378 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[Deo. 



that "we are all too ready to disparage unjustly the works of modern 

 architects, who more frequently want the means than the power to produce 

 Gothic works equal to those of antiqnity. It is next to impossible to judge 

 of modern designs wilh strict impartiality ; an I critics are seldom fully 

 aware, or disposed to admit, how much their judgment is warped and 

 biassed by that utterly false and unjust notion, that every mediaeval work 

 is good, and every modern imitative design is a failure." 



The first chupter traces iu general terms the history of church architec- 

 ture from the fall of the Roman empire to the present time. Respecting 

 the word Cthic it is observed that " the term is in itfelf absurd and 

 calumnious ; but it has now become so general that it avails little to en- 

 deavour to supersede it by another." We cannot assent to this conclusion. 

 The word Pointed is now popularly understood to refer to all styles in 

 •which the arch is angular at its vertex, and has been so generally adopted 

 by architectural writers that the revival of the word Gothic seems like a 

 retrograde step. Moreover, Mr. Paley does n.t adhere consistently to his 

 own argument, for he proposes to disturb the present terminology of Eng- 

 lish Pointed architecture and to substitute new appellations for those which 

 at present are used without inconvenience, and being descriptive are easily 

 remembered. Tlie term "Third Pointed" would confound the Perpendi- 

 cular of England with an altogether dilferent style— the Flamboyant of 

 France : a similar objection applies to the term " First Pointed." On the 

 other hand the term " Early Ciitish,"(,r " Anglo Saxon,"— the first on .Mr. 

 Paley's list— refers to our own archilecture exclusively. His nomencla- 

 ture seems therefore unsjslematic; in one case his desire of generalizing 

 leads him to overlook national peculiarities of style; in another he disre- 

 gards his own g nerali/'.Uou. 



The second chapter treats principally of rou;id-arcb architecture. In 

 the following extract, the first statement is contrary to known mechanical 

 principles, and appears sufficiently refuted by what follows it. 



"The pressure nf Norman vaulting is straight downwards on the walls, 

 that of Pointed vaulting oblique, or laii-ral (See Hope, p. 312). Yet, from 

 had construction, or other causes, Norman vaults have a great tendency to 

 push outwards the supporting walls. The aisl, of St. Sepulchre's, Cam- 

 bridge, actually fell down from this cause just before its late restoration. 

 Thus some resistance has been proved by the result to be wanting, though 

 the want might not be known or suspected at the time." ° 



In the third chapter the successive development of the three Pointed 

 styles is admirably treated, and the engraved illustration possesses singu- 

 Jai' beauty. 



A subsequent chapter is devoted to " the uniformity and progressive 

 character of the Gothic styles." The following extract is a long one, but 

 the subject is so interesting, that we have made but few omissions. 



" No architect of the present day is fettered by any other rules or con- 

 ditions thau those imposed by his employers, in regiir I to the choice of a 

 style. He may copy that of any nation and any period, and he may alter 

 combine, detract from, or add to it, as he pleases. Indeed he must do so 

 more or less, because no one recognised and distinctive national architec- 

 ture, either ecclesiastical or secular, exists at 'he present day It is all 

 copied, and none of it is, properly speaking, original or self-developed. 

 It has ceased to be inventive, at least in any favourable sense. 



" But the case was very different in the Jlid lie Ages, when freemasonry 

 was a craft in the hands of a corporate ecclesiastical confraternity, the 

 members of which seem to ha- e been bound down to certain rules, and 

 yet to have had almost ■lolimited license in carrying those rules into effect ■ 

 precisely in th- same v, ly as if the alphabet of a language were given to any 

 one, and he were allowed to combine the letters into words as he pleased 

 but not to introduce any new forms or symbols. This seems exactly to il- 

 lustrate the position in which the ancient freemasons stood. Thev had cer- 

 tain cmdsof mouldings foliage, window tracery, &c, which were, with com- 

 paratively trifling modifications and exceptions, repeated in all buildiuos of 

 the san e era, only very arbitrarily combined, arranged, or applied Fo? ex- 

 ample, .n the age of the Complete Gothic or Flowing Ut-corated all win- 

 dow tracery was designed on one fixed principle ; it was neither geome- 

 tric, nor rigidly vertical, as in the next style; but it was, wilh surprisin-ly 

 few exceptions, of wavy and curved lines. Yet each architect seem," to 

 have had ful liberty to adapt this principle to his own taste ; and thus we 

 find thousands of different patterns. Again in mouldings; some ten or a 

 dozen forms being emi.loyed by all with inflexible exactitude, their sroun- 

 l-iff, or positions in relation to each other, us well as their application, 

 seems to have been the result of individual caprice (See Hope's Essay 

 p. 2 3). And herein is the glory of the Gothic styles, that they attained 

 by these means perject uniformity combined with almost infinite vanet,, 

 Ihere is no monotony, no wearisome repetition; every dkail has sonie 

 ^eshness ; yet all are strictly subjected to certain laws of composition. 

 Mence that charm of never-ceasing interest created by perpetual novelty ; 

 lor this in rea ity ,s a much more enduring gratification thau either the 

 magnificent effect or the exceeding aggregate beauty of some buildings, 



both which impressions are rather those of first sight, while the minute 

 detail of any one building might engage the attention for months, or even 

 years. ' 



" Little or nothing has ever transpired of the secret system which the 

 freemasons adopted in building, nor of the organisation of their body 

 except that it was ecclesiastical, and under the jurisdiction and benedic- 

 tion of the Pope. It is certain that they were a very numerous, energetic 

 anl talented class, whose genius was chastened and ennobled by all the 

 enthusiasm of a grand religion, and whose efforts were aided by the supply 

 of almost unlimited resources. They must have had the entire monopoly 

 of both domestic and ecclesiastical architecture ; though perhaps the dis- 

 tinction IS vain, for everything in the Middle Ages was ecclesiastical. 



Constant communication must have been kept up between all 



the members of this numerous and widely-extended body. For if we 

 consider the immense number of churches built in every reio-n from the 

 Conquest to the overthrow of the ancient religion, and the perfect uniform- 

 ity of style 111 all of the same period, we shall perceive how complete the 

 intercourse must of necessity have been. Perhaps the followin ' is a 

 plausible scheme of their constitution. Those whom we now calfarchi- 

 tects seem to have been designated ' Masters,' as we read that ' the Mas- 

 ter' did so andso, in ancient accounts, where it is clearly equivalent to 



the Architect.' These ' Masters' must have been trained in one and the 

 same school, just as our clergy are trained in the universities, and they 

 seem either to have been sent about to different stations, or to have been 

 attached to some mother church or cathedral, or even to have taken up 

 their permanent residence in certain localities, since wi often find several 

 churches in a p.irticular neighbourhood which clearly exhibit the same 

 hand in their design. 



"Though we may in most of the arts attribute a good deal to mere 

 fashion, which might formerly (it may be said) adm:t of as little variety 

 in architecture as it now does in the shapes and materials of costume, still 

 this 13 quite insufficient to account for the positive identi'y of coi^val capi- 

 tals, bases, foliage, windows, &c., in the two opposite extremities of the 

 kingdom. We suppose therefore there was either some central school 

 whence all such details emanated, or, which is the same thing, the Mas- 

 ters went about as so many missionaries, disseminating what they had 

 learnt or developed toget'aer. How this adherence to rule for a long period 

 can be reconciled with t!,e phenomena of sudden changes in, and eventu- 

 ally complete revolutions of, style, or who had the boldness to su-^crgst or 

 the authority to enforce, novelties in the masonic art, must be raat°ters of 

 mere conjecture. In England, indeed, the employment of foreign artists 

 will account for many new introducuons ; but the question remains the 

 same, — whence did these foreign artists themselves derive ihem ? How- 

 ever such changes were first introduced, they were quickly adopted iem- 

 per, ubUjue, et ah omnibus. 



" William of Sens is the first known master mason whose works are 

 extant. The masons were not incor/mmted in England till the thirteenth 

 century; yet there is at least as much uniformity of detail observable in 

 the Norman and (as before observed) even in the Saxon styles. An oath 

 of secrecy is said to have been tendered to all novitiates.' They appear 

 to have been convened and held secret meetings at certain times and 

 places. The name Free-masons is a corruption of Frires mafons, or fra- 

 ternity." A presumptive proof how exclusively the details of the art 

 were in their keeping may be derived from the blundering attempts at 

 drawing them, which are always found in MSS., stained |lass, brasses, 

 and fresco paintings. The master masons were generally t'oreit'uers in- 

 corporated by royal authority. When a large building was contemplated, 

 the masons removed in great numbers to the spot; hence they have beea 

 well described as a kind of ' nomade race.'= How they were paid, or 

 how maintained during their sojourn, is not certainly known. Perhaps 

 the masters did not so much design, as carry out the designs of powerful 

 and munificent jcclesiastics.* A good deal, too, of actual handy-work 

 was done by the ecclesiastics^ themselves, which will account for any of 

 those touches of the satirical in the way of droll portraits, which seem so 

 pointedly directed against rival clerics.' But when we read of repairs 

 and buildings executed by ahbats, bishops, or monks, we must generally 

 understand the expression to mean that they promoted them, but that 

 masons were employed in carrying them out.' 



" ' The old builders possessed nothiug but the sound intelligence of sen- 

 sible men, and an aptness in practice exercised from earliest youth. They 

 lived more at the building place than at home; thought of little else and 

 did little else; and thus they evidently succeeded much better than our 

 well-grounded sages, who often bring into the world their left-handed 

 productions, or tamely written pamphlets, and would fain superintend the 

 erection of buildings from their writing-desk.' "^ 



" One thing is quite clear, and admiTted by all ; that the masons of the 

 time being were aDsolutely restricted to one styl''. They never thought of 

 going backwards, under any circumstances whatever, and seem to have 

 contemne d the very idea of copying older work, however incongruous 



' ooli'",""""''''' "'""""' AucouQt of Muster and PreemasoQS. Also Hope's Essay, 



2 D.illuway.p. 4S4. 



3 miints History of tile Reformation, p. 83 . 



4 D,illaway, p. 15(:. 



3 i\f:iitlaii(l*s Dark Aijes, p. US. 

 Norfolk"^ '"^'' ^"""^ specimens in the beautiful middle Pointed chancel at Southitjps, 

 T Willis's Canterbury, p. 120. 

 8 Wiienrell's Notes, &c., , I 83, 



