Half-an-hour's lounge at
the projecting window of our new habitation, on a tine summer's evening,
gave me an opportunity of remarking the ~293~~singular appearance the
front of this building presents:
"If minarets, rising together, provoke
From the lips of the vulgar the old-fashioned joke--
'_De gustibus non est_ (I think) _disputandum_'
The taste is plebeian that quizzes at random."
There is really something very romantic in the style of its
architecture, and by no means inelegant; perhaps it is better suited for
the peculiar situation of this marine palace than a more classical or
accredited order would be. It has been likened, on its first appearance,
to a chess-board; but, in my thinking, it more nearly resembles that
soul-inspiring scene, the splendid banquet table, decorated in the best
style of modern grandeur, and covered with the usual plate and glass
enrichments: for instance, the central dome represents the water magnum,
the towers right and left, with their pointed spires, champagne bottles,
the square compartments on each side are exactly like the form of
our fashionable liqueur stands, the clock tower resembles the centre
ornament of a plateau, the various small spires so many enriched
_candelabra_, the glass dome a superb dessert dish; but
"Don't expect, my dear boy, I can similies find
For a heap of similitudes so undefined.
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