303 Mr. Wilkins's Defcript'wn of

Palladio has alfo made the fame obfervation : " Moreover the an- " cient Bafilicas had their Porticos on the iti/ide, as may be perceived " by our draughts ; and the modern ones, on the contrary, either I' have no porticos at all, or they have them on the outfide to- " wards the fquare or open place []." And again: " but we, " neglecling the Porticos furrounding the temples, build our " churches very like the ancient Bafilica's, or Courts of Juftice, " in which (as we faid) the Porticos -were made WITHIN the build- " ing, as we do now in our churches [#]." The pillars and arches now {landing in the church of Melbourne, and in a very perfect ftate, do neceflarily imply the originality of fide-ailes ; but in the churches which Bede and the other ancient writers have defcribed, as quoted by Mr. Bentham, no mention is made of either pillars, arches, or fide-ailes ; we therefore ought not, with Mr. Bentham, to admit they had any, from the explanation only of thofe buildings containing a porticus within the body, which he has miftaken to be in the north or fouth ailes ; whereas there appears by his own account, aided by ancient inconteftable proofs, that the Porticus was a portion of the wejl end of thefe early built churches. There can be no great prefumption in concluding that the plans of the churches fo defcribed more refembled that of the ancient church at Dunwich beforementioned. Having thus far endeavoured to prove Mr. Bentham's error, we fhall clofe the attempt with a defcription of what yet remains un- noticed in this curious church of Melbourne. The external walls of the fide-ailes of Melbourne church being more expofed to the weather, would confequently require more fre- quent reparation, and the fafhion of larger windows was adopted [] Palladio's Architefture by Giac 1 . Leoni. B. iii. chap. xx. [*] Ibid. ch. ix. p. la. as