_On the_ REGULARITY _of the_ CITY _of_ PHILADELPHIA.
"Well, how do you like Boston?" said an American to a Londoner, who had
just arrived, and walked thro the town. "Extremely," replied the
Englishman; "it resembles London in the crookedness and narrowness of
the streets; I am always pleased with a careless irregularity and
variety."
"How do you like Boston," says a nativ of the town to a Philadelphian.
"I am much pleased with the people," replies the gentleman; "but the
streets are so crooked, narrow and irregular, that I have good luck to
find my way, and keep my stockings clean."
An Englishman and a Bostonian, walking together in Philadelphia, were
heard to say, "how fatiguing it is to pass thro this town! such a
sameness in the whole! no variety! when you have seen one street, you
have seen the whole town!"
These remarks, which are heard every day, illustrate most strikingly the
force of habit and tradition. The influence of habit is every where
known and felt; any prepossessions therefore in favor of our nativ town,
is not a matter of surprise. But that a traditionary remark or opinion
should be handed from one generation to another, and lead nations into
error, without a detection of its falsity, is a fact as astonishing as
it is real. Such is the opinion of the writers on the fine arts; "that
variety is pleasing;" an opinion embraced without exception, and applied
promiscuously to the works of nature and of art. I have rarely met with
a person, not an inhabitant of Philadelphia, who would not say he was
disgusted with its regularity; and I am confident that the opinion must
proceed from that common place remark, _that variety is pleasing_;
otherwise men could not so unanimously condemn what constitutes its
_greatest beauty_.
That in the productions of nature, variety constitutes a principal part
of beauty, and a fruitful source of pleasure, will not be denied: But
the beauty and agreeableness of works of art depend on another
principle, viz. _utility or convenience_. The _design_ of the work, or
the end proposed by it, must be attentivly considered before we are
qualified to judge of its _beauty_.
This kind of beauty is called by Lord Kaim,[60] _relativ beauty_. He
observes very justly, that "_intrinsic_ beauty is a perception of sense
merely; for to perceive the beauty of a spreading oak, or of a flowing
river, no more is required but singly an act of vision. _Relativ beauty_
is accompanied with an act of understanding and reflection; for of a
fine instrument or engine, we perceive not the _relativ_ beauty, until
we are made acquainted with its use and destination." A plow has not the
least _intrinsic_ beauty; but when we attend to its _use_, we are
constrained to consider it as a _beautiful instrument_, and such a view
of it furnishes us with agreeable sensations.
[60] Elements of Criticism. Vol. I, page 198.
The single question therefore, with respect to a town or city, is this:
_Is it planned and constructed for the greatest possible convenience_?
If so, it is completely beautiful. If wide and regular streets are more
useful and convenient than those that are narrow and crooked, then a
city constructed upon a regular plan is the most beautiful, however
uniform the streets in their directions and appearance.
I have often heard a comparison made between the level roads of Holland
and the uniform streets of Philadelphia. A _dull sameness_ is said to
render both disagreeable. Yet if a person will attentivly consider the
difference, I am persuaded he will be convinced that his taste is but
_half correct_; that is, that a just remark with respect to a level open
country, is improperly applied to a commercial city. _Variety_ in the
works of nature is pleasing; but never in the productions of art,
unless in copies of nature, or when that variety does not interfere with
_utility_. A level champaign country is rarely convenient or useful; on
the other hand, it is generally more barren than a country diversified
with hills and vales. There is not generally any advantage to be derived
from a wide extended plain; the principle of _utility_, therefore does
not oppose and supersede the taste for variety, and a tedious _sameness_
is left to have its full effect upon the mind of a spectator. This is
the fact with respect to the roads in Holland.
But it is otherwise in a city, which is built for the express purpose of
accommodating men in business. We do not consider it as we do a
landscape, an imitation of a natural scene, and designed to please the
eye; but we attend to its uses in artificial society, and if it appears
to be calculated for the convenience of all classes of citizens, the
plan and construction must certainly be beautiful, and afford us
agreeable sensations.
The regularly built towns in America are Philadelphia, Charleston, in
South Carolina, and New Haven. All these may be esteemed beautiful, tho
not perfectly so. Philadelphia wants a public square or place of resort
for men of business, with a spacious building for an exchange. This
should be near Market street, in the center of business. The gardens at
the State House are too small for a public walk in that large city. The
whole line of bank houses[61] is the effect of ill timed parsimony. The
houses are inconvenient, and therefore not pleasing to the eye; at the
same time they render Water street too narrow.
[61] A line of houses built on the descent of land to the
river, with a street adjacent to the houses on both sides.
But whatever faults may be found in the construction or plan of the
city, its general appearance is agreeable, and its _regularity_ is its
greatest beauty. Whenever I hear a person exclaim against the uniformity
that pervades that city, I suppose him the dupe of a common place
remark, or that he believes a city built merely to please the eye of a
spectator.
_Charleston_ is situated upon low ground; but just above high water
mark. The soil is sand, which, with a scarcity of stone, has prevented
the streets from being paved. The plan of the city is regular, but some
of the streets are too narrow. As it is almost surrounded with water and
low marshy ground, it was necessary to attend to every circumstance that
should contribute to preserve a pure air. For this purpose, it was the
original design of the citizens, to prevent any buildings from being
erected on the wharves, in front of the town; thus leaving a principal
street, called the bay, open to the sea breezes. Since the revolution,
this design has been partially dispensed with; and some buildings
erected on the water side of the bay, and particularly one in front of
the Exchange, which stands at the head of Broad street, and commands an
extensiv view of the town on one side, and of the harbor on the other.
Should stores and warehouses be raised on the wharves, to such a height
as to intercept a view of the harbor from the bay, they would diminish
the beauty of the town, and in some degree prevent the agreeable effect
of the cool breezes from the sea.
_New Haven_ was laid out on a most beautiful plan, which has however
suffered in the execution. The streets cross each other at right angles,
as in Philadelphia; and divide the city into convenient squares. But in
the center is a large public square, the sides of which are more than
three hundred yards in length, and adorned with rows of trees. Thro the
center of this square runs a line of elegant public buildings, viz. the
state house, two churches and a school house. This square is a capital
ornament to the town; but is liable to two exceptions. First, it is too
large for the populousness of the city, which contains about 500
buildings. In so small a town, it must generally be empty, and
consequently givs the town an appearance of solitude or dullness. In the
second place, that half of the square which lies west of the public
buildings, is occupied mostly by the church yard, which is enclosed with
a circular fence. This reduces the public ground on the opposit side to
a paralellogram, which is a less beautiful figure than a square; and
annihilates the beauty of the western division which it occupies.
Notwithstanding these circumstances, the green or public ground in the
center of New Haven, renders it perhaps the most beautiful small
settlement in America.
No. XVIII.