Vlll

at Palmyra, which was two thousand feet in circuit, or theperistyle of the great temple at Selinus, which was sixtyfeet in height, must have been eminently grand and imposing;but it is not true, that the mere collocation of parts, withoutany reference to the magnitude of their dimensions, can everprove a source of the sublime. In these instances, as in allothers, its true origin will he found in that quality whichmost powerfully excites ideas of the superior force and energynecessary for the accomplishment of the work.

Architectural beauty may he said to arise from thesymmetrical proportion of the whole building, and from thefitness and propriety of the ornamental parts. This willsufficiently accord with the definition of the beautiful asgiven by Aristotle , which consists, according to him, inmagnitude and order; the first being a term purely relative,is made to comprise the whole extent of that scale whichthe eye is able to embrace at one view 1 . The truth is,however, that general rules for beauty in this or in anyo ther practical art, cannot be fixed from abstract conclusions ;but must be deduced from experience and the continuedobservation of those qualities which have been founduniversally to please : and by an adherence to this principlethe Greeks seem in a great degree to have regulated theirpractice. Hence, the remarkable uniformity of all theirbuildings, in which, indeed, the variations are so slightas scarcely, on a first view, to satisfy the natural desireof novelty, or justly to merit the praise of invention. Aquadrilateral form, adorned with exterior columns, in different

n

' ro yip xaAov, sv psykSei xii rifci irk. Poet, P. ii. S. 4>.