971. The modern style is not an improvement on the ancient manner, but the substitution of one style for another. Part of the prevailing antipathy to the ancient style proceeds from a generally entertained idea, that the modern is an improvement on it, in the same way as a modern plough is an improvement on the clumsy implements of our ancestors: but the truth is, the two styles are as essentially and entirely different in principle, as painting and architecture; the one being an imitative, and the other an inventive art. The more the ancient style is improved and perfected, the more it will differ from the modern style; and neither the improvement nor the neglect of the modern style will ever bring it a step nearer the ancient manner.
