would have seen they all bear the date of 1894, whereas the Act came into operation in 1895! Consequently these gentlemen were quite unable to give their experiences of difficulties that would occur at a future date; I know of no other book written by a surveyor on this subject.

Mr. Collins quotes me as stating that there seems "ambiguity" about section 93. I do not do so.

Mr. Collins is again incorrect in his reference to Mr. Glen's opinion, as to the Arbitration Act not applying to differences arising under section 90. See Mr. Glen's note to section 91.

I state the difficulty I have had with reference to the meaning of the words "necessary works." I do not ask for the Act generally to be construed as to its intention; but I think one has a right to ask what was the intention of the Act as to the meaning of certain words; but may I quote Mr. Collins: "The duty of our profession is to endeavour loyally to carry out the spirit and intention of the Act." Again, "Unfortunately, we cannot, as Mr. Perks would desire, construe the Act according to its intention; we have to interpret it as it is written."

I think any reader of page 21 of my book would understand. I only ask for a definition of the words "the nature and particulars" according to the intention of the Act, and refer to the corresponding section in the old Act to enforce my opinion.

Mr. Collins is again incorrect in his reference to my remarks and diagram on pages 14 and 15. I refer to an opening in a party wall, not an external wall.

Mr. Collins, I am glad to see, does not state that my objection to the Institute Notice is unfounded, he only raises another objection.

The French Embassy, Albert Gate, Knightsbridge. From JOHN HEBB [F]-

The lease of the house on the east side of the Albert Gate entrance to Hyde Park, erected by Mr. Thomas Cubitt, and formerly the residence of Mr. George Hudson, the railway king, who purchased it in 1847 for £15,000, with a portion of the amount of a testimonial subscribed for him by his admirers, has been recently acquired by the French Government, who have rented the house as a residence for the French ambassador for several years, for upwards of £25,000, which, the house being leasehold (and built on land belonging to the Commissioners of Woods and Forests), may be considered to be a good price.

At the time the two houses flanking the entrance to Hyde Park were built, they were considered to be extravagantly lofty, and as they were for a long time unlet, they were dubbed by the wits of the day "Gibraltar," because, as it was thought, like that fortress, they would never be taken-by a

tenant.

In Mr. J. R. Planché's Easter extravaganza, The Birds of Aristophanes, produced at the

Theatre Royal, Haymarket, 13th April 1846, there is the following allusion to these houses:

JACK.

Enter an ARCHITECT.

Sir, had it not been late,

JACKANOXIDES. Here comes another. Pray, sir, what are you? ARCHITECT. An architect. And what come here to do? ARCH. Offer my service to erect your city, On a new plan approved by the Committee For the Embellishment of the Metropolis. I've measured every inch of the Acropolis; Been up the Pyramids; and, what is more, Reached actually, in one day, the fifth floor Of a new mansion near the Albert Gate. JACK. Impossible! ARCH. I should have mounted to the attic story! JACK. That story would have covered you with glory. You would have gained, by every one's concession, The very greatest height in your profession. The buildings, however, are not of an extraordinary height, compared with other buildings in the vicinity, being not more than 83 feet high to the top of the cornice, or only 3 feet beyond the maximum height now permissible. Hyde Park Court, the huge block of residential flats overlooking Hyde Park to the westward of Albert Gate, is 124 feet high to the top of the parapet, and has a lofty mansard roof in addition. Queen Anne Mansions, opposite the St. James's Park Station of the District Railway, are 140 feet to the top of the parapet. Beside these giants the mansion at Albert Gate appears a pigmy.

At a Special General Meeting held on Monday, 4th April 1898, at 8 p.m., Mr. Alex. Graham [F.], F.S.A., Past VicePresident, in the Chair, a recommendation of the Council that Professor Aitchison, R.A., President, be requested to allow himself to be nominated as President for the ensuing year of office, and that consequently By-law No. 26 be suspended, was moved from the chair, and seconded by Mr. John Slater (F.], B.A., whereupon it was unanimously RESOLVED, that Professor Aitchison, R.A., President, be requested to allow himself to be nominated as President for the ensuing year of office, and that By-law 26 be suspended for one year.

The Special Meeting then terminated.

At the Eleventh General Meeting (Ordinary) of the Session, held at the conclusion of the Meeting above referred to, the President, Professor Aitchison, R.A., in the Chair, the Minutes of the Meeting held on Monday, 21st March 1898 (p. 284], were taken as read, and signed as correct.

A Paper by Monsieur Georges Harmand, Avocat à la Cour d'Appel, Paris, entitled ARTISTIC COPYRIGHT, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO ARCHITECTS, having been read by the author, the same was discussed, and the thanks of the Institute accorded Monsieur Harmand by acclamation.

The proceedings then closed, and the Meeting separated at 10 pm.

of English history are closely associated with it and its Cathedral, has led to the accumulation of a great mass of literature. With so many sources of information, it is a comparatively easy task to compile facts; but it is another matter to reduce them to a concise and popular form, and Mr. Sergeant is to be congratulated on his success in this direction. A perusal of his book brings two main points into prominence, viz., the justice done to the memory of Bishop Edingdon (or Edington), and Mr. Sergeant's exceptional ability in dealing with the architecture of the Cathedral.

The author hardly makes enough of the first point, for it has been too long the custom to attribute the conception of the transformation of

must concede the credit of this departure to Edington. Moreover, if we are to judge by the similarity between the inserted windows on the east side of the north transept and those at Edington Church, the Bishop's work was not confined to the west end. The subject has been so fully dealt with by Mr. C. E. Ponting, F.S.A., that further comment here is unnecessary.

A protest must be entered against the quotation of the legendary reason given by Edington for refusing the offer of Canterbury: "If Canterbury is the higher rack, Winchester is the better manger." It is considered by those best able to judge, that such self-seeking was altogether foreign to the Bishop's character.

As to the second point, Mr. Sergeant is so

observant, and has so good a technical knowledge, that it should be easy for any one, especially the student, to become well acquainted with the history and architecture of the Cathedral with this book in his hand. No higher praise can be given No higher praise can be given than to say that the aims of this series, as set forth in the Editor's preface, are here better carried out than

in any other that has been under notice. Some

minor details are open to correction, and it is natural in a work of this nature to find some omissions; but, on the whole, Mr. Sergeant is chary of foisting his views on the reader, an ex

ample that might well be followed by other authors of works of this class.

We do not find any allusion to Canute's munificence as recorded by William Malmesbury :

of

At Winchester, he displayed all the magnificence of his liberality; here he gave so largely, that the quantity of precious metals astonished the minds of strangers; and the glittering of jewels dazzled the eyes of the beholders. (B. II., c. 11.)

that high noble order in the court." He speaks of a great sum of money having "been very lately bestowed" in beautifying "the roof of her choir.' His notes, too, on the stained glass would have supplemented the particulars given by Mr. Sergeant In the Lady Chapel were three windows of stained glass, a genealogy of Jesse; in

the south aisle was the history of the Nativity, in the north the history of the Revelation." +

Mention should also have been made of the great find of sculptured work prior to 1833" The pavement of the chapel immediately behind the high altar having lately been removed and lowered, it was found to have been almost entirely composed of the relics of figures, niches, and other fine carvings, all painted and gilt." §

But little else escapes the author's notice, and even such a minute detail as the "fylfot" on the stole of Bishop Edington's effigy comes under review. The course of the transformation initiated by Edington is clearly described, and the wellknown plate from Willis's book should make it quite plain to the ordinary reader. It may be stated with regard to the west front that, in the opinion of the late Mr. R. Pink, Edington intended to flank his design with flying-buttresses. It is singular that the writer, in common with others, will confuse "vaulting" and "groining." This should be

The date of the rebuilding of the Tower, which fell in 1107, is not given. This rebuilding was apparently in the year 1200. "Inchoata est et perfecta Turris Winton. Eccles."* And such items of interest as the following should not have been omitted; for a traveller, who visited the Cathedral in 1643, says he is delighted "with the brave old mother Cathedral, fair and long, and St. George on horseback on the top of her flat-bottomed steeple to be sentinel, and give notice of her governor's prerogative prelacy of *Ang. Sacr. i. 295.

He means the Bishop is Prelate of the Garter. Gentleman's Magazine, vol. lviii., part I., pp. 479, 487. Ibid. 1833. Part I., pp. 395, 399.

corrected, as it is misleading. And why does the author consider the tomb of Bishop Wilberforce "out of place in its Norman surroundings"? Surely he would not have had it Norman too? And he must be aware that the crossed legs of an effigy are not now considered to imply a crusader, actually or in intention. A misprint requires noting. It was J. D. Sedding, and not J. W., who made the design for the restored altar screen.

These books might be better arranged in some respects. It would be preferable to separate the monuments from the general description, and an index would be a great help. It is hard to see why the City Cross, Thomas Thatcher's tombstone, and the West Gate, should be included in "Other Institu tions connected with the Cathedral," a heading which deals with the College, Hyde Abbey, St. Cross, and the County Hall.

The illustrations are excellent, and are well chosen to illustrate the text. Among them are drawings by

Messrs. R. Blom field, H. P. Clif

ford, and W. B.

making available documents and other records relating to their county, a really complete history of which has yet to be written.

The first collection published by the Society dealt with the MSS. relating to the establishment of the capitular body of Winchester in the sixteenth century, and was edited by Dean Kitchin

Robinson. It is a pity the plan does not indicate the respective dates of the architecture. A. NEEDHAM WILSON. (189)

WINCHESTER CATHEDRAL RECORDS. Documents relating to the History of the Cathedral Church of Winchester in the Seventeenth Century. Edited by W. R. W. Stephens, B.D., F.S.A., Dean of Winchester, and F. T. Madge, M.A., Minor Canon, and Librarian of Winchester Cathedral. 80. Lond. 1897. [Simpkin & Co., Stationers' Hall Court; Warren & Son, Winchester.] This volume is published by the Hampshire Record Society, which is doing good work in thus

(before his translation to Durham) and the Rev. F. T. Madge, and it is certainly satisfactory to find the present Dean carrying on the work so well begun by his predecessor. In the volume now issued the documents

are

arranged in three groups :

I. A.D. 1636 to 1642. - These relate to the disputes between the Chapter and the Mayor as to his jurisdiction within their precincts, also to the correspondence with Archbishop Laud as to the new statutes, and, from the summary of these, compared with those granted by Henry VIII., we learn that the attempt of the Prebendaries to restrict the powers of the Dean were ineffectual.

II. 1642 to 1660. Dealing as they do with the troubled times of

the Civil War, these are perhaps the most interesting. We find the King on his way from Edgehill to London, and again in the following year appealing to the Dean and Chapter for pecuniary aid. Deserving of study, too, are the records of the spoliation of the Muniment (Chapter) House by Parliamentarian soldiers in 1642, and again in 1646; of the patient recovery of many of the documents lost, by the Chapter Clerk, John Chase; and the account of the dispersion of some of the treasures of the Library, which escaped the fate of the muniments, only to fall into the hands of a dishonest guardian who sold them.

Fortunately some of the books were afterwards recovered, but the famous Benedictionary of St. Ethelwold and the Tropary of Ethelred are still in other hands.

III. 1660 to 1683.-The documents included in this group are of a more miscellaneous character, but such as might be expected when the capitular body found themselves once more in possession of the cathedral and precincts. Among them is a contract signed by Hubert le Sueur for casting the bronze statues of James I. and Charles I. still in the Cathedral. It is witnessed by Inigo Jones.

The Editors have, in the Introduction, given a comprehensive outline of the general scope of the work. N. C. H. NISBETT.

(190)

PAINTING AND DECORATING. Painting and Decorating. By Walter J. Pearce, 80. Lond. 1897 Price 12s. 6d. Chas. Griffin & Co., Limited. This volume is particularly interesting and useful, because it has been compiled by one who has had much experience both in his craft and as an instructor of others. And though, in this review, we may have to object to some things, yet the book is one which should take its place among the technical manuals to which architects, as well as painters and decorators, may refer. But, as the volume is produced by the publishers with the evident desire that it may be accepted as a standard text-book upon the subject with which it deals, we should have liked to notice its contents with more detailed observations; for, while we find much that is useful, there are also some remarks and many illustrations about which we cannot speak with so much praise. We are encouraged, however, by the author's preface to offer such suggestions as we may.

In the first place would there not be a likelihood of a larger circulation among those for whom it is primarily intended if the price were, say, 5s. instead of 12s. 6d. ? Perhaps this might be more possible if such unnecessary and unlovely ornament as the gilt and commonplace stamped lines as well as the ill-designed monogram were omitted from the outside of the cover. It may seem trivial to make such a remark, but there is surely no reason why as much care and thought in these little matters should not be given even to the production of Scientific and Technical Works" as to the preparation of what some call "Art Publications.' We become rather tired of stock patterns and colours of bookbinding, and begin to long for some refreshing invention which shall add interest to the externals of the collection on our shelves.

66

The Introduction contains some good advice of a general kind, and states that one of the main causes of decadence of good craftsmanship in the trade has been the lack of a proper

perception of what is requisite, and the adoption of a striving for superficial and unnatural effect, embodied in the phrase: "what looks well."

"The wholesale provision of manufactured decorations, designed and coloured for anywhere in general and nowhere in particular, has fostered this spirit of lazy acceptance, and dwarfed the faculty of critical perception of what is suitable for given positions and uses."

And there is reference to things which have "done much to discourage the practical interest of the craftsman in his operations,"

and have

"set up that destructive standard of comparison, cheapness, which is another foe to thoroughness and good workmanship."

This is a healthy attitude, and one which architects may well encourage by seeking for painters, of whatever kind, who will work not merely for them, but with them. Unless a body of men work together as mutual co-operators, unitedly aiming at one result that is, good work in every branch -satisfactory issues will never follow.

The chapter upon the "Philosophy of House Painting" contains under cover of this very theoretic title many practical hints. After finding that the three chief reasons for which house painting is done are "preservation," "cleanliness," and "beautification" ("beautifying" would have been better), we are led from these-classed as "General reasons"-to the "Special reasons," and the "Practical application" of both. That "the separation of art and work is quite a latterday innovation, the two being really indissoluble," most of us will agree, and go further, and say that the men who did the great works of the past probably never indulged in the childish and empty babblings about that invented meaning which is now given to the word art, a word which is becoming a blot in our vocabulary from excessive misuse. Mr. Pearce's definition is a good one; he says that "art means the act of doing work, provided the doing is scientific, right, and true." The result, rather than the act, is, we think, intended. His definitions are not quite final; definitions seldom are, for science, though, if it is to be true, it must be exact, is not, as stated, "exactness, viz. truth," but rather we might perhaps more correctly say that true science is a knowledge of truth, and that true art is the wise, beautiful, and right application of true knowledge. If it be this, as we certainly think it is, then it is time we changed that cart-before-the-horse phrase, "Design with beauty, build with truth;" or, better, make it, "Design in truth; beauty will build itself." It was necessary to dwell thus long on this section for reasons which will appear when we examine a later chapter.

Passing over the chapters II., III., IV., which, though well worth reading, are of more interest to the operative painter than the architect, we are introduced to the subject "Materials." For a