they defied not only the hand but the eye to follow them, so furious and violent was the onset of the young champion. His adversary, however, was watchful enough, in the continued retreat which he was forced to make, to take advantage of a false movement of his antagonist to strike him another blow, which struck his shield in the middle and split it from end to end. Lupo, seeing the broken shield hanging uselessly on his arm, threw it on the ground, and grasping, in desperation his club with both hands, he raised it high above his head, and with his whole force aimed a tremendous blow directly at the head of his adversary. He instantly covered the part threatened with his shield; but the thick and solid mass descended with such irresistible force, that the shield itself was struck back against his head, and he was completely stunned. He heard a whizzing in his ears, his sight grew dim, and, having reeled and staggered for a moment, he fell at full length on the ground like a corpse.

"Lupo's father, during the combat, had never ceased to follow his son in every motion with his eyes, his arms, his whole body, and his mind. At one time, drawing back his head to his shoulders, he contracted himself, he shrank, he crouched, as if to escape a blow which he saw directed against the young man. At another, pointing his toes to the ground, grasping with all his force the rail against which he was leaning, he raised himself up, as if to give more force to the blow which his son was in the act of levelling at Ramengo."

The following passage introduces the principal personage to the reader :

"Having now come to the point where this Marco, of whom we have already so often spoken, makes his appearance on the scene, it is necesfor us that we present our readers with, to use the usual expression, a sketch of his life and character.

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"The second son of Matteo the Great, Marco Visconti, had followed his father with fidelity and love both in prosperity and adversity, and had always been his favourite son. Of a generous disposition, of ready wit, and active of body, always the first in all the manly sports and exercises practised by the young men of his time, he forced his rival to pardon his incontestible superiority by the modesty of his mannersa virtue which was the more pleasing in him from the splendour of his birth, his beauty of countenance, and elegance of figure. But woe to him that crossed his path, who ventured to oppose his impassioned, impetuous nature, untamed in anger or in love! His father alone, whilst he lived, could temper his passions by the authority of his paternal word.

"A brave and fortunate leader of armies, he acquired, in course of time, a name celebrated among the first captains of that age. His most celebrated enterprize was that siege of Genoa, commenced and maintained by him, with a skill and perseverance that were reckoned marvellous, against the whole force of the Church, of the principal Guelph cities in Italy, and of Robert, King of Sicily. It was on this occasion that that prince, having sent a message to him intimating that

if he did not soon retreat from the Genoese territory he might expect to meet him under the walls of Milan, Marco returned for answer, that without going so long a journey Robert might find him when he pleased under the walls of Genoa, and, in short, challenged him to single combat; at which, the historians say, the king was highly indignant, but thought it better to take no farther notice of it."

In a subsequent part we have a farther picture of Marco, who had just unexpectedly obtained possession of the city of Lucca, which had lately belonged to his friend, Castruccio Castracani, now ruined and dead :

"The hour was late, and, having dismissed the councillors and nobility of his new court, Visconti walked alone in a vast saloon of the palace, which but a few months before had been inhabited by his friend, the celebrated Castruccio, now and then turning his eyes towards a Gothic window which looked down on the square, from which window were seen towers and columns, then resplendent with an infinite number of lights; whilst below, in the square, an immense bonfire spread a red and unsteady light on the agitated crowd around it, who were feasting merrily and singing lays in praise of their new lord. In the distance, on the tops of the surrounding hills, were seen innumerable fires, and from every quarter was heard the sound of bells ringing the merry peal of rejoicing.

"Marco stopped a moment to contemplate this spectacle, like a bridegroom who contemplates the adorned and smiling beauty of his young bride on the marriage-day; till, turning his eyes from the window, the portrait of Castruccio, which was hanging on the wall over the chimney, met his view; and this sight at once withered every joy, and destroyed all the enchantment. He sat down, and, keeping his eyes constantly fixed on the likeness of his dear friend, dead only a few months before, he said to himself :

"At Rome, when, full of life and glory, he was the right eye of the emperor when all the Guelph cities, King Robert, and the Pope, trembled at his name-when I felt proud of being his friend, and hoped by his means to obtain the government of Milan-if a prophet had come and told him, 'Castruccio, in a few months all will be over, and you will be beneath the ground'-what an amazement! Fresh in years and in vigour in the flower of his strength-yet life is so uncertain, so frail!-and he knew that he was mortal. But if the prophet had continued thus, 'Do you see this man who stands at your side this man whom you seek to make great in his own country-this Marco, who has aided you, as far as was in his power, to rise to the height at which you have arrived, and who honours and loves you more than a brother-do you see him? Then know, that in a short time he will be lord of your city-that your house will be his house-that your widow and children will go wandering about, seeking an asylum which will be denied to them, and that he will obtain their heritage !'-Oh, what would that proud spirit have answered? what would have been the feelings of his heart? And I—what should I have said!'

"He again approached the window, and stood some time looking down into the square, and casting his eyes around it. He then exclaimed, 'What a beautiful city is Lucca!-But it is not Milan !' he soon added, with a sigh-To be prince where you have been a subject -to command where you have obeyed-to be great amidst friends to whom your greatness is dear, imparts a share of it to them, and—yesalso in the midst of your enemies, and to see them consumed before you, and to triumph over their abasement; this is worth living for. Here are smiling hills, covered with vines and olives-here are gallant knights, fair dames, riches, and honour; but all is mute to the heart of Marco!" "

We had marked another passage, in which the grief of a poor old boatman and his wife for the loss of their only son, who had been recently drowned in the lake, is very simply and naturally described; but as we have been informed that this story is likely to be presented to the reader in an English dress, we abstain from farther extract.

ART. VII.-Beiträge zur Aesthetik der Baukunst, oder die Grundgesetze der Plastischen Form, nachgewiesen an den Haupttheilen der Griechischen Architectur. Von J. H. Wolff, Professor zu Cassel. (Contributions to the Esthetic of Architecture; or the Fundamental Principles of the Plastic Form displayed in the principal parts of Grecian Architecture.) 1834. HAD the work, of which we are now about to treat, made its appearance some months earlier than it did, we should certainly have referred to it in that article of our twenty-seventh number, where, while noticing some of the modern architects of Germany and their productions, we adduced one or two instances of the change that has taken-or, we may say, is now taking-place in the tone of architectural criticism. In returning to the subject itself, little or no apology will, we conceive, be requisite, because the flattering mention which that paper obtained in various quarters, leads us to suppose that it was not entirely devoid of interest even for general readers; and, unless we greatly mistake what to us appear to be indications of a growing interest, more attention certainly is now given by the public to such topics than was formerly paid to them. One thing that has hitherto prevented architecture from being taken up otherwise than as a professional pursuit, has been the erroneous idea that, as a mere study, it is

VOL. XV.-NO. XXIX.

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nearly barren both of instruction and amusement, and, moreover, beset with difficulties of the most formidable nature; than which nothing can be more remote from the truth. This unfortunate prejudice has been more or less fostered even by architects, who have frequently made pompous mysteries of things that are in themselves perfectly simple; and the injurious consequence has been that this display of seeming arcana has deterred most persons from attempting to make any acquaintance with the study. Hence, ignorance on the part of the public has produced indifference likewise, an indifference in no small degree, and in various ways, prejudicial to the interests of the profession itself.

Undoubtedly the study necessary to qualify a man for an able practical architect demands severe application; not so that which will enable the amateur to enjoy in its full relish all the delight which the art of architecture is capable of yielding. In the former case, much labour, much dry and repulsive routine, and no little drudgery must be submitted to; and in proportion as the student is a mere plodder, so will they prove disgusting. In the other, all is or may be rendered pleasurable, from the acquisition of the very first elements, till such proficiency shall be made that further progress is instinctively pursued, in the full confidence of obtaining increased enjoyment. In this path we have merely to cull the flowers that present themselves on every side the toil of rearing them falls to the lot of others. The amateur, as such merely, has nothing whatever to do with the various processes of construction: the art, not the mechanical science, of architecture is his province; and to argue that no one can properly appreciate or fully relish the former without at the same time being conversant with the latter, is like maintaining that no one but an anatomist can thoroughly perceive the beauty of the human face or form; whereas, according to our feelings at least, the reverse is more likely to happen. As the anatomist is apt to consider the structure and framework of the body rather than the external graces of form, and of mind expressing itself through

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* Until the appearance of Loudon's Architectural Magazine there was not a single periodical professedly and exclusively devoted to the pursuit, though it is one so exceedingly multiplex, and dividing itself into such various and widely spreading ramifications, linking it with archæology, domestic economy, landscape gardening; with history, criticism, topography; with the opposite extremes of engineering on the one hand, and luxurious decoration on the other. Such a journal, which is open to all communications and remarks, becomes in the course of time a repository for a great deal of discussion, and for much information that might otherwise never come before the public in any shape. Besides a great mass of miscellaneous information, several very able papers have already appeared in it; those especially by Mr. Trotman, which contain not only original but sound and instructive criticism.

that form, so is the professional architect likely to have his attention engaged by other qualities in a building than those which have reference to art, and which, although they may be curious or laudable in themselves, have no æsthetic value because productive of no æsthetic effect.

Here it may not be improper to guard against a fallacy which we might otherwise seem to countenance: it is not to be imagined, from the analogical case we have pointed out, that the beauties of a fine building are like those of a fine face, selfevident as apparent to the ignorant as to the connoisseur. Up to a certain degree, unskilled eyes can judge of architectural beauty as well as that of other things. Yet in architecture there is so much which is conventional, that it is also to be considered as having a language of its own; and unless we make ourselves acquainted with this language and its various dialects or styles, our enjoyment must be exceedingly limited and imperfect. Either self-sufficient, blundering ignorance, or a state of uncomfortable doubt, must be the condition of those who pretend to give an opinion, while ignorant of the simplest rudiments, of the mere "accidence" of such language. To be sure no one has any occasion to offer an opinion of the kind, more than upon any other subject to which he may be an absolute stranger; yet how frequently do we hear persons, almost in the very same breath that they admit their complete ignorance of architecture, express their unqualified approbation or disapprobation of some particular edifice! and unqualified of course it must be, because it is impossible for them to judge otherwise than according to mere fancy, or to assign any reason whatever either the one way or the other.

After all, it is not very surprising that architecture should be considered a sealed study-one exclusively set apart for those who are formally initiated into its high mysteries-when hardly a single attempt has been made to produce a popular and attractive elementary book on the subject. Of treatises of one kind or another there is abundance even to perplexity; yet in vain do we tax our memory for the name of one that can be confidently recommended for our purpose. The majority of them are little better than compilations, extracted without either judgment or taste; others are overlaid with a great deal that is more likely to bewilder and embarrass a beginner than to facilitate his progress; and the very best are, as may be supposed, rather calculated for the professional than for the amateur student. What appears to us a leading objection to nearly all is that they begin at the wrong end-namely, with the history of the art, while the learner