being always greater) is deemed necessary to complete the character and elegant effect of the exterior; but owing to the arrangement before described as common in the churches of Devonshire, the arch in this position was omitted, as interfering with the regularity and uniformity of the sides, and the even line of roof. But the screen, with its rood-loft, seems never to have been discarded, but always to have maintained its situation over the entrance to the chancel; and the rood, with its accompanying figures, reached nearly to the ceiling, where a beam perhaps larger the rest, and more elaborately carved, appeared as a suitable ornament to the sculptured representations immediately over which it was fixed. This description may be applied to Collumpton Church, the interior of which, in its pristine state, must have exhibited a glorious spectacle. The display of enrichment over the door of the sanctuary was most magnificent. Other portions were highly beautiful in their design and ornament, but the sculptors reserved their powers for the embellishment of this part of the interior, which exhibited the rood carved in oak, high above every other object, and elevated in this instance nearly to the crown of the ceiling. The last relic of its adornments was removed from its situation little more than half a century ago, and is still to be seen in the church, where it is preserved, or I should say, suffered to occupy a vacant place, without molestation and without regard. Its use is not remembered by those who might have witnessed it among heaps of rubbish in the loft or gallery, where it had lain neglected ever since the period when it was forced from its position, and other acts of violence and impiety were committed in the church. The beam which supported the Rood and its attendant figures, was formed of a tree of noble growth, and of undiminished bulk when the carver wrought out his design upon its surface. It is partly solid and partly hollow, and has been sawn in two pieces. When entire it measured about fifteen feet and a half in length, and twenty inches in diameter. The carving is of the boldest character, and requires distance to show it to advantage. The surface is covered with a kind of leaf ornament, or it may be intended to represent the rough bark of a tree. In the centre is a pedestal eleven inches and a quarter square, with a mortise eight inches deep, for the purpose of receiving the foot of the cross, and securing its stem in an upright position. Under it is a death's head and cross bones. The side pedestals, which also have death's heads and bones under them, are nearly twice as broad as that in the middle, and supported the figures of the Virgin and St. John, which were not mortised into the beam, but were kept in their positions by a rim or border, formed by excavating the pedestals about two inches below the surface. The distance between each pedestal, measured from their centres, is full four feet two inches. Between the pedestals, and beyond them, near to the extremities of the beam, are holes more than an inch in diameter, deeply sunk in cones which are raised as high as the pedestals: these were designed for the four waxen tapers which were occasionally required in the rites of the ancient religion.

It will perhaps be expected that I should at least glance at the Elder Architecture of Devonshire. I will therefore observe in this place, that there is absolutely nothing among the ecclesiastical buildings that the most acute discoverer of Saxon architecture would claim as exhibiting evidences of a date anterior to the Norman Conquest. Bishop's Teignton Church has been wretchedly mutilated. The remains of the old building have been violently disturbed, if not strangely displaced. The chief object of curiosity among them is the head of the south doorway: its lintel is sculptured with a representation of the Magii presenting their gifts to the infant Jesus. If the quality and character of the sculpture be considered, it does not differ, in my judgment at least, from those of the acknowledged productions of the Normans in the 12th century. If the position be regarded, I would observe that the lintel of the magnificent west doorway of Rochester Cathedral is covered with some historical representation.

I approached Crediton with reverence, and was prepared to abate something of my distrust of genuine Saxon Architecture (spite of the bungling manner in which its advocates have attempted to characterise it), in favour of what I

might here find distinguished by round arches, and capitals and ornaments anterior to the invention of Pointed architecture: but the church proved to be a cruciform building, of vast dimensions, moderate beauty, moderate interest, and of late date, except some portions of the interior, which may be classed with the oldest specimens of Pointed architecture in England. The original Saxon church of Crediton might have remained till the close of the 12th century, and then have been demolished, after the Norman style had lost its ascendancy. In some instances, the churches of the Saxons were probably left standing till the 13th or 14th centuries, for it is scarcely to be credited that their successors, the Normans, destroyed them all, or indeed any of those of the smaller class, unless necessity obliged them to do so; and it is not perhaps too much to conjecture, that there was a time when entire Saxon churches were to be seen in the neighbourhood of buildings of Norman erection, which had acquired a venerable character from their age. Though the advancement and patronage of architecture formerly were unceasing, and kept pace with each other, it is manifest that there were periods in which a systematic and general change was effected in the practice of the science. As a new style dawned upon those which had at different and distinct epochs anciently exhibited their perfections, the necessity, or what seems more probable, the inclination for a change in the costume or character of ecclesiastical or other edifices was felt. At the same time, new houses, new churches, and new establishments for the service of religion were in progress, and the genius of men of taste and science was directed towards the fulfilment of these objects, in a different style to the one which had prevailed immediately before. Rivalry was a powerful incitement to the alteration of buildings which were deemed too extensive or too substantial to be entirely destroyed; and where the whole of a cathedral or abbey, or even an entire parish church, could not be brought into the prevailing fashion, a portion at least was consigned to destruction, so that a Norman church, or one in the early Pointed style, for the style of each became in its turn obsolete should share the admiration which by the all powerful attraction of novelty, was poured like a stream upon the examples of the newest invention.

The last half of the 15th century, was one of the periods distinguished by its liberal encouragement of architecture; it is perhaps not exceeded by any other; at least its buildings outnumber those in any style which preceded or followed. This remark is applicable to Devonshire, and with a few brilliant exceptions, a degree of talent was exercised in their production, very inferior to that which is to be observed in other parts of the country. The progress of alteration is observable in some of the churches, but it is seldom productive of an anomaly so singular as that which appears in Uffculm Church. The original building was raised early in the 13th century, and was an unpretending specimen of the early pointed style. Single cylindrical pillars, with capitals of the same form, and arches broad, rather than lofty, comprised its essential internal ornaments. But if little more than two centuries and a half did not undermine its stability, and render restitution indispensable, its plain and antiquated architecture had lost its charms with those who had been taught to cluster columns and mouldings in their simplest designs. Be the cause what it might it is certain that only the north side of the church of Uffculm was left standing, and it was the alteration of the most eastern arch of the number that produced the uncommon feature there seen, of one pillar placed upon another, each with its proper capital. If I were further to characterize the architecture of Devonshire, I should say that its paramount distinctions are exuberance and coarseness. The senses are often captivated with the gorgeous display of sculpture, which is sometimes equally profuse on the outside and the inside of buildings; but in several the hand which wrought the work exercised no peculiar skill in its execution; and occasionally the application of ornament is so novel, and its devices so remarkable, (as for examples, in the Grenwaye Chapel at Tiverton, and the Lane Chapel at Collumpton), that with all the liberty of Pointed architecture for the appropriation of objects, animate and inanimate, one is almost disposed to condemn the introduction of such devices as occur in the buildings just named, as instances of inexcusable licentiousness.

Wood and stone were made rivals in splendour-their merits are nearly equal. The triple aisles, another common characteristic of the churches in Devonshire, are divided at the point where the body and chancel meet, by a screen, which extends from the north to the south wall, and dazzles the eye by the magnificence and profusion of its tracery, mouldings, ribs, sculptures, and their accessories painting and gilding.

The screen with its roodloft in Uffculm Church is a grand specimen; they extend across the breadth of the triple aisles and join the external walls, in the northern of which appears the door which conducts to the gallery. There is great inequality in the workmanship. A considerable portion of the front towards the north end has been renewed. It was carved and not long since erected by a villager, who in directing the attention of strangers to his work, never fails to assure them of its being more nicely executed than the sculpture of antiquity. He is nevertheless a man of genius and worthy of encouragement in his art; but the present is an instance that genius uncontrolled by judgment is wanton and runs riot. I observe the semblance of antiquity without any of its spirit or accuracy. The carver worked with the model always before him, and perchance, fancied that he was making good use of it; had the hand not wanted the guidance of a sound head, it might have accomplished a work with claims to unqualified praise. The dissonance I have noticed in the genuine ornaments of this screen, relates more particularly to the arrangement of the sculptures than to their execution. The screen at Collumpton is not exempt, indeed very few of these gorgeous masses of ornament are exempt, from this defect-less care seems to have been bestowed in the application than in the performance of the meritorious work. I intend no asperity by the foregoing remarks towards the restorer, or the patrons of the restoration of the roodloft in Uffculm Church. I know that the time and talent of the one were very ill-requited, at the same time that the expense to the other was perhaps as much as could be spared for the purpose. I have promised to afford the Minimist instruction as well as information in these letters, and what I have written on the present subject, will answer its object, if those who imagine with the poor villager, and with as little pretension to the merit to which he lays claims, that the excellency of sculpture of this kind is constituted by fine finish and scrupulous uniformity in trifling details, should be persuaded that objects of higher importance must be sought and obtained before the works of the ancients can be rivalled; and consequently, that it requires discriminating judgment and sound taste to guide, and I may add to restrain, the dexterous hand of genius in its progress. Character and expression distinguish all the accessory ornaments of English architecture. These are commonly produced without any attempt either at exact resemblance or elaborate execution. With respect to the latter, where the situation of the ornaments rendered more care in the workmanship desirable or necessary, it was bestowed with equal diligence and ability; but even in this case, the spirit only of the approved model was infused into the imitation, nor was this at all diminished by endless minute varieties in the sculpture. I am not sure that the roof of the Hall of Weare Gifford, which is surprisingly beautiful in its design, and admirable for the care with which it is carved and constructed, could ever have been duly appreciated except by a near approach to it in the gallery. I know nothing of the kind superior to it, and am not sure that I could point to its equal. The span is 36 feet by 20, and the pitch sufficiently steep to comprehend a Pointed arch of singular elegance in every frame. The patron was fortunate, in the assistance of workmen worthy to be employed on so admirable a design. The same high degreee of perfection is exhibited among the decorations of the architecture of the Cathedral at an earlier period, but Devonshire has not many more examples that can rank with these in the first class of performances of this kind. I have spoken of chancel screens, Collumpton produces perhaps the richest example of this kind of screen in the county. It is fifty-two feet in length, and supports the rood-loft on an elegantly groined cove. I may say of the design that parts, rather than the whole were considered, and consequently that it discovers a want of unity and uniformity. Care, but very unequal degrees of care, in the

execution of this rich assemblage of ornament, is evident every where, and its imperfections (so to call them), are scarcely remembered in the abundance of its merit. The members are perhaps too thin for the ornaments, or rather I should say that the carved work incumbers and destroys the effect of proportions which otherwise possess considerable merit.

The splendid confusion in the screen and pulpit at Kenton could only have been occasioned by the misapplication of carved work, which had evidently been prepared for some uniform design on a still grander scale of dimensions; it was consigned to hands by no means skilled in cunning workmanship, and its original demerits are fully exposed, if not augmented, by the incongruity of its 'composition.

The roofs are inferior only to the screens in gorgeousness of enrichment. There is scarcely an example of a flat ceiling over the body and chancel, in any of the churches. The cove, more or less depressed, is the prevailing form, and Collumpton must again be adduced as affording a most elaborate and beautiful specimen. The roof of Chudleigh Church is very ingeniously contrived. It is raised into a point, and is perfectly plain, excepting a horizontal rib or moulding in the centre, which joins in with the intersection of the diagonal groins originating in the union of the roof of the north transept with that of the church. In the absence of a corresponding transept, the ribs have been extended to the opposite wall. The whole is an interesting piece of carpentry, and I know nothing of the kind superior to the sculpture of its ornaments. The corbel from which the ribs spring at the angles of the transept, are square, embattled and elongated in a very singular manner. The centre boss represents a head, crowned, and very finely carved, but the head in the middle of the north-east rib will be regarded as a design of superior merit, and as a specimen of the most highly finished sculpture. It belongs to the 15th century; the transept is of the same age; the body of the church is older; and the chancel of a still earlier date. AN ARCHITECTURAL ANTIQUARY.

QUESTIONES VENUSINÆ. No. II.

HORACE THE POET, AGAINST SCALIGER THE Critic.

Jam Procyon furit,

Et stella vesani Leonis,

Sole dies referente siccos.-3 C. xxix. 18-20.

AMONGST many things to admire even at this day, and to read with much profit, in the Poetice of Julius Cæsar Scaliger, there are several things also to question and doubt, or even with indignation to reject. He is, to be sure, a majestic dogmatist; and in princely pride, especially towards those whom in contempt he calls Grammatici, he becomes, as perhaps he intended, perfectly intolerable.

My present business with this extraordinary scholar is to defend the Roman lyrist against his hypercritical censure. On the passage above quoted from one of Horace's most splendid odes, Tyrrhena regum, &c. J. C. Scaliger (Poetice, 1607, p. 818) comments thus:

Sole dies referente siccos: haud semel monui, epitheta quæ in fine versuum existunt, sæpe esse argumento coactæ locutionis, quasi sint carminis supplementa. Idcirco malim hic, Sole graves referente luces.

First of all then, if the Poet's verse be faulty, the Critic's is abominable. The Delphin editor, Ludovicus Desprez, by no means the most brilliant of that fraternity, rather happily exclaims, after recording the alteration: Age, vir gravis; æstivos dies et calores Poeta vult indicare: at hyemis graves perinde luces ac æstatis. O hypercritici conatus ingenii!

The substitution of a general character (graves) for a specific and striking attribute (siccos) on the occasion before us, shows at least a momentary destitution of all judgment and taste.

But, secondly, no example could well be alleged less liable to any objection: the emphatic word siccos comes precisely in one of the natural positions for emphasis, at the close of the verse, and here of the stanza likewise. The sun always brings round the day; it is only at a certain season that he brings with it sultriness and thirst. And then, from "being dry," the practical inference arises, where" a friend" is at hand, and "good wine" is forthcoming.

"Adduxere sitim tempora, Virgili, &c. &c."

J. C. Scaliger too, himself, when speaking of epithets (p. 270, u. s.), acutely observes their manifest use at times in marking essential qualities. Est enim in RE, cum dico pium, justum," &c. Agreeably to this observation, the exquisite Virgil, where the vis or essence lies in the attribute, very often subjoins it to the noun, and terminates the verse with it.

— et quos de collibus altis

Aurunci misere patres.―Æn. vii. 726.

scutis protecti corpora longis.-viii. 662.

Yes; and J. C. Scaliger's own adored poet, in the course of sixteen lines, not only places the adjective five times after the substantive, Æn. viii. 658, 662, 666, 672 bis; but three times out of the five, vv. 658, 662, 672, he absolutely fixes it at the close of the line.

In the varieties of lyric verse, where emphatic position as connected with metrical movement comes in play, a separate consideration will be required according to the singularities of each. But for the present, without going beyond the first Ode of Horace, a specimen may be shown of those concurring circumstances; under which his curiosa felicitas could arrange emphatic words, and even emphatic syllables for the best effect, with the adjective subjoined to the noun, and closing the verse.

In vv. 3, 13, 25. - pulverem Olympicum, ut trabe Cypriá,

manet sub

Jove frigido, are examples of a peculiar collocation; which I will venture to say never created offence, or provoked the scabies emendandi from the hour they were written.

It is true, that the first and third of those instances defy alteration: but the second (which in mere scansion might bear to be transposed, ut Cypriá trabe) carries the sense in its own order so associated with the sound, that transposition would utterly demolish the delicate union. H. R.

SIR THOMAS MORE AT CROSBY PLACE.

Mr. URBAN,-By a reference to the "Architectural and Historical Account of Crosby Place," lately published by Mr. Blackburn, your correspondents, J. G. N. and Mr. Faulkner, may ascertain the exact date of Sir Thomas More's removal to Chelsea from Crosby Place, where he resided prior to 1523.

Mr. Blackburn has been enabled, through the kindness of Mr. Williams Freeman, to trace the descent of the property from the time of Sir John Crosby to the present day, and to give fac-simile autographs of the ancient possessors from the original title deeds and leases. Among the most interesting of these autographhs, is that of Sir Thomas More, attached to a deed of sale to Antonio Bonvisi, A. D. 1523.

Mr. Blackburn says, in p. 24-" The East side of the Hall now shews eight windows, the oriel being here omitted; nor is there any appearance of a repetition of the double window at the south end, though it probably existed." Mr. Blackburn will be gratified to learn that it is still in existence. Some alterations a few years ago in the apartment from whence I address these lines to you, brought it partially to view; and having been protected from the injuries of the weather for nearly two centuries, it was found to be in a much better state of preservation than the other windows.

"We find Crosby Place assigned to one Bartholomew Reed, A. D. 1501."—p. 51. Mr. Blackburn is apparently not aware that Bartholomew Reed was Lord Mayor the year following. His splendid hospitalities are recorded by Grafton.

Yours, &c.,

M. H.