Page:Speeches and addresses by the late Thomas E Ellis M P.pdf/73

 A PLEA FOR A WELSH SCHOOL OFARCHITECTURE.

I MUST, at the outset, disclaim any authority to speak as a specialist upon this subject. I hardly know the alphabet of Architecture; I am not a draughtsman nor a designer; and am unlearned in the grammar of ornament. I do not propose to deal either with the history or with the technique of Architecture; nor to dilate on its relation to the sister Arts of Sculpture and Painting; nor to urge or advocate the merits of the Classic or Gothic or any other style. But, as one who loves to look upon the face of Wales, and to watch its life and development, I cannot but feel a concern for the position of the two mother Arts of Music and Architecture in our national life. These are the two Arts in which primitive man displayed certain creative faculties inherent in his nature. And, in all ages, when man desires to propagate his ideas, to preserve his memories and to impart his hope, he