SIR C H R I S T O PH E R WREN, int.

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stance among others, in the * Facade of the Palace of SSrs. Caffarelli alia Vdlle, * p a , azz] . d;built by Raphael Urbin in the Year 15 1 5 5 which contains 26 duplicated Co- Roma da pu-lumns in Front. The French Architects have practised the same to a good Ef - tro Ferr ^‘>-sect, especially in the beautiful Facade of the Louvre. It is to be observed in thePortico of St. Paul’s, two Columns are brought nearer together, to make greaterInter-columns alternately, to give a proper Space for three Doors. The An-cients, particularly the Greeks , in their Temples, generally made the middleInter-column wider than the rest ; and as they shifted the Columns of the Por-tico for the better Approach to one Door ; so at St. Paul’s , for the fame Rea-son, where there are three Doors, (the two Side-doors for daily Use, and theMiddle for Solemnities) the Columns are widened, to make a more open andcommodious Access to each ; and this falls out gracefully, by placing the Pil-lars alternately, Euflyle , and Pyenojlyle. Hermogenes , who first contrived thePjeudodiptercn, by taking away a whole Range of Columns to enlarge the Portico,

Went farther than his Masters durst before him, yet is commended by Vitru-"oius for this very Thing, because useful. The Romans, after the Greek Exam-ples, not only widened the middle Openings in the Colonades before theirTemples, but followed the like Manner in Arcades also : thus in the Colos-seum, or Amphitheatre of Vespasian in Rome, of the eighty Arches, four whichlead principally to the Arena, were made wider than all the rest. They gene-rally took such Liberties, well knowing that the Orders were to be adapted totheir proper Use, and not the Design too servilely to the Orders ; of which ahundred Examples may be given. Those who duly examine by Measure thebest Remains of the Greek or Roman Structures, whether Temples, Pillars,

Arches or Theatres, will soon discern, that even among these is no certain ge-neral Agreement; for it is manifest the ancient Architects took great Libertiesso their Capitals and Members of Cornices, to thew their own Inventions, even'yhere their Design did not oblige them, but where it did oblige them to a ra-tional Variation, still keeping a good Symmetry, they are surely to be com-mended, and in like Cases to be followed. We now most esteem the Learningof the Auguflan Age, yet, no question there were then many different Styles inOratory, and perhaps some as good as Cicero’s. This is not said as any Induce-ment to Masons, or every Novice that can draw Lines, to fall into crude Go-thick Inventions, far from the good Examples of the Ancients, no more than toencourage a barbarous Style in Latin, and yet surely we cannot but with Eras-mus, laugh at him who durst not use one Word that he could not find in Tally.

To proceed in examining what has been further objected, particularly whythe Architrave within is cut off by the Arch. In this the Surveyor always bl-asted that he had the Ancients on his Side ; in the Templum Pads, and in allthe great Halls of the Baths, and in all the great Structures of three Ailes, this^as done, and for this Reason : in those wide Inter-columns the Architrave is’sot supposed to lye from one great Column to another, but from the Columnso the Wall of the Aile, so the End of it will only appear upon the Pillar ofthe Inside of the great Navis. Vitruvius tells us, that Architecture took itsbeginning from wooden Porticoes ; suppose therefore a Portico of three Ailesso Wood, or at least with the Roof of Timber, the Architraves must join thesollars of the Ailes, and not be in Range with the Inside Pillars, but cross tothat Line ; so nothing will appear upon the Pillars of the Navis but the Endsthe Architraves. If it be said, that in the Templum Pads the Cornice is cut°ff as well as the Architrave, the Answer is plain, there is not the lame Reasonso cut off the Cornice of the Arches at St. Paul’s, which rife not so high ; for ajsornice may be carried within, even without Pillars, (provided the Proportionbc kept of its due Height) much more with Pillars.

jl he Surveyor followed the Templum Pads as near as our Measures would ad-solt, having but three Arcades in each of the Bodies East and West, as there ;

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