** fummer-houfe, the pavilion, the pagodas, -have all their re-
“ fpective fituations, which they diftinguiih and improve, but
“ which any other ftruftures would injure or deform. The
“ only things difagreeable to my eye are the large porcelain.
“ figures o f lions, tygers, & c. and the rough hewn fteps, and
“ huge maffes o f rock work, which they feem iludious o f in-
“ troducing near many o f their houfes and palaces. Gonfider-
ing their general good tafie in the other points, I was much
* furprifed at this, and could only account for it, by the ex-
“ pence and the difficulty o f bringing together fuch incongrui-
“ ties, fo f it is a common éfîeû o f enormous riches to p'ufh
every thing they can procure to bombaft and extravagance,
“ which are the death o f tafte. . In other Countries, however,
“ as well as in China, I have feen fome o f the moft boafted feats,'
tc either -outgrowing their beauty: from a plethora o f their
“ owner’s wealth, or becoming capricious and hypocondriacal
“ by a quackiih application o f it. A few fine places, even in
t* England, might be pointed out that are labouring under thefe
“ diforders ; not to mention fome celebrated houfes where
if twilled ftair-cafes, Window-glafs cupolas, and . embroidered
u chimney-pieces, convey nothing to us but the whims and
“ dreams o f fickly fancy, without an atom o f grandeur, tafte,
“ or propriety.
“ T he architecture o f the Ghinefe is o f a peculiar ftyle, to-
“ tally unlike any other, irreducible to our rules, but perfectly
“ confiftent with its own. It has certain principles, from
“ which it never deviates, and although, when examined ac-
“ cording
“ cording to ours, it fins againft the ideas we have imbibed
“ o f diftribution, compofition, and proportion; yet, upon
“ the whole, it often produces a moft pleafing effeCt, as
“ we fometimes fee a perfon without a fingle good feature
“ in his face have, neverthelefs, a very agreeable coun-
“ tenance.”