"I never saw a better fashioned gown [house], There are certainly some monstrous houses in Charleston. Such gables-such broadsides, pierced with pigeon-holes-such toppling verandas-such ghostly chimneys-such antique rookeries-such modern roosts-such totter-ups --such tumble-downs-such a want of paint on some-such a variety of paints on others-such resemblances-such contrasts-the most precious variety of styles ever exhibited by mortal city since the days of Hiram the Phoenician. ood fellow, not for any such poor devil as you, We don't care a straw for your opinions! We are not, let us tell you, any of your slavish copy ists from Greek and Tuscan, Saracen and Goth. We are a law unto ourselves. Each man builds as it seems best in his own eyes, and each man's amour propre is on the qui vive lest he should be suspected of doing something under the guidance of his neighbor." Some truth in what the citizen says to Beauvallet. No people ever so little toiled together, in the mass, as those of the Palmetto City. No people were ever more tenacious of their individuality. Like Falstaff, they will give no man reason upon compulsion. This is one of their chief merits as well as misfortunes; since it strengthens the individual moral by self-esteem, while it prevents the consummation of any public objects which require the working together of the masses. There is rarely any massing of any purely agricultural people any where; one of the secrets, by-the-way, to account for the deficiency of the arts among all such people. But there are two very distinct cities in Charleston-the old and new-representing rival communities. They perpetually confront each But, as we have said, dear reader, there is an other. The palace and the hovel, the modern architectural idiosyncrasy in all old cities which villa and the antique rookery, are side by side. compels respect, as it answers for the individu- The modern is daily growing more and more ality of their people. This individuality is one insolent and obtrusive; but the ancient is forof the most distinguishing features of Charles-midable in sheer stubbornness, and his very ton. It declares for the independence of the vis inertice makes him immovable. He opposes popular mind. It says: "Look you, Beau-weight and passivity to the motive power of the vallet, we never thought of you when we built other; and, though he rocks and heaves under that structure. We fashion for ourselves, my the pressure, he has yet proved too fast rooted in the soil for absolute overthrow. He will fall | him out of position. Let us give some glimpses down upon it, no doubt, but you can not wheel of this old and new, as they show themselves in THE ROPER HOSPITAL. the public buildings of the place. Almost as you enter the city-assuming that you do so from the sea-you behold the present Custom-house, built during the colonial period. The building is a square; the principal or first story was originally an arcade, every where open, and making a spacious and appropriate hall, which was naturally employed as an exchange, where "merchants most did congregate:" of late years this area has been partially inclosed, and applied to the uses of a post-office. The second story and basement are yielded to the officers of the customs. The building has undergone some changes-hardly for the better-since the time of its erection. The present front, which looks west, along the whole range of Broad Street (which it entirely closes on the east) was not originally the front view. This looked out upon the ocean without impediment; but the view from this quarter is now impossible, by reason of the massed warehouses which have strode in between it and the wharves. Here is the fabric, as you now see it from Broad Street and East Bay. Simple and unpretending enough as a work of art, but built according to the recognized scientific principles of the period of its erection. You will note, however, that the cupola is modern, though not recent; that it hardly accords with the general style of the building; that it somewhat belittles it in fact, and is wanting in size and symmetry as in style. It was stuck on, a sort of pepper-box on a terrapin's back, during the dynasty (we think) of Martin Van Buren, and when Mr. Poinsett was his War Secretary. We are inclined to suspect Mr. Poinsett of this graffing upon the ancient fabric. Its purpose was that of a marine observatory, and for telegraphing to the city the appearance of vessels in the offing. But we need waste no words upon the cupola, which has its uses if not beauties, and may be made a loophole of observation to those who look out in search of the beautiful. The building itself has quite a history, and rises into classical dignity among the sons of the soil. In the basement of this fabric old Moultrie walled up some 100,000 pounds of gunpowder, in order to keep it from the British when the town was about to fall into their hands, in the third attempt which they made for its capture; and here it remained safe from discovery during the three years that they had possession. The vaults of this same basement were employed as a Provost or prison, in which the captured rebels were locked up for starvation or execution, or when it was necessary to work upon the fears of friends, and extort submission He or property. In these damp, dismal regions, hundreds perished of privation and their wounds. Here Isaac Hayne, the martyr, was held in durance vile till taken out to the gallows. You note that chamber, to the left, in the rear of the second story? In that chamber did the noble victim make his toilet the fatal morning. had been brought up from the cells below to this apartment, in order that he should habit himself properly for his doom, and exchange the last greetings with his friends. This old fabric, associated with so much that is grateful to patriotism, the Charlestonians will hardly suffer to be pulled down to make way for structures of even greater excellence. It is beautifully situated, and might be employed for various public purposes when it is withdrawn from present uses. The new Custom-house is in rapid progress; and having shown you the old, it is but fair that we should exhibit the more imposing successor. This, you will readily admit, is a noble structure, and one of which our Palmetto City need not be ashamed. It is of marble, lofty and extensive. It is a costly work, and will consume several millions of dollars; large sums have been already swallowed up in the mere piling, the site chosen being upon the very margin of the bay, and the piles encroaching upon the mud-flats of the harbor. The place is admirably chosen, at once for business and for show, the structure looking out directly upon the open sea, the in-rolling billows of which will dash against its base. As our purpose is more pictorial than statistical, we shall not trouble our readers with any details in respect to the dimensions or the divisions of the fabric, the numbers of its chambers, or their par ticular uses. Of course, they understand that the building is estimated to be quite ample for the commercial necessities of the port, and that its subdivisions contemplate all the usual departments which are involved in the collection of the revenues and the storage of the imported More commodities. than one architect was connected in the original design; but we believe that their several plans were finally fused together by some presiding genius, the favorite at Washing ton. Standing upon the steps of the old Custom-house, the eye is naturally arrested by a finely finished building of brown stone that stands obliquely opposite on the southwest This is a corner. structure of very recent erection, designed by Jones, one of the most popular of the Palmetto architects. You will see that it shows fairly in a picture. This is one CHARLESTON. THE CITADEL SQUARE BAPTIST CHURCH. fashion of encaustic tiling. of the Palmetto Temples of Mammon. This god | ing of the Banking Hall being of the most showy is not without his worshipers in this region. The State Bank is a flourishing institution, though the outsider must not imagine that its name involves any connection with the body politic. There is a State Bank of South Carolina, called the Bank of the State, and its fiscal agent. But the State Bank is a private corporation, flourishing and well managed, as you may infer from such a building. It is no cold worship, be assured, which frames such fabrics to its deity; and we are constrained to admit that there are many of the temples to the Living God which would show very meanly alongside of those which are here to be seen reared to one of his most powerful rivals. This State Bank is one of them. what says the poet? But "Mammon wins his way, where angels might despair." While our hands are in among the bankers, let us cast our eyes to the right, looking up East Bay from the steps of the Custom-house. Here That huge, you see a group of buildings, and the three first of these are all banking houses. heavy, and somewhat unsightly fabric in the foreground, with the Roman-Doric portico, is the Planters and Mechanics' Bank, a structure of the Charleston medieval period, which has recently undergone such renovation and improvement as was possible with a very ungainly origWithin, it is a most commodious and exinal. cellently planned building for the worship to which it is dedicated; spacious, cool, airy, elegant, and capable of hoarding any amount of money. Without, it is, as you see, a most imposing deformity-a miserable abuse of a mixed model-which has always seemed to ns without grace, or symmetry, or beauty. But the worship of the deity goes on prosperously within, in spite of the bad taste of the temple. Its offices are urged unceasingly, and good dividends sufficiently declare that Mammon is satisfied with the offerings laid upon his shrine. Next this precinct, which is rather more common than proper. Very soon, and sensibly, the climate affects the plaster. It grows damp and dingy, blurred and spotted; finally cracks, flakes, and falls away; and, what with stains, blotches, and breaks, it needs new plastering as frequently as a house of wood needs paint. to it, and above, is the Farmers' and Exchange | to convert this most unpretending establishment Bank-a fanciful little fabric, a little too ornate into an Etruscan or Italian palace. Beyond, for such a worship, and showing beside the in our picture, all the houses that you see are Planters and Mechanics' as a toy-box under the employed in trade-shops, warehouses, etc. This caves of the tower of Babel. But for the over- is a region (East Bay) wholly given up to trade. whelming bulk of its burly brother, we should These buildings are all of brick, thickly stuccoed call it a bijou of a banking house. It is a nov--a mode of coating and clothing the brick, in elty in the architecture of Charleston, if not of the day, being Moorish in all its details, yet without reminding you of the Alhambra or the Vermilion towers. It is of brown stone of two tints, laid alternately-an arrangement which adds considerably to the effect. The interior is finished with arabesque work from floor to ceiling, and is lighted with subdued rays from the summit. This gives a rich and harmonious effect to the whole. It is of recent erection, Jones and Lee the architects. The corporation itself is a new one, and prosperous, like all the temples reared to the god of the Mines, the Counter, and the Mint, in this virtuous city. The building just above it is a shop and warehouse, and gives you a very fair idea of the style and size of building usually allotted in Charleston to the retail traders. That tall structure further on is the Union Bank, of an old style, but not the oldest, in Charleston architecture. It indicated a sort of first period, of progress and improvement, in the architecture of this eity; its directors will, no doubt, receive an impulse from the new graces of some of their rivals, which shall prompt them THE CENTRAL CHURCH. But we have now paid sufficient tribute to the several temples of the Charleston Mammon. Let us turn to those structures which have been reared in a more philanthropic spirit, and under the auspices of nobler deities. Of these better temples, the Palmetto City claims as large a proportion as any city in the world. The Orphan House is one of these sanctuaries, of ancient foundation; dating back to an early period in the local history. Originally a spacious brick building of three stories above the basement offices, the length of the house was 180 feet by a breadth of thirty feet. Recently it has been found necessary to enlarge it. It is now 228 feet long, seventy feet deep, and with an extension in the rear of nearly 100 feet more. It contains about 130 rooms; the dormitories, play, school, and dining rooms and hospitals, all being large and noble apartments. Of these, eight are twenty-eight by sixtyfive feet square, and several others nearly as large. The house is by far the largest building in the city. The cupola contains the great fire-alarm bell of the city. Its site is a very fine one-very nearly central, occupying an extensive square which fronts south on Calhoun, west on St. Philip's, and north on Vanderhorst streets; on the latter of which, within the same inclosure, the orphans have a neat chapel of their own, separate from the main building. This asylum constitutes a noble charity of which Charleston is very proud. It was founded in 1792, is well endowed, supported chiefly by the city, and rears, nurtures, and instructs from 200 to 250 children of both sexes. Jones and Lee were the architects by whom this structure was enlarged and modernized. We omit from our picture the pretty little lodge in front, the stuccoed wall, and an ancient statue of William Pitt, which occupy the foreground. The Roper Hospital is another of the noble charities of this city. It takes its name from the benevolent citizen upon whose bequest it |