Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Freemasonry. Evidences, Doctrines, And Traditions.
were almost sublime , they could scarcely be repeated in the same building without impairing , if not destroying , the intended effect ; a disadvantage for which they possessed no adequate remedy . But in the Gothic style of architecture , the ingenious artist may tastefully repeat his decorations with almost unlimited profusion . Here all is varietyall is
, harmony . The dull and weary effect of a continuous line is avoided by the introduction of light arcades , composed of pointed arches , and ornamented with trefoils , quatrefoils , devices , and all the varieties of enriched mouldings , repeated in different stories with new and increased effect ; until the building is raised to a sublime height , equal , if not superior ,
to any work produced by a heathen architect . In its columns the style of Christian architecture infinitely surpasses every other , both in the qualities of dimensions and strength . The vast but requisite mass of stone placed at the principal points of English erections , and especially in the piers employed to sustain the central tower , is so tastefully grooved
and subdivided on its surface , as to form elegant groups of slender columns , rising to an inconceivable height ; and from their upper termination , the vast design is continued by the ingenious expedient of springing new arches in various directions . This style at once conveys the united idea of lihtness and stabilityand affords a degree of strength equal
g , to the intended pressure . In a word , the multiplicity of arch-work which forms and supports the roofs , fills up , at the same time , the intervening spaces ornamentally ; thus combining the most exquisite richness of decoration with a strength and durability which time itself can scarcely shake or moulder to decay .
On the exterior of these venerable edifices , a variety of ornamental pinnacles , pannellings , niches , and mouldings , are usually introduced by the expert architect , to break ancl destroy the injudicious effect of a continued sameness of straight line or blank wall ; and a multiplicity of flying buttresses are so disposed , as to leave it apparently doubtful
whether the artist had most in view , a fanciful ornament or real utility , when his actual design was to form a happy combination of both . It may be doubtful whether the same quantity of materials could , by any exertion of talent or genius , be combined within the same dimensions with equal grace and li ghtness in appearance , or permanent strength in
real effect , as in the chaste construction of these sublime edifices . Let their age , the nature of their materials , and the graceful effect of their extraordinary combinations , be
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
On Freemasonry. Evidences, Doctrines, And Traditions.
were almost sublime , they could scarcely be repeated in the same building without impairing , if not destroying , the intended effect ; a disadvantage for which they possessed no adequate remedy . But in the Gothic style of architecture , the ingenious artist may tastefully repeat his decorations with almost unlimited profusion . Here all is varietyall is
, harmony . The dull and weary effect of a continuous line is avoided by the introduction of light arcades , composed of pointed arches , and ornamented with trefoils , quatrefoils , devices , and all the varieties of enriched mouldings , repeated in different stories with new and increased effect ; until the building is raised to a sublime height , equal , if not superior ,
to any work produced by a heathen architect . In its columns the style of Christian architecture infinitely surpasses every other , both in the qualities of dimensions and strength . The vast but requisite mass of stone placed at the principal points of English erections , and especially in the piers employed to sustain the central tower , is so tastefully grooved
and subdivided on its surface , as to form elegant groups of slender columns , rising to an inconceivable height ; and from their upper termination , the vast design is continued by the ingenious expedient of springing new arches in various directions . This style at once conveys the united idea of lihtness and stabilityand affords a degree of strength equal
g , to the intended pressure . In a word , the multiplicity of arch-work which forms and supports the roofs , fills up , at the same time , the intervening spaces ornamentally ; thus combining the most exquisite richness of decoration with a strength and durability which time itself can scarcely shake or moulder to decay .
On the exterior of these venerable edifices , a variety of ornamental pinnacles , pannellings , niches , and mouldings , are usually introduced by the expert architect , to break ancl destroy the injudicious effect of a continued sameness of straight line or blank wall ; and a multiplicity of flying buttresses are so disposed , as to leave it apparently doubtful
whether the artist had most in view , a fanciful ornament or real utility , when his actual design was to form a happy combination of both . It may be doubtful whether the same quantity of materials could , by any exertion of talent or genius , be combined within the same dimensions with equal grace and li ghtness in appearance , or permanent strength in
real effect , as in the chaste construction of these sublime edifices . Let their age , the nature of their materials , and the graceful effect of their extraordinary combinations , be