ARCHITECTURE - All the variety of edifices appropriated to the purposes of civil life is denominat ed Civil Architecture.
It is a very difficult matter for us at this day to trace the earliest stage of this art, so indispensible to our comfort and pro tection in a natural or civilized state, un til we find its permanence of construc tion fixed on the basis of science and pro portion.
The subterraneous cavern was without doubt the first habitation of man. Who cannot but contemplate with astonish ment the variety of massy shapes, sup porting arched roofs, decorated with in numerable surfaces of crystallized forms, excelling in splendour of design and ar rangement the most magnificent produc tions of human art.
All our impressions of wisdom, strength and beauty, arc derived from the exami nation of the works of the God of nature: All our energy in art is employed to de duce from these works the proximity of man to his Creator, and all our perfection a humble acknowledgment of our im perfection.
In sculpture and painting, the closest imitation of a model in nature at once constitutes the excellence of the artist.
In architecture, invention is employed in the search of form and proportion, that is not so immediately obvious, owing to the whimsicality in matters of taste, which is perhaps very justly rCgulated by antique proportion.
History furnishes us with very vague and unsatisfactory accounts of the rise or progress of this science ; although a vari ety of speculation has been indulged, to locate and fix its origin and xra of con struction in India and Egypt, we are this late day left to doubt, whether the eastern quarter of the world has any de cided claim to originality over that of Egypt.
The splendid excavations that consti tute the temples or sacred edifices of the Hincloos, particularly the cave at Ele phant', which is sculptured out of the solid rock, exhibits a very early know ledge of the art with this barbarous peo ple. The cave is 120 feet square, and contains four rows of massy pillars, re sembling a fluted ballustrade, resting on a long right angular plinth; the whole pillar is surmounted by a broad projecting ca.
pital, in form of a flat vase, richly and highly decorated. Colossal statues and busts in alto relieve protrude from the sides of the cavern, sonic with four, and some with six arms, b caring sceptres, tro phies,and symbolsof their mythology. The altar is situated in the centre of one of the sides, the entrance to which is g-uard ed by two huge fig-ures, bearing very lit resemblana. ......
of an octagonal sl4e are sometimes mounted on the backs of elephants, hor ses and ty-gers, supporting a cornice de corated witly,human figures sitting CrOSS legged. A gallery extends horn pillar to pillar, profusely sculptured with men in acts of devotion to serpents, tygers, and other animals. The base of the -co lumns being an elephant (their favourite beast) sometimes displays a man astride of the trunk, which gir es the general mass the effect of being- put in motion by these mighty animals.
The whole may be considered original, and peculiar to the habits of an unciviliz ed people, intuitively representing natu ral objects of their religio. is devotion, in crude, disproportioned sculpture From the mag-nificent I111113 of Perse polis in Persla, which, according to Le Timm, originally- consisted of 205 columns, 70 feet in heig-ht, we are alone enabled to g-ive any-account of the ancient style of architecture in that country ; for the cha racter and remains of this interesting- pa lace, the world is indebted to the able re search of this gentleman, who hasleft no stone unturned that could elucidate, or bring to light, a knowledge of the science at that early clay.
The arrangement, construction, and proportions of Persepolis differ very ma teriallv from the Indian or Egyptian style of building, yet we find Egyptian door ways at its entrance, and Indian sculptur ed excavation in tbe tomb of Darius.