The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1903-01-24

A our our own na,t time ns+ the building ing
never be without deep
interest and significance. 1t is true
that no longer can it be-as was the
case in England in the great ca
thedral-building days of the thir
teenth and fourteenth centuries-the
most absorbing interest, apart from
warfare, of great masses of the pop
ulation. The multiplication of in
terests in modern life, modern CON
ditions of industry, and differences
of creed and church order make it
impossible for the modern cathedral
to be, as the medieval cathedral was,
the supreme material embodiment of
the spirit of an age, the highest ex-
preston of the art, the civilization,
and the religious faith of whole
people. Yet in spite of all changed
conditions, the building of a new
cathedral is much more than an ar
tistic problem for an architect and a
big job for contractor. The project
opens up wide field of human in
terest; the cathedral still touches
very closely the lives of large sec
tions of the community.
There are problems which present
themselves for solution to the build
ers of a modern cathedral-or, rath-
er, to the organizers of the under
taking-of which the old cathedral
builders knew nothing. The choice
of a site, which was once such a
simple matter, is now in many cases
matter of immense difficulty; the
best sites in our great cities have
long since been appropriated, and it
is often only after long waiting and
anxious negotiations that even a
moderately convenient site is OBJ
tanned. Then there is the question
of the style of architecture to be
adopted. For the builders of the
older time there was but one pos
sible style-they built naturally and
inevitably in whatever was the ma
tional style of the period, giving in
deed to the traditional forms infinite
variety and beauty, but no more
dreaming of barking back to past
age than of inventing a brand-new
building method of their own. Now.
however, as the new cathedrals pro-
jected or in course of construction
clearly illustrate, the area of choice
in the matter of style is vastly wider.
At Truro we have faithful reproduc-
ton of the forms of English church
building in the thirteenth century;
at Westminster the new Roman
Catholic cathedral is based upon the
style in vogue among the earliest
Christian churches of eastern Eu-
rope; in New York cathedral a modi-
fed phase of Romanesque-the style
prevailing in western Europe from
about 500 to 1900 A. DIS being
adopted; and in Berlin great ca
thedral is being built in the style of
the classical renaissance.
Altogether seven great cathedrals
are either now in course of construc-
ton or have been completed within
comparatively recent time. Truro
cathedral in England was consecrated
on November 8, 1887, and the great
building was but seven years under
construction, and is to-day one of the
most beautiful places of worship
throughout the world. Another Eng
fish cathedral is the new Roman
| Catholic Westminster, the exterior of
which is now virtually completed
after seven years of labor. This
structure when completed will have
but few equals in the world. A third
magnificent cathedral is the one now
building at Brisbane, Australia. 1t
was begun in 1887 as memorial of
the jubilee of Queen Victoria, though
the foundation was not begun until
last year. Still another new ca
thedral was begun at Cape Town
! South Africa, last year. The charac-
teristics of the German people and
their method of government are re-
Elected in the great new cathedral
they are now building in Berlin
Whereas in all the other cathedraIs
to which reference has been made
the work is being carried out With
money voluntarily SUBSIDIZED and with
out state assistance or interfere
the building of the Berlin cathedral is
entirely 4 state affair. According to a