Professor Donaldson On The Position Of Architecture.

which they have been copied . Great discrimination is required in works of this class ; certain elements of selection should be observed , a degree of merit in point of taste and of talent as to the construction . There is no doubt that , in mere matters of execution , there may be many instances of most ingenious skill by practical mechanics , engineers , anel others , Avho lay no claim to

taste , and whose previous education may not have qualified them to invent combinations of form and detail , so as to invest construction with the nobility of artistic grace . Iu instances such as these , an editor of such a work would be -wise to confine himself to the mere portions embodying the true value of the example , the scientific disposition aud combination of the partsBut

. to give what is intended for mere ornament , hut which is in truth mere disfigurement and caricature , is to bo unjust to the designer ' and lay bare his weak point . Although the price of such a publication to be generally purchasable should be placed at the lowest remunerative figure , yet the execution ought never to be coarse and negligent ; nor should there be neglect either

in tbe selection or arrangement of tho details . . Nor ought it to be a reproach , that many of the finest and most interesting and instructive works of recent time are absent , as though mediocre practitioners , anxious to make their names known , may have been but too happy to volunteer illustrations , and the editor no loss ready to accept the costless sheets , which might swell his work

at httle expense . Mons . Daly ' s publications offer a striking contrast to the preceding , though they have somewhat of a like object , Tho illustrations ofthe "Revue d'Architecture " are drawn and engraved with the utmost refinement and finish , and show an earnest loving treatment of tho subjects . And I must notice with emphasis the graceful aud

elegant manner in which he has got up the '"' Architecture PriveSe , or Domestic Architecture of the Nineteenth Century , under Napoleon III ., " being new houses of Paris and the suburbs , consisting of plans , elevations , and sections , and details of doors , windows , staircases , painted decorations , chimneys , gardens , etc ., the plates all executed on steel . The selection is made with peculiar care

, and I feel that those who are refined in taste will always require , in such illustrations , the chaste rendering of such a work as this , which can alone worthily illustrate whatever there may be of graceful design in the original , and which a coarse execution will only debase and disfigure . We might wish less repetition in the examples of the same sentiment , taste , aud distribution , and which

becomes to a degree irksome , and we may elesire more practical details as to the structural combinations ; but , in rioint of execution , these volumes are fine instances of care and finish , and offer a standard to which it would be desirable for us not to be inferior . Wo were tho first in our " Stuart's Athens" to give the highest tone of illustration for architectural works , which tho Prench have been eager to equal and surpass . You will recollect with what careful deliberation the

Institute drew up a scale of charges for professional services . It was anticipated that this would prove a useful guide , producing uniformity of practice on this delicate and important point ; and , at the same time that it justified the architect in his fair claims , it should prevent an exaggerated charge for remuneration discreditable to the general body of the profession . And happily many

cases have occurred in which such questions have been settled to the satisfaction of parties by mere reference to this scale , and legal intervention and misunderstandings avoided . But I am sorry to say that instances have arisen , in my own experience , with regard to some practitioners , not members of our body , and imperfectly acquainted with its and tendencyin which the

scope , scale of the Institute has been quoted to support unreasonable demands ; and , although worded with every care to avoid misinterpretation , it has been adduced to justify claims greater than intended or justifiable . It is to be

remembered by us , that this scale was meant not merely for the protection of the employed , but also for the protection of the employer ; and that any attempt to contravene that great principle , and to render it a pretext for an excessive recompense , will be contrary to the spirit of integrity and high honour which should distinguish such a body as ours . Wherever called upon to give an opinion as to its

intent and bearing , any doubt which may arise should be interpreted in the most liberal manner for the employer , since it was our body which drew up the scheme . Upon no other ground will this scale of charges be entitled to be considered as fair and impartial , or referred to as equitable , authoritative , and conclusive upon such questions .

It is subject for satisfaction to notice , that the Metropolitan Board have , with most creditable despatch , recently accepted a tender to the amount of more than half a million , for the execution of the portion of the Thames Embankment on the north side from Westminster to Waterloo Bridge , and that particulars are preparing for the section from the Temple to Blackfriars .

It is to be assumed that tho like movement may take place in regard to the south side , and that thus our noble river may have its banks faced with a continuous line of cpaays , which will at the same time sweep away the mud deposits that poison the water and the air , and will give it that aspect of majesty suited to tho metropolis of a great empire . It is gratifying to observe that the leading

features of these quays will display a certain artistic treatment , and will not be like the railway bridges which span tho Thames in the same localitj ' , hideous masses of utilitarian skill . Wo congratulate , also , the public iu London and Dublin upon their being roused to the consideration of the frightful erections contemplated by railway companies , and of some which even now deform certain of our principal thoroughfares and threaten others . There has been too much indifference hitherto to the important influence of architectural taste on the

convenience and enjoyment of the public . If proposed works embodied a useful purpose , the consideration of their forming decorative objects was regarded as non-essential ; and we have thus certainly allowed many disgraceful disfigurements in the metropolis . In Prance it is the reverse . As in Athens , the rude speaker , however eloquent , who sinned in his grammar or his quantities , was

hooted clown ; so in Paris public improvements are not tolerated unless treated as public embellishments . The consequence is , that Paris , under the spirited and enlightened renovations of Napoleon III ., seconded by the ansthetic tendencies of the public mind , has become tho cjueen of European capitals . She leaves all others at an immeasurable distance by the noble disposition of tho

new thoroughfares , the amplitude of the streets and public areas , the nobility of tho public edifices , and the tasteful decoration of the private dwellings . It has become tho fitting and enjoyable residence of a highlyrefined , intelligent people , whose life is not wholly absorbed in the cares of business or the mere mania of amassing wealth .

Much of this conduct of ours arises in part from the unwillingness of the Government authorities to incur responsibility ; still more from the niggardly parsimony of Parliament to afford the requisite funds . Only the other day the Chief Commissioner was precluded from entertaining the proposal to make the newly-proposed and leading street from Blackfriars to the Mansion House ,

80 feet wide , instead of 70 feet , becase he felt assured that Parliament would refuse the extra amount ( some £ 100 , 000 );—and this in the face of the increasing traffic in the City , and the inadequate width of any of its largest thoroughfares . My feeling is , that it would be wise in Parliament , as being of the highest benefit to the empire , if public subventions , as in Prance , were given , in order to promote a spirit of reformation in our towns . There are many which , by the tide of manufactures and commerce , have from insignificant villages become em-