Gothic Architecture And Operative Freemasonry.

takes ; they could easily see where width , could be spared , enpecially in the nave ; how also a little additional height and a little additional length would improve the effect of the whole . During the progress of the Parisian works also

some capitals had been designed , or some new form of piers , which were improvements on . preceding examples , and generally more confidence and skill would be derived from experience in the -construction of arches and vaults . All these , of

course , would be adojDted in the new cathedral ; : and without making drawings , guided only by general directions as to the plan and dimensions , the masons might proceed with the work , and introducing all the new improvements as it

progressed , they would inevitably produce a better result than any that preceded it , without any especial skill on the part either of the Master Mason or his employer . " If a third cathedral were to be built after

this it would , of course , contain all the improvement made during the progress of the second , and all the corrections which its results suggested ; and thus , while the art was really progressive , it required neither great individual skill nor particular aptitude to build such edifices as we find ,

" In fine arts we have no illustration of this m modern times ; but all our useful arts advance on the same principles , and lead consequently to the same results . In shipbuilding , for instance , if we take a series of ships from those in which Edward

III . and his bold warriors crossed the Channel to the great line-of-battle ships now lying at anchor in our harbours , we find a course of steady and uninterrupted improvement from first to last . Some new method is tried ; if it is found to succeed

it is retained ; if it fails it is dropped . Thus the general tendency constantly leads to progress and improvement . And , to continue the comparison ¦ a little further ; this progress in the art is not attributable to one or more eminent naval

architects . Great and important discoveries have no doubt been made by individuals , but in these cases we may generally assume that , the state of science being ripe for such advances , had the discovery in question not been made by one man , it soon would

have occurred to some other . " The fact is , that in a useful art like that of shipbuilding , or in an art combining use and beauty like that of architecture—that is , when the latter is a real , living , national art—the progress made is owing , not to the commanding abilities

of particular men , but to the united influence of the whole public . An intelligent sailor who discusses the good and bad qualities of a ship , does his part towards the advancement of the art of shipbuilding . So in architecture , the merit of

any one admirable building , or of a high state of national art , is not due to one , or to a few master minds , but to the aggregation of experience , the mass of intellectual execution , which alone can achieve any practically great result . Whenever

we see any work of man truly worthy of admiration , we may be quite sure that the credit of it is not due to an individual , but to thousands working through a long series of years .

" The pointed Gothic architecture of Germany furnishes a negative illustration of the view which , we have taken of the couditiens necessary for great architectural excellence . There the style was not native , but introduced from France .

French masons were employed , who executed their work with the utmost precision / and with a perfection of masonic skill scarcely to be found in France itself . But in all the higher elements of beauty the German pointed Gothic cathedrals are

immeasurably ifeerior to the French . They are no longer the expressions of the devotional feelings of the clergy and people : thoy aro totally devoid of the highest order of architectural beauty .

"The truth of the matter is , that the very preeminence of the great Masonic Lodges of Germany in the 14 th century * destroyed the art . When Freemasonryf became so powerful as to usurp to itself the designing as well as the

execution of churches and other buildings , there was an end of true art , though accompanied by the production of some of the most wonderful specimens of stone cutting and of constructive skill that ever were produced . This , however ,

is 'building / not architecture ; and though it may excite the admiration of the vulgar , it never will touch the feelings of the true artist or man of taste .