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Article OUR ARCHITECTURAL CHAPTER. ← Page 4 of 4
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Our Architectural Chapter.
We turn back again to South Kensington , for we inay point out that among the temporary objects of exhibition was the model of the . memorial monument of the Great Exhibition of 1851 , by Mr . Dunham . The main part of this composition is commonplace , indeed it may be taken from Mr . Punch's common place hook for artists , wherein Alfred burning the cakes ,
Shakspeare taken before Lucy , and other trite Subjects , are duly catalogued by that great master of satire . On the top of a post is Britannia , and at the four corners of the post are the schoolmaster's old four quarters of the globe , Europe , Asia , Africa , and America , a provision which gives the two Americas a poor share , does nothing for Australia , and leaves Polynesia unrepresented . Mr . Dunham's one original idea is to place on the shield of Britannia , in the midst of the ilnion crosses , a head of Prince Albert .
This piece of sycophancy gained the competitor his premium , and has covered him and his patron with ridicule . It has been observed that it is either an unworthy association of an insignificant personage with the emblems of the English empire , or it gives him the questionable honour of representing the head of Medusa on the shield of Pallas Athene . It is expected Mi % Dunham will carve the figures well , including Prince Albert —but why should the metropolis be decorated with a ridiculous composition well carved ? ^
Another memorial rather out of keeping , which has come lately before the public , is the monument for Governor-General Hotham , voted by the legislative council of Victoria , and made here from the designs of G . G . Scott . This is an early English columnar cross , though why that style should be set up in Melbourne , except that the artist swears by ^ it , it is not easy to say . Whether the gold-diggers will be pleased with their purchase remains to be seen . Only that it has an inscription on it , it . is a propos of nothing .
The preparations for the new government offices in Downing-street proceed , though the ministers are chary of imparting information as to their ultimate intentions . A large mass of houses in the poor neighbourhood of the Foreign Office is under the hands of the auctioneer , and the work of demolition is at hand .
A relic ot more antiquity is , however , in danger , and that is the old gate of St . Bartholomew ' s Church in Smithfield , leading to Bartholomewclose . The adjoining house is pulled clown , and the gate is left exposed and in some danger . It is a picturesque bit , and it is to be hoped that the parishioners who have shown so much care for the church will not abandon gateway .
In the city the work of demolition and reconstruction proceeds on a large scale . In Great Bell-alley , Coleman-street , a considerable area has been cleared , a roadway for carts provided to the foundations , and all the preparations for a great structure are in progress . In the same line of foot thoroughfare a house in White Rose-court , which has throttled the traffic , has been acquired by the corporation , and is to be removed . The opening of the Soldiers Daughters' Home , on the 1 . 8 th of Jane , the
glorious anniversary of Waterloo ( which many are now anxious to forget ) , is to bo celebrated under the auspices of H . R . H . Prince Albert , with great display . We do not observe , as yet , that any arrangements have been made for its Masonic c ^ elebratioiV . This may be as much the neglect of the authorities of the Craft as of the authorities of the institution , and is an instance of the forgetfulness , by no means rare , to the remedy fox which Brethren might usefully direct their attention .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Our Architectural Chapter.
We turn back again to South Kensington , for we inay point out that among the temporary objects of exhibition was the model of the . memorial monument of the Great Exhibition of 1851 , by Mr . Dunham . The main part of this composition is commonplace , indeed it may be taken from Mr . Punch's common place hook for artists , wherein Alfred burning the cakes ,
Shakspeare taken before Lucy , and other trite Subjects , are duly catalogued by that great master of satire . On the top of a post is Britannia , and at the four corners of the post are the schoolmaster's old four quarters of the globe , Europe , Asia , Africa , and America , a provision which gives the two Americas a poor share , does nothing for Australia , and leaves Polynesia unrepresented . Mr . Dunham's one original idea is to place on the shield of Britannia , in the midst of the ilnion crosses , a head of Prince Albert .
This piece of sycophancy gained the competitor his premium , and has covered him and his patron with ridicule . It has been observed that it is either an unworthy association of an insignificant personage with the emblems of the English empire , or it gives him the questionable honour of representing the head of Medusa on the shield of Pallas Athene . It is expected Mi % Dunham will carve the figures well , including Prince Albert —but why should the metropolis be decorated with a ridiculous composition well carved ? ^
Another memorial rather out of keeping , which has come lately before the public , is the monument for Governor-General Hotham , voted by the legislative council of Victoria , and made here from the designs of G . G . Scott . This is an early English columnar cross , though why that style should be set up in Melbourne , except that the artist swears by ^ it , it is not easy to say . Whether the gold-diggers will be pleased with their purchase remains to be seen . Only that it has an inscription on it , it . is a propos of nothing .
The preparations for the new government offices in Downing-street proceed , though the ministers are chary of imparting information as to their ultimate intentions . A large mass of houses in the poor neighbourhood of the Foreign Office is under the hands of the auctioneer , and the work of demolition is at hand .
A relic ot more antiquity is , however , in danger , and that is the old gate of St . Bartholomew ' s Church in Smithfield , leading to Bartholomewclose . The adjoining house is pulled clown , and the gate is left exposed and in some danger . It is a picturesque bit , and it is to be hoped that the parishioners who have shown so much care for the church will not abandon gateway .
In the city the work of demolition and reconstruction proceeds on a large scale . In Great Bell-alley , Coleman-street , a considerable area has been cleared , a roadway for carts provided to the foundations , and all the preparations for a great structure are in progress . In the same line of foot thoroughfare a house in White Rose-court , which has throttled the traffic , has been acquired by the corporation , and is to be removed . The opening of the Soldiers Daughters' Home , on the 1 . 8 th of Jane , the
glorious anniversary of Waterloo ( which many are now anxious to forget ) , is to bo celebrated under the auspices of H . R . H . Prince Albert , with great display . We do not observe , as yet , that any arrangements have been made for its Masonic c ^ elebratioiV . This may be as much the neglect of the authorities of the Craft as of the authorities of the institution , and is an instance of the forgetfulness , by no means rare , to the remedy fox which Brethren might usefully direct their attention .