1Temple by the Prieſt, filled every Creature
with Terror and Dread on whatever Side it was
turned; and that no Eye durſt look towards
it, for Fear. Theſe miraculous Accounts we
have inſerted only by way of Amuſement. As
to other Particulars which may help to make
the Situation beautiful, conſidered in a general
View, ſuch as the Circumference, the Space
round about it, its Elevation, Levelling,
Strengthening, and the like, I have nothing
more to ſay here, but to refer you for Inſtruc
tions to the firſt and third Books. The chief
Qualities requiſite in a Situation or Platform
(as we have there obſerved) are to be perfectly
dry, even, and ſolid, as alſo convenient and
ſuitable to the Purpoſe of the Building; and
it will be a very great Help to it, to ſtrengthen
it with a good Bottom made of baked Earth,
in the Manner which we ſhall teach when we
come to treat of the Wall. We muſt not here
omit an Obſervation made by Plato, that it
will be a great Addition to the Dignity of the
Place, if you give it ſome great Name; and
this we find the Emperor Adrian was very
fond of doing, when he gave the Names of
Lycus, Canopeis, Academia, Tempe and other
great Titles to the ſeveral Parts of his Villa at
Tivoli.
with Terror and Dread on whatever Side it was
turned; and that no Eye durſt look towards
it, for Fear. Theſe miraculous Accounts we
have inſerted only by way of Amuſement. As
to other Particulars which may help to make
the Situation beautiful, conſidered in a general
View, ſuch as the Circumference, the Space
round about it, its Elevation, Levelling,
Strengthening, and the like, I have nothing
more to ſay here, but to refer you for Inſtruc
tions to the firſt and third Books. The chief
Qualities requiſite in a Situation or Platform
(as we have there obſerved) are to be perfectly
dry, even, and ſolid, as alſo convenient and
ſuitable to the Purpoſe of the Building; and
it will be a very great Help to it, to ſtrengthen
it with a good Bottom made of baked Earth,
in the Manner which we ſhall teach when we
come to treat of the Wall. We muſt not here
omit an Obſervation made by Plato, that it
will be a great Addition to the Dignity of the
Place, if you give it ſome great Name; and
this we find the Emperor Adrian was very
fond of doing, when he gave the Names of
Lycus, Canopeis, Academia, Tempe and other
great Titles to the ſeveral Parts of his Villa at
Tivoli.
A ſhort Recapitulation of the Compartition, and of the juſt Compoſition and
adorning the Wall and Covering.
adorning the Wall and Covering.
Though we have already ſaid almoſt
as much as was neceſſary of the Com
partition in the firſt Book, yet we ſhall take a
brief Review of it again here. The chief and
firſt Ornament of any Thing is to be free from
all Improprieties. It will therefore be a juſt
and proper Compartition, if it is neither con
fuſed nor interrupted, neither too rambling nor
compoſed of unſuitable Parts, and if the Mem
bers be neither too many nor too few, neither
too ſmall nor too large, nor miſ-matcht nor un
ſightly, nor as it were ſeparate and divided
from the Reſt of the Body: But every Thing
ſo diſpoſed according to Nature and Conveni
ence, and the Uſes for which the Structure is
intended, with ſuch Order, Number, Size, Si
tuation and Form, that we may be ſatisfied
there is nothing throughout the whole Fabrick,
but what was contrived for ſome Uſe or Con
venience, and with the handſomeſt Compact
neſs of all the Parts. If the Compartition
anſwers in all theſe Reſpects, the Beauty and
Richneſs of any Ornaments will ſit well upon
it; if not, it is impoſſible it ſhould have any
Air of Dignity at all. The whole Compoſiti
on of the Members therefore ſhould ſeem to be
made and directed entirely by Neceſſity and
Conveniency; ſo that you may not be ſo much
pleaſed that there are ſuch or ſuch Parts in
the Building, as that they are diſpoſed and laid
out in ſuch a Situation, Order and Connection.
In adorning the Wall and Covering, you will
have ſufficient Room to diſplay the fineſt Ma
terials produced by Nature, and the moſt curi
ous Contrivance and Skill of the Artificer. If
it were in your Power to imitate the ancient
Oſiris, who, we are told, built two Temples of
Gold, one to the Heavenly, the other to the
Royal Jupiter; or if you could raiſe ſome vaſt
Stone, almoſt beyond humane Belief, like that
which Semiramis brought from the Mountains
of Arabia, which was twenty Cubits broad
every Way, and an hundred and fifty long;
or if you had ſuch large Stone, that you could
make ſome Part of the Work all of one Piece,
like a Chapel in Latona's Temple in Ægypt,
forty Cubits wide in Front, and hollowed in
one ſingle Stone, and ſo alſo covered with an
other: This no doubt would create a vaſt deal
of Admiration in the Beholders, and eſpecially
if the Stone was a foreign one, and brought
through difficult Ways, like that which Hero
dotus relates to have been brought from the City
of Elephantis, which was about twenty Cubits
broad, and fifteen high, and was carried as far
as Suſa in twenty Days. It will alſo add great
ly to the Ornament and Wonder of the Work,
if ſuch an extraordinary Stone be ſet in a re
markable and honourable Place. Thus the
little Temple at Chemmis, an Iſland in Ægypt,
is not ſo ſurprizing upon Account of being co
vered with one ſingle Stone, as upon Account
of ſuch a huge Stone's being raiſed to ſo great a
Height. The Rarity and Beauty of the Stone
itſelf will alſo add greatly to the Ornament; as
for Inſtance, if it is that ſort of Marble, with
as much as was neceſſary of the Com
partition in the firſt Book, yet we ſhall take a
brief Review of it again here. The chief and
firſt Ornament of any Thing is to be free from
all Improprieties. It will therefore be a juſt
and proper Compartition, if it is neither con
fuſed nor interrupted, neither too rambling nor
compoſed of unſuitable Parts, and if the Mem
bers be neither too many nor too few, neither
too ſmall nor too large, nor miſ-matcht nor un
ſightly, nor as it were ſeparate and divided
from the Reſt of the Body: But every Thing
ſo diſpoſed according to Nature and Conveni
ence, and the Uſes for which the Structure is
intended, with ſuch Order, Number, Size, Si
tuation and Form, that we may be ſatisfied
there is nothing throughout the whole Fabrick,
but what was contrived for ſome Uſe or Con
venience, and with the handſomeſt Compact
neſs of all the Parts. If the Compartition
anſwers in all theſe Reſpects, the Beauty and
Richneſs of any Ornaments will ſit well upon
it; if not, it is impoſſible it ſhould have any
Air of Dignity at all. The whole Compoſiti
on of the Members therefore ſhould ſeem to be
made and directed entirely by Neceſſity and
Conveniency; ſo that you may not be ſo much
pleaſed that there are ſuch or ſuch Parts in
the Building, as that they are diſpoſed and laid
out in ſuch a Situation, Order and Connection.
In adorning the Wall and Covering, you will
have ſufficient Room to diſplay the fineſt Ma
terials produced by Nature, and the moſt curi
ous Contrivance and Skill of the Artificer. If
it were in your Power to imitate the ancient
Oſiris, who, we are told, built two Temples of
Gold, one to the Heavenly, the other to the
Royal Jupiter; or if you could raiſe ſome vaſt
Stone, almoſt beyond humane Belief, like that
which Semiramis brought from the Mountains
of Arabia, which was twenty Cubits broad
every Way, and an hundred and fifty long;
or if you had ſuch large Stone, that you could
make ſome Part of the Work all of one Piece,
like a Chapel in Latona's Temple in Ægypt,
forty Cubits wide in Front, and hollowed in
one ſingle Stone, and ſo alſo covered with an
other: This no doubt would create a vaſt deal
of Admiration in the Beholders, and eſpecially
if the Stone was a foreign one, and brought
through difficult Ways, like that which Hero
dotus relates to have been brought from the City
of Elephantis, which was about twenty Cubits
broad, and fifteen high, and was carried as far
as Suſa in twenty Days. It will alſo add great
ly to the Ornament and Wonder of the Work,
if ſuch an extraordinary Stone be ſet in a re
markable and honourable Place. Thus the
little Temple at Chemmis, an Iſland in Ægypt,
is not ſo ſurprizing upon Account of being co
vered with one ſingle Stone, as upon Account
of ſuch a huge Stone's being raiſed to ſo great a
Height. The Rarity and Beauty of the Stone
itſelf will alſo add greatly to the Ornament; as
for Inſtance, if it is that ſort of Marble, with