Such a system of open, unblushing, encouraged and increasing depravity as this, is not merely disgraceful to the theatres and the nation, but is manifestly one of the most powerful of those combined causes which have of late years produced so great and general a distaste for the British drama, among the respectable classes of our society. Such a system has never existed any where but in England. In France, Spain, Italy, the tainted of the sex put on at least an appearance of decorum at the theatres, and thus pay an involuntary homage to virtue. In Germany, as we know, from a recent entertaining traveller*, "the theatre is, apparently, as free from had female company as a private assembly; or if they do venture there, it is under that concealment of dress and demeanour, which forbids even a suspicion of their character." Every person of common propriety and taste will cordially join with the same agreeable writer in exclaiming "Would it were so with the theatres of England!"

The only thing, indeed, which is at all tolerable about these theatres is the scenery, which is always showy, and in many instances appropriate and beautiful; but there is an incongruity even in that. There should be some sort of keeping between the scenery and the actors; or if they are to be at variance, then homely scenes and good acting would be much better than bad acting before the most gorgeous scenes that pencil can paint. As the matter stands, it puts one in mind of those productions of the press, which would fall instantly into oblivion-or rather never come out of it, were it not for the kindly aid of the engraver—those miserable works,

"In which the pictures for the page atone,

And Quarles is saved by beauties not his own."

What is the grand cause of all this vice and imperfection? Let us, if we can, save the managers, the actors, and the public, and lay the blame upon the bricks and mortar. In one word, then, the theatres are too large,—too large for any manager to superintend, any audience to pay, or any actor to command, without roaring every word, and throwing every gesture into broad caricature. There is so much wasted upon the machinery, the lighting, the heating, and the mere tradesmanship of the houses, that there are not funds left for adequately rewarding the proprietors. The consequence of this is, that extravagant salaries are given to a few who have got names, and the rest of the company is vamped up the cheapest materials that can be procured. Thus the proper balance of characters, even in an ordinary play, is not preserved : and the attention of those who would otherwise attend, is directed from the drama to the favourite actor, or the fascinating scene. If one be sufficiently near the stage, one is disgusted at the mouthing, the grimace, and the wide, wild, and outrageous

*

Notes and Reflections during a Ramble in Germany.

of

motions; and if one be so far removed, as that the harshness of these is taken off by distance, then the dialogue and intellectual part of the entertainment are lost, and one hears nothing but the clap-trap words, which are meant as the signal-guns for provoking the gods to thunder.

One step towards the reformation of the drama would therefore be, the Macadamization of these great theatres. This becomes apparent when one sees the same performer at one of them, and then at a theatre of moderate dimensions-the Haymarket, for instance. The latter must of course partake of many of the faults of the former; because, when the major is corrupt, the minor cannot well be pure; but still one finds, in the comparative numbers, character, and attentiveness of the audience at the small theatres, that the drama there is much more a treat than at the great houses. The patents of Drury Lane and Covent Garden should, therefore, either be broken down, or, which would be far better, abolished; and a system of free trade introduced in the drama, as well as every where else. The monopoly has led to the erection of those stupidly large houses, which have never regularly paid the proprietors, and which never will regularly pay them, under any management; while it destroys emulation, and limits to a very few the actors who have the means of attempting the higher characters, and also the number of those who, were the system more rational, would, no doubt, write for the stage.

It is not easy to say into how many theatres each of the great national deserts should be broken down. The public would determine that; and were the trade free, the supply of theatres, like that of every other commodity, would be regulated by the demand. There would then be rival patrons, rival managers, rival actors, and rival authors; the energies of all would be fully and fairly excited; and the public would apply the grand stimulant and corrective, by encouraging the most deserving. But in the meantime the public have no alternative, no choice, no control; and therefore, no interest. Hence the drama, deprived of those who would both encourage and refine it, is left desolate and foul; nor can it ever be better, until the grand sources of all its desertion and depravity be closed.

If it be worth anything-and civilized nations have always given a high place to it among their public recreations, the drama is worthy the attention of the legislature; and when weightier matters are disposed of, the two houses of parliament might be worse employed than in breaking up the monopoly, and following up on this subject that system of liberality which they have so profusely introduced in other matters. This might not immediately correct the abuses of which there is so much reason to complain; but it would divide them; and that would be, to say the least of it, the beginning of conquest.

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ART. V. The Architectural Antiquities of Great Britain, represented and illustrated in a series of Views, Elevations, Plans, Sections, and Details, of various English Edifices: with Historical and Descriptive Accounts of each. By John Britton, F.S.A., &c. Volume the Fifth. Containing a Chronological History and Illustrations of Christian Architecture, Eighty-six Engravings, &c. &c. 4to. pp. 260. Large paper, 117. Small, 67. 12s. Longman and Co. 1826.

MR. BRITTON is sufficiently known to the world, and deserves to be generally characterised, as the most indefatigable and successful illustrator of the "Architectural Antiquities of Great Britain." The five volumes which he has now successively published on this comprehensive subject, and under this particular title, may be designated as the most elaborate of his works; and the fifth volume, which is here before us, is undoubtedly, both in literary and graphic execution, very superior to any of the preceding four. Offering in itself a complete historical essay, it is adorned with very numerous and beautiful specimens, in chronological order, of the progress of religious architecture in England during the middle ages; and it is altogether a composition, in which a great deal of very interesting knowledge is united with the utmost skill and splendour of art.

The excellence of the plates, which are principally by Rawle and Le Keux, demands the first homage of the amateur. These may be classed under two heads,-outline tracings, and finished engravings. The former have been executed with such wonderful accuracy and precision, even to the development of the most minute mouldings and fretwork, as to leave nothing to regret, except that they have not all been filled up and completed alike. This denial of final labour, which has perhaps been prompted by a necessary attention to economy, has left them too white, and defective in expression. But the more finished plates are absolutely the finest illustrations of their kind which we have ever seen. Most of the original drawings were by Mackenzie, Pugin, and Cattermole; and we can suppose both the sketches themselves, and the management of the lights, to have been in every way worthy of the reputation of those clever architectural draughtsmen. It is seldom that the pencil and graver are employed in such worthy co-operation.

Among the plates, we may refer in particular to some superb interiors by Rawle of the churches of Lastingham, Yorkshire; St. Cross, near Winchester; St. Peter's, Oxford (the crypt); St. Peter's, Northampton; and above all, for its surpassing richness of detail, of Romsey, Hants. Nor must we omit to notice with praise the highly-worked plate, by the same hand, of the view of the Abbot's Tower at Evesham. In Le Keux's share of the undertaking, we must specify the tower of Earl's Barton Church, the east views of Lincoln Cathedral and Beverly Minster, the ruins of

St. Lawrence's, Evesham, and, finally, the tower of Boston Church, the chef-d'œuvre of the whole volume. These specimens by Le Keux, and the last particularly, are exquisitely wrought, with all that minuteness and delicacy of finishing which the subjects admit and claim, and which the graver of that admirable artist-the first in his line-is so capable of bestowing. These special subjects are of course the most elaborate in the volume; but Le Keux has also contributed several plates of details of charming workmanship; such as various windows, circular and elongated, doorways, pinnacles, spires, towers, &c., of successive eras; and it is these specimens which really render the engravings in themselves so perfect a chronological story.

But our business must be rather with the letter-press, which constitutes Mr. Britton's own more immediate share of the volume. It is ominous to stumble on the threshold; and Mr. Britton's first step is here a false one. He has prefixed to the volume a preface, so filled with complacent praises of himself and querulous complaints of others, so overflowing with pretension and egotism, that it is almost sufficient to disgust the reader in the very outset, from attempting to proceed through the work. Mr. Britton's merit in his department of literature is certainly great; and his exertions and example, in promoting the study and illustration of our ancient religious architecture, must always be acknowledged with respect. But his talent and industry would not be less highly appreciated, if he were more reluctant to exhibit them himself in prominent relief. His works have been rewarded with fully as great a share of public attention and patronage, as he had any right to expect; and if it be true, as he says, that the same assiduity and zeal, with a fair portion of mental activity' which he has devoted to them, would have secured to him, in many of the trades and professions of London, a handsome fortune,' the world have still nothing to do with this question of his private interests, and cannot be responsible for the misapplication of his abilities, or the mistake of his pursuits. But we gladly turn from the discussion of his personal grievances, to the more attractive theme of his volume.

He has divided his Chronological History of Christian Architecture, into four chapters or parts of the last of which, as it is merely occupied with a description of the various buildings delineated in the plates, we shall omit all farther mention. The first, or introductory part, is devoted to an account of the origin of Christianity in Britain, and of its influence on society and manners among the Anglo-Romans, the Britons, the Anglo-Saxons, and the Normans: with remarks on the origin, progress, decline, and suppression of monachism. Into any detailed notice of this introductory chapter, it is not our purpose to enter. Such an essay formed perhaps no necessary part of the author's undertaking; although it might have been rendered, if composed with good judgment, candour, and sufficient knowledge, a very interesting

preliminary sketch to the more peculiar matter of his subject. But Mr. Britton has unfortunately compiled this chapter in a far less commendable temper. He does not, we apprehend, possess sufficient learning to have written the ecclesiastical history of this island during the middle ages, from such original authorities as are to be found for the task: even if he had been capable of weighing their evidence with an impartial and liberal mind; but he has, on the contrary, brought only to his superficial inquiry a warped and narrow spirit. Satisfied with copying all the exaggerations of polemical fury, he has adopted such a bigoted view of his subject, as they must ever receive who are contented with seeing through the medium of the prejudices of others. The very nature of his pursuits, which have led him to the contemplation and study of the monuments of our forefathers' faith, should have protected him from the vulgar errors into which he has fallen. The men who erected to the honour of God those solemn edifices, which no Christian, whatever be his shades of belief, can still enter without feeling his mind humbled and his heart uplifted in awful adoration, must at least have been inspired, in their sacred undertaking, with a pious sincerity and sublime conceptions, which their descendants would do much better to emulate, than to overcast with suspicion and obloquy.

Mr. Britton's next chapter is not open to the same objections. It is occupied with an account of the terms used by different writers to denote the various styles of ecclesiastical architecture, and with a review of the theories and opinions which have been published relative to their origin, including a brief analysis of the principal works on the subject. Here our author has collected, with praiseworthy industry, an abstract of the conflicting suggestions of a great number of distinguished antiquarians, on the most appropriate titles to be adopted for marking the progressive orders of our ancient religious architecture; and he also sets before us the numerous hypotheses which have been produced in continued attempts to ascertain the local and deductive origin of the form and principles of these constructions. Discreetly avoiding to record any positive conviction of his own mind on the subjects of this inquiry, he has gone no farther than to place the state of the various arguments before his readers with remarkable fairness and impartiality; and if he has any theory of his own to propose, he has here exercised self-denial enough to withhold it. We might object, against this analysis of opposing authorities, that it is not framed with any regularity of plan or lucid arrangement of systems. The opinions of different writers are given in a kind of chronological succession by the dates of their publications, instead of being classed according to the hypotheses which they respectively support; and the inquirer, who would learn whatever has been said in favour of each conclusion, must take the chapter to pieces and arrange its matter anew. But it is only right to ac