1which we are told Nero built a Temple to
Fortune in his golden Palace, which was ſo
white, ſo clear and tranſparent, that even when
all the Doors were ſhut the Light ſeemed to be
encloſe within the Temple. All theſe Things
are very Noble in themſelves; but they will
make no Figure if there is not Care and Art
uſed in their Compoſition or putting together:
For every Thing muſt be reduced to exact Mea
ſure, ſo that all the Parts may correſpond with
one another, the Right with the Left, the
lower Parts with the Upper, with nothing in
terfering that may blemiſh either the Order or
the Materials, but every Thing ſquared to ex
act Angles and ſimilar Lines. We may often
obſerve that baſe Materials managed with Art,
make a handſomer Shew than the Nobleſt
heaped together in Confuſion. Who can ima
gine that the Wall of Atheus, which Thucydides
informs us was built ſo tumultuouſly that they
even threw into it ſome of the Statues of their
Sepulchres, could have any Beauty in it, or be
any ways adorned by being full of broken Sta
tues? On the Contrary, we are very much
pleaſed with the Walls of ſome old Country
Houſes, though they are built of any Stone
that the People could pick up; becauſe they
are diſpoſed in even Rows, with an alternate
Checquer of Black and White: ſo that con
ſidering the Meanneſs of the Structure, no
thing can be deſired handſomer. But perhaps
this Conſideration belongs rather to that Part
of the Wall which is called the outward Coat,
than to the Body of the Wall itſelf. To con
clude, all your Materials ſhould be ſo diſtribu
ted that nothing ſhould be begun, but accord
ing to ſome judicious Plan; nothing carried on
but in purſuance of the ſame; and no Part of
it left imperfect, but finiſhed and compleated
with the utmoſt Care and Diligence. But the
principal Ornament both of the Wall and Co
vering, and eſpecially of all vaulted Roofs (al
ways excepted Columns) is the outward Coat:
And this may be of ſeveral Sorts; either all
white, or adorned with Figures and Stuc-work,
or with Painting, or Pictures ſet in Pannels, or
with Moſaie Work, or elſe a Mixture of all
theſe together.
Fortune in his golden Palace, which was ſo
white, ſo clear and tranſparent, that even when
all the Doors were ſhut the Light ſeemed to be
encloſe within the Temple. All theſe Things
are very Noble in themſelves; but they will
make no Figure if there is not Care and Art
uſed in their Compoſition or putting together:
For every Thing muſt be reduced to exact Mea
ſure, ſo that all the Parts may correſpond with
one another, the Right with the Left, the
lower Parts with the Upper, with nothing in
terfering that may blemiſh either the Order or
the Materials, but every Thing ſquared to ex
act Angles and ſimilar Lines. We may often
obſerve that baſe Materials managed with Art,
make a handſomer Shew than the Nobleſt
heaped together in Confuſion. Who can ima
gine that the Wall of Atheus, which Thucydides
informs us was built ſo tumultuouſly that they
even threw into it ſome of the Statues of their
Sepulchres, could have any Beauty in it, or be
any ways adorned by being full of broken Sta
tues? On the Contrary, we are very much
pleaſed with the Walls of ſome old Country
Houſes, though they are built of any Stone
that the People could pick up; becauſe they
are diſpoſed in even Rows, with an alternate
Checquer of Black and White: ſo that con
ſidering the Meanneſs of the Structure, no
thing can be deſired handſomer. But perhaps
this Conſideration belongs rather to that Part
of the Wall which is called the outward Coat,
than to the Body of the Wall itſelf. To con
clude, all your Materials ſhould be ſo diſtribu
ted that nothing ſhould be begun, but accord
ing to ſome judicious Plan; nothing carried on
but in purſuance of the ſame; and no Part of
it left imperfect, but finiſhed and compleated
with the utmoſt Care and Diligence. But the
principal Ornament both of the Wall and Co
vering, and eſpecially of all vaulted Roofs (al
ways excepted Columns) is the outward Coat:
And this may be of ſeveral Sorts; either all
white, or adorned with Figures and Stuc-work,
or with Painting, or Pictures ſet in Pannels, or
with Moſaie Work, or elſe a Mixture of all
theſe together.
CHAP. VI.
In what Manner great Weights and large Stones are moved from one Place to
another or raiſed to any great Height.
another or raiſed to any great Height.
Of thoſe Ornaments laſt mentioned we are
to treat; and to ſhew what they are and
how they are to be made; but having in the
laſt Chapter mentioned the moving of vaſt
Stones, it ſeems neceſſary here to give ſome
Account in what Manner ſuch huge Bodies are
moved, and how they are raiſed to ſuch high
and difficult Places. Plutarch relates that
Archimedes, the great Mathematician of Syra
cuſe, drew a Ship of Burthen with all its lad
ing through the Middle of the Market Place,
with his Hand, as if he had been only leading
along a Horſe by the Bridle: But we ſhall here
conſider only thoſe Things that are neceſſary
in Practice; and then take Notice of ſome
Points, by which Men of Learning and good
Apprehenſions may fully and clearly under
ſtand the whole Buſineſs of themſelves. Pliny
ſays, that the Obelisk brought from Phœnicia
to Thebes, was brought down a Canal cut from
the Nile, in Ships full of Bricks, ſo that by ta
king out ſome of the Bricks they could at any
Time lighten the Veſſel of its Lading. We
find in Ammianus Marcellinus the Hiſtorian,
that an Obelisk was brought from the Nile, in
a Veſſel of three hundred Oars, and laid upon
Rollers at three Miles diſtance from Rome, and
ſo drawn into the great Circus through the
Gate that leads to Oſtia: And that ſeveral
thouſand Men laboured hard at the crecting it,
though the whole Circus was full of nothing
but vaſt Engines and Ropes of a prodigious
Thickneſs. We read in Vitruvius that Cteſiphon
and his Son Metagenes brought his Columns
and Architraves to Epheſus by a Method which
they borrowed from thoſe Cylinders with
which the Ancients uſed to level the Ground:
For in each End of the Stone they fixed a Pin
of Iron which they faſtened in with Lead,
which Pin ſtood out and ſerved as an Axis,
and at each End was let into a Wheel ſo large
as for the Stone to hang upon its Pins above
the Ground; and ſo by the Motion of the
Wheels the Stones were carried along with a
great deal of Eaſe. We are told that Chem
minus the Ægyptian, when he built that vaſt
to treat; and to ſhew what they are and
how they are to be made; but having in the
laſt Chapter mentioned the moving of vaſt
Stones, it ſeems neceſſary here to give ſome
Account in what Manner ſuch huge Bodies are
moved, and how they are raiſed to ſuch high
and difficult Places. Plutarch relates that
Archimedes, the great Mathematician of Syra
cuſe, drew a Ship of Burthen with all its lad
ing through the Middle of the Market Place,
with his Hand, as if he had been only leading
along a Horſe by the Bridle: But we ſhall here
conſider only thoſe Things that are neceſſary
in Practice; and then take Notice of ſome
Points, by which Men of Learning and good
Apprehenſions may fully and clearly under
ſtand the whole Buſineſs of themſelves. Pliny
ſays, that the Obelisk brought from Phœnicia
to Thebes, was brought down a Canal cut from
the Nile, in Ships full of Bricks, ſo that by ta
king out ſome of the Bricks they could at any
Time lighten the Veſſel of its Lading. We
find in Ammianus Marcellinus the Hiſtorian,
that an Obelisk was brought from the Nile, in
a Veſſel of three hundred Oars, and laid upon
Rollers at three Miles diſtance from Rome, and
ſo drawn into the great Circus through the
Gate that leads to Oſtia: And that ſeveral
thouſand Men laboured hard at the crecting it,
though the whole Circus was full of nothing
but vaſt Engines and Ropes of a prodigious
Thickneſs. We read in Vitruvius that Cteſiphon
and his Son Metagenes brought his Columns
and Architraves to Epheſus by a Method which
they borrowed from thoſe Cylinders with
which the Ancients uſed to level the Ground:
For in each End of the Stone they fixed a Pin
of Iron which they faſtened in with Lead,
which Pin ſtood out and ſerved as an Axis,
and at each End was let into a Wheel ſo large
as for the Stone to hang upon its Pins above
the Ground; and ſo by the Motion of the
Wheels the Stones were carried along with a
great deal of Eaſe. We are told that Chem
minus the Ægyptian, when he built that vaſt
zoom in
zoom out
zoom area
full page
page width
set mark
remove mark
get reference
digilib