1869.] Building in New South Wales. 78L decay, and make of all one vast promis- cuous ruin. In the progression of this, our great art of building, every one, however humble, has his share of responsibility, from the moulder of bricks and quarrier of stone to the sculptor and decorator — from the artizan to the architect. Each is in a measure dependent on the other, and all are alike interested in the full and complete success of the work which they aid in or control. And when we con- sider the vast number of branches con- cerned in building we can alone come to form some tangible idea of its greatness and universality. There are those who would fain make little of it, and style it, in contempt, only "a mere trade;" but such creatures are the exceptions in civilized societ}', whose ideas emanate from brain- less heads, and pass away on the wind, of which they are the lightest part. The importance of the great building art is far beyond all rivalry, for in age, utility, and grandeur it exceeds all other aids to civilization ; and if there be a proof required, it can be at once found in the fact that the highest and proudest in every land are solicitous of being worthy to be called a "Mason." Some may suppose that Free-masonry has nothing to say to our subject ; on the contrary, it is one and the same thing, though it is true that the one is, in a strict sense, more practical than the other. But it was from that brotherly band that wandered from land to land and from city to city, designing and constructing all that art then knew in architecture, and bound together in the infrangible bond of well-cemented friend- ship, that the Masonic body of to-day had its origin ; and every emblem and every word of wisdom which is used bj r it is derived from-- that fellow-craft that, re- ceived and welcomed into the most con- servative of kingdoms in the earliest ages, under the title of Free and Ac- cepted Masons, laid the imperishable foundation of the institution men love to honor under that very name. Who, then, shall say that the Art op Building is not an important one, and at best but worthy of being ranked as a merely mechanical art? Founded on philosophy, reared up by taste, and dedicated to science, its works shall endure as monuments of its existence and its importance. Educated thought and experienced knowledge are necessary to pre-eminence in this art ; wilful ignorance brings down upon those who would seek it as a means of livelihood both ruin and disgrace. BUILDING IN NEW SOUTH WALES. W E are in receipt of our files from Sydney, which will be continued Kegalarly henceforth, so that our readers will be kept posted on the most inter- esting building news from that flourish- ing region. We here present an extract from the Sydney Hail, which, we have no doubt, will be read with pleasure by all who feel an interest in the great problem of progress which is now being so satisfactorily solved, even to the ends of the earth. The New General Post Office, Syd- ney. What the cathedrals were to every separate focus of civilization in mediae- val times, and the forum to those mighty cities in Europe which flourished before the Roman Empire, are those material centres of activity and intelli- gence, now so happily distinctive of every metropolis, — without the exist- ence of which, it is not too much to say,
