Our Architectural Chapter.

OUR ARCHITECTURAL CHAPTER .

loxnox , sATi / n /> . ir , DECEMBER -II , IS-SD .

THERE lias been recently opened a new Masonic hall at Woolwich . With this fact our reactors of last week must lie acquainted , from our reporter ' s notice of the meeting of the . Invicta Rose Croix Chapter within its walls ; and as the occasion is a fitting one , wo wish to show how it lias been effected , ancl the good results which are likely to emanate from it .

Ib is a trite saying , " put your shoulder to the , wheel " ancl your task is easy of accomplishment ; so thought our brethren Major Clerk , Dr . Hinxman , Bros . Carter and Church , and they finding tavern accommodation limited , ancl an indescribable somethin g not over p leasant attached to the idea of celebrating our mysteries in such company , wisely determined to try the effect of a hall ivhich should be unconnected with a tavern .

Seeking over Woolwich , they at length hit upon , a room every way adapted to their wants . Privacy was ensured by the approach to it being through a long passage , which opened on a small but convenient room , for hats ancl umbrellas , etc . ; passing through this and two other rooms , one to serve for the Tyler , ancl tho next for a preparation

Apartment , we approach tho entrance at the lower end , aud stepping within it , find ourselves in a brilliantl y lighted hall , of about forty-eight feet in length , fourteen or fifteen in width , and sixteen in height ; the roof forming the segment of a circle . At the end is a dais of three steps of polished pine , carpeted on the top , ancl above it a gas star in the cast , corresponding

withthe sacred symbol similarly situated , in the west . The hall is plainly but effectivel y decorated , and is warmed by an admirable stove , which stands on the left from the dais , about the centre of that sido , ancl diffuses a genial warmth over the whole building . The floor is partially carpeted , and the appearance of the hall when li ghted is brilliant and pleasing . . The colours aro pale green and white , without meretricious ornament .

It maybe asked , what is to support tliis hall in Woolwich ? We reply , its prospects aro exceedingly good . Woolwich has no room unconnected with tavern accommodation except the Town Hall ( not easily available ) for meetings , concerts , lectures , or the many requirements of modern society . , The proprietors—for we can call our brethren nothing loss , seeing

that thoy havo made themselves liable for rent , repairs , and decorations—have found tenants in a Unitarian congregation for Sundays , who pay a yearly rent . The Invicta Chapter of Rose Croix ; the Kemeys Tynte Encampment ; and the Florence Nightingale Lodge , all three hold their meetings there , ancl they , too , pay each a yearly rent . It is also

contemplated by the Woolwich Musical Societ y , who have been driven about from pillar to post for the last year , to indulge themselves in a permanent home at a yearly rent , ancl thus , with the hall engaged , we have no doubt the proprietors will not bo a shilling out of pocket eventually . But we hear some brother ask " Where are the kitchen

, and tho wine cellar ? " Not there , certainly . Doubtless the brethren composing the before mentioned Lodges , & c , relish tho vulgar custom of eating ancl drinking as much as any others of the Craft , "but they contend for a hi gh and holy principle—that in a spot devoted to tho sublimest mysteries , it is not fitting that the jest and song obtrude , though harmless

and even commendable in themselves ; so they adjourn to their refreshment to a tavern ; or , by tho kindness of one of the four brethren before alluded to , take their coffee in his private room iii another part of the building . There are many who we believe would be dissatisfied with such an arrangement , but if we give the principle one mo'

ment ' sconsideration , it ivill bo readily perceived that tho snore the podges are removed from tavern ii . ( hjences the moro ffl & y will study Masonry , and tho greater will bo iheir m ,

Our Architectural Chapter.

sources to apply to that great object of a true Masonic lifecharity . With these views and in this spirit has this enterprise been commenced , and to all who are inclined to further the object , or imitate the practice , we cordially wish " God speed , " feeling assured that in every little Masonic

community a few such zealous Masons as Bros . Clerk , Hinxman , Carter , and Church , have only to bestir themselves to secure as pleasant a meeting place , and diminish the stigma that attaches to sacred things being entered upon in a tavern , or at a convivial board . Wishing the new Masonic Hall at Woolwich every success , we take leave of the subject by

mentioning that to inaugurate the same as a place fit for public entertainments , and to show the inhabitants of Woolwich that at last they have a room equal to their wants , several lectures are already proposed to be given there , tho first of which is to take place on the ninth of next month , , being Mr . Bennett ' s lecture " Ou a Watch . "

Architecture The Elaboration Of Beauty From The Building Art.

ARCHITECTURE THE ELABORATION OF BEAUTY FROM THE BUILDING ART .

BY JOHN WILSON HOSS . IN all the countries of Europe , j > rovious to the reformation in the sixteenth century , and in all other countries down to the present hour , the elaboration of beauty in architecture ! out of the useful art of building , was accomplished by a gradual , steady perseverance towards the well defined aim of ¦

building ornamentally . A consequence of following this system is , that all nations have been able , however inferior in other matters , to elaborate for themselves an appropriate and beautiful style of architecture perfectly suited to their wants and purposes . If we take for example a series of specimens of Hindoo architectureand arrange them

chrono-, logically , we find how , out of a very rude orig inal , a perfect style of art has been produced by an infinitely inferior people . We perceive how they havo produced perfect models of their kind by gradually altering and improving tho original through a series of successive erections , rejecting whatever was found in an earlier instance to be either useless

or hurtful , and adopting anything that was cither appropriate or beautiful , always bearing in mind the object of the building , and thus employing the most suitable style of architecture for tho purpose intended . Tho identical process by which we invent or perfect any of the sciences or arts , is the same by which we invent ancl perfect architecture . Turning to a distinct class of architecture ( butcertainly to a most parallel

, instance )—ship building in Europe , wo find that the Europeans b y following the same process of building vessels as the ancient Romans , have in the course of one thousand years brought naval architecture to perfection . Tho mediaeval cathedral—in HO perfect a form as it is seen in that of Cologne—was elaborated in the like manner , out of tho

Roman basilica , That perfection was effected by a gradual bit by bit improvement , oven as a concealed arch of construction in a Roman portico grew , by a like process , into the universally arched architrave of Christian architecture . If we take a series of windows , ivq perceive how the plain round headed window of the Roman period was graduall y

elaborated into such a splendid work of art as the celebrated nine light window at the east end of Carlisle Cathedral . From the massy proportions of Egyptian architecture , . their temples without roofs , colossal in dimensions and solid in construction , radiated , at ' an early age , an extensive group of styles , among which stood foremost the Nubian , Indian

and Greek , all original in conception , but the latter particularly calculated to enchant and dazzle the eye on account of the lightness and elegance of the buildings . The Doric Ionic and Corinthian orders , which were tho inventions nf the old Greeks , were typos of the human form : the first exhibiting tjm boldness and simplicity of the male form ; the Bflconfi . ( - . lift softer beauty of r ? , woman , attired and ricblv