The portico exhibits very nearly the proportions of the Parthenon, and may serve to give sonic idea of that cele brated temple, divested indeed of the magnificence it de rived from the most exquisite sculpture of ancient times. As in the Parthenon, the columns are placed on colossal steps, the dignity of which cannot be conceived without having been seen ; and there is a recess divided from the portico by a screen of columns, like the pronaos of the tem ple, which adds greatly to the richness and grandeur of the effect. It was subject of regret to the architect, that the portico could not be projected farther from the side wall of the building, and the screen of the pronaos. But such a projection would have destroyed all affinity between the centre and the wings, in which porticoes, on account of their expense, were inadmissible.
In so flat a situation, it may also be regretted that great er elevation could not be given to the building, consistent ly with the employment of the Grecian Doric. This defect would probably, however, have passed unnoticed, had it not been rendered much more observable by a parapet and rail, which have been carried along the front since Air Stark's death, and which, while they sink the building, con ceal the colossal steps on which the grandeur of the porti co so much depended. Were this obstruction to the view removed, there can be no doubt that the want of elevation in the general form would be far less conspicuous ; though to have avoided it entirely was perhaps impossible.
A Grecian Doric portico of six columns is necessarily long in proportion to its height ; and to have shortened the compartments, by which the centre is connected with the wings, would have crowded the facade, and destroyed all affinity among the forms and proportions of its several parts.
In contemplating so magnificent a portico, small defects pass unnoticed ; and if they could not be remedied without adopting a less imposing order, the most fastidious taste will applaud the architect, for having submitted to what was unavoidable, for the purpose of producing so sublime an effect.
These buildings contain halls for the several courts, and ample accommodation for the civil and criminal establish ments. The entry to thc gaol is by the west front. This department consists of two spacious courts, 74 fire-rooms, 58 cells, and 2 apartments for prisoners under sentence of death, so completely cased with iron, that it is not necessa ry to subject the criminals to personal irons, as is clone in almost every other jail. There are also a chapel, a mili
tary guard-house, and apartments for the keeper of the goal's family. Four cast iron cistern:, calculated to con tain 14,776 gallons of water, are placed on the top of the prisons, from which the several apartments and water closets are supplied. Prisoners are received from the counties of Lanark, Renfrew, and Dumbarton : They amounted in 1814, to 1172 persons, viz. 367 debtors, 525 male criminals, 239 female criminals, and 41 deserters: The whole ex pence of these buildings, viz. 34,8111. has been defrayed from the funds of the corporation.
The foundation-stone of the Lunatic Asylum, situated between the Royal Infirmary and the Glasgow Observato ry, was laid, with great masonic solemnity, in 1810. Mo dern architects seem very generally to have aimed at repu tation, rather by the invention than the proportions of their designs. Little aware of the,dignity arising from the grace ful (U11)111116011 of columns, from inter-colurnnations rather narrow than wide, from harmony in the details, and from congruity in all the parts, in reference to each other and to the whole, they must be astonished at Palladio's lame, and unable to comprehend how his buildings, whin. arc for the most part small in their dimensions, and without any pretensions to novelty or singularity in their f0111H. should so long have charmed the world, and at every repeated inspection afforded increased delight.
In this respect, more perhaps than any other, Mr Stark bore a nearer resemblance to an architect of ancient than of modern times. By constant and respectful study of their works, he seemed to have imbibed the spirit of the Greeks, while, by the powers of his genius, he adapted their prin ciples to the wants, manners, and opinions of his country men. In the lunatic asylum, he had less opportunity than usual of pleasing, by the proportions of the mouldings, or the richness of the details; for every costly ornament would have been improper, and the situation of the building ren dered its effect from a distance much more important, than its beauty on a near approach. Yet, even here, he studied the details with the utmost care, convinced that the gran deur of the general form is never independent of a due pro portion in the minute]. parts.