me
show of reason, that the origin of all beauty is in utility; but in
architecture, which has other objects besides the gratification of the
eye, or even of the understanding, it must be conceded that art holds
the second place.

Two thousand years ago, Vitruvius laid down the basis of good
architecture: First, order, method, and regularity; second, fitness of
arrangement, general disposition, and contrivances adapted to locality
and other circumstances; third, uniformity; fourth, proportion,--being
the relation of parts or quantities by which harmony and grace are
obtained; fifth, character,--which dictates the special aspect of the
work according to its purpose; sixth, analogy,--consisting in those
resemblances and ideal significances which assimilate the works of man
to those of nature; seventh, economy,--not merely the vulgar economy of
the purse, but that which combines utility with beauty, admitting
nothing superfluous and allowing nothing to be overlooked. Sir Henry
Wotton tells us, in the quaint old English of his day, that in
architecture, as in all operative arts, "the end is to build well."
Other writers have alluded to architecture as the "politeness of
building," and as "the art of building with expression." The fundamental
law which should govern the preparation of an architectural design is
thus happily expressed by Roscoe: "Utility and beauty are bound together
in an indissoluble chain; and what the great Author of nature has
joined together let no man put asunder."

Will the "Free Classic" of the Queen Anne reformers bear the test of a
critical comparison with the "seven lamps" of Vitruvius or the dictum of
Roscoe? are such designs true exponents of "high art," and do they meet
the requirements of the complex and artificial life of to-day? I propose
to confine my investigations to the style of domestic buildings,
ecclesiastical and municipal edifices being usually and by general
consent designed in a broader and more masculine manner, their _motifs_
being deduced from mediaeval sources or from the rich and dignified
Renaissance of Continental Europe.

We have seen that America received her colonial methods of building
directly from England; but here the connection ceases, except in
sentiment; and a careful comparison of a number of English and American
designs for country-houses will, I think, sustain the assertion that in
reviving a taste for Queen Anne composition the architects of the two
centur