cantherii nor asseres lie towards the gable, nor can they project beyond it, but are placed with an inclination to the guttur.

‘Thus, they esteemed it a departure from principle to exhibit, in an imitation, what could not occur in reality. For in finishing their works, they introduced every ornament in an appropriated manner, and according to a real analogy borrowed from nature; and they approved of nothing, which could not be theoretically accounted for, on the principle of its resemblance to truth.’

^{page 11 note *} After stating my own views at full length, I shall enumerate and examine the various opinions of others on the subject of Gothic architecture, no less than five in number. At the time here alluded to, I was acquainted with an opinion, which I have since found to have originated with Dr Warburton, that the Gothic style was copied from an alley of trees. I was aware of the advantages of this theory in some essential points, yet it always appeared to me unsatisfactory in many others; and I conceive it to be at best far too vague to serve as a guide to the artist.

^{page 12 note †} This resemblance, though very obvious in many cases, has not, to my knowledge, been observed by any one but the late Mr Grose; to whom it seems to have occurred in a transient way. He makes use of the shape of a bower to assist his description of a Gothic roof, (Antiquities of England and Wales, p. 75.}; but he does not go so far as to ascribe the architectonic Forms to this origin; a view, which probably, would not have escaped him, had he not been preoccupied with a different one; for he considers the rudiments of a Gothic arch as formed ‘of two flat stones with their tops inclined to each other, and touching.’ I did not meet with this passage till several years after I had undertaken the present inquiry, and had carried it a considerable length.

^{page 13 note *} Biographical Account of Mr Smith.

^{page 16 note *} In buildings of stone, the arch or groin, which joins the diagonal piers, is very generally a real semicircle, like that in the willow structure just described; as I have found to be accurately the case at Beverley and Melrose. This rule of execution, with the deviations from it, which we meet with occasionally, will be fully considered in a subsequent part of the Essay; in which it will be shown, that in the usual roof, where the diagonal groin is a semicircle, it becomes the regulator of all the rest, determining their height and form in every respect.

^{page 21 note *} One of these pediments, with its pinnacles, crockets, and finials, executed on a large scale, maybe seen in that beautiful collection of the ornaments of York-Minster, now publishing in numbers by Mr Halfpenny: in which work, likewise, are many other things applicable to the present subject. I am happy to have it in my power to bear testimony to the faithful accuracy with which the objects are there represented, from having examined several of the originals in that view, in the course of last summer, (1796), particularly that of Plate XLI. of which I made a drawing myself, in company with Mr Halfpenny; so that I can vouch for its exactness in every respect. I have been induced thus particularly to mention the subject, by a suspicion mentioned in Mr Halfpenny's seventh number, concerning the accuracy of his drawings; some gentlemen having imagined, that he had placed the sculpture in too advantageous a light. To this he answered, that ‘in truth he has not been able, ‘in many instances, to come up to the spirit and elegance of the originals.’ A declaration no less true than it is modest. I am well convinced that the gentlemen, with whom this suspicion has originated, have not been much accustomed to examine our Gothic buildings of eminence, since, in any of these, they would have met with numberless works, executed in too high a style of design to admit of embellishment in the present state of the arts. Nor is it wonderful that such should be the case, when we reflect, that they belong to the 14th and 15th centuries; during which, a series of artists flourished in Italy, who, in point of chaste design, and careful imitation of nature, have never since been equalled, though they had not attained to many of the refinements which were introduced in the subsequent age. These artists travelling over Europe, contributed greatly to the ornament of the Gothic edifices which were then building, as we learn from many curious facts collected by Lord Orford, in his Anecdotes of Painters.

I shall enter more fully into this subject, when I speak of the History of Gothic Architecture; and I am led to touch upon it now, though out of place, in order to call the attention of men of taste to the fate of numberless beautiful ornaments of the the Gothic style, which are daily perishing by the exertions of a mistaken zeal in their favour.

Every year, great sums are bestowed in dressing up the old churches, in many parts of England, much to the detriment of these noble edifices. In some cases, this is done by besmearing the building with white or yellow paint, which chokes and confounds all the delicacy and elegance of the sculpture. This evil, however, is not of the deepest kind; since, here, the original forms of the work remain entire, and may be again restored to their purity, when a better taste prevails. But an injury of a much more serious nature is occasioned by the operation of chipping, in which the mason, with a barbarous hand, actually goes over the whole work, and chisels off the surface to a certain depth, leaving but a poor shadow of the original form. By both operations, the building acquires the harsh and glaring appearance of new work; which, however, is removed in a few years, by the influence of the weather, and the edifice recovers its former grandeur, as far as colour is concerned. But the havock committed by chipping is quite irreparable; for the sculpture, when once removed, can return no more.

I have been told, in vindication of this practice, that the forms of the old work were restored exactly as they originally stood. An idea worthy of the simplicity of Mummius the Roman general, who demolished Corinth. As if it were in the power of every stone-cutter to replace a master-piece of the 15th century!

I was happy to find, at York, that a different spirit prevailed in the operations carrying on in the Minster. In all these repairs, the ancient sculpture has been most scrupulously respected; and, in many places, the stone has been carefully freed from its load of paint, so as to restore it to its original purity. For these attentions, the public is greatly indebted to the good taste and judgment of the Rev. Mr Eyre, one of the residentiaries.

^{page 22 note *} See Mr Murphy's admirable publication; a work to which I shall have very often occasion to refer, when I speak of the more complicated forms of Gothic architecture.

^{page 23 note *} Assemblages of these cusps are spoken of in the descriptions of Gothic works, by the names of trefoil, quadrefoil, semi-trefoil, &c. but no proper word has been used to describe the form, wherever it occurs, or however combined. This, I trust, will sufficiently apologise for the liberty I have taken, of introducing a new term into architecture.

An application of the woid cusp, as used by mathematicians, may be seen in Dr Smith's Optics, Vol. I. p. 172. where he uses It in describing the caustics formed by reflection.

^{page 25 note *} John White, cooper, in the village of Cockburnspath, in Berwickshire.

^{page 26 note *} The roof, being protected from the weather, is still in perfect preservation, though it has now stood about five years; but the windows and other parts, which are more exposed, are going fast to decay, though they have been often repaired. Soon after the work was finished, a very accurate drawing of it was made by an ingenious young artist, Mr A. Carse, which it is proposed to engrave for the illustration of this Essay, when published at full length.