BUILDING AND ARCHITECTURE. 873 



a translation of his conception to the public. A musician, 

 with the aid of a few strings of catgut, and the painter with 

 the assistance of a piece of canvas and a few pigments, can 

 at once place the public in possession of their finest 

 conceptions. The architect has to call in the aid of skilled 

 artisans, of much expensive material, and requires that 

 previously a demand be made for the erection of some edifice 

 before he can display to the world the results of so much 

 sacrifice and exertion. In fine, we may with justice con- 

 sider that a good and beautiful building is the outward and 

 visible sign of the inward and spiritual grace of the art of 

 architecture. If thus viewed, and as it were the individuality 

 of the art properly acknowledged by the world in general, we 

 would have no such controversies in which it was eagerly 

 debated whether architecture was an art or a profession. 

 Architectural design must ever be an art, and the reahsation 

 of it to the pubhc nothing better than the profession of build- 

 ing supervision. 



The hazy notion of the connection between the two is 

 typically exemplified in the descriptions of newly-erected 

 public buildings which from time to time appear in the daily 

 press. In these it is of interest to note that no proper 

 architectural description is attempted, but a rambling state- 

 ment emphasising the importance of the work most generally, 

 pointing out the additional conveniences obtained, and, while 

 generally ignoring the name of the architect, gives the names 

 of the builders and leading artisans in the final paragraphs, 

 thus crediting them with the design as well as praising them 

 for the construction and workmanship. This may be taken 

 as a typical example of so-called architectural criticism by 

 laymen, and serves as the most valuable illustration of the 

 esteem in which architecture is held by the majority. On 

 the other hand, any criticism of a musical recital or art 

 exhibition receives the most careful attention of an expe- 

 rienced writer well acquainted with his subject; for every 

 paper of even moderate pretentions finds it necessary to 

 secure the permanent services of an artist or musician for 

 the sole purposes of criticism, while any matters architectural 

 are generally left to the tender mercies of a junior reporter. 



If it is the architect's duty to give to the world the best of 

 his art, and to work to that end only, it is equally the duty of 

 the world to, in some part, make acknowledgment of it, and 

 prove itself capable of proper discrimination. 



In general it has been the acknowledged habit for the 



