middle of the thirteenth century, and was zealously pursued as the leading fashion for ecclesiastical structures all over Europe. Executed by a class of skilled artisans, who wandered from country to country, the finest specimens of the pointed style are the cathedrals of Strasburg, Cologne, and Antwerp, and the splendid abbeys of Melrose and Westminster. In this fanciful and picturesque style of architecture, the slender columns, always united in groups, rise to a lofty height, resembling the giants of the grove, in whose dark shade the ancient Teuton used to build his altar. In the obscure depth of the dome, the mind is awakened to solemn devotional feelings. When the circular arch totally disappeared in 1220, the early English style commenced. The windows of this style were at first very narrow in comparison with their height; they were called lancet-shaped, and were considered very elegant; two or three were frequently seen together, connected by dripstones. In a short time, however, the windows became wider, and di. visions and ornaments were introduced. Sometimes the same window was divided into several lights, and frequently finished at the top by a light in the form of a lozenge, circle, trefoil, or other ornament. About the year 1300, the architecture became more ornamental, and from this circumstance received the name of the decorated English style, which is considered the most beautiful for ecclesiastical buildings. The transition from the decorated to the florid or perpendicular style was very gradual. Ornament after ornament was added, till simplicity disappeared beneath the extravagant additions; and about the year 1380, the architecture became so overloaded and profuse, that it obtained the title of florid, which by some persons is called the perpendicular, because the lines of division run in upright or perpendicular lines from top to bottom, which is not the case in any other style. DEFINITIONS OF PARTS. Gothic architecture being for the most part displayed in ecclesiastical edifices, it may be of service to explain the usual plan of construction of these buildings. A church or cathedral is commonly built in the form of a cross, having a tower, lantern, or spire, erected over the place of intersection. The part of the cross situ Naxe North Transept. Choir. ated toward the west is called the nave. The opposite or eastward part is called the choir, and within this is the chancel. The transverse portion, forming the arms of the cross, is called the transept, one limb being called the northern and the other the southern transept. South Trancept. Generally, the nave is larger than the choir. If the nave, choir, and transepts be all of the same dimensions the form is that of a Greek cross. When the nave is longer than the other parts, forming a cross of an ordinary shape, the edifice is said to be in the form of a Latin cross. The different open parts usually receive the name of ailes or aisles from a word signi FIG. 17 The walls of Gothic churches, on which the outer strain of the roof arches ultimately rests, require to be of great strength; and the impart ing this necessary degree of resistance without clumsiness is the glory of this style of architecture. The plan adopted is to erect exterior buttresses (Fig. 18). These rise by gradations from a broad basis to narrow pointed pinnacles, and placed opposite the points of pressure, secure, without the slightest appearance of clumsiness, the gen. eral stability of the building. Slanting braces, which spring from the buttresses to the upper part of the roof, are called flying buttresses; such, however, are not always re quired in those modern edifices in which the roof is of wood and lead. FIG. 18. The summit or upper edge of the wall, if straight, is called a parapet; if indented, a battlement. Gothic windows were commonly crowned with an acute arch; they were long and narrow, or, if wide, were divided into perpendicular lights by mullions. The lateral spaces on the upper and outer side of the arch are spandrelles; and the ornaments in the top, collectively taken, are the tra cery. An oriel, or bay window, is a window which projects from the general surface of the wall. A wheel, or rose window, is large and circular. A corbel is a bracket or short projection from a wall, serving to sustain a statue or the springing of an arch. The Gothic term gable indicates the erect end of a roof, and answers to the Grecian pediment, but is more acute. NORMAN, TUDOR, AND MODERN GOTHIC. Throughout England may be seen many aged castles, some still in a state of good preservation, but the greater number in ruins, and occupying, with their picturesque remains, the summit of a rising ground or rocky precipice. These castles are of a style which prevailed during the feudal ages in Europe, and was brought to this country by the Normans, who erected them as fastnesses, into which they might retire and oppress the country at pleasure. The feudal castles in England, like those on the Rhine, consisted for the most part of a single strong tower or keep, the walls of which were from six to ten feet thick, and the windows only holes of one or two feet square, placed at irreg. ular intervals. The several floors were built on arches, and the roof was flat or battlemented, with notches in the parapet, from which the inhabitants or retainers of the chieftain might defend themselves with instruments of war. The accommodations for living were generally mean, and what would now be called uncomfortable. Around or in front of the main tower there was usually a court-yard, protected by a high wall, and the arched entra ice was carefully secured by a falling gate or portcullis. Outside, there was in many cases a regular wet ditch or fosse. Castles of greater magnitude consisted of two or more towers and inner buildings, including a chapel and offices for domestics, and stables for horses and other animals. Some of them were on a great scale, and possessed considerable grandeur of design. As society advanced and civil tranquillity was established, these military strengths gradually assumed a character of greater elegance and less the appearance of defense. The wet ditch disappeared, and was superseded by a lawn or shrubbery. Instead of the draw-bridge and portcullis, there was a regular approach and gate of ordinary construction. The windows became larger, and were fitted with glass frames, and stone was abandoned for the greater comfort of wooden floors. Instead, also, of a bare region around, in which no foe might lurk, gardens were established, and a long avenue of trees led to the front of the modernized mansion. In some instances, the pepper-box turrets at the upper corners of the building remained. Of the class of structures that sprung up in this period of transition, which we may refer in England to the fifteenth and sixteenth, and in Scotland to the seventeenth centuries, there are several highly interesting remains. These edifices of the nobility and gentry were no longer called castles; they took the name of halls, and as such had attained so great a pitch of magnificence in the reigns of Henry VIII. and Elizabeth, as to have subsequently given a name to a new style-the Tudor or Elizabethan. Latterly, and with no very distinct reference to any particular period, this remarkable fashion of building has been pretty generally called the ola English style of architecture. One of the best existing specimens of the Tudor era of architecture is Haddon Hall in Derbyshire, the property of the Duke of Rutland. MODERN BRITISH ARCHITECTURE. During the sixteenth century, an extraordinary effort was made in Italy to restore the purity of Grecian architecture; and in this attempt Palladio was followed by the not less eminent Michael Angelo Buonarotti, who, at an advanced age, in 1546, undertook the continuation of the building of St. Peter's at Rome, a work on which the greatest splendors of the Italian style are lavished. Into England, this revived taste for the Grecian was introduced at the beginning of the seventeenth century by Inigo Jones, to whose contemptuous observations on the German or pointed style the term Gothic has been traced; and after his decease, the Grecian, or more properly the Italianized Grecian, was perpetuated on a scale still more extensive by Sir Christopher Wren. The edifices erected by this great master are characterized by the finest taste, and his spires in particular are models of elegance. The greatest work of Wren was St. Paul's Cathedral in London, in which the Italian is seen in all its glory. The eighteenth century was an era of decline in architec tural taste. Every other style merged in that of a spiritless and often mean Græco-Italian, out of which the architects of the nineteenth century have apparently had a difficulty to emerge. Latterly, there has been a revival in England of a purer kind of Grecian, and also, as we have already said, of old English, and the Gothic or pointed style, and in most instances with good effect. It is only to be lamented that, by the manner in which state patronage is distributed in this branch of the fine arts, some of the largest and most expensive structures Buckingham Palace and the National Gallery, for example-have been erected on the poorest conceptions of the Grecian style, and with a general effect far from pleasing. In Paris, there now exist some modern structures after correct Grecian models, which cannot be too highly praised; we would, in particular, instance the building called the Madeleine, the Bourse, and the interior of the church of St. Genevieve, which are exceedingly worthy of being visited by young and aspiring architects from Britain. Of the superb buildings springing up on all sides of this vast continent, it is unnecessary to speak. While those already in existence, not. ably in Washington, are admirable copies of the great Greek and Roman periods, the so-called Queen Anne is now the especial craze. FRENCH SELF-TAUGHT.< WHY NOT TEACH YOURSELF FRENCH ? ACCENTS. The French language has three accents; the acute, thus é; the grave, thus è; and the circumflex, . The circumflex accent simply denotes the elision of a silent (generally an "s") after it, thus tête, originally written teste; dépôt for depost, etc. The acute and grave accents belong exclusively to the letter "e"; an accented e must have the acute accent, if at the end of word, as café; or followed by a pronounced syllable, as métal; a grave accent when followed by a silent syllable, as mère, lièvre. The grave accent is used on the a of the adverb là (there and its compounds voilà, etc. ; but it is thus employed merely to distinguish it from the article la (the), and not for any effect in pronunciation. VOWELS. The pronunciation of the following vowels requires most care: ou, is pronounced like oo in the English word look. o, au, eau, are pronounced like o. a, is pronounced like a in the word father. e e is pronounced like in the word better. Before mm or nn, it is pronounced like ah; as femme, pronounced fahm ; solennel, solahnell, etc. u is the most difficult letter to pronounce, for there is no corresponding sound in the English language; it sounds like the German ü, like eeyu, and it ought to be carefully imitated from a French person. eu, au, are pronounced like u in the English word much. é, è, ai, ei, are pronounced like a in the English word care. i, y, are pronounced like e in the English word me. The nasal sounds, am, an, em, en, un, oin, are equally dif ficult to pronounce, and these ought to be heard and imitated from a Frenchman. RULE. As every educated person knows French, those who study without a master, ought, when an opportunity occurs, to ask the the pronunciation of a difficult word; by such means, learner will arrive at the correct pronunciation, which no de scription in words is capable of conveying. |