Gothic Architecture And Operative Freemasonry.

course so infinitely better than anything I could iiope to say on the matter that I beg to be allowed to give his own words . It is only by studying first class work such as his , that we Freemasons can hope to arrive at the true history of our Order ' >

and as many brethren have never seen Mr . Ferguson ' s work , they will , I am sure , be highly gratified as well as edified with the valuable and intei'esting quotations given , I merely insert the < dates and add a foot note or two .

CHAPTER VIII . FRANKISH ARCHITECTURE . Contents . Historical Notice . — The Pointed Arch . — Freemasonry . —Medio ? , val Architects .

FRANKIA . "The architectural history of the central or Tfrankisk province is widely different from that of any of those we have yet examined . It is true Paris was nominally the capital of France , and in

the time of Charlemagne had been the centre of a great and powerful empire . His reign , however , seems to have been the last expiring efforts of a previous civilization , rather than the foundation of ¦ a new and progressive state of affairs . After his

death a period of anarchy ensued ; and what with the weakness of the kings , the disorganization of the people , and the ravages of the Northmen and other barbarians , no part of France was in a less

satisfactory position for the cultivation of the arts of peace than that which might have been expected to take the lead in all . Thus , while the very plunder of the central province enabled the

Normans to erect and sustain a powerful state on the one side , and to adorn it with monuments which still excite our admiration , and the organization of the monks of Burgundy on the other hand , enabled them to cultivate the arts of peace to an extent

hardly known before their time in Northern Europe , Central France remained incapable even of self-defence , much more of raising monuments of splendour and art . " There are no doubt bvnldirigs in the round

Gothic style in this province , but they are few and insignificant , compared with those we have been describing , either in the South or in Normandy and Burgundy . Even in Paris the great church of St . Germain des Pres , the burial place of the

earlier kings , and apparently the most splendid edifice of the capital , was not more than 50 ft . in width ^ by 200 in length , before the rebuilding of its chevet in the pointed style , and possessed no

remarkable features of architectural display . St . Genevieve was even smaller and less magnificent ; and if there was a cathedral , it was so insignificant that it has not been mentioned by any contemporary historian .

" Several of the provincial capitals had , probably cathedrals of some extent and magnificence . All these , however , were found so unsuited to the splendid tastes of the 12 th and 13 th centuries , that they were pulled down and rebuilt on a more

extended scale ; and it is only from little fragmentary portions of village churches that we learn that the round Gothic style , was really at one time prevalent in the province , and possessed features according to its locality resembling those

of the neighbouring styles . So scanty indeed are such traces , that it is hardly worth while to recapitulate here the few observations that might occur on the round Gothic styles as found within the limits of the province . The church of St .

Remi at Rheims ought perhaps to be treated as an exception to this assertion ; it has , however , been so much altered in more modern times as

almost to have lost its original character . It nevertheless retains the outlines of a vast and noble basilica of the early part of the 11 th century , presenting considerable points of similarty to those of Burgundy .

" This state of affairs continued down to the reign of Louis le Gros , 1108-1136 , under wlioni the monarchy of France began to revive . This monarch by his activity and intelligence , restored to a considerable extent the authority of the

central power over the then independent vassals of the crown . This was carried still further under the reign of his successor Louis le Jeune , though perhaps more was owing to the abilities of the

Abbe Suger than to either of these monarchs . He seems to have been one of those great men who sometimes appear at a crisis in the history of their country , to guide and restore what otherwise might be left to blind chance and perish for want

of a master mind . Under Philip Augustus , the country advanced with giant sfaides , till under St . Louis ( Louis IX . obt . 1271 ) it arrived at the summit of its power . For a century after this it sustained itself by the impulse thus given to it ,

and with scarcely an external sign of that weakness which betrayed itself in the rapidity with which the whole power of the nation crumbled to pieces under the first rude shock , sustained at Crecy ( 1346 ) from the hand of Edward III .