1the Pleaſure of having the Approbation of all
that underſtand theſe Matters. And you may
find your Advantage in hearkning to every
Body; for ſometimes it happens, that Perſons
of no Skill make Obſervations by no Means to
be deſpiſed. When therefore you have well
weigh'd, review'd, and examin'd all the Parts
of your Model, and all the Proportions of the
whole Building, ſo that there is not the leaſt
Particular any where about it, which you have
not conſider'd and reflected upon, and that
you are fully reſolved to build in that Man
ner in every Reſpect, and can raiſe the Money
conveniently for bearing the Expence; then
prepare the other Things neceſſary for the Ex
ecution of your Work, that when you have
begun, nothing may be wanting ſo as to pre
vent your finiſhing your Structure expeditiouſly.
For as you will have Occaſion for a great Num
ber of Things for carrying on the Buſineſs, and
as if but one is unprovided, it may ſtop or ſpoil
the whole Work, it is your Care to have every
Thing at Hand that may be of Uſe to you, if
provided, or a Detriment, if wanting. The
Kings of Judea, David and Solomon, when
they had undertaken to build the Temple of
Jeruſalem, having amaſs'd great Quantities of
Gold, Silver, Braſs, Timber, Stone and the
like Materials, that they might want Nothing
that could be ſerviceable in the eaſy and ſpeedy
Execution of the Work (as Euſebius Pamphilus
tells us) ſent to the neighbouring Kings for
ſeveral Thouſands of Workmen and Architects.
Which I highly commend: Becauſe it cer
tainly adds Dignity to the Work, and encreaſes
the Glory of the Author; and Structures that
have been handſomely contrived and ſpeedily
finiſh'd beſides, have been very much celebra
ted by ancient Writers. Quintus Curtius re
lates that Alexander the Great, in Building a
City, and that no very ſmall one, near the
Tanais, ſpent but ſeven Days; and Joſephus
the Hiſtorian tells us, that Nebuchadnezzer
built the Temple of Belus in fifteen, and in the
ſame Space of Time girt the City of Babylon
with three Circuits of Walls. That Titus
made a Wall little leſs than five Miles long,
and Semiramis near Babylon built the eighth
Part of a Mile of a prodigious Wall every
Day; and that ſhe erected another of above
five and twenty Miles in Length, very High
and Thick, to confine the Lake, and in no
more than ſeven Days. But of theſe in
another Place.
that underſtand theſe Matters. And you may
find your Advantage in hearkning to every
Body; for ſometimes it happens, that Perſons
of no Skill make Obſervations by no Means to
be deſpiſed. When therefore you have well
weigh'd, review'd, and examin'd all the Parts
of your Model, and all the Proportions of the
whole Building, ſo that there is not the leaſt
Particular any where about it, which you have
not conſider'd and reflected upon, and that
you are fully reſolved to build in that Man
ner in every Reſpect, and can raiſe the Money
conveniently for bearing the Expence; then
prepare the other Things neceſſary for the Ex
ecution of your Work, that when you have
begun, nothing may be wanting ſo as to pre
vent your finiſhing your Structure expeditiouſly.
For as you will have Occaſion for a great Num
ber of Things for carrying on the Buſineſs, and
as if but one is unprovided, it may ſtop or ſpoil
the whole Work, it is your Care to have every
Thing at Hand that may be of Uſe to you, if
provided, or a Detriment, if wanting. The
Kings of Judea, David and Solomon, when
they had undertaken to build the Temple of
Jeruſalem, having amaſs'd great Quantities of
Gold, Silver, Braſs, Timber, Stone and the
like Materials, that they might want Nothing
that could be ſerviceable in the eaſy and ſpeedy
Execution of the Work (as Euſebius Pamphilus
tells us) ſent to the neighbouring Kings for
ſeveral Thouſands of Workmen and Architects.
Which I highly commend: Becauſe it cer
tainly adds Dignity to the Work, and encreaſes
the Glory of the Author; and Structures that
have been handſomely contrived and ſpeedily
finiſh'd beſides, have been very much celebra
ted by ancient Writers. Quintus Curtius re
lates that Alexander the Great, in Building a
City, and that no very ſmall one, near the
Tanais, ſpent but ſeven Days; and Joſephus
the Hiſtorian tells us, that Nebuchadnezzer
built the Temple of Belus in fifteen, and in the
ſame Space of Time girt the City of Babylon
with three Circuits of Walls. That Titus
made a Wall little leſs than five Miles long,
and Semiramis near Babylon built the eighth
Part of a Mile of a prodigious Wall every
Day; and that ſhe erected another of above
five and twenty Miles in Length, very High
and Thick, to confine the Lake, and in no
more than ſeven Days. But of theſe in
another Place.
CHAP. VI.
What Materials are to be provided for the Building, what Workmen to be
choſe, and in what Seaſons, according to the Opinions of the Ancients, to cut
Timber.
choſe, and in what Seaſons, according to the Opinions of the Ancients, to cut
Timber.
The Things to be prepared are theſe,
Lime, Timber, Sand, Stone, as alſo
Iron, Braſs, Lead, Glaſs and the like. But
the Thing of greateſt Conſequence is to
chuſe skilful Workmen, not light or incon
ſtant, whom you may truſt with the Care
and Management of an Edifice well deſign'd,
and who will compleat it with all Expedition.
And in fixing upon all theſe, it will be of Uſe
to you to be ſomewhat guided by the Conſidera
tion of other Works already finiſh'd in your
Neighbourhood, and by the Information you
receive from them to determine what to do in
your own Caſe. For by obſerving the Faults
and Beauties in them, you will conſider that
the ſame may happen in yours. Nero the
Emperor having form'd a Deſign of dedica
cating a huge Statue of an hundred and twenty
Foot high in Honour of the Sun at Rome, ex
ceeding any Thing that had been done before
in Greatneſs and Magnificence, as Pliny re
lates, before he gave final Orders for the
Work to Zenodarus, a famous and excellent
Sculptor in thoſe Days, would firſt ſee his Ca
pacity for ſuch a Work by a Coloſſus of ex
traordinary Weight, which he had made in
the Country of Auvergne in France. Theſe
Things duly conſider'd, we proceed to the
others. We intend, then, in treating of the
Materials neceſſary for Building, to repeat
thoſe Things which have been taught us by the
moſt learned among the Ancients, and particu
larly Theophraſtus, Ariſotle, Cato, Varro,
Pliny and Virgil, becauſe they have learned
more from long Obſervation than from any
Quickneſs of Genius; ſo that they are beſt
gathered from thoſe who have obſerved them
with the greateſt Diligence. We ſhall there
Lime, Timber, Sand, Stone, as alſo
Iron, Braſs, Lead, Glaſs and the like. But
the Thing of greateſt Conſequence is to
chuſe skilful Workmen, not light or incon
ſtant, whom you may truſt with the Care
and Management of an Edifice well deſign'd,
and who will compleat it with all Expedition.
And in fixing upon all theſe, it will be of Uſe
to you to be ſomewhat guided by the Conſidera
tion of other Works already finiſh'd in your
Neighbourhood, and by the Information you
receive from them to determine what to do in
your own Caſe. For by obſerving the Faults
and Beauties in them, you will conſider that
the ſame may happen in yours. Nero the
Emperor having form'd a Deſign of dedica
cating a huge Statue of an hundred and twenty
Foot high in Honour of the Sun at Rome, ex
ceeding any Thing that had been done before
in Greatneſs and Magnificence, as Pliny re
lates, before he gave final Orders for the
Work to Zenodarus, a famous and excellent
Sculptor in thoſe Days, would firſt ſee his Ca
pacity for ſuch a Work by a Coloſſus of ex
traordinary Weight, which he had made in
the Country of Auvergne in France. Theſe
Things duly conſider'd, we proceed to the
others. We intend, then, in treating of the
Materials neceſſary for Building, to repeat
thoſe Things which have been taught us by the
moſt learned among the Ancients, and particu
larly Theophraſtus, Ariſotle, Cato, Varro,
Pliny and Virgil, becauſe they have learned
more from long Obſervation than from any
Quickneſs of Genius; ſo that they are beſt
gathered from thoſe who have obſerved them
with the greateſt Diligence. We ſhall there