1certainly, but to begin immediately from
thence to erect our Wall. At Siena there are
huge Towers raiſed immediately from the na
ked Earth, becauſe the Hill is lined with a
ſolid Rock. Making a Foundation, that is
to ſay, digging up the Ground, and making a
Trench, is neceſſary in thoſe Places, where
you cannot find firm Ground without digging;
which, indeed, is the Caſe almoſt every where,
as will appear hereafter. The Marks of a good
Soil for a Foundation are theſe; if it does not
produce any kind of Herb that uſually grows
in moiſt Places; if it bears either no Tree at
all, or only ſuch as delight in a very hard,
cloſe Earth; if every Thing round about is
extremely dry, and, as it were, quite parched
up; if the Place is ſtony, not with ſmall round
Pebbles, but large ſharp Stones, and eſpecially
Flints; if there are no Springs nor Veins of
Water running under it; becauſe the Nature
of all Streams is either to be perpetually car
rying away, or bringing ſomething along with
them: And therefore it is that in all flat
Grounds, lying near any River, you can never
meet with any firm Soil, till you dig below
the Level of the Channel. Before you begin
to dig your Foundations, you ſhould once
again carefully review and conſider all the
Lines and Angles of your Platform, what Di
menſions they are to be of, and how they are
to diſpoſed. In making theſe Angles we muſt
uſe a ſquare Rule, not of a ſmall but of a
very large Size, that our ſtrait Lines may be
the truer. The Ancients made their ſquare
Rule of three ſtrait ones joined together in a
Triangle, whereof one was of three Cubits,
the other of four, and the third of five. The
Ignorant do not know how to make theſe
Angles till they have firſt cleared away every
Thing that incumbers the Area, and have it
all perſectly open, almoſt level before them:
For which Reaſon, laying furiouſly hold of
their Tools, they fall like ſo many Ravagers
to demoliſhing and levelling every Thing be
fore them; which would become them much
better in the Country of an Enemy. But the
Error of theſe Men ought to be corrected;
for a Change of Fortune, or the Adverſity of
the Times, or ſome unforeſeen Accident, or
Neceſſity, may poſſibly oblige you to lay aſide
the Thoughts of the Undertaking you have
begun. And it is certainly very unſeemly, in
the mean while, to have no Regard to the
Labours of your Anceſtors, or to the Conve
niencies which your Fellow-Citizens find in
theſe paternal Habitations, which they have
been long accuſtomed to; and as for pulling
down and demoliſhing, that is in your Power
at any Time. I am therefore for preſerving
the old Structures untouched, till ſuch Time
as it is abſolutely neceſſary to remove them
to make Way for the new.
thence to erect our Wall. At Siena there are
huge Towers raiſed immediately from the na
ked Earth, becauſe the Hill is lined with a
ſolid Rock. Making a Foundation, that is
to ſay, digging up the Ground, and making a
Trench, is neceſſary in thoſe Places, where
you cannot find firm Ground without digging;
which, indeed, is the Caſe almoſt every where,
as will appear hereafter. The Marks of a good
Soil for a Foundation are theſe; if it does not
produce any kind of Herb that uſually grows
in moiſt Places; if it bears either no Tree at
all, or only ſuch as delight in a very hard,
cloſe Earth; if every Thing round about is
extremely dry, and, as it were, quite parched
up; if the Place is ſtony, not with ſmall round
Pebbles, but large ſharp Stones, and eſpecially
Flints; if there are no Springs nor Veins of
Water running under it; becauſe the Nature
of all Streams is either to be perpetually car
rying away, or bringing ſomething along with
them: And therefore it is that in all flat
Grounds, lying near any River, you can never
meet with any firm Soil, till you dig below
the Level of the Channel. Before you begin
to dig your Foundations, you ſhould once
again carefully review and conſider all the
Lines and Angles of your Platform, what Di
menſions they are to be of, and how they are
to diſpoſed. In making theſe Angles we muſt
uſe a ſquare Rule, not of a ſmall but of a
very large Size, that our ſtrait Lines may be
the truer. The Ancients made their ſquare
Rule of three ſtrait ones joined together in a
Triangle, whereof one was of three Cubits,
the other of four, and the third of five. The
Ignorant do not know how to make theſe
Angles till they have firſt cleared away every
Thing that incumbers the Area, and have it
all perſectly open, almoſt level before them:
For which Reaſon, laying furiouſly hold of
their Tools, they fall like ſo many Ravagers
to demoliſhing and levelling every Thing be
fore them; which would become them much
better in the Country of an Enemy. But the
Error of theſe Men ought to be corrected;
for a Change of Fortune, or the Adverſity of
the Times, or ſome unforeſeen Accident, or
Neceſſity, may poſſibly oblige you to lay aſide
the Thoughts of the Undertaking you have
begun. And it is certainly very unſeemly, in
the mean while, to have no Regard to the
Labours of your Anceſtors, or to the Conve
niencies which your Fellow-Citizens find in
theſe paternal Habitations, which they have
been long accuſtomed to; and as for pulling
down and demoliſhing, that is in your Power
at any Time. I am therefore for preſerving
the old Structures untouched, till ſuch Time
as it is abſolutely neceſſary to remove them
to make Way for the new.
CHAP. II.
That the Foundation chiefly is to be marked out with Lines; and by what
Tokens we may know the Goodneſs of the Ground.
Tokens we may know the Goodneſs of the Ground.
In marking out your Foundations, you are
to remember, that the ſirſt Ground-work
of your Wall, and the Soccles, which are
called Foundations too, muſt be a determinate
Proportion broader than the Wall that is to be
erected upon it; in Imitation of thoſe who
walk over the Snow in the Alps of Tuſcany,
who wear upon their Feet Hurdles made of
Twigs and ſmall Ropes, plaited together for
that very Purpoſe, the Broadneſs of which
keeps them from ſinking in the Snow. How
to diſpoſe the Angles, is not eaſy to teach
clearly with Words alone; becauſe the Method
of drawing them, is borrowed ſrom the Ma
thematicks, and ſtands in Need of the Ex
ample of Lines, a Thing ſoreign to our Deſign
here, and which we have treated of in another
Place, in our Mathematical Commentaries.
However, I will endeavour, as far as is neceſ
ſary here, to ſpeak of them in ſuch a Manner,
that if you have any Share of Ingenuity, you
may eaſily comprehend many Things, by
Means of which you may afterwards make
yourſelf Maſter of all the reſt. Whatever may
chance to ſeem more obſcure, if you have a
Mind to underſtand it thoroughly, you may
apply to thoſe Commentaries. My Method,
then, in deſcribing the Foundations, is to draw
ſome Lines, which I call radical ones,
in this Manner*. From the Middle
of the Fore-front of the Work, I draw a Line
quite thro' to the Back-front, in the Middle
to remember, that the ſirſt Ground-work
of your Wall, and the Soccles, which are
called Foundations too, muſt be a determinate
Proportion broader than the Wall that is to be
erected upon it; in Imitation of thoſe who
walk over the Snow in the Alps of Tuſcany,
who wear upon their Feet Hurdles made of
Twigs and ſmall Ropes, plaited together for
that very Purpoſe, the Broadneſs of which
keeps them from ſinking in the Snow. How
to diſpoſe the Angles, is not eaſy to teach
clearly with Words alone; becauſe the Method
of drawing them, is borrowed ſrom the Ma
thematicks, and ſtands in Need of the Ex
ample of Lines, a Thing ſoreign to our Deſign
here, and which we have treated of in another
Place, in our Mathematical Commentaries.
However, I will endeavour, as far as is neceſ
ſary here, to ſpeak of them in ſuch a Manner,
that if you have any Share of Ingenuity, you
may eaſily comprehend many Things, by
Means of which you may afterwards make
yourſelf Maſter of all the reſt. Whatever may
chance to ſeem more obſcure, if you have a
Mind to underſtand it thoroughly, you may
apply to thoſe Commentaries. My Method,
then, in deſcribing the Foundations, is to draw
ſome Lines, which I call radical ones,
in this Manner*. From the Middle
of the Fore-front of the Work, I draw a Line
quite thro' to the Back-front, in the Middle