, 1890-10-18

uINCOA Nly was IlI(H. VIC HhN "a wv
many cxImples in England of the careless
way in which danger of fire is allowed to
approach our most historic and venerable
~eliicrS, to be able to rep Oach the Spanish
authorities for not preserving their Alham-
bra III. r. srduiOuSy. Not 30 very long ago
Canterbury Ga hpdral was within all ace ct
being burned down, owing to the fact that
w0rkmen had been permitted to light their
fires on he root i'll order to do some repair
ing work, A case very similar %actualS led
to the partial destruction of one of the most
beautiful and renowned OF the seats OF our
nobility, Warwick Castle. Itseems, indeed,
us if there were u specially evil fate which
hangs over the very buildings which it
it would DO impossible to replace and it is
a curious commentary OH the reverence for
the past which is supposed to prevail
among those capable OF approaching the
attractions Of history and tradition, that
more scTupulOuS care is not taken to safe
guard ediiCeS Of national Interest and I'M
poItance. 1t would be interesting to know
the exact preparations which have been
made to protect our English Cathedrals
from the danger of fire and to cope with a
confagration ifOne should u%nhappily break
out. There are still numerous castles dot
ted about the land which are intimately
connected with great events OF our history,
Their owners may be supposed to be alive
to the peril which is peculiar to such old
structures. and it might be taken for grant
ed that all appliances for ~extlngulShing fire
would be at hand and in the greatest state
Of efficiency, as is the case, for example, at
Hatfield, the noble Jacobean-mansio OF
the Prime Minister, were 1t not that repeat
ed experience has proved that proprietor
ship OF famous buildings does not always
lead to careful guardianship Of them. In
,r,b, nnun, .lA ,ntihn cannot Gtnn IN and
organise precautions of its own yet it is u
national loss when any fine specimen OF
ancestral architecture is swept suddenly
away by the all -devOuring fame."'
oSpaniards had every right to Ue proud o;
their Incompatible Palace, which towers
aloft Just outside the town of Granada.
The task Of describing SnCh u bewlldtring
mass of architectural and decorative beau
ties would be endless but the British
visitor to the Palace at Sydeuham can
fortunately Judge for himself as to the
attractions OF Il Moorish interior. In what
il known as the "Alhambra Court" OF the
CRYSTAL Palace a very fair reproduction has
been made Of parts of The famous Spanish
building Yet it is impossible to speak OF
the AlhamUra as, it exists to-day, or as it
existed before the occur renee of this lament
able fire, rs simply a specimen OF Moorish
architeC ture. 1t is far more than that. In
its huge area there are additions which
have been made or attempted III later ages
aud in different styles. The natural impulse
of he modern visitor is to protest against
the barhar0us vandalism which allowed SO
much II the exquisite Moorish work to be
ovorltia or destroyed, and especially to
drnoumCa the destruction Of part of the
Moorish Palace to make room fOr Il build
ing-ueyer finished which was to have
formed a Royal residence for King Charles
V. We must remember, however, that to
medieval Spauiards, despite Gibbons
tribute 20 the prosperity which Spain ell
joyed under the MOOTs, the Alhambra was
something else besides a beautiful piece of
architecture, q poem III stone and marble.
1t was the outward and visible sign of the
Moorish conquest of the country and
when the Mahommedan conquerors were
finally defeated and elected from the Pen
inSula in 1892, a natural feeling of revenge
led to the mutjlation of any tokens of their
detested presence which still remained.
Cr0mwell's work in defacing English
Cathedrals and churches was somewhat
analogous to that of the Spaniards when
they filed up the gorgeous Open-work OF
the ALEXANDRIA with white-wasll, etfaced
the paintings and the gilt, and made havoc
Of@he furniture. In fact, the Alhambra
has suffered us much from vindictiveness
aud bad taste as any building which has
nvar bppn arrctp1 IT has twice, been al