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Article OUR ARCHITECTURAL. CHAPTER. ← Page 3 of 4 →
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Our Architectural. Chapter.
notably the case in the pottery department , and the consequence was a large sale of English goods in France . There are many . who knoAv the resources and reputation of the continental workshops better than those of England , Avho will be surprised at the productions exhibited at South Kensington . They do indeed mark progress , and they are the evidence of a great increase
in our export trade , 01 the creation of many new brandies ol industry , and of improved poAver of competition with the foreign manufacturer . There is one advantage that Masonry , and the Grand Superintendents of Works will obtain from art instruction , and that is , we shall be able , in time , to obtain better , more tasteful , and more appropriate decorations for Lodges than we have hitherto commonly had , and in which the French ,-High Dutch , and other foreign Lodges have had the mastery over us . The trumpery , which in the old school passed for praiseworthy examples of art and of taste , are uoav most disgusting
to men of education , and if advantage be taken of resources uoav at our command , we may hope to effect considerable improvements . A suitably adorned Lodge materially adds to the impressiveness of the ceremonies , even where men of the greatest natural endoAvments officiate , and the appliances of such a place of assembly give dignity to men not so Avell endowed . Let any one , for example , compare the effect of a fine hall built expressly for Masonic purposes , and the
upper parlour of a public house in town or country , and there is no doubt which he will prefer as a place of reception for the candidate , whom he is desirous of impressing with a proper feeling for the Order . Were the Grand Superintendents of Works anything but dummies , they Avould effect material improvements in these respects . Let the Grand Master convene a Lodge of Grand Superintendents of Works , and he would sec what stuff they were made of , and , at any rate , stimulate their zeal to do something beneficial to the Order . There is
many a Lodge which might be freed from barbarous attributes , many a Lodge-room improved by judicious advice to the proprietor , or in case of need , something a little stronger . It is the duty of the Superintendents of Works to effect this , but at present the post is a kind of sinecure , with the right to Avear Provincial Grand clothing , the further right of doing no good to Masonry , and with the effect of degrading the Order in the eyes of the profession of architects , by encouraging dummies to undertake responsible offices , the duties of which they are incompetent to fulfil .
It has hitherto passed unnoticed that tlie year 58 o 8 is a year of mvstio andreinarkableiiumber , which should not pass uncommeinorated by some remarkable monument . So far as Scotland is concerned , this will bo effected by the erection of the metropolitan Freemasons' Hall . There is a fine chance for the Geometric , lyiliagoroan , and Platonic school of students to design and cany out a fitting commemoration of tlie year . Thus Ave might have a public monument with a pentagonal style at the top , resting on an octagonal column , that again on . a larger pentagonal style , and the whole ou an . octagonal base , and so
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Our Architectural. Chapter.
notably the case in the pottery department , and the consequence was a large sale of English goods in France . There are many . who knoAv the resources and reputation of the continental workshops better than those of England , Avho will be surprised at the productions exhibited at South Kensington . They do indeed mark progress , and they are the evidence of a great increase
in our export trade , 01 the creation of many new brandies ol industry , and of improved poAver of competition with the foreign manufacturer . There is one advantage that Masonry , and the Grand Superintendents of Works will obtain from art instruction , and that is , we shall be able , in time , to obtain better , more tasteful , and more appropriate decorations for Lodges than we have hitherto commonly had , and in which the French ,-High Dutch , and other foreign Lodges have had the mastery over us . The trumpery , which in the old school passed for praiseworthy examples of art and of taste , are uoav most disgusting
to men of education , and if advantage be taken of resources uoav at our command , we may hope to effect considerable improvements . A suitably adorned Lodge materially adds to the impressiveness of the ceremonies , even where men of the greatest natural endoAvments officiate , and the appliances of such a place of assembly give dignity to men not so Avell endowed . Let any one , for example , compare the effect of a fine hall built expressly for Masonic purposes , and the
upper parlour of a public house in town or country , and there is no doubt which he will prefer as a place of reception for the candidate , whom he is desirous of impressing with a proper feeling for the Order . Were the Grand Superintendents of Works anything but dummies , they Avould effect material improvements in these respects . Let the Grand Master convene a Lodge of Grand Superintendents of Works , and he would sec what stuff they were made of , and , at any rate , stimulate their zeal to do something beneficial to the Order . There is
many a Lodge which might be freed from barbarous attributes , many a Lodge-room improved by judicious advice to the proprietor , or in case of need , something a little stronger . It is the duty of the Superintendents of Works to effect this , but at present the post is a kind of sinecure , with the right to Avear Provincial Grand clothing , the further right of doing no good to Masonry , and with the effect of degrading the Order in the eyes of the profession of architects , by encouraging dummies to undertake responsible offices , the duties of which they are incompetent to fulfil .
It has hitherto passed unnoticed that tlie year 58 o 8 is a year of mvstio andreinarkableiiumber , which should not pass uncommeinorated by some remarkable monument . So far as Scotland is concerned , this will bo effected by the erection of the metropolitan Freemasons' Hall . There is a fine chance for the Geometric , lyiliagoroan , and Platonic school of students to design and cany out a fitting commemoration of tlie year . Thus Ave might have a public monument with a pentagonal style at the top , resting on an octagonal column , that again on . a larger pentagonal style , and the whole ou an . octagonal base , and so