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  • March 2, 1861
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The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine, March 2, 1861: Page 5

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    Article MASTERPIECES OF THE ARCHITECTURE OF DIFFERENT NATIONS. ← Page 2 of 2
    Article SOME OBSERVATIONS IN EGYPT. Page 1 of 2 →
Page 5

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Masterpieces Of The Architecture Of Different Nations.

and they succeeded in instilling into the Romans a taste foi the enjoyment of all their beauties . The lyre of Yirgil and that of Horace modulated sounds similar to those which the divine Homer and the joyous Anaoroou had immortalized . Tho age of Augustus became the rival of that of Pericles ; and tho marbles chiselled by those same Greeks , in the middle of the Forum of Trajan ,

made of the ancient Rome a new Athens , more sumptuous and more superb even than that of which tho cruel Sylla had ensanguined the wall and laid prostrate the temples . The magnificence of the Emperors collected in that capital all descriptions of architecture ; it magnified their masses , and developed them in colossal proportions ; it assembled all those pompous remnants in a now and imposing order ;

it robbed the Egyptians of their obelisks , and exalted them in the public squares ; eclipsed them in triumphal columns ; clothed afresh their pyramids with elegant peristyles in superb moles and in seplhones ; restored to the gods of , Greece temples not less rich than were those of Ephesus Corinth , and Athens ; surpassed in amphitheatres and in circuses all that had been done in that way of grand and noble ;

-created in triumphal arches monuments of a new class , to perpetuate the recollection of victories ; and finally imparted to the themce , or imperial baths , the idea not of palaces but ¦ of whole towns , where all kinds of luxury were gathered together to occupy for a moment the leisure hours of the masters of the universe . Magnificent in her her templesher palacesher

squares , , , tombs , impressing the character of her grandeur on her slightest edifices , Rome is still to this clay what she formerly was for architecture , the mistress of the world ; and her superb ruins , studied and measured since the revival of the arts , command the admiration of all travellers , and furnish models to all artists .

The ancient Romans knew how to make a now application ¦ of the riches of art , a knowledge of which they gained bit by bit by their conquests . They erected , for the games of a mere festival , eternal monuments . They covered the whole land with their roads , their bridges , their fortresses , and their aqueducts , the astonishing remains of which are still useful to us . Their thousands of columns , their altars , their

tombstones , and their elegant and laconic inscriptions , are found . and are read with interest in all the countries where thoy ¦ carried their arms and extended their dominion . If they had not the glory of invention , thoy cannot be denied that of appropriate application , and of having made great everything that they touched . If they do not exhibit in their monuments the plain grace and the simplicity of the Greeks ,

they have bold thoughts , masculine forms , lofty and extensive proportions , a pomp , a congregation of riches which the power of an ever-victorious people commanded , and the splendour of a Court where all the kings of the earth came as suppliants to lay down their crowns and their treasures , to preserve afterwards but an empty title . ( To be continued . )

Some Observations In Egypt.

SOME OBSERVATIONS IN EGYPT .

Tho subjects on which Prof . Donalclson addressed tho Institute of Architects last week were M . Mariotte ' s Excavations -at Ghizeh and Saccara ; the Domestic Architecture of tho Ancient Egyptians as existing among the present Arabs ; and the Catacombs at Alexandria , recently discovered . Ho ¦ commenced by stating that he would treat his subject in the liht of a traveller ' s sketchand describe as hicallas

g , grap y he was able a two days' excursion from Cairo to Ghizeh and Saccara , It would be necessary , however , that he should state at the outset that , having visited Egypt by direction of the Government upon a more serious subject , he had merely employed his few days of leisure to visit some of tho ancient monuments of whicli ho had read so muchwhich he had written and which he had

, upon , thought about for years . Many of those who heard him , who had not visited Egypt , were not perhaps aware that a donkey was a very useful animal in the East , and that the Egyptian donkeys upon whicli ho rode were very superior of their sort , inasmuch as thoy wore intelligent and docile and took care of their riders , which latter was no small recommendation . Thoy ambled array at the rate of five miles

an hour , and he had often been iu tho saddle upon one of thorn for ton hours without being weary ; which was more than he could have said had his quadruped been a horse . The mode of travelling in Egypt was to start at an early hour in the morning , between seven and eight o ' clock . Tho custom was to hire a dragoman , who ru-ovided food for a clay or two , according to the length of the excursion

proposed , and some wax candles to be used in exploring tho ruins . Equipped in this manner , he started for old Cairo , which lies about a league distant from the modern city of that name . Tho way led by an avenue of trees planted by the late Pasha . The present viceroy disapproves of trees , and cuts thorn down in all directions . Passing old Cairo the traveller reaches the lainand

crossp , ing the Nile , observes the hydrometer used for measuring the rise and fall of the river , and the village of Ghizeh . He then leaves the boat ( in which his donkey has been accommodated ) and passes through various Arab villages , groves of dates , and fragrant gardens . The Pyramids are then observed looming iu the distance , paramount over all other objects . As the traveller advances , their huge proportions

develop themselves at every seep , while other objects become , as it wore , dwarfed . The "P yramids stand upon a plateau or rising round , and in tho neighbourhood can be distinctly traced the limits to which the Nile is accustomed to rise and spread its fertilizing influence . To the left of the Pyramids was the Sphinx , half-buried in the sand of tho desert . The Pyramids ( the largest of which is 480 ft . in hei ght ) , can be seen , in tho clear pure air of the desert , at a distance of

fiveand-twenty miles . Once seen , the Pyramids never can be forgotten : one feels that an epoch has arrived hi life , and the time of the Pharaohs and the history of the Bible all rush to the mind . The travellers in the railway carriages ( for there is ' a railway in the desert ) all exclaim , " The Pyramids ! ' the Pyramids ! " and your heart flutters as you gaze upon tho monuments of an age long buried in " the

mists of obscurity , but around which there hangs an undying interest . At first two Pyramids alone are seen , but as you draw nearer the third becomes visible . The Arab villages are scattered to the right and left of the plateau , and when you reach the nearest of them the sheik , or chief , tells off a certain number of the men to act as your guides . For this service your dragoman pays him , and the guides

are supposed to charge nothing more . The delight of a stranger is , however , so great , his sensations are so completely new , and the Arabs pull him and lift him along so heartily , that he gets up to the top of the great Pyramid in a quarter of an hour , amid exhilarating cries of " A la , la , backshish—very good ; " and of course the money in his pocket melts away as if the sheik had not received anything

ou their behalf . The great Sphinx stands at a little distance . It is carved out of the solid rock ; and though its paws and binder legs are covered with sand , it is still a noble object , and one which the traveller cannot readily forget . Professor Donaldson then proceeded to give a description of the excavations carried on at Ghizeh , under the direction of M . Marictte , of which we are able to adopt his own words : —

M . Marietta , so well known for his researches among the antiquities of Egypt , has for some years conducted excavations for his Eminence Said Pasha , the viceroy , and has had the control of all the antiquities of this country . No diggings are allowed without a permission granted through him . None of the Fellahs can sell the smallest object under pain of a severe punishment , extending , it is said by the Bedouin

Arabs themselves , to death if any article be offered for sale without having been first brought to M . Mariette to buy it , if he choose , for the Pasha ' s collection . He is now carryingon excavations at the Ghizeh platform , Saccara , and Thebes , where gangs of Arabs are at work under the direction of their sheiks , with the slightest tool , and even with their hands , casting the sand , the dirt , and rubbish into small

baskets , carrying it out of the trench , and depositing it at a short distance clear of the spot . This is a forced labour , each village in turn being obliged , as for other public works , to furnish and maintain its contingent without remuneration from the government . I observed that there were few grown-up people , the mass consisting of young boys and girls , who appeared very merry at their work , one or two of them singing a kind of couplet , constantly repeating the

“The Freemasons' Monthly Magazine: 1861-03-02, Page 5” Masonic Periodicals Online, Library and Museum of Freemasonry, 9 June 2025, django:8000/periodicals/mmr/issues/mmr_02031861/page/5/.
  • List
  • Grid
Title Category Page
MEMOIRS OF THE FREEMASONS OF NAPLES. Article 1
STRAY THOUGHTS ON THE ORIGIN AND PROGRESS OF THE FINE ARTS. Article 3
MASTERPIECES OF THE ARCHITECTURE OF DIFFERENT NATIONS. Article 4
SOME OBSERVATIONS IN EGYPT. Article 5
THE GOOD EFFECTS OF FREEMASONRY. Article 6
MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES. Article 7
NOTES ON LITERATURE, SCIENCE, AND ART. Article 8
Poetry. Article 9
BONIFAZIO. Article 9
CORRESPONDENCE. Article 9
FERRERS AND IVANHOE LODGE (No. 1081). Article 9
MASONIC BALLS. Article 10
THE MASONIC MIRROR. Article 11
GRAND LODGE. Article 11
METROPOLITAN. Article 12
PROVINCIAL. Article 12
ROYAL ARCH. Article 13
ANCIENT AND ACCEPTED RITE. Article 14
IRELAND. Article 14
COLONIAL. Article 16
INDIA. Article 16
Obituary. Article 18
NOTES ON MUSIC AND THE DRAMA. Article 18
THE WEEK. Article 18
PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS. Article 20
TO CORRESPOONDENTS. Article 20
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.

Masterpieces Of The Architecture Of Different Nations.

and they succeeded in instilling into the Romans a taste foi the enjoyment of all their beauties . The lyre of Yirgil and that of Horace modulated sounds similar to those which the divine Homer and the joyous Anaoroou had immortalized . Tho age of Augustus became the rival of that of Pericles ; and tho marbles chiselled by those same Greeks , in the middle of the Forum of Trajan ,

made of the ancient Rome a new Athens , more sumptuous and more superb even than that of which tho cruel Sylla had ensanguined the wall and laid prostrate the temples . The magnificence of the Emperors collected in that capital all descriptions of architecture ; it magnified their masses , and developed them in colossal proportions ; it assembled all those pompous remnants in a now and imposing order ;

it robbed the Egyptians of their obelisks , and exalted them in the public squares ; eclipsed them in triumphal columns ; clothed afresh their pyramids with elegant peristyles in superb moles and in seplhones ; restored to the gods of , Greece temples not less rich than were those of Ephesus Corinth , and Athens ; surpassed in amphitheatres and in circuses all that had been done in that way of grand and noble ;

-created in triumphal arches monuments of a new class , to perpetuate the recollection of victories ; and finally imparted to the themce , or imperial baths , the idea not of palaces but ¦ of whole towns , where all kinds of luxury were gathered together to occupy for a moment the leisure hours of the masters of the universe . Magnificent in her her templesher palacesher

squares , , , tombs , impressing the character of her grandeur on her slightest edifices , Rome is still to this clay what she formerly was for architecture , the mistress of the world ; and her superb ruins , studied and measured since the revival of the arts , command the admiration of all travellers , and furnish models to all artists .

The ancient Romans knew how to make a now application ¦ of the riches of art , a knowledge of which they gained bit by bit by their conquests . They erected , for the games of a mere festival , eternal monuments . They covered the whole land with their roads , their bridges , their fortresses , and their aqueducts , the astonishing remains of which are still useful to us . Their thousands of columns , their altars , their

tombstones , and their elegant and laconic inscriptions , are found . and are read with interest in all the countries where thoy ¦ carried their arms and extended their dominion . If they had not the glory of invention , thoy cannot be denied that of appropriate application , and of having made great everything that they touched . If they do not exhibit in their monuments the plain grace and the simplicity of the Greeks ,

they have bold thoughts , masculine forms , lofty and extensive proportions , a pomp , a congregation of riches which the power of an ever-victorious people commanded , and the splendour of a Court where all the kings of the earth came as suppliants to lay down their crowns and their treasures , to preserve afterwards but an empty title . ( To be continued . )

Some Observations In Egypt.

SOME OBSERVATIONS IN EGYPT .

Tho subjects on which Prof . Donalclson addressed tho Institute of Architects last week were M . Mariotte ' s Excavations -at Ghizeh and Saccara ; the Domestic Architecture of tho Ancient Egyptians as existing among the present Arabs ; and the Catacombs at Alexandria , recently discovered . Ho ¦ commenced by stating that he would treat his subject in the liht of a traveller ' s sketchand describe as hicallas

g , grap y he was able a two days' excursion from Cairo to Ghizeh and Saccara , It would be necessary , however , that he should state at the outset that , having visited Egypt by direction of the Government upon a more serious subject , he had merely employed his few days of leisure to visit some of tho ancient monuments of whicli ho had read so muchwhich he had written and which he had

, upon , thought about for years . Many of those who heard him , who had not visited Egypt , were not perhaps aware that a donkey was a very useful animal in the East , and that the Egyptian donkeys upon whicli ho rode were very superior of their sort , inasmuch as thoy wore intelligent and docile and took care of their riders , which latter was no small recommendation . Thoy ambled array at the rate of five miles

an hour , and he had often been iu tho saddle upon one of thorn for ton hours without being weary ; which was more than he could have said had his quadruped been a horse . The mode of travelling in Egypt was to start at an early hour in the morning , between seven and eight o ' clock . Tho custom was to hire a dragoman , who ru-ovided food for a clay or two , according to the length of the excursion

proposed , and some wax candles to be used in exploring tho ruins . Equipped in this manner , he started for old Cairo , which lies about a league distant from the modern city of that name . Tho way led by an avenue of trees planted by the late Pasha . The present viceroy disapproves of trees , and cuts thorn down in all directions . Passing old Cairo the traveller reaches the lainand

crossp , ing the Nile , observes the hydrometer used for measuring the rise and fall of the river , and the village of Ghizeh . He then leaves the boat ( in which his donkey has been accommodated ) and passes through various Arab villages , groves of dates , and fragrant gardens . The Pyramids are then observed looming iu the distance , paramount over all other objects . As the traveller advances , their huge proportions

develop themselves at every seep , while other objects become , as it wore , dwarfed . The "P yramids stand upon a plateau or rising round , and in tho neighbourhood can be distinctly traced the limits to which the Nile is accustomed to rise and spread its fertilizing influence . To the left of the Pyramids was the Sphinx , half-buried in the sand of tho desert . The Pyramids ( the largest of which is 480 ft . in hei ght ) , can be seen , in tho clear pure air of the desert , at a distance of

fiveand-twenty miles . Once seen , the Pyramids never can be forgotten : one feels that an epoch has arrived hi life , and the time of the Pharaohs and the history of the Bible all rush to the mind . The travellers in the railway carriages ( for there is ' a railway in the desert ) all exclaim , " The Pyramids ! ' the Pyramids ! " and your heart flutters as you gaze upon tho monuments of an age long buried in " the

mists of obscurity , but around which there hangs an undying interest . At first two Pyramids alone are seen , but as you draw nearer the third becomes visible . The Arab villages are scattered to the right and left of the plateau , and when you reach the nearest of them the sheik , or chief , tells off a certain number of the men to act as your guides . For this service your dragoman pays him , and the guides

are supposed to charge nothing more . The delight of a stranger is , however , so great , his sensations are so completely new , and the Arabs pull him and lift him along so heartily , that he gets up to the top of the great Pyramid in a quarter of an hour , amid exhilarating cries of " A la , la , backshish—very good ; " and of course the money in his pocket melts away as if the sheik had not received anything

ou their behalf . The great Sphinx stands at a little distance . It is carved out of the solid rock ; and though its paws and binder legs are covered with sand , it is still a noble object , and one which the traveller cannot readily forget . Professor Donaldson then proceeded to give a description of the excavations carried on at Ghizeh , under the direction of M . Marictte , of which we are able to adopt his own words : —

M . Marietta , so well known for his researches among the antiquities of Egypt , has for some years conducted excavations for his Eminence Said Pasha , the viceroy , and has had the control of all the antiquities of this country . No diggings are allowed without a permission granted through him . None of the Fellahs can sell the smallest object under pain of a severe punishment , extending , it is said by the Bedouin

Arabs themselves , to death if any article be offered for sale without having been first brought to M . Mariette to buy it , if he choose , for the Pasha ' s collection . He is now carryingon excavations at the Ghizeh platform , Saccara , and Thebes , where gangs of Arabs are at work under the direction of their sheiks , with the slightest tool , and even with their hands , casting the sand , the dirt , and rubbish into small

baskets , carrying it out of the trench , and depositing it at a short distance clear of the spot . This is a forced labour , each village in turn being obliged , as for other public works , to furnish and maintain its contingent without remuneration from the government . I observed that there were few grown-up people , the mass consisting of young boys and girls , who appeared very merry at their work , one or two of them singing a kind of couplet , constantly repeating the

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