ARCHITECTURE

(Gr. i?x»J. beginning, rtxruv, artificer. ) The art of Building, according to certain proportions and rules determined and regulated by nature and taste..Architecture becomes an art at that period only in the history of nations when they have reached a certain degree of civilisation, of opulence, and of luxury. In an earlier state, it can only be reckoned among the trades or occupations nece ar j to the wants of mankind; its application is then very hmited, its use little more than furnishing man with shelter from the waters of the heavens, and protection from the inclement vici itudes of the seasons. At its birth, however, it a umes a character in all countries which in the sequel stamps it with such romarkable and distinguishing^ features, that in the summit of its grandeur the traces of its early origin are still discernible. Notwithstanding the interval of so many ages from its origin, we may even trace the general form of architecture to three distinct states of the human race, which nece arily influenced the nature of the [s. 85]