at Palmyra, which was two thousand feet in circuit, or the 
peristyle of the great temple at Selinus, which was sixty 
feet in height, must have been eminently grand and imposing; 
but it is not true, that the mere collocation of parts, without 
any reference to the magnitude of their dimensions, can ever 
prove a source of the sublime. In these instances, as in all 
others, its true origin will be found in that quality which 
most powerfully excites ideas of the superior force and energy 
necessary for the accomplishment of the work. 
Architectural beauty may be said to arise from the 
symmetrical proportion of the whole building, and from the 
fitness and propriety of the ornamental parts. This will 
sufficiently accord with the definition of the beautiful as 
given by Aristotle, which consists, according to him, in 
magnitude and order; the first being a term purely relative, 
is made to comprise the whole extent of that scale which 
the eve is able to embrace at one view'. The truth is, 
however, that general rules for beauty in this or in any 
other practical art, cannot be fixed from abstract conclusions; 
but must be deduced from experience and the continued 
observation of those qualities which have been found 
universally to please : and by an adherence to this principle 
the Greeks seem in a great degree to have regulated their 
practice. Hence, the remarkable uniformity of all their 
buildings, in which, indeed, the variations are so slight 
as scarcely, on a first view, to satisfy the natural desire 
of novelty, or justly to merit the praise of invention. A 
quadrilateral form, adorned with exterior columns, in different 
,  uyé n ra ést. Poet. P. ii. S. 4.