Gothic Architecture And Operative Freemasonry.

to which their disagreement inevitably gave rise , proved ultimately so intolerable , that the architects were forced to abandon the beautiful constructive geometric tracory for the flowing or flamboyant form ; and this last was so ill-adapted to stone

construction , that ultimately the method was abandoned altogether . These and many other difficulties would have been avoided had the architects adhered to the form of the unbroken arch ; but , on the other hand , it must be confessed that

the pointed forms gave a facility of arrangement which was an irresistible inducement for its adoption ; and especiall y to the French , who always affected hei g ht as the principal element of architectural effect , it afforded an easy means for the

attainment of this object . Its greatest advantage was the ease with which any required width could be combined with any required height . With

this power of adaptation the architect was at libert y to indulge in all the wildness of the most exuberant fancy , hardly controlled b y any constructive necessities of the work he was carrying out . Whether this was really an advantage or

not , is not quite clear . A ti ghter rein on the fancy of the designer would certainl y have produced a purer and severer style , though we mi ght have been deprived of some of those picturesque effects which , charm so mucli in Gothic cathedrals ,

especially when their abruptness is softened b y time , and hallowed by associations . * We must , however , in judging of the style be careful to guard ourselves against fettering our judgment b y such associations . There is nothing in all this

that might not have been as easil y applied to round as to pointed arches , and indeed it would certainly have been so applied had any of the round-arched styles arrived at matmity . { To le continued ?)

Masonic Notes And Queries.

MASONIC NOTES AND QUERIES .

QUERIES . 'Can the Master of a lodge make a motion or proposition from the chair ?—R . W . M . — - TYes . —ED F . M . ] May a Master or a lodge vote on any question before the lodge ?—R . W . M . —[ Certainly ; he may exercise his privilege of membership . —ED . F . M . ]

DIFFUSION or FREEMASONRY . An interesting example of the diffusion of Freemasonry over the surface of the globe was recently seen in your front page . An Englishman went to Constantinople in the public service , he was there admitted into Freemasonry . A daughter was born to him in that distant city . After various ups and downs of

life and travels , he died prematurely in the city of Teheran , in Persia , not entitled to a pension . His daughter is elected at the head of a list of candidates into that valuable institution , the Royal Masonic Institution for Girls , and will in London receive a sound education .

Brethren abroad sometimes grumble about their dependence on a Grand Lodge in London , hut its organization is available to them in every part of the world , and particularly to all poor and distressed brethren . —PERE a RIN US .

" SPECULATTF , ITS MEANING ( pp . 2 ol , 28 o , & 329 ) . I do not intend to quarrel about the meaning of the word " speculatyf , " for it is quite unnecessary ; and , although the word occurs in 1440 , it does not follow that . it was known in 926 , neither does it follow that its current meaning in 1 S 69 was the same as in

1440 . First prove , if you can ( but I am afraid you can't ) , that our speculative Masonry existed before last century , before you reckon who was or who was not initiated into it . I shall always be ready to bow to real evidence , and acknowledge a mistake whenever it is proved , or I perceive I have made one . —W . P . BUCHAN .

THE BUILDING FRATERNITIES . At page 329 " A Masonic Student " says , " Bro . Buchan is in complete error when he says the ' era of building fraternities was in the 12 th and 13 th centuries . ' " Well , if I be wrong , I sin in good company , as per the remarks of Professor Cosmo

Innes , page 297 of his " Scotland in the Middle Ages , " published in 1860 ; also of James Ferguson , Esq ., in his work published in 1855 , in which , page 667 , he speaks of " the glorious period of the 13 th century , " and , he goes on to say , " Not even the great Pharaonic era in Egyptthe age of Pericles in

, Greece , nor the great period of the Roman empire , will bear comparison with the 13 th century in Europe . " Before the war of independence in Scotland , many noble churches were built there ; but after that time —end of 13 th century—they were backward . So in

France , the war with England hurt it ; but , as I have sent to the Magazine an article upon " Gothic Architecture and Operative Freemasonry , " I beg to refer "A Masonic Student" to it for further remarks . However , as to the recommendation to read "Mr . Hopo's Essay on Architecture" I have examined it

, to-day ( 2 nd edition , 1 S 35 ) , and , for the time it was written , it is very good ; but it is too old . We have many authors since then who have been able to correct Mr . Hope's mistakes ; consequently , I would recommend " A Masonic Student " to get some more recent and standard work to quote from . Mr . Hope

places Germany as the pioneer of Pointed or Gothic Architecture ; whereas , we now find it came afterboth France and England . Mr . Hope ' s speculations were based upon wrong data ; hence his mistakes . — W . P . BUCHAN .