Page:The Building News and Engineering Journal, Volume 22, 1872.djvu/174

158 resemblance existing between the various monuments, and having proved the finding of human remains, and of various objects of metal, bone, and earthenware in a proportion of them, to assume that the destination of the whole was similar to that which these remains prove to have been one of the uses of a certain number. He proceeds further to rely upon analyses of structure, arrangement, and even dimensions, as proving these to have formed a series stretching over no very long period of time, and he argues, from the comparatively modern character of the objects found in some cases, from the absence of any mention of these stone monuments in Cæsar and some other Latin writers, and upon other grounds, that the date already referred to must be that of the whole. Now, none of these arguments are conclusive, and often as they are repeated in the volume, their cumulative force will not be found very great if each time they occur they are fairly weighed. That these monuments were only sepulchres does not: at all follow from: the fact of burials having:taken place there, nor do the most recent/burials give, as a matter of course, the date» of the monument. West- minster Abbey might be proved in the same way to be only a burial-place dating from the nineteenth century. Even the rude sculpture sometimes found may have been worked subsequent to the erection of the stones where it is found, and, of course, the burials may have been subsequently ; and the cruciform shape of some stones and stone cells may be capable of explanation on some theory which doesnot require us to date them from the Christiameras The most attractive portion of the book to the general English readeris, no doubt, that in which the author deseribes the principal British Megalithic remains. So many actually have seen Stonehenge and could see Aylesford, Penrith, Avebury, and the other monuments of the same sort which this country contains, that the deseription of them and the specula- tions relative to them in Mr. Fergusson’s first chapter will have akind of familiar ine terest. Our author has striven to establish the idea that the battle-fields celebrated as the Arthurian Romances are marked by groups of stone monuments, and in the long lines of great stones which are found, both in this and in other countries, ranged in systematic order, he sees a memorial of the battle order in which the conquerors had advanced to their victory ; the ingenuity of this hypothesis is unquestionable, and it may prove more tenable than some of the other views ad- vanced in the work. After England, Ireland, and Scotland, Mr. Fergusson reviews the stone remains of Scandinavia and North Germany, France, Spain, and Italy, Algeria, the Mediterranean Islands, Western Asia, India, and America. Many descriptive accounts are included, and a large number of wood-cuts are given, so that the work, if here and there tedious, is never meagre. The most interesting and valuable contribution, asmight have been an- ticipated from the peculiar acquaintance of the author with India, is that in which the Indian: contributions to this: series of monu- mental antiquity are referred to. In Indian art My. Fergusson is more at home than any living writer; and he finds in that country a very large nunber of illustrations of his sub- ject, some of them startling enough. ‘There, in the Khassia Hills, rude stone monuments are being erected at the present day, while in many other districts ancient dolmens, cairns, stone circles, and menhirs, or single upright stones, are found in abundance, and bearing astriking similarity to the megalithic remains in Europe. Some of the facts quoted with regard to these Indian examples seem to point more closely to a comparatively recent origin for the majority of them than much of what is advanced about European speci- mens; and here at least the result of a com- parison of Eastern and Western forms is to bring out a startling similarity. To show the connection between India and the Europe of the early middle ages, Mr. Fer- gusson, in afew pages of greatinterest, sketches the characteristics of Buddhism and their close parallelism with those of Medizeval Chris- tianity. Te finds that monastic institutions rose in India soon after the Christian era, and despite the silence of documentary evidence, believes that the resemblance and coincidence of these institutions in Europe and Asia is too close not to indicate an intimate relationship, especially when relic-worship, canonisation, and other features are found to correspond also. ‘That the two systems are identical,” he observes, ‘‘no one has doubted, and no one indeed can enter now a Buddhist monastery in the East and watch the shaven priests intheir yellow robes at matins or at vespers: issue from their cells and range themselves on either side of a choir, on whose altar stands an image of the Queen of Heaven, orof the three precious Buddhas, and listen to their litanies, without feeling that he is looking in the Hast on: what is externally the same as he had long heen familiar with in the West.” After expanding at some length andi with great foree this remarkable parallelism, our author resumes thus : ‘‘ It may not be possible in the present state of our knowledge to ex- plain exactly how this influence was exercised, and we must consequently rest content with the fact that, as Buddhism did so influence the religion of the West in those early ages, the same agency may equally have acted upon the architectural or sephulchral forms of the same class in our population.” Now there seems to Mr. Fergusson very good reason for assigning a date not earlier than about the sixth or seventh century of the Christian era to the oldest rude stone monuments of India. If this be so, and this volume proves it to be very possibly so, this presumed connection between the East and the West fits well with the whole theory which the writer is endea- youring to establish. The evidence isfan from conclusive, butit isvery strong, andthe whole Indian section of the book is fuller of interest than perhaps any other portion of this: large» and closely written work. These great stone monuments, tliemselves, though it may be possible to considertheir art as a kind of architecture, are, of course, all of them rude, and many of them much disturbed by time and wilfulinjury. Many of them are impressive from the great size of the masses of stone employed in their construction, and from the strangeness of their aspect—so utterly and entirely dissimilar to the work of men of our own race and in our own day. Tumuli, cromlechs as they are generally called, though Mr. Fergusson prefers the word dolmens, circles, avenues, and menhirs or standing stones, are the groups into which they can be classified, and it is by no means certain that where one sort of monument prevailed the others will also be found. ‘The modern ar- chitect may not gather much that will be of use in his nineteenth-century work from his study of the whole, or of any section of them, but if he have any spark of the antiquary in his composition, any love for the study of matters confessedly obscure, and any liking for a great controversy in which ‘‘ much may be said on both sides,” we heartilyrecommend the rude stone monuments of the world asa subject well worthy of his attention. The woodcuts which accompany this notice will give a fair idea of the illustrations of the volume. ‘They serve to give a more clear idea of the nature of the objects with which the book deals than could be obtained from simple verbal descriptions. A view of Ave- bury restored (14) may help to show what that most remarkable English monument must have been when perfect; and those of our readers who have seen it and wondered at it in its present ruinous condition, may be glad of the information afforded by this illustration. Two dolmens from Wales— that at Pentre Ifan (49), and that at Plas Newydd (50)—compared with a sculptured specimen of the same class of monument from Herrestrup, in Zeeland (106), and a more finished Indian example, from Rajunkoloor (205), will serve to show how many points of similarity exist between the rude stone monuments of countries so wide apart. The curious carving from Locmariaker (148), a French example, is a specimen of the sculp- tures which are often found on these memo- rials. Others are shown on the Zeeland example already mentioned, and they help to complicate the problem of the date and origin of these works not a little. = <> ROYAL INSTITUTE OF BRITISH ARCHITECTS. T the ordinary general meeting of this Institute on Monday evening last, Mr.. Horace Jones, Vice-President, occupied the chair; in:the-absence of the president; Mr. T. Hi. Wyatt:. Tliesminutes of the last meetingzhaving been read and confirmed, and several donations:to the library announced, Mr. C. H. Driver; of 5,. Victoria-street, S.W., was elected a Fellow ; Mr. John SilmanjofAishburton-road, Addis- combe, an-Associate; and M. Espérandeu,of Marseilles ; Il Cavaliere Giuseppe Fiorelli}, of Naples; Il! Cava- liere Antonio Cipolla, of Rome; Il’ Cavaliere Enrico Alyino, of Naples; and Signor Pietro Rosa, of Rome, were elected Honorary and Corresponding Members. Tue Pucin TRAVELLING STUDENTSHIP. The CHAIRMAN announced that the Council had that evening elected the Pugin Travelling Student for the present year. The drawings submitted by Mr. John Sulman, of Ashburton-road, Addiscombe, in the opinion of the Council, were the best, and that gentleman had, therefore, been awarded the student- ship. The Council intimated that the drawings and sketches submitted by Mr. E. J. Mant were very creditable to their author, and recommended them for honourable mention. Another very admirable set of drawings had been sent in by Mr. Henman, who won the Pugin Travelling Studentship last year. The-death.of Mr. A. K. Williams, member, was announced. Tue Vonuntary ARrcHiIrecturRAL EXAMINATION. Mr. T. HL Wagson said that as some doubts had arisen as: to) whether the Voluntary Examina- tion would be: eld! this year, he should like to be informed whethersuch doubts were well founded or not; There'liad’ been, he believed, some difficulty experienced’ by intending candidates in procuring papers relative to the examination. He hoped the examination would be held, or it would create much disappointment amongst those who intended to go up. Mr: Eastuaxe, the Secretary, said that the matter was one of considerable doubt at present. It would be remembered that the President, in his opening address, referred to the subject and to the Conference held last year, and which, by the arrangement made last year, would be repeated this year. He remarked that it would be extremely inconvenient that both the Conference and the Examination should go on together, and suggested that each should be held every two years, but alternately—i.e., the Conference one year and the Examination the next year. The rules of the Voluntary Examination were now under revision by the Committee for the Examination in consequence of some suggestions made by Professor Kerr in a paper read before the Institute two years ago; and ithad been found necessary that the Com- mittee should refer the matter to a sub-committee, so that he was unable to say whether the revised rules would be ready in time to allow of the holding of the Examination this year. However, he did not think there could be any great disappointment occa- sioned if the Examination did not take place, be- cause it had not been publicly advertised. As soon as the sub-committee had reported to the Committee for the Examination, the Committee would submit the matter to the Council, who would forthwith pro- ceed +o consider whether the Examination could take place this year. Mr. Purpne Spiers said that in order that stu- dents might present themselves as candidates for the Examination this year much time and trouble had been spent, and he really hoped that the Council’ would not lose a large portion of the labours of past years by discontinuing the Examination this year, for he felt confident that a large number of candi- dates would come up. Mr. F. P. Cockerrtn drew attention to the catalogue of prints, drawings, aad photographs de- posited in the Library of the Institute. ts comple- tion reflected the greatest credit on the Librarian, Mr. S. W. Kershaw, M.A.; and it was to be hoped that if members of the Institute could do so they