On The Arch And Arcades.

with which we are to measure taste m art ? vainly shall ¦ jve seek to place reliance on any of these insufficient guides . It appears to me that architects have no alternative but to choose between an entire , blind , and exclusive 1 'eliance on precedent and authority ; or wo must take the dictates of reason as our guide , aud endeavour to shape our course

under her influence . Let us then hold fast to that which presents itself to our minds as good and right , allowing no superstitious prejudices to warp our judgment , be it Greek or Gothic : and I think we may rest assured that such a course would afford us the best chance of ultimately , arrivingit may be after a long purgatorial period of folly and

excess , yet still ultimately , arriving—at a sound , consistent , and original style , worthy of the genius and civilisation of the nineteenth century . In making these remarks in vindication of our right , perhaps I should say , —in enforcement of our duty , to exercise , in the best way we can , that reason which has beeu beneficently implanted in our minds—I am

, very anxious not to be misunderstood as undervaluing that other important duty of studying the works of our great predecessors . I have already urged this duty on ' you : let me do so again emphatically and with all earnestness . Has not the text I have ventured to quote told us to " Prove all ° things ? " Make yourselves , then , I repeat it , intimately acquainted , not in a desultory , superficial way ,

but intimately , critically and studiously , with all that our forefathers have done . They have handed down to us treasures which , to disregard , would be to deprive ourselves of the means of acquiring their wealth . It is onr great Reynolds who says , with true Johnsonian force , that " Bacon became a great reasoner by first entering into and making himself master of the thoughts of other men . "

So , also , I sincerely believe that the best possible foundation of originality in design , as much in that art with which I am alone conversant as in the two kindred arts so closely allied to it , is an intimate knowledge of the works of others .

Having in these few words touched upon the subject of the education of an architect , I am tempted , in closing this my last lecture of the present season , to pursue the subject a few minutes longer . The nature and extent of the professional education which it behoves an architect to acquire who aims at taking a place among the forward rank of his fellow

labourers , form a large and important question , which has of late excited a deep interest in the profession , and has occupied much of the attention of its elder members ; and I cannot doubt that on the result of their deliberations may much depend the good or evil destiny of the profession . But this is not a lace for dwelling on that

proper p momentous question . I must not forget that I am addressing a body of which but a very small portion are architects ; and it is therefore necessary that my remarks should ap 23 ly exclusively to my art in its relation to the sister arts ; keeping clear of those technical inquiries with which our brethren of the other branches of art cannot be expected to sympathize . There is , however , one lesson

of which a pretty long experience has taught me the high importance , and which " applies with equal force to all the arts of design ; I mean the absolute necessity oi acquiring the power to draw well . In painting there is , perhaps , no point so emphatically dwelt upon by those who have a right to guide us , as the necessit y of acquiring this power ; and , in the sculptor ' s artto draw

, well must necessarily be of at least equal importance ; for in that art form may truly be regarded as ot paramount consideration . fh ven * to aver that , whatever may be urged on ms point by the painter and sculptor , will apply with especial force to architecture . Truthful representation and a delicate appreciation of

On The Arch And Arcades.

form are so essentially a part of an architect's education , that I know of no acquirement in the curriculum of his studies that can take precedence of the power of drawing . I am tempted here to quote the words ( never , I believe , yet quoted ) of perhaps the very highest authority that could be adduced on such a point . In the very valuable collection of drawings by

Michelangelo in the British Museum is an architectural sketch upon a loose sheet of paper , preserved from destruction by the reverence of his' zealous scholars , and now stored amongst the most highly-valued of our art-treasures . Upon the margin of this sketch are written , in the wellknown handwriting of the great master himself , these words : — "DesegnaAntonio—desegnaAntonio—desegna

, , , o non - pera" tempo" The Antonio to whom these admonitory words were addressed was probably Antonio Mini , who was a favourite pupil of Michelangelo . Such , at least , has been suggested to me by Mr . Carpenter , iu whose able hands these sketches are deposited . The emphatic repetition of the word "desegna" unmistakably and forcibly expresses the importance attached

bMichely angelo to the necessity of drawing well , and it points out with singular force the great master ' s opinion that unremitting application in the drawing school is of paramount importance to the artist . Such application is attended , I need scarcely remark ,

by other beneficial restilts besides mere facility of hand in the use of the pencil ; it is also excellent practice to the eye . The power of observing closely , and therefore correctly and profitably , can alone be acquired by those whose eyes are trained by a constant exercise in drawing ; aud we may add , as the converse of that truth , that he only can draw with correctness who has educated his eyes

by constant habit of observation . In the painter ' s art I apprehend that the best safeguard against mannerism is this habitual exercise of the power to see and to represent objects as they really are ; and it is almost superfluous to say that in the art of architecture the best security for originality of design is to be found in the acquirement of a full command over

the pencil , by which the designer is saved from the tendency to repeat commonplace forms and to follow in a beaten track , and also from the risk of falling into an indulgence in architectural platitudes . My urgent advice , therefore , to all young' architects , is that , while the pen may well be laid aside as an instrument of very doubtful value in your aesthetic educationand whilst

, the tongue may well be spared its labours , inasmuch as a wonderful volubility of that organ may be found to coexist with a very slender store of solid knowledge ; let your pencil , in the meantime , be ever in your " hands ; and remember Michaelangelo ' s advice to his favourite pupil , Desegna , Antonio ; desegna , Antonio !

Masonic Notes And Queries.

MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .

A GKA 2 SD PMOK OP MALTA , AND SIR CHKIBTOHIEK . W 1 U 3 S , HOTES . In the abridged life of Wren , writen by Bro . Elmes , called Sir Christopher Wren and his Times ( p . 128 ) , it is said : — "Boyle , also loved and patronised the science ( chemistry ) , and introduced to 'the club' Peter Sthnelwhom Woodthe

, , Oxford historian , calls the noted chemist and Rosicrucian . This adept was a native of Straslravg , and numbered among his pupils , Boyle , Wren , Dr . Wallis and other members of the club and university . " At pp . 296-7 , we find . — " He ( the Duke de St . Simeon ) then related with great delight

that besides the Duchess of Portsmouth , the grand mistress , Charles II ., had several other minor mistresses , or , as Evelyn contemptuously calls them , ' misses , ' that the Gram ! Prior of Malta , then young and agreeable , of a ' race of rude unhandled