158 THE NEW UNION BUILDINGS. 



cant simplicity in harmony with a stately slope, a worthy fore- 

 ground cannot but result. 



It has been said : 



" It is within the power of the man who deals with soil and trees to surround 

 our buildings with an impression and indefinable atmosphere appropriate to the 



hour and the future." 



and such a man must be in evidence here ; but there 

 must also be right to the end of this scheme the controlling mind 

 that recognises, not only that the focus is supremely architec- 

 tural, but that the far-flung lines of masonry so heroic in South 

 Africa's history compel an amplitude of treatment in every direc- 

 tion. In the residential areas of the city that stretch o'er plain 

 and slope in carpet-like formation, there are necessarily displayed 

 multiform features which should remain without a rival ; and all 

 the temptation to cherish display on other than the broadest 

 lines on that Union site must experience the fullest restraint. 



I have often heard it suggested that other buildings might 

 suitably find place within that foreground, but surely no such 

 encroachment on the setting of this South African structure will 

 ever be permitted. But as to the background, I believe the sum- 

 mit will eventually be crowned with a memorial structure, not 

 primarily to mark an historic event, but in response to the call' 

 of the north for some visible expression, on the height that inter- 

 venes, of the national character that has found so full emphasis 

 southwards. And an index to that northern stretch will be ob- 

 tainable across the saddle of the Kop, towards the north-east and' 

 north-west respectively, from the lunettes in the drums of the 

 tower domes. 



In the matchless Table Mountain with the environment of 

 the sea, the Legislative capital of the Union of South Africa has 

 a natural grandeur, with which no efforts of human endeavour 

 can ever compete ; yet, in the subject which I have endeavoured 

 to portray, the Administrative Capital will possess a distinctive 

 feature. Watching the setting sun (or, as the Greeks would say, 

 "His rejoining of his kingdom"), I have found that a feeling of 

 romance akin to that of classic heights is not entirely absent from 

 that altitude ; and no doubt while many are destined to enjoy 

 therefrom "the open spaciousness and clear skies" (to which Lady 

 Gladstone recently referred as characteristics of the Transvaal), 

 this Kop of Meintjes, with its architectural possession, will also 

 rank as a southern shrine for pilgrims of art, and add to the 

 themes of poet and painter, and, no mean asset of Empire. 

 Children in whom is writ the power to rule, will be attracted there 

 to admire the view, to gain " a comprehensive vision of the wide 

 outlook, and to cherish the seeing below the surface of things." 



For the heartiest co-operation in the preparation of this 

 paper, on the part of Mr. Herbert Baker, the architect ; of heads 

 of various branches of the Public Works Department associated 

 with this great scheme and of the contractors, I am especially 

 grateful. 



