THE
ROMANTICFALLACY
91
charming,
architecture? With what
is it con-
trasted? Itisusuallyimplied
that the alternative
is mereformality. /Formality,
too, hasitsinherent,
its,
perhaps equal,charm. But ithas more.
Itis
the basis of design. Everything
in architecture
whichcanholdand
interesttheintellect
;
every
de-
lightthatiscomplexandsustained
; everysubtlety
ofrhythmandgrandeur
ofconception,isbuiltupon
formality. Withoutformalityarchitecturelacks
the
syntax ofits speech.
By
means
of it, architecture
attains,asmusicattains,toalikerankwiththought.
Formalityfurnishes itsown themeand
makeslucid
itsown argument.
'
Formal'architectureistothe
'
picturesque'as the wholebody of musical art
to
thelazyhumand
vaguelyoccupyingmurmurofthe
summerfields,
j
Allthisissacrificed
;
and
perhapseventhatlittle
meritisnotgained. Timeanddecay,colourandthe
accidentsofuse,thenewperspectivefromtheunfore-
seenangle ofchancevision, maybetrustedtogive
picturesqueness
totheausterestarchitecture. Con-
fusionwillnotloseitscharmbecausethereoncewas
thought. Design is no implacable enemy of the
picturesque
;
butthepicturesqueidealisatvariance
withtraditionandrepugnanttodesign.
^
Ourconcernisherewithonepointonly.i>^tisnot,
certainly,thatthepicturesqueiswithoutmerit; the
meritofit is indeedtoo obvious. Itis that,
asan
