However much the principle of fitness may be appreciated and acted upon in the United States, we have certainly great need of apology for the flagrant and almost constant violation of the second principle, viz. the expression of purpose. By the expression of purpose in buildings, is meant that architectural character, or ensemble, which distinctly points out the particular use or destination for which the edifice is intended. In a dwelling-house, the expression of purpose is conveyed by the chimney-tops, the porch or veranda, and those various appendages indicative of domestic enjoyment, which are needless, and therefore misplaced, in a public building. In a church, the spire or the dome, when present, at once stamps the building with the expression of purpose; and the few openings and plain exterior, with the absence of chimneys, are the suitable and easily recognised characteristics of the barn. Were any one to commit so violent an outrage upon the principle of the expression of purpose as to surmount his barns with the tall church spire, our feelings would at once cry out against the want of propriety. Yet how often do we meet in the northern states, with stables built after the models of Greek temples, and barns with elegant Venetian shutters-to say nothing of mansions with none but concealed chimney-tops, and without porches or appendages of any kind, to give the least hint to the mind of the doubting spectator, whether the edifice is a chapel, a bank, a hospital, or the private dwelling of a man of wealth and opulence!
