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Article ADDRESS OF SIR CHARLES LEMON, BART., ← Page 3 of 4 →
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Address Of Sir Charles Lemon, Bart.,
Why diil the Saxons and Normans always build short heavy columns , surmounted by cushion-like capitals and round arches , with the zig-zag mouldings of which we have many examples in this country ? Why did the race which followed pass to the other extreme of lightness , make their windows lancet-shaped , and introduce their peculiar ornament , the shark ' s tooth ? Why did the architects under our three first Edwards ,
use wider openings with flowing tracery , and heavy crockets and firials ? And why at last did all these styles give way to the minute and elaborate ornaments of our Sixth and Seventh Henry ? There is but one answer to all these questions , and it is this : — That these results are not mere coincidences of thought , the accidental agreements of different minds , in different places , nor are they the steps of regular progress in the art itselfgradualldeveloping its resources .
, y If it were so , we should not find at a very early period , so perfect a structure as that of Salisbury , than which there exists nothing which so forcibly shews the skill and daring of the architect . Let any one stand immediately under that stupendous spire , and then look about for the supports on which it rests , he must be struck with the extraordinary courage of the mind which could conceive such a project , and
the skill and science which executed what appears to be so vast a design . Then if the succession of styles to which I have alluded was not tlie effect of chance , nor the progress of art , there remains I think but one conclusion , that there existed all along some great corporation presiding over the architecture of each period , and teaching authoritatively the lessons of its own science , that it possessed the confidence of kings and noblesand gave the impress of its own mind to the sacred-edifices
, of its time . If no claim to this position can be setup by any other body , it follows that that corporation was no other than that which we jointly and feebly represent ; and those who regard antiquity will esteem Freemasonry for the share which it has had in some of the greatest achievements of very remote times . The examples which 1 have given are all taken from our own country ; hut the argument need not stop here . Professor Whewell has shown that the architecture of France
and Germany partakes of the same characteristics as our own ; there have been at certain periods slight deviations of style , but they were transcient , and the agreement was sooner or later restored . The last topic on which I shall trouble you with any observation relates to our representative character , in connection with architecture itself , as an instrument of civilisation , and on this I will be very brief . If we have a claim through our forefathers to some connection with the architecture of the middle ageswe stand in the same relation as to the
, sentiments which belong to it . We all know how much arts and science have contributed towards the improvement of mankind , and that the sense of beauty either with respect to the external or moral world , has been a powerful agent of refinement . I do not mean to infer that taste is virtue , or that arts and science and literature are in themselves morality , but they soften the mind , and prepare it to receive the lessons of virtueand finalllead it on to better and nobler impulsesI dare
, y . say there may be men so constituted that they can stand before the portico of St . Paul ' s , and look up at its dome without emotion ; but I would fain believe that they are exceptions to the common run of mankind , and certainly they are aliens from our Brotherhood . No , my Brethren , we are not so framed . We , I trust , relish the great productions of our art . We know that amongst the guides which have led on tlie human race
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Address Of Sir Charles Lemon, Bart.,
Why diil the Saxons and Normans always build short heavy columns , surmounted by cushion-like capitals and round arches , with the zig-zag mouldings of which we have many examples in this country ? Why did the race which followed pass to the other extreme of lightness , make their windows lancet-shaped , and introduce their peculiar ornament , the shark ' s tooth ? Why did the architects under our three first Edwards ,
use wider openings with flowing tracery , and heavy crockets and firials ? And why at last did all these styles give way to the minute and elaborate ornaments of our Sixth and Seventh Henry ? There is but one answer to all these questions , and it is this : — That these results are not mere coincidences of thought , the accidental agreements of different minds , in different places , nor are they the steps of regular progress in the art itselfgradualldeveloping its resources .
, y If it were so , we should not find at a very early period , so perfect a structure as that of Salisbury , than which there exists nothing which so forcibly shews the skill and daring of the architect . Let any one stand immediately under that stupendous spire , and then look about for the supports on which it rests , he must be struck with the extraordinary courage of the mind which could conceive such a project , and
the skill and science which executed what appears to be so vast a design . Then if the succession of styles to which I have alluded was not tlie effect of chance , nor the progress of art , there remains I think but one conclusion , that there existed all along some great corporation presiding over the architecture of each period , and teaching authoritatively the lessons of its own science , that it possessed the confidence of kings and noblesand gave the impress of its own mind to the sacred-edifices
, of its time . If no claim to this position can be setup by any other body , it follows that that corporation was no other than that which we jointly and feebly represent ; and those who regard antiquity will esteem Freemasonry for the share which it has had in some of the greatest achievements of very remote times . The examples which 1 have given are all taken from our own country ; hut the argument need not stop here . Professor Whewell has shown that the architecture of France
and Germany partakes of the same characteristics as our own ; there have been at certain periods slight deviations of style , but they were transcient , and the agreement was sooner or later restored . The last topic on which I shall trouble you with any observation relates to our representative character , in connection with architecture itself , as an instrument of civilisation , and on this I will be very brief . If we have a claim through our forefathers to some connection with the architecture of the middle ageswe stand in the same relation as to the
, sentiments which belong to it . We all know how much arts and science have contributed towards the improvement of mankind , and that the sense of beauty either with respect to the external or moral world , has been a powerful agent of refinement . I do not mean to infer that taste is virtue , or that arts and science and literature are in themselves morality , but they soften the mind , and prepare it to receive the lessons of virtueand finalllead it on to better and nobler impulsesI dare
, y . say there may be men so constituted that they can stand before the portico of St . Paul ' s , and look up at its dome without emotion ; but I would fain believe that they are exceptions to the common run of mankind , and certainly they are aliens from our Brotherhood . No , my Brethren , we are not so framed . We , I trust , relish the great productions of our art . We know that amongst the guides which have led on tlie human race