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Article OUR ARCHITECTURAL CHAPTER. ← Page 2 of 5 →
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Our Architectural Chapter.
£ ¦ '• ¦ ' I about to enter on the' duties of public life , may feel the conviction that 3 one portal they have to pass through is that of Masonry . This ? influence must be made effective by maintaining the moral and intellectual character of Masonry , and one means which the architectural
members of the Craft should urge for effecting this is , by restoring architecture to its due rank in the estimation of the Masonic body . Thus every legitimate occasion should be seized for confirming the alliance between the Craft and an art which ought of right to be under
I its protection . J On 3 means of effecting this is certainly by such celebrations as that i undei consideration , which become events in Masonic and archii tectural history . The Mirror has preserved a record from which the I solemnity and splendour of the ceremonial of last week may be appre-1 ciateo and admired , and they were such as to bring forth , as spectators , the population of a metropolis . Now we notice , that with all this
i display , there were only two architects present in recognized capa-I cities , Bro . David Bryce , Grand Architect of Scotland , and Bro . C . J . Banister , Provincial Grand Superintendent of Works for Northumberland . In this way was an important and allied profession I treated , for though deputations were invited from Grand Lodges ,
Pro-I vincial Grand Lodges , and private Lodges , no architectural fraternity 1 was invited , not even the Architectural Institute of Scotland , which has 1 its seat in Edinburgh , and which is a body of literary respectability .
In the ceremonial Bro . Bryce seems to have played a very small part , | " for though the Grand Treasurer , the Grand Secretary , and the Grand Clerk were not forgotten at the banquet , where a thousand Brethren sat
H down , Bro . Bryce , the chief professional man , makes but a very humble If figure , for not until towards the end of the toasts , when little attention was likely to be paid , was given the health of " The Grand Architect , Bro . Bryce , " and what was said of him , and by him , is not recorded . Surely on that day Bro . Bryce should have been a man of greater
mark than he then appeared ; and so will his professional Brethren > think , for among strangers he would not have received so scant a I measure of courtesy as among Masons . Our readers will notice that , whereas in England the professional % title is Grand Superintendent of Works , in Scotland , France and Germany , it is Grand Architect .
We bestow so much attention as we have done on the relations between architecture and Masonry , not only from a professional regard 4 lor the subject , but from considerations of a wider nature . There $ must be some fault in Masons that matters stand thus , or there must : ; be some faults in the Superintendents of Works ; and , perhaps , with
- ¦ } . sonie safety , we may conclude there is some fault on both sides . Superintendents of Works may , in some cases , be named with too little consideration , and , in fact , without any consideration of the professional merits of the man . An individual called an architect , and who perhaps may be so—one who is perhaps only called so , oris only a f w r—X 3 ^ favour or by chance appointed Prov . Superintendent ° * Works , and retains that dignity year aftQr year , without the least
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Our Architectural Chapter.
£ ¦ '• ¦ ' I about to enter on the' duties of public life , may feel the conviction that 3 one portal they have to pass through is that of Masonry . This ? influence must be made effective by maintaining the moral and intellectual character of Masonry , and one means which the architectural
members of the Craft should urge for effecting this is , by restoring architecture to its due rank in the estimation of the Masonic body . Thus every legitimate occasion should be seized for confirming the alliance between the Craft and an art which ought of right to be under
I its protection . J On 3 means of effecting this is certainly by such celebrations as that i undei consideration , which become events in Masonic and archii tectural history . The Mirror has preserved a record from which the I solemnity and splendour of the ceremonial of last week may be appre-1 ciateo and admired , and they were such as to bring forth , as spectators , the population of a metropolis . Now we notice , that with all this
i display , there were only two architects present in recognized capa-I cities , Bro . David Bryce , Grand Architect of Scotland , and Bro . C . J . Banister , Provincial Grand Superintendent of Works for Northumberland . In this way was an important and allied profession I treated , for though deputations were invited from Grand Lodges ,
Pro-I vincial Grand Lodges , and private Lodges , no architectural fraternity 1 was invited , not even the Architectural Institute of Scotland , which has 1 its seat in Edinburgh , and which is a body of literary respectability .
In the ceremonial Bro . Bryce seems to have played a very small part , | " for though the Grand Treasurer , the Grand Secretary , and the Grand Clerk were not forgotten at the banquet , where a thousand Brethren sat
H down , Bro . Bryce , the chief professional man , makes but a very humble If figure , for not until towards the end of the toasts , when little attention was likely to be paid , was given the health of " The Grand Architect , Bro . Bryce , " and what was said of him , and by him , is not recorded . Surely on that day Bro . Bryce should have been a man of greater
mark than he then appeared ; and so will his professional Brethren > think , for among strangers he would not have received so scant a I measure of courtesy as among Masons . Our readers will notice that , whereas in England the professional % title is Grand Superintendent of Works , in Scotland , France and Germany , it is Grand Architect .
We bestow so much attention as we have done on the relations between architecture and Masonry , not only from a professional regard 4 lor the subject , but from considerations of a wider nature . There $ must be some fault in Masons that matters stand thus , or there must : ; be some faults in the Superintendents of Works ; and , perhaps , with
- ¦ } . sonie safety , we may conclude there is some fault on both sides . Superintendents of Works may , in some cases , be named with too little consideration , and , in fact , without any consideration of the professional merits of the man . An individual called an architect , and who perhaps may be so—one who is perhaps only called so , oris only a f w r—X 3 ^ favour or by chance appointed Prov . Superintendent ° * Works , and retains that dignity year aftQr year , without the least