Masterpieces Of The Architecture Of Different Nations.

durable materials , after their civilization and assembling together in toAvns under a stable government . There are found in China , in monuments aud in public Avorks , all the marvels Avhich an immense industrial population , attached to the arts ancl to labour , constant in their tastes ancl stubborn in their habits , Avhich nothing has been

able to change for ages , can present to the astonishment of the traveller . There are canals immense both for their extent ancl their multi plicity ; they are banked in by stones or bordered AA'ith quays , they are adorned with bridges admirable for their boldness and lightness , ingenious locks , difficult roads , Avhere all the obstacles of nature are

overcome , rocks pierced through , spaces suspended above abysses , soft and clayey soil hardened , forests opened , in short , everything has been forced to yield to that unity of effort , which , constantly directed by a fixed will to the same end—public utility—could not fail to triumph over the elements and the seasons . There are not to be found , indeed , among the Chinese architects or engineers more celebrated or more experienced than ours , although among the books of their

philosophers the thirteenth treats of mathematics , the fourteenth of architecture ancl symmetry , the sixteenth of fortifications ancl the machines of Avar , & c . Their temples , notwithstanding the rudeness of their exterior ancl certain resemblances in disposition , aucl as a whole to the sacred edifices of the E gyptians ancl of the Greeks , are deficient in

that nobleness which , the severe forms given by that people to granite and marble were able to impress upon them , ancl ivhich is not to be found to the same degree in the raw columns and the mean-masses which tho Chinese produce in erecting their double ancl triple roofs , the brilliant colours of ivhich cannot efface the defects . With respect to their

warlike engines , there is not one of their toAvns that could sustain a siege against our formidable artillery—all their forts are nearly round ancl without elevation—their walls have no thickness—their embrasures are unequal , and form but a simple hole , perforated in such a manner that cannon can be directed only to a single point .. The famous Wall of China , which begins in the neighbourhood of tho Yelloiv River and stretches to fche Sea of

Kamfcschatka , ivas finished in five years : a third of the nation was , it is said , employed in its construction . It was necessary to contrive large arches for the course of waters , and provide ways for the passage of troops . A million soldiers guarded it in ancient times . Li considering its length of five hundred leagues , one may easily understand what spaces are

filled by mountains , and how there are those where there is but a fosse ; properly , speaking , there are but one hundred leagues of walls , ivhich are constructed partly of brick ancl partly of earthivork . The loAver part is of cut stone , the summit is covered with a little earth and paved with large stones . There is on each side a parapet three ieet in

thickness ; these parapets are flanked , at intervals , by a great number of toAvers , according to the ancient method ; their greatest elevation is thirty feet , ancl their least fifteen ; in tlieir ordinary breadth they can hold seven or eight men abreast , that is to say , they are from tAvelve to fifteen feet broad . This wall is remaining , almost hi its entirety , after

a lapse of two thousand years ; it traverses vast rivers or it takes the form of bridges , sometimes of tiyo storeys , ancl with very great arches . In places where the wall rises with the ground , there are contrived to the summit large flights of steps which render the passage of it easy , safe , ancl continuous ; it is a very fine military road , by which armies

destined to guard the frontiers , can be transported from one extremit y of the empire to the other , by means of certain signals transmitted from the tops of the towers . They can , in a very short space of time , communicate alarm throughout the ivholc empire ; accordingly the Chinese have been beforehand with us in the use of telegraphs j and everyivhere ivhere the wall attains the summit of a heig ht , they have placed a fort to watch the movements of tbe enemy .

Masterpieces Of The Architecture Of Different Nations.

This wall having lost its importance and its utility since Tartary and China have formed but one nation , this monument remains abandoned to the ravages of the seasons . Accordingly the period is ajjfiroachiug when this masterpiece ol human activity will present but vast ruins . A great part is already the prey of time , aucl many other parts threaten to cover

those p lains , for the defence of ivhich that wall was raised in anterior ages . At a distance of about seven miles from the Great Wall is a road made on . a lofty mountain , which is a fresh proof of the genius aud perseverance of the Chinese in all thafc they undertake relating to jiublic utility . This }> assagethirtfeet in breadthis dug out of the rock over a

, y , heig ht of more than one hundred feet , ancl presents a terrific spectacle . ' Besides this , there are immense mountains more than three hundred toises in height , cut about in the mosfc extraordinary and picturesque manner , with caverns and grottoes made at different heights , flights of steps to ascend to them , and . platforms or terraces for the enjoyment of the

prospect . These people possess the art of executing with rapidity illuminations in these mountainous countries ; the sinuosities ancl the splendour of those lights at times approach heaven on the tops of mountains , and at times seem to be buried in the depth of the earth , by their reflection in the waters ofthe rivers ancl the lakes . This spectaclethus prolonged for

, several miles , ancl varied by masses of flame more or less strong , is one of the most vast ancl most extraordinary pictures that the imagination can conceive . They also contrive tombs hollowed out of rocks in niche like forms ^ on heights ancl in jiositions that are inaccessible , and the doors of which rising in the shape of arches or pyramidsare enriched iii

, beauty by the application of red , white , blue , ancl other colours . These elevated dwellings , out of the reach of human beings , seem to approach the spirits of the celestial regions ^ and present an idea absolutely opposed to that of depositing the remains of mortals in catacombs dug out of the depths of the earth . The sepulchres of the great are magnificent

structures . They are made on a mountain or in the country , ancl are great houses vaulted all over , in ivhich the bier is placed ; before them is formed an elevation of ground covered ivith plantations ; before them is p laced a great altar of Avhite and polished marble , on ivhich rises a lofty candelabrum of marble , iron , or copper , and on each side a chandelier of the same material . There are , furthermore , seen ranged here and there , in several files , a number of figures of mandarins ,

gentlemen , pages , eunuchs , lions , horses , camels , tortoises , ancl other animals , all of white polished marble , ancl whose movements ancl expressions seem fco be quite natural . There are frequently met ivith in China triumphal arches , or rather loffcy porticoes , with from one to three square passages ; ivhen there are three the eentre one towers above

the other two , and they are all decorated with silken . Hags and banners . There are also seen in that country a multiplicity of pagodas , the pyramidal forms ancl variegated colours of Avhich , as well as the adornings , give an idea of the importance of the toAvto , village , or powerful chief Avho inhabits the lace ivhich they decorate . The temples there bear

p commonly enough the character suitable to the worship of each divinity . The temple of heaven , for example , is of a circular form , the roof of ivhich , covered Avith blue tiles , is sustained by an infinity of simple columns , covered ivith an azure coloured varnish , Ifc has several very extensive enclosures : it is in the first of these that the -emperor sometimes

goes in procession to particular ceremonies . Pekin has again another superb temple consecrated to fche protective genius of the walls of the city—which reminds us of the usages of fche Romans , who placed their towns and buildings under the protection of consel'vating gods aiid geniuses . The palace o £ the emperor alone occupies in the

olcl city a space of tivo miles square . It is taken care of bythousands of eunuchs ; ifc presents a prodig ious mass of great buildings , vast courts and magnificent gardens j a double