The Temporary Decoration Of Public Buildings.

tastefully considered , and its mechanical application rendered perfect by fitting preparation ; but nothing is more offensive and course than such plasterings of gold or Dutch metal as one meets with in the decorative attempts at country fairs , or that of theatrical scenery when seen too closely , and by daylight . The candle-light effect of such rough goldwork is bad enough ; but its

daylight effect is worse . The haste with which temporary decorations are often carried through may be urged in extenuation of their coarse character ; but then , in reply , it may be stated that something of a different class should be attempted . Nobody understands better than Mr . Grace , for example , the application of colour and gilding to the

interiors of buildings of a Mediceval character , especially in the form of those charming Gothic diapers by which vast spaces of plain wall may be rendered attractive , and the various details of column and cornice be made to receive additional piquancy and beauty . We have seen how his decorations of this kind redeemed the interior of the Exhibition Building of 1862 . But the question ishow

, far such decorations ought to be seriously , and with seeming permanence , applied to such a building as the ancient civic hall of our metropolis , which is an important and venerable monument , and ought not to have its face too recklessly stuck about with gold leaf by way of placing it in holiday trim . Such decorations , even when good , —and some of the painted ornaments employed

there are very well conceived , and veen well executed , — are not fitted for , and do not produce the effect of , temporary festal ornament . They raise the question in the mind of the critical spectator , " Can they be washed off to-morrow ? snd will they come off when washed ? and how is the bad gilding to be scraped off ? " Decorations devised to do honour to a special occasion ought not to suggest questions of this kind . They ought to exhibit at once unmistakable evidence of being freshly prepared for the occasion , and tho occasion only . If , therefore ,

effects of painted diaperings be considered absolutely necessary , they should be executed on canvassed frames , and columns and capitals might be cased in a similar manner . But such a decoration , fully carried out , would be too scenic and theatrical ; and a far better effect , and one much more consistent with a temporary decoration , would be produced by panellings of rich diapered silks ,

fitted to such portions of the walls as were entirely without ornament , while columns should be festooned with rich and massive silks of similar character , and iappily contrasting colours , just beneath the- mouldings of the capitals ; and from the loopings up of the drapery , the heavy silk cords by which the looping up , was effected should descend the whole length of the column , forming

a reedwork of silk , the massive tassels resting on the mouldings of the base ; and being kept in place by a circling of the same silken cord , surrounding the column at its base , upon its upper moulding , on which it should rest . Half way down the column , shields or ornamented tablets might be suspended , bearing armorial devices , or complimentaay and allegorical subjects ; and in the frames

and dressings of such shields or tablets gilding ( well done ) might be used with good effect . Or , these suspended ornaments might be oval or octagonal mirrors , framed iu gold , and wreathed with real or artificial flowers . Here is a kind of decoration for columns , either single or clustered , which would be splendid , and yet evidently temporary , and which would enrich the architentural

forms without concealing them . Beneath the straight lines of cornices , similar festoonings of red silk damask might be used ; or , where economy was an object , simply coloured muslin or calico , further enriched by massive fringe ; and from the loopings up , to break the monotony of extended surfaces of plain wall , large shields or tablets might be suspended , about which wreaths of flowers might play , and gracefully stray from one tablet to another in elegant and symmetrical lines . When masses of colour are . required , a , large plain surface should be

The Temporary Decoration Of Public Buildings.

selected , and drapery of some unichrome tone be suspended from some striking apparent support at the top , from which plain and regular folds at equal distances should extend to the bottom , which should be enriched with a very deep and rich border . Upon the plain surface of this drapery badges , shields , mirrors , enlaced ciphers , or paintings , designed for the special occasion , and fitted

to oval or octagon frames , might be suspended . To these features may be added mottoes gracefully embroidered on silk , to be girt round columns with rich cording and tasselling , or wound spirally down them . In short , there is no end to the legitimate features of temporary decoration ; the main characteristic of which ought to exhibit unmistakable evidence of its temporary characterIt

, should produce the effect of an artistic flash , adding beauty to some already beautiful spot , for a brief space of time—as a gleam of sunshine iu a shady nook—a glistening ripple on a lake—a rrinbow on the soft grey of an expanse of cloud . —H . NoELHtraranETS . iu the Builder

Masonic Notes And Queries.

MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .

THE KNIGHTS HOSMTALLEUS , ETC . ( 3 rd S . ill . 450 ) . In my last communication I proposed to submit to my readers a parallel showing the respective claims to legitimacy put forth by the Roman Council and tho English Langue . I now beg to redeem my pledge to that effect , and shall commence ray present observations with a

reference to the leading event in the modern history of the Order—an event in which both parties may date the origin of their separation—namely , the dispersion of the knights from the seat of their sovereignity at Malta , in 1798 ; for down to the period of that date , the statutory model of the institution had been formally preserved , and the English Langue ( arbitrarily deprived of its possessions by

Henry VIII . ) , and the three French Langues ( which had with equal injustice been despoiled of their estates by the Directory ) , were still accounted by the Order itself integral portions of the general fraternity . The capture of Malta by the French , which gave a death-blow to the Order as a sovereign state , severed into fragments the hitherto associated Languesand the dispersed knights

, were reduced to the miserable expediency of seeking a home wherever tnmanity might offer a refuge . To suppose that , from this period to the date of the downfall of Napoleon , any assemblage existed which could constitute a legitimate representation of the body of the Order ,

would be but an idle perversion of the true facts of the case ; and that such a misstatement should ever have appealed to our belief is only to be grounded on the interested efforts made by the Italian members to resolve themselves , practically , into a sort of chapteral association , that might claim for itself an independent and supreme authority , supported by the countenance of the

Pope , and the protection of certain of the Catholic princes . The principle advocated in support of this expedient was couched in the assertion that property was the only basis of the existence of a Langue : and that , inasmuch as the English Langue had been stripped of its revenues at the period to which I have alluded , and the three French Langues had been equally denudad of their

respective domains during the great Revolution , while those of Spain and Portugal had withdrawn from the government of the Order when the Order could no longer govern itself , it followed that the German and Italian Langues which alone retained some infinitesimal portion of their former estates , should constitute the only surviving remnant of the institutionand of course exercise

, a plenary jurisdiction over its scattered members . But that such a theory was ever accepted by the main body of tho Order , which though existing in dispersed fragments , and deprived of any collective power by the adverse course of events , still claimed an indefeasiblerighb