The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-01-30 00:00:00

THE POLYTECHNIC SOCIETY.

ON ECCLESIASTICAL ARCHITECTURE

(Conclusion of the Address of JonN ROSSON. ESQ., at

the !aBl Meeting.)

The lodge of Freemasons who constructed the beautiful
Cathedral of Strasburg gained such high reputation that
the German lodges established in Russia, Swabia, Bavaria,
Franconia, Savoy, &c. acknowledged it as their head by a
solemn act passed at Ratisbon, in 14,58 which was con-
firmed forty years afterwards by 'a
diploma' Granted by the
Emperor Maximilian. The German Freemasons, the
builders of his noble temple,
and that stupendous: one,
the Cathedral of Cologne,
rose to the highest point of
architectural fame. That excellent cnonarob, said the
speaker, the King of Prussia, the head of the Protestant
religion in Germany, had done himself the h g hest honour
by munificently subscribing immense sums,inconsjouvieircet!on
with the Emperor of Austria, and other German
princes, to complete that astonishing effort of hum ign
n
nius, the CATHEDRAL OF CooGNE., appropriatelyacalgleed-
L
by the late Mr. Hope, " the realization of a
romantic vision ;'' and it was delightful to see whole na-
tions, at this moment, Prussians, Austrians, Bavarians,
vying with each other to realize this day-dream of the
illustrious body who designed it, by the completion of the
noblest effort of constructive art, in the pointed style, the
world ever beheld. The efforts now making in Germany,
where we saw Catholic and Protestant in elle laudable and
truly christian struggle, which should do most to honour
and complete the glorious monuments of the piety of their
ancestors, had excited the admiration of every generous
mind throughout Europe. Amongst the German princes
who had subscribed, none so thoroughly deserved the
name of the " Macmnas of the age," as the patriotic King
of Bavaria. His wonderful improvements, making his
capital the Athens of Germany, excited the admiration of
every patriotic traveller. Before that excellent and ac-
complished prince had ascended the throne of his ances-
tors, he had actually expended twelve hundred thousand
pounds sterling in works of art, and in expensive missions
to procure them. With reference to Cologne Cathedral,
we, as Englishmen, might refer with pleasure to a similar
simultaneous effort of all sects and parties in nobly con-
tributing to repair the damage done to York Minster a
few years ago by a fanatical incendiary. He might here
state that Sir Edward Vavasour, Bart., a Roman Catholic,
on hearing of the calamity caused by Martin, wrote to the
Dean of York, offering stone from his quarry, gratis, to
repair the damage, the same quarry out of which his an-
cestors, centuries previous, had given the materials to
erect it.
Much time and research had, he continued, been
wasted in discussing the comparative claims of cer-
tain countries, and of England in particular, to the in-
vention of pointed architecture. He might here state,
that the name, " Gothic architecture," originated in the
dislike of the Italians to that style of building. They
called it " Gothic architecture," alias " barbarous,"
though the Goths had nothing in common with the style.
The celebrated Dr. Milner, in his " History of Winches-
ter," sustained the claims of England. Mr. Hope, in his
" Posthumous Essays," ably controverts that opinion.
From all that he, the lecturer, bad read in England and
on the continent, as well as from conversations with
eminent antiquaries, it seemed to him that neither Eng-
land, nor any other country in particular, had a right to
say that she first fostered or invented the style ; but that
it arose out of the studies and practice of a succes-
sion of ages, cultivated by vast pecuniary means,
and all the learning, science, and practical skill, in art, of
those days. The men who protected the art were collected
from every part of the civilized world, Persians, Greeks,
Italians, French, Flanderkins, English, and even Hindoos,
all bound by oath to conceal from the vulgar the know-
ledge of their craft. This would account for the surprise
of that amiable prelate, Dr. Heber, Bishop of Calcutta,
while journeying in Upper India. He was astonished to
discover, said the speaker, I think, near the Himalaya
Mountains, a castle, in the possession of a petty prince, of
the form of and superior in magnificence and extent to
that of our sovereign at Windsor. The bishop was puz-
zled to account for such an erection in so remote a region,
and by a potentate whose civil list would not (he conceived)
yield a million sterling annually. Had I (said Mr. R.)
accompanied _the worthy prelate I should have expressed
no surprise at the discovery, because I should have seen
in it a fresh proof of the extended circulation of the know-
ledge possessed by the learned body under review. On
the dissolution of the order, the Hindoo and Persian
members of the brotherhood would naturally betake
themselves to their own countries, fraught with practical
as well as theoretic knowledge ; with their portfolios full
of designs and working drawings of the finest civil as
well as ecclesiastical buildings in Europe, they would be
naturally employed by wealthy princes to construct build-
ings modified in form by their own peculiar religious
creeds, habits, and customs. The Freemasons were an
embody went, or personification, of all the information the
world, at that time, contained% and, therefore, no one
nation could claim the honour that evidently belonged to
all. If any nation could claim it, Germany must stand
first on the list, for she had erected the most perfect spe-
cimens of the style.
In referring to Germany, it would be gratifying to the
society to hear that some of the working drawings of the
illustrious architects who erected the Cathedral of Co-
logne, had been discovered amongst the archives of a
German prince, whose name his (the lecturer's) corre-
spondent had not given, probably a descendant of the
Elector Conrad of Elochstedlin, who began the noble
work in the year 1248. This, if such be the fact, will be
a great treasure, and would have delighted Sir Christopher
Wren, though that great man had not (judging from the
specimens we had of his attempts in that style) any feeling
or perception of the beauties of pointed architecture.
This is proved by his towers that still disfigure Westmin-
ster Abbey, which it was to be hoped would one day be
carried to their proper height, and made to harmonise with
the rest of the majestic fabric, by tbila genius of his (the
lecturer's) distinguished friend, Charles Barry. In recently
walking in the Abbey he was forcibly struck by observing
the fine position of a statue, showing an admirable know-
ledge of architectural perspective in the artist who had
there placed it.
In urging upon the society and the community at large
the benefits of devoting their attention to the advance of
science and the arts, Mr. R. quoted a passage from Lord
Kaims, in which the writer exhorts a wealthy people, who
have risen to importance, to the cultivation of the fine arts,
as calculated to check debasing and sensual indulgences,
and to elevate and ennoble the mind. The late Mr. Roscoe
had also spoken, in that very room, of the benefits deriva-
ble from their pursuit, even in a commercial point of view,
and referred to the late Benjamin West, who by his skill,
and a few weeks industry, made a niece of canvas, which
cost a few shillings, sell for three thousand guineas
In the course of his incidental remarks, as he proceeded
his address, the speaker stated, that amongst the ca-
lamities attending the civil war between the unfortunate
Prince Charles the First and his parliament, was the loss
of the finest collection of pictures in Europe, out of Italy.
After the death of the King, the ignorant possessors of
these works of art sold for next to nothing the whole
works of Ilaffaelle and sither great artists, which the King
had collected with the greatest difficulty, and at an enor-
mous cost. It was by mere accident, he related, that
Cromwell was induced to retain the cartoons. The young
monarch, Louis the Fourteenth, commissioned his am-
bassador to treat for them. The diplomatist, a skilful
negociator, during an interview with the Protector, over-
acted his part, and incautiously observed, that " it would
be a glorious thing for his royal master to be the possessor
of them." Cromwell, nettled at the remark, said, " Then,
Mr. Ambassador, it would be an infamous thin!, in me to
part with them They shall not leave England'!"
The speaker, in referring to these cartoons, digressed
for a moment to congratulate his countrymen on the sud-
den formation of a new school of art in England. The
glorious exhibition recently opened in Westminster Hall,
of cartoons representing events taken from British his-
tory and British poetry, had already apprized England
that a new school of first-rate artists, and those young and
previously unknown to fame, had risen in her bosom.
" Glory to the young aspirants !" The British school of
historical painting, at last, rested upon a rock. He had
always said, that the day would come when foreigners
would acknowledge the existence of British genius on
canvas ; and the new Houses of Parliament would be
adorned with works of painting, sculpture, carvings, and
enamelling on glass, worthy of the best days of the middle
ages, when the great society, referred to that night, flou-
rished, aided by the learning, science, and resources of so
many powerful kingdoms.
He concluded by stating, that these observations, some-
what desultory, were intended merely as introductory to
two more papers which he should have tire honour of
reading to the society. In the next paper he should en-
deavour to show that pointed architecture was best suited
to the christian worship of all sects, and the accommoda-
tion of congregations, whether large or small; that it
could be exhibited in the most simple and inexpensive, as
well as in the ornate and florid form ; and what was most
important, that it was adapted to our northern climate.
The third paper would contain strictures on the eccle-
siastical architecture of Liverpool.
A short discussion ensued, in which some valuable facts
relative to the subject were elicited, and the thanks of the
meeting were given to Mr. Rosson for his able paper.

INQUESTS.—On Tuesday, and the day previous, four
inquests were held before the borough coroner. The first
was to inquire into the circumstances touching the death
of William Davies, a mariner, 35 years of age, who was
a passenger on board the steamer Rover, on her voyage
from Sligo to Liverpool. It appeared that the deceased,
who was a married man, and whose wife lives at Swansea,
left Sligo on Friday afternoon, and that, after having eaten
a hearty breakfast on Saturday morning, he complained
of a pain in his chest, and soon after, as the vessel was
passing the Mull of Galloway, fell dead upon the floor.
The jury found a verdict to the effect, that he died of
pulmonary apoplexy.—The second was on the body of a
female, 25 years of age, named Isabella M' Williams, who
lived at No. 3, Clay-street, and who, for the last six
months, had been troubled with a cough and complaint of
the chest. After having taken a drink on Friday evening
tast, she fell asleep, and died about four o'clock the next
morning. Mr. George Woods, surgeon, was of opinion
that she died of broncof
Ellen ell hitis. Verdict accordingly.—The
third was on the body
B, a child three weeks
old, who was found lying dead in a bed in South-street,
Kirkdale, with her father sleeping on one side of her,
and her mother on the other. Mr. Chalmers, surgeon,
was of opinion that her death had been caused by suffo-
cation in consequence of her having been overlain by one
of her parents. Verdict accordingly.—The fourth and
last inquest was on the body of a woman, unknown, who
was found drowned in the new dock, just opposite the
Coburgh Dock. No money was upon her. She was
dressed in a light cotton gown, brown cotton petticoat,
and a black and white straw-bonnet, trimmed with black
ribbon. She was inclined to corpulency, and appears to
he between forty and fifty years of age. A verdict of
found drowned was returned.