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  WhEN we speak of a building being in the Grecian,
Italian, Gothic, or any of the numerous well-known
sub-styles, we mean that the spirit rather than the
sum total of the peculiarities of that style has been
seized upon and infused into it.   No design in this
work can be pointed out as a fac-simile of any ancient
or foreign specimen of architecture;   but ancient
forms and details have too long appealed to the tastes
or prejudices of mankind for the architect to dream
of their abandonment.   They have been consecrated
to architecture by long-continued use and the admi-
ration of by-gone ages; and, so far as their existence
depends on intrinsic beauty of form and the laws of
proportion, they are bound to be immortal.   The
orator or poet would not be more culpable for laying
aside the teachings of the past than would the archi-
tect for neglecting the precedents set before him in
the works of the ancient masters.  Each might sub-
stitute a chimera of his own, and the failure of all
would be alike pitiable.  Instead of eloquence and
poetry, the listening audience would be fed on the
rudiments of an unintelligible language; and instead
of a pleasing combination of forms resulting in the
most happy effects, unmeaning piles of brick and
stone at every step would greet our vision.
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