Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 in 2017 with funding from 
 Getty Research Institute 
 
 https://archive.org/details/artofarchitecturOOgwyn 
 
THE 
 
 Art of Archite&ure, 
 
 A 
 
 POEM. 
 
 In Imitation of HORACE’S Art of Poetry. 
 
 Humbly Infcribed to the R‘- Hon ble the Earl of 
 
 Ingenuas didicijfe fideliter artes , 
 
 Emollit mores-) nec Jinit ejfe feros . Ovid. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed for R. Dodsley, at Tully’s Head in Pall-Mall ; and 
 Sold by T. Cooper at the Globe in Pater-noJler-Ro'w* 1742. 
 
 [ Price, One Shilling. ] 
 
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PREFACE. 
 
 rj'HE great Freedom with which Horace has 
 been ufed \ I hope will be in fome Me a fare an 
 Fxcufe for the Liberty I take in this Effay. ——Tbs 
 Art of Cookery, and Harlequin-Horace are two glar- 
 ing Inftances y not to mention Numberlefs Translators, 
 Commentators, &c. upon his JVorks ; in which fome 
 have fo Remark'd and Revis'd, , that they have explain'd 
 the Senfe of Horace quite away 1 for my Pari , either 
 as a Poetical Architect, or an Architectural Poet, 
 profefs myfelf to be only an humble Imitator of 
 
 him y 
 
( Hi ) 
 
 him : I have feldom lofl fight of the Original, at leajl 
 as far as the Subjecl will permit . — But Architec- 
 ture is a barren Pheme , and a Path fo beaten , that 
 io fep out of it, though purely to avoid the Crowd, 
 is looked upon as an unpardonable Singularity . How 
 far I may have frayed in this Poetical Excursion, 
 I know not ; but of this y I am certain / can with 
 fruth fay with Horace, 
 
 Si quid novifti re&ius iftis, 
 
 Candidus imperti ; fi non, his Utere Mecum, 
 
 THE 
 
( 5 ) 
 
 THE 
 
 Art of Architecture, 
 
 In Imitation of HORACE’S Art of Poetry. 
 
 HOULD you, my Lord, a wretched Picture view ; 
 Which fome unikilful Copying -Painter drew, 
 Without Defign, Intolerably bad, 
 
 Would you not fmile, and think the Man was mad? 
 
 Juft fo a taftelefs Structure ; where each Part 
 Is void of Order , Symmetry , or Art : 
 
 Alike offends, when we the Mimick Place ; 
 
 Compare with Beauty , Har?nony , or Grace . 
 
 Painters, and Architects are not confin’d 
 By Pedant-Rules to circumfcribe the Mind : 
 
 B 
 
 But 
 
( 6 ) 
 
 But give a Loofe, their Genius to improve j 
 And ’midft the pleafing Fields of Science rove. 
 
 But then the Laws of Nature \ and of Senfe, 
 
 Forbid us with Contraries to difpenfe : 
 
 To paint a Snake, engend’ring with a Dove ; 
 
 Or build a Prifon ’midft a fhady Grove. 
 
 At fetting out, fome promife mighty Things, 
 Temples they form, and Palaces for Kings ; 
 
 With a few Ornaments profufely dreft, 
 
 They fhine through all the Dulnefs of the reft. 
 
 At fome long Viftas End, the Structure ftands ; 
 
 The Spot a Summit, and a View commands : 
 
 The wide-extended Plain appears below, 
 
 And Streams, which through the verdant Meadows how. 
 Here Towns , and Spires , and Hills o’er Hills extend ; 
 There Jhady Groves , and Lawns , the Profpecft end. 
 Through lavifh Ornaments , the Fabrick fhines 
 With wild Feftoons of Fruits, and cluft’ring Vines : 
 Luxuriant Decorations fill each Space, 
 
 And vaft Incumbrance 5 void of Rules or Grace \ 
 Without Coherence, crowded in each Place. 
 
Should you require a little rifing PiW 
 The Parts appropriate to the fertile Soil : 
 
 Where Neatnefs , Order, and Proportion join ; 
 
 Where Strength, and Art, and Nature fhould combine 
 The mimick ArchiteSl perhaps would be 
 As much to feek in his Defign ; as he 
 Whofe only Talent was, to paint a Tree . 
 
 With fuch gay Structures, why do they begin 
 Such Glare of Ornament to ufher in ? 
 
 Why fuch external needlefs Drefs and Show ? 
 
 The End impropriate, and the Meaning low. 
 
 Form to each Clime, each Place, a Modus dill ; 
 
 But ufe the fame Proportions at your Will. 
 
 Change, modify your Form : Tranlpofe, divide ; 
 
 The fame unerring Rules the Science guide. 
 
 Mod Architects in fomething do offend, 
 
 When led by, aim’d-at-Excellence ; to mend— 
 
 By driving to be plain, they fometimes fall, 
 
 So Mean , fo Dull, fo Taftelefs : they fpoil all. 
 
 B 2 
 
( 8 ) 
 
 Others affedl Magnifcence alone; 
 
 And rife in large enormous Heaps of Stone ; 
 
 Swell the huge Dome , and 'Turrets bid to rife, 
 
 And Towers on Towers ; attract the Gazer’s Eyes. 
 Some dare not leave the old, the beaten Way, 
 
 To fearch new Methods, or in Science ftray : 
 Others with wild Varieties engage, 
 
 O fc> 1 
 
 And build a Seat to face the Oceans Rage ; 
 
 Carve Fruit and Flowers , to face the raging Floods,. 
 FeBoons of Shells, or Fifh, for fhady Woods. 
 
 Thus willful Erring, join’d with Want of Skill, 
 
 Is the moft certain Way of Erring Bill. 
 
 The meaneft Workman, may attempt to place 
 A little Drefs to decorate a Space : 
 
 May put an Ornament about a Door, 
 
 Or decorate a Window, and no more : 
 
 But then to finifr , is beyond his Skill, 
 
 And we fuppofe the refl, exceeding ill. 
 
 And ’tis ridiculous for one good Part, 
 
 Where what remains are Scandal to the Art ; 
 
 Where 
 
( 9 ) 
 
 Where only one is luckily adorn’d. 
 
 And all the reft remarkably deform’d. 
 
 Let ArchiteSls attempt their Skill to fhow 
 In fmall Defigns at firft; in what they know. 
 Then as they find their Genius rife, to try 
 How much their Structures they can magnify. 
 Shew how Convenience , Beauty , Symmetry , 
 LIow Method , Art , and Nature will agree. 
 Rules well appropriate will ever pleafe, 
 
 And proper Drefs, is plac’d with greateft Eafe, 
 Firft ftudy Nature , where, and how to fill 
 The various Voids, and ornament with Skill. 
 Chufe the juft Emblems for the Pile and Spot ; 
 The Drefs of Temples fuit not with a Grot . 
 
 The Palace , and the Villa differ wide, 
 
 For both, a proper Ornameiht provide, 
 Perhaps in this, you muft Profufenefs fpare ; 
 When that\ requires you to be lavifh there. 
 
 If from the ufual Tafte your Building fprings 
 Magnificently great, a Seat for Kings, 
 
 2 
 
 Let 
 
C 10 ) 
 
 Let your exalted Fancy, tho’ ’tis new, 
 
 Keep the great Arts of Greece and Rome in View $ 
 From thence your Fabrick form, your Genius flow, 
 Thence bid the RaviJFd Gazer s Bofom glow. 
 
 Can an impartial Critick judly blame 
 A Fault in Jones, (or Fl-t-ft, is the fame ;) 
 
 And yet approve in Hawksmoor, or in J — s. 
 
 The fame wild Error, or the fame Extremes ? 
 
 Why fhould the few, the Rules which I impart, 
 
 Be condrued ill, be Scandal to the Art ? 
 
 When Gibbs, fo copious, fo enrich’d has been, 
 
 No Part’s obfcure, but all are ufeful feen. 
 
 Men always had, and ever will, Pretence, 
 
 At lead; with Method, to improve our Senfe : 
 
 And the lad Laws, however jud or true, 
 
 Mud give the Palm to fuch which are more new-. 
 One Year, a Train of Images arife. 
 
 The next a gayer, newer Form fupplies. 
 
 One Scene improv’d, mud to another yield, 
 
 And all refign to Fate, and quit the Field. 
 
 The 
 
( ** ) 
 
 The fam’d St. Hellen’s, and the fam’d Torbay, 
 Where GEORGE’s Glorious Fleets, in Safety lay. 
 The Bank , the Meufe> the Treafury will fall, 
 
 One common Ruin overwhelming all : 
 
 Nay this great City may be loft in Flames, 
 
 Andwhat are Villa s, may be defart Plains . 
 
 The Bleating Flocks , on ruin’d Fabricks ftray, 
 
 And what were Temples , now in AJhes lay : 
 
 The Groves arife where Gilded Turrets fhone, 
 
 And what are Gardens now, were Heaps of Stone. 
 
 Yet Those, and They, will in Oblivion lye, 
 
 And all, in future Times, forgot, and die. 
 
 Why then fhould Artifts challenge future Praife, 
 
 When Time devours their Works fo many Ways ? 
 
 But Ufe has rais’d the Greek and Roman Rules, 
 
 And banilh’d Gothick Pra&ice from the Schools. 
 
 Ufe is the Judge, the Law, the Rule of Things, 
 Whence Arts arofe, and whence the Science Iprings, 
 At Athens firft the riling Art began ; 
 
 Cecrops, the King, firft modell’d out the Plan., 
 
 2 
 
 The 
 
The ftudious Youth \ purfued with ardent Care 
 The Infant Rules, unpolifti’d as they were. 
 
 Till banifh’d Dvedalus Protection fought. 
 
 There well receiv’d, the ftriCter Rules he taught ; 
 Their Arts , their Sciences , were learn’d in Schools, 
 And all their Precepts were confin’d to Rules. 
 
 The fwelling Tree y as it unpolifti’d grew 
 Undecorated, Native Graces fhew; 
 
 From thence the Column, in its purer Drefs, 
 
 The Work of Nature , muft the Form confefs : 
 
 The wreath'd , the fluted y or th’ encumb' ring Vine, 
 With plenteous Branches round the Pillar twine ; 
 Yet ftill its pure Simplicity you fee ; 
 
 The Shaft of Art , refembles ftill a Tree. 
 
 But how to appropriate, to embellifh ftill 
 Juftly, the Space to decorate and fill, 
 
 To give proportion’d Beauty to each Part, 
 
 To make the whole fubfervient to the Art : 
 
 The Inborn-Traces of the Mind purfue. 
 
 For Nature teaches how to find the Clue. 
 
( *3 ) 1 
 
 The Jilent Groves a little Pile muft grace ; 
 Nor yet too grave, or lavifh. for the Place. 
 
 We find the middle Path, the Way to pleafe, 
 And decorate the Parts with greater Eafe. 
 
 But when the Opening to fome diftant Scene, 
 Where Lawns , and livning PrefpeEls intervene \ 
 Where Vifla' s or delightful Gardens charm ; 
 Where verdant Beauties all our Senfes warm : 
 Let Flow rs and Fruit in feeming Wildnefs grow 
 And there let lavifh Nature feem to flow. 
 
 There let the Parts, the Gazer’s Eye furprize ; 
 And with the Glebe the Structure Harmonize. 
 Where Severn , Trent , or Thames's ouzy Side, 
 Pours the fmooth Current of their eafy Tide : 
 Each will require a Samenefs to the Spot, 
 
 For this a Cell , a Cafcade , or a Grott. 
 
 Th e Mofs, ox gliding Streams produ&ive Store, 
 To grace the Building on the verdant Shore : 
 There the rough Tufcan , or the Ru flick fix, 
 
 Or PebbleSy Shells> or calcin’d Matter mix. 
 
( *4 ) 
 
 The frozen Ifcle's refembled Form, 
 
 t * 
 
 Or Sea-green Weed , your Grotto mud adorn. 
 
 Near fome lone Wood , the gay Pavilion place ; 
 Let the Corinthian Mode the Structure grace : 
 Carve here Fejloons of lovely Flowers and Fruit : 
 And with the Spot, let the Enrich?nents fuit. 
 
 On fome Afcent, the plainer Fabric k view ; 
 
 The Drefs Ionick, and the Sculptures few. 
 
 Few are the Ornaments, but plain and neat, 
 
 The leaft Redundant are the moft Compleat. 
 Gibbs may be faid, mod Times in Drefs to pleafe, 
 And few can decorate with greater Eafe ; 
 
 But Jones more juftly knew the Eye to charm, 
 
 To pleafe the Judgment, and the Fancy warm; 
 To give a Greatnefs to the opening Glade , 
 
 Or plealing Softnefs to the foletnn Shade y 
 To fuit the V alley y or the riling Hill, 
 
 Or grace the Flow ry Mead y or Silver Rill. 
 
 In H - -k - -r ; V — b - very Soul you trace, 
 The fame unmeaning Drefs, in every Place j 
 
( i5 ) 
 
 The fame wild Heap of inconftftent Things : 
 
 From whence the Prison, or the Palace fprings ; 
 
 A Tufcan Portal for a Palace Gate y 
 And a Corinthian Column in a Lake. 
 
 For difproportion’d Columns R- -l - -s fee, 
 
 Where neither Art , or Rules , or Form agree ; 
 Abfurdly bad, and grown a publick Jeft : 
 
 By far too high - - too heavy all the reft. 
 
 Would you the Sifter- Arts improve in Schools ? 
 In Sculpture follow Rysb rack’s chofen Rules ; 
 
 In Portrait feek for Amiconi’s Force : 
 
 Humour in Hogarth : Wooten for a Horfe : 
 
 In Landfcape , Lambert ; or in Crayons , fee 
 The Charms of Colours flowing from Goupee. 
 
 In Eloquence , you fee young Murray ftiine; 
 
 In Mujick, Handel’s Graces are divine. 
 
 If to adapt your Fabrick, you would choofe 
 To fuit the Builders Genius, or his Ufe : 
 
 Confider well his Station , Birth y or Parts , 
 
 And make for each the ^uinte[fence of Arts. 
 
 C 2 
 
 Here 
 
( 1 6 ) 
 
 Here to the Muse, a proper Part afiign, 
 
 To Bacchus there, diredt the golden Vine ; 
 
 To Venus, fix a little filent Cell> 
 
 Where all the Loves and Graces choofe to dwell : 
 Where the young Wantons , revel, fport, and play y 
 And frisk and frolick tedious Time away. 
 
 The Prison’s Entrance, majjy Chains declare* 
 
 The lofs of Freedom, to the Wretched there. 
 Thus every Spot afiumes a various Face y 
 And Decoration varies with the Place. 
 
 The Tuscan or the Dorian Modus here ; 
 
 Th’ Ionick, or Corinthian Modus there. 
 
 The Temples , Baths , or folemn facred Urn>. 
 Requires Attention, and our Skill in turn. 
 
 The weeping Statue to the Hero lend $ 
 
 True to his Country , Family , or Friend : 
 
 So place the Figure, that as you draw near* 
 
 You join his Grief, and drop a filent Tear. 
 
 So fine , fo juft , the Attitude is made, 
 
 The faithful Marble bids you mourn his Shade. 
 
 If 
 
( *7 ) 
 
 If you adventurous, try your utmoft Skill 
 To tread unbeaten Paths, be Lofty ftill; 
 
 Keep up the Stre?igth> the Dignity , and Force 
 Of ftated Rules \ let thofe direct your Courfe. 
 New Methods are not eafy underftood ; 
 
 And few will ftep in an untrodden Road. 
 
 ’Tis better to purfue the Rule that’s known, 
 
 Than truft to an Invention of your own. 
 
 But then, be fure your Choice diredt you right 
 Vary, but keep the Original in light : 
 
 The Orders juft proportion ; ftridt obferve* 
 
 The Variation ; various Ufes ferve. 
 
 Perhaps the Wafte, which every Pile endures, 
 May make the Copy, juftly pafs for yours. 
 
 You need not llavifh Imitators be, 
 
 Exadt in Copy \ but your Fancy free : 
 
 This Ornament omit, or there exprefs 
 The changing Modus, by a different Drefs. 
 
 R — jk, in Ruftick heavy Buildings ftill. 
 Attempts in vain to pleafe, or fhew his Skill y 
 
( i8 ) 
 
 How far he ft rays from the pure Roman Stile, 
 
 And labours on in Dulness all the while! 
 
 With M- - s : , F --ft, G s, L- - /, W- -e. 
 
 Let Admiralty, or Custom-house compare. 
 
 You’ll fee the wretched Structure’s finking State, 
 Blam’d to Futurity, their certain Fate. 
 
 He with a Glare of Gaiety extends 
 
 The lengthen’d Pile, and ftill with Dulness ends: 
 
 But those without your Expectation rife ; 
 
 And dazzle the Beholder with Surprize. 
 
 Nothing is vain, or ill-expos’d to fight ; 
 
 No Part too heavy , nor no Drefs too light. 
 
 So certain are the Methods they have fix’d, 
 
 So juft proportion’d, and fo aptly mix’d. 
 
 That all feem Graceful, Uniform, and Neat; 
 
 Each Part is perfeSl , and the Whole compleat. 
 
 Criticks, attend the Rules which I impart ; 
 
 They are at leaft ; inflruSlive to the Art : 
 
 Mark how Convenience , Strength , and Beauty join : 
 With thefe let Harmony of Parts combine. 
 
 Appro- 
 
( J 9 ) 
 
 Appropriate well the Structure to the Place ; 
 
 And give each Part a Symmetry and Grace . 
 
 Make Rules your Guide, your Fancy to controul ; 
 And make each Part fubfervient to the Whole. 
 
 But choice of Place muft be the Builder’s Care, 
 For various Climates , various Modes prepare. 
 
 To fome a pleafing V ale ; (the Poet’s Song) 
 
 Where ftlver Strea?ns in Eddies glide along ; 
 
 A little riling Hill, with Woods o’ergrown, 
 
 And at the Foot, a verdant Carpet thrown : 
 
 Where the foft vernal Bloom beneath is fpread ; 
 Where the tall Poplar hangs its drooping Head \ 
 Where, on the Bank, the Flowers and Oziers green. 
 Shade the fmooth Current as it runs between ; 
 
 The fertile Meads , enamell’d all around, 
 
 And the rich Glebe with yellow Harvefl crown’d. 
 
 Others in long-extended Views delight, 
 
 Where gilded Obje&s catch the Gazer’s Sight. 
 
 Where the wide Plain , or lawny ProfpeEl lye, 
 
 In mingled Sweets, to chear the ravifSd Eye,. 
 
 2 
 
 Where 
 
( 2.0 ) 
 
 Where the Vale, winding round the rifing Hill ; 
 The Lilly drinks beneath; the latent Rill. 
 
 The Lawns, the filver Str earns , the opening Glade , 
 The diflant f olenin Grove's collected Shade : 
 Charms of the verdant , or the flow ry Flain ; 
 
 The rifing Mowitain , or the diflant Maw. 
 
 Where rugged Rocks , in wild Diforder rife ; 
 
 Where unproliflck Nature , naked lies ; 
 
 Where the vaft craggy Summit feems to fhew, 
 
 A falling Precipice to thofe below : 
 
 Expos’d to fcorching Heats, or piercing Wind, 
 May more delight another’s changing Mind , 
 
 Or the rude Billows of tempefluous Seas, 
 Another’s Eye, perhaps, may chance to pleafe : 
 View on the Summit of a foaming Wave, 
 
 The unhappy Sailor try’s himfelf to fave ; 
 
 The floating Wreck, the VefTel’s fhatter’d Side, 
 Dafh’d on the Shore, bv the refifllefs Tide: 
 
 The foaming Surge the Shore repells again ; 
 
 And beats alternate, back upon the Main : 
 
 2 
 
View the abandon’d, helplefs Wretch’s State ; 
 Sinking, bemoans his last unhappy Fate. 
 
 All thefe the i\RCHiTECT mufl ftudy well ; 
 
 From the proud Palace to the humble Cell. 
 
 The barren Mountain , and the rural Shade ; 
 
 The mingled gay Profufion, Nature made. 
 
 To fit and tally, Art requires his Skill, 
 
 From the moift Meadow ; to the brown-brow d Hill , 
 The filent foady Grove , or filver Rill. 
 
 To give a Grandeur to the Opening Lawn ; 
 
 And pleafing Softnefs, to the folemn Dawn ; 
 
 To join the vivid , with the vernal Bloom ; 
 
 Where fcarce a Sun Beam wanders thro’ the Gloom. 
 This is the Art’s Perfection well to know ; 
 
 To charm the Senfe, and bid the Bofom glow : 
 Teach us to imitate the Ancients well ; 
 
 And where the Moderns we fiiould fiill excell. 
 
 Make the Pavilion proper for the Spot, 
 
 Or the gay Temple) or the graver Grot. 
 
 D 
 
( 2 . 2 , ) 
 
 Adorn your Villa with the niceft Art, 
 
 And let your Drefs, be juft in every Part ; 
 Appropriate well, the Ornaments you choofe ; 
 
 But not alone for Gaiety ; but Ufe. 
 
 In a warm Climate where the Tyber flows ; 
 
 Where in the Soil, the obdurate Marble grows, 
 There on the Spot, make choice of what you will, 
 But here to ufe it, would be want of Skill: 
 
 And ’tis an equal Fault of thofe alone 5 
 Who vainly imitate, a Portland-Stone , 
 
 The dryer Climates, cherifh Stucco there, 
 
 But Rains, and colder Snows, deftroy it here. 
 
 Avoid, as much as in you lyes, to place, 
 
 FeftoonS) or loofer Ornament for Grace : 
 
 Few let the Carvi?igs be ; for outfide Drefs : 
 
 A Boldnefs rather fhould your Thoughts exprefs, 
 Redundancy, and Neatnefs will be loft : 
 
 And but to finifh high ; is needlefs Ccft. 
 
 But then, regard to Diftance muft be had: 
 
 If near the Eye, the Fault would be as bad. 
 
 S - - D, 
 
( 2 3 ) 
 
 S - - - b, in Spite of Reafon and of Senfe, 
 "With all thofe Faults, and Follies will difpenfe; 
 Carv'd Fronts , and Stucco decorated ftill, 
 Without Regard to place, the Fabrick fill : 
 
 ’Tis meant perhaps fome FraSlure to conceal, 
 
 Though frequent fo; the more it does reveal : 
 Such are the Reafons, fhould our Practice fway, 
 
 And where the firongefl: plead, we fhould obey, 
 The mo ft demonftrative, the fafefl are \ 
 
 And what are not, we fhould avoid with Care : 
 As you’d fly Scylla, or Charybdis fhun, 
 
 Or Tricks of Scapin, Harlequin - , or Lun. 
 
 Convenience firft, then Beauty is a Part, 
 
 And Strength muft be Afiiftant to the Art. 
 
 A little Seat, a Neatnefs will require: 
 
 A Palace claims a more majeftick Fire, 
 
 That made for Decency ; for Grandeur this-, 
 
 And even Profufenefs, may be not amifs. 
 
 Here a long vifta’d Chain of Rooms of State, 
 To entertain the Attendants on the Great, 
 
 D 2 
 
 The 
 
( 2 4 ) 
 
 The glittering Drefs, to catch the Gazer’s Sight, 
 At once to give Surprife; and to delight. 
 
 The Greeks to three, confined the dated Rules, 
 And only thofe, were known in public Schools; 
 
 Till Rome the Tufcan , and Compoftte join’d, 
 
 To enrich the Art, and to improve Mankind, 
 From tliefe alone, all Modes , all Orders fpring 
 To build a Cell, or Palace for a King. 
 
 Fir fl the grave Do rick Mode; for Ufe was form’d, 
 When in its Infant-State, and unadorn’d : 
 
 ’Fwas Entertainment for the Jager Few, 
 
 And pleas’d the Times, till fomething darted new : 
 Then the gay, Lydian Mode ; in Order rofe, 
 
 And Art to Art, they wantonly oppofe : 
 
 For Men grew fickle by Profperity, 
 
 Study ’d new Arts, and Eafe and Luxury. 
 
 At length the rich Corinthian’s gayer Drefs 
 
 The Artid’s Decorations, well exprefs. 
 
 The Goths did introduc'd the frantick Way 
 
 Of forming Apes, or Mortfters, wild as they 
 
( 2 5 ) 
 
 Becaufe the Tumult, fond of Tricks and Apes, 
 Lov’d fuch Variety, and anrick Shapes. 
 
 But K - - x has no Excufe, to copy thefe, 
 
 Unlefs he has; no other Way to pleafe. 
 
 The Modern Artifts, all their Genius fhow 
 In a V enetian-JVindow , or a Bow. 
 
 The Cell, the ‘Temple^ Palace , Villa , all 
 Muft have a Window, they V enetian call, 
 
 Or Bow ; to grace a Grotto> or a Hall. 
 
 A little Structure ; built for Ufe alone, 
 Requires no Drefs, nor Ornament of Stone: 
 
 The Plaineft , Neat eft , Method is the heft : 
 
 One fimple Modus, governs all the reft. 
 
 The Villa next with Ornament you blend; 
 
 The gay and pleajing through the whole extend 
 The Temple, or the Gayer-Palace will, 
 
 In Decoration, try your utmoft Skill. 
 
 Learn of Palladio, how to deck a Space ; 
 
 Of J ones you’ll learn Magnificence, and Grace 
 
( a<S ) 
 
 Campbell will teach, the Beauty they impart; 
 
 And Gibbs, the Rules and Modus of the Art: 
 
 Keep dill thefe Rules, and Methods, in your Sight; 
 Read them by Day, and meditate by Night, 
 
 But V — b - - h was admir’d, in Anna s Days, 
 And even his Blenheim , would excite fome Praife. 
 And H - - s - - r travell’d in the fame dull Road, 
 And trod the Footdeps, which his Mafter trod : 
 
 But Boyle and Pembroke, have the Art redor’d ; 
 And difta?2t Ages will their Fame record. 
 
 See the old Goths, in K - - ’s Dedgns furvive ; 
 And Modern Fools, to imitate his drive: 
 Renouncing all the Rules the Romans had, 
 
 Are pad reclaiming, obdinately mad. 
 
 Drunken N- - c - a, with a Front diredt. 
 
 Or dupid B - - s, makes fuch an Architedl ; 
 
 Unhappy I ! But Fortune dept between : 
 
 And proper Phyjick cur’d me of the Spleen. 
 
 And now Pm fatisfy’d to keep my Senfe: 
 
 Make Rules my Guide, to plead in my Defence : 
 
( 2 7 ) 
 
 Give to the Roman Sciences their Due : 
 
 And write, to whet that 'Appetite, in you. 
 
 Tell what the Duty of a Builder is. 
 
 Point out what’s Right in Pra&ice ; what’s amifs. 
 
 Shew where , and how to decorate with Skill, 
 
 What Ornaments are juft, and what are ill. 
 
 Shew how the Judgment , fhould condu<ft the Art, 
 
 And where Judicioufnefs , directs the Part; 
 
 Where proper Situation claims our Care ; 
 
 Where Rules fhould guides and where moft ufeful are. 
 
 The Architect, all Franks of Men fhould know, 
 And when, and where, to bid his Genius flow 
 Tofwell the Rules , for Majesty, and State, 
 
 To equal all the Grandeur of the Great; 
 
 To ferve the Ufe of Senators, or Kings, 
 
 And be the Source, from whence all Science fprings. 
 
 Sometimes in old Defigns, you Grandeur yiew, 
 
 And even in Negligence , find fomething new. 
 
 But modern Youth are taught to fing , and dance , 
 
 And learn the Follies, and the Modes of France ; 
 
 Neglect in g 
 
( 28 ) 
 
 Neglecting Method, Order, 'Time, or Seitfe, 
 
 With all their Jargon, and their Modes difpenfe. 
 
 They make the Dorick, and Corinthian mix ; 
 
 And with th* Ionian , the Compojite fix. 
 
 The Grave and Gay , in one long Range extend ; 
 
 And with the Solemn, the Profufive blend. 
 
 Can Structures, built by fuch a Builder, live ? 
 
 W\\\ A- -f - -y, think you ; C -~p~- nr furvive ? 
 
 Will 0 - - k - - y , B - - s*, and fome whom I could name ? 
 Whole Works already ; damn them into Fame. 
 
 Will they, or not, all Rules, all Modes deface. 
 
 Invert all Order, and the Art dif grace ? 
 
 Will B - -f - - w ; M - - d - -7i ; Fools by Nature made 
 Will they encreafe, or will they ruin Trade? 
 
 ’Tis you, my Lord, who know your Judgment’s Heigh \ 
 Your Precepts, and Inflruclions, are of Weight; 
 
 Clear, and fuccinct, the lower Clafs to teach/"" 
 
 And oft, above the towring Artifts Reach; 
 
 Where the gay Ornament you pleafe to place, 
 
 And where it gives a Majefty and Grace. 
 
 And 
 
 
( *9 ) 
 
 Thefe are th zRuIes y will live in future Days, 
 
 The Youth’s Director, and the Poet' s Lays y 
 ’Tis thefe will fhine when in Oblivion lay’d : 
 
 The Goths forgotten, and the Moderns dead. 
 
 The fkillful Archer, may his Aim midake ; 
 And the bed Hand in Mudck, Jarring make: 
 
 So that, the Frailty of our Nature will, 
 
 Excufe as Accident, nor condrue ill. 
 
 But if the Impertinent, their Faults are told, 
 
 And fill perdd; and fill y their Follies hold: 
 
 Let them abandon d, fenfelefs y ftupid be, 
 
 And, pad reclaiming, dill be dull for me. 
 
 In fome great Structures, Lownefs is expred ; 
 And Sleep even fometimes, Homer lull’d to Reft; 
 Building , like Painting , proper Point of Sight, 
 Requires to view it, in its cleared Light; 
 
 And fome tho’ aim’d at Grandeur , or at Eafe, 
 Even pleafe but once y and fome will ever pleafe. 
 
 But yet, my Ford , this one important Truth, 
 This Law of Science , which we teach our Youth , 
 
 E 
 
 Even 
 
Even this, no Mediocrity admit, 
 
 Rules , Nature , Reafon , <2// muft jointly fit : 
 
 A Painter may Raphael’s Judgment want, 
 
 And yet, we fume Abilities will grant: 
 
 He may, perhaps, a skillful Painter be, 
 
 Tho’ not fo great, yet great in fome Degree. 
 
 In Building, there’s no Laws of human Kind, 
 
 Admit a Medium ; to the Artift’s Mind, 
 
 All muft be perfect, or ’tis underftood, 
 
 Excefiive ///, - - - or elfe fublimely Good. 
 
 In Things where Reafon, feems but to fubfide. 
 
 Men learn to ftem, the Torrent of the Tide ; 
 
 They daizce, or fence , or vainly wifh to fly , 
 
 But if they fail, contented ceafe to try. 
 
 But all in Building, univerfal run, 
 
 Undoing others, and themfelves undone. 
 
 Oh B le! or S - - n --pe, P--m-ke; any Name, 
 
 That Arts, or Virtue ; raifes into Fame, 
 
 Be to my Mufe a Friend ; afiifi: my Caufe; 
 
 Be Friend to Science , fix’d on Natures Lav/s. 
 
 On 
 
( 3i ) 
 
 On that alone, on Natures perfect Plan, 
 
 I form my System, as I first began. 
 
 By you infpir’d, I boldly lay the Line, 
 
 And ev’n am vain to call the Subject mine. 
 
 So Orpheus, once by more than human Sway, 
 
 Tam’d favage Beajls y or Men as wild as they ; 
 
 And when Amphion, built the Theban Wall, 
 
 The Stones, by Magick Power, obey’d his Call. 
 
 So Ancient , even in Egypt’s priftine State, 
 
 Recorded Architecture, has its Date. 
 
 Since thus, my Lord ; what Gods and Kings infpire, 
 What bids my Bofom glow with arduous Fire ; 
 
 This Noble Arty difdain not to protect ; 
 
 If not the Art, at leaft the Architect. 
 
 If Arty or Naturey form’d me what I am ; 
 
 If one or both, affilted in the Plan, 
 
 It is beyond, my utmoE Power to fay : 
 
 Whether I Arty or Natures Laws obey. 
 
 Without each other, we in vain fhould fbrive; 
 
 To Build, cr keep the Sciences alive j 
 
 E 2 
 
 Each 
 
( 32 ) 
 
 Rack mutually adid, and each will need, 
 
 The other’s Help, as Nature has decreed. 
 
 He that intends an Architect to be, 
 
 Mud ferioufly deliberate, like me; 
 
 Mud fee the Situation , Mode and Form, 
 
 Of every Structure, which they would adorn : 
 
 All Parts External^ and Internal , view ; 
 
 Before they aim to raife, a fomething new. 
 
 Ask G- - s, or F - - tc - - t, to corredt your Plan > 
 They’ll freely, where you err, indrudt the Man, 
 
 In what’s amifs, with Judgment, and with Care, 
 Where needful add ; and where profudve ; fpare . 
 
 But if you felfifh ; foolifhly defend ; 
 
 Your glaring Faults, and will not drive to mend, 
 
 To his own Folly leave the Wretch alone, 
 
 And without Rival, let him blunder on. 
 
 Thofe Things which feem of little Confequence, 
 And dight and trivial; know; you fome time hence, 
 When you are made ridiculous ; will dnd. 
 
 They are important, and indrudt the Mind : 
 
( 33 ) 
 
 If in a Building Fit , a Frantic Man : 
 
 ♦ , * 
 
 Should wildly fcheme, a bad, or monftrous Plan 
 
 Net minding where , or how, or what , to lay, 
 
 For a Foundation, or his Workmen pay : 
 
 If he fhould find, a Prifon for his Pains, 
 
 (Misfortune jufily fuited to his Brains ) 
 
 No one would pity , or condole his Fate, 
 
 But think he merited, the Bedlam-State. 
 
 Empedocles, with Madnefs fought the Flame, 
 
 And thought by that ; to gain immortal Fame. 
 
 Let Architects, and Builders, mad as they, 
 
 In Folly j run, and make themfelves away ; 
 
 Why fhould it be a Sin, fuch Men to kill, 
 
 More than to keep alive, againfl: their Will ? 
 
 It was not Chance , but Choice , the Poet made, 
 
 To feek Divinity , in Lethe’s Shade ; 
 
 For if he was, from Pluto’s Sable Plain , 
 
 Return’d to Earth , He’d J£tna feek again. 
 
( 34 ) 
 
 ’Tis hard to fay, whether the Gloomy Clime , 
 
 Or Murder , Incejl, or fome heinous Crime, 
 
 Sends Building-Fiends , into the Madding Worlds 
 Govern’d by Frenzy ; by Confufion hurl d. 
 
 Seize all they meet ; and - like the baited Bear, 
 
 Without Diftin&ion, Range , and Rend , and 
 
 No one efcapes them : from Lord O - -r - - d : down. 
 
 To B s } and every errant Fool in Town : 
 
 They build, or teach; are leading, or are led ; 
 
 And never ceafe, till they’re in Jail, or dead. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
 . , V J . - fiT V .it • » I 
 
 ■ >4 
 

 
 
MM# -‘Mo