The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1826-08-24 00:00:00

TILL EGYPTI.IN ILII.L if me MANSIONXOUSE.
Every Lord Mayor is often askel, why the great Hall,
in which he entertains his numerous guests in the Man-
sion-house, is called the Egyptian Hall ? and no Lord
Mayor has ever answered the question. His present Lord-
' ship will, however, most probably, be now enabled to sa-
tisfy those who express astonishment at the name upon
looking at the architecture. 'The information contained in
the following correspondence, which has been found ac-
curately to agree with the authorities referred to, has been
lately received by the Lord Mayor:—
Little James-street, August 5, 1821.
t• 31y Lord,---I have the honour to enclose to your Lordship a
copy of a later which I have just sent to the Editors of the work,
entitled, • Illustrations of the Public Buildings of London.' occa-
sioned by a remark which is adverted to in it. My only object in
sending it was, to add my tnitc to the general cause of literwure; and
since it has reference to the mansion which is appropriand to your
Lordship's residence, I have, in the hope that your Lordship will
pardon the liberty, ventured to lay before you the enclosed copy.
Should the hint thrown out be deemed not altogether unworthy your
Lordship's considerati.in, I 11 hal I feel myself amply repaid iti the
gratification it will teford toe.

" I have the honour to he, my Lori,
" Your Lordship's very oh:dient servant,

"
" To the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor."
" Lit• le James-street, Bedford-row, Aug. 5, 1026.
" Gentlemen,—ln No. 15 of your • Illustrations of the Public
Buildings of London,' tomer the head of the • Mansion House,'
and in pages 123 and 124, 1 observe the following observation :
" "to the south of the Salons is the Egyptian Hall, for the ap-
pellation of which we are unable to account, as it displays no ves-
tige of Egyptian architecture or decoration."
" 1 take leave, therefore, to send you the following observations,
which may, perhaps, prove satisfactory ; they have always ap-
peared to me a sulicient reason for the appellation in question.
It will he requisite, that, to consider the Hall, not as it now exists,
with only one tier of columns and an arched ceiling springing from
the entablature which they support, but as it existed before the
• Attie' was taken down, a representation of which you w:11 find in
Plate 43 and 44, Vol. IV. of Vitruvius Britannicus, I.y Woolte and
Handen, where you will observe an upper range of halt columns,
placed agai 'at a wall, in which is a tier of windows, the whole rest-
ing on the lower range of columns. R-ferring now to Voruvius,
Bsolt VI. Chap. 5, where he treats of /FA. you w.ll observe he de-
scribes one denominated the Egyptian JE;us,' which precisely
corresp mils with the Egyptian ball at the .Mansion House, as
i• watt originally executed ; the name of Egyptian Hall was there.
fore evidently given Irons its similarity to the ancient I, dno
mioated Egyptian, form which no doubt the idea was taken, and
which formed one of the principal apartments in the ancient do-
mestic structures. The authority of Vitruvius would of course be
amply sufficient for the present occasion, but he is also tollowed by
Palladio, who, in Book 11. Chap. 10, treats of the • Hail alter the
Egyptian manner,' which is looser explainei by a plan and sec.
non exactly correspor,din,„o with that at the Mansion House; and
these masters are followed by Wars, who, in Book 1I I. Chap. 30,
and in two plates, caelramitther; d 37, gives the same description of
the Egyptian Hall. It may not be amiss here to notice, that this
Hall at the Alanainti House, as now altered, corresponds exactly
with the Hall which Vitruvms, in the very prate Book and Chap-
ter, denominates Corinthian ; where he states that the difference
between the Corinthian a. d Egyptian JEcus is, that the latter has
two tiers of columns disposed in the way be here mentio:es, and
with the upper range surrounded by the unsheltered floor as that
at the Mansion House was, and that the Molter has orly one tier
of columns. front the entablature of which springs a curved ceilmg
as that at the Mansim House is; 1 would, therefore, suggest that
as since the alteration of the name Egyptian Hall no longer applies,
and (a. the circumstances which face occasiotted this letter fully
proves) it is the cause of some perplexity, that the name be altered
to Corinthian Hall, an appellation which at once accords with the
Corinthian Hall of' Vitruvius, and with the order of architecture
used in its endiellishnient. It is also the name by which, if origi-
foully constructed as at present, it would no doubt have been then
called ,•.it has also the advantage of conveying to our ideal' a juster
conception of its character anti style, and it would be also less liable
to censure from critics. 1 mit, Gentlemen, :

" Your very obedient humble Servant.
" BENILY GARLINCi."
" To Messrs. Britton and Pugin, Editors of the
. Illustrations of the Public Buildings of London. "

THE. LONDON CoM NITT e E.—Although the majority of
the great men of the kingdom have liberally contributed to
the fund of the distressed manufacturers, there yet remain
very many whose contributions arc not forthcoming. We
know that letters have been addressed by the London Com-
mittee to every dignitary, ecclesiastical and civil, both of
Great Britain and Ireland—Archbishops, Bishops, and
Archdeacons—Dukes, Marquisses, and Lords of all kinds,
soliciting their aid to the fund in question. This appeal will
doubtless be effectual. The sum yet remaining in the
hands of the London Committee is 60,000h—Tyne Mer-
cury.

'rite Moons ox Fter..—We regret to state (says the
Sheffield Ille,eury) that Broombead Moors, in the neigh-
bourhood of this place, continue on fire. On Sunday and
Monday last, the conflagration appeared to have increased.
The smoke was so dense and voluminous, as to impede the
operations of the persons employed in stopping the ravages
of the tire ; objects, indeed, could with difficulty be seen
at a distance of a few yards. The weather, however, has
been mild, and, in constquence, the flames have not aeen
extended by the agency of the winds. The opinion is now
very generally entertained, that this extraordinary destruc-
tion of heath has been wilfully accomplished.
At Tsherkask, a Cossack town, they have a curious regu-
lation for the prevention of damage by fire. On a board,
which is hung at each door to public view, are painted
figures of the instruments which each housekeeper is to
have in readiness, and to attend with, in case of a calamity
of this kind. Fur example, at one door is the painting of a
hatchet ; at another, that of a water-barrel • at a third,
buckets, or crow-bars, a !add, r, or other implements. On
any alarm of fire the housekeepers are to proceed to the spot
with their respective apparatus, of which they are ever re-
minded by the figures at their doors ; and thus a proper
supply of the various things wanted in these cases of exi-
gency may always be calculated upon.
There is at this moment a person of the name of Tho-
mas Drummond, working as a common pitman in New
Painsher Colliery, near Iloughton-le-Spring, in the county
of Durham, whom we firmly believe to be the heir-at-law
and lineal descendant of James Drummond, who was the
grandson of the fourth Earl of Perth, and who joined
the Pretender at Culloden, and after that unfortunate af-
fair was obliged to secrete himself to preserve his life.—
This poor man, now living in the humblest situation of life,
is perfectly aware of his rights as the descendant of the
chief of one of the most respectable clans in Scotland, and
is anxious to assert them, but is without the means. His
case has already engaged: the attention of a professional
genealogist, Mr. Fitz-Strother, of Barnard's Inn, London,
who entertains no doubt of the justice of his claims.
Great praise is due to this gentleman for the exertions he
has made, from no inducement but a distant hope of re-
ward, and a desire to procure for the friendless and desti-
tute his just rights and honours. his necessary, however,
to obtain some registers from France, and to go through
certain forms required by law, before he can avail himself
of the princely disposition of his Majesty to restore the
forfeited Scottish peerages. We trust there is sufficient
sympathy among our fellow-countrymen to come forward
to the assistance of an unfortunate young man who is thus
struggling with poverty, and unable to assert his rights,
however well founded, to the Earldom of Perth, without
pecuniary aid. One gentleman, the Reverend Mr. Baker,
Chancellor of Durham, it is but justice to state, has con-
tributed 51. towards defraying the necessary expenses.
Whatever funds are to be raised should be raised without
delay, as the testimony of the claimant's allot, a Mrs.
Peters, greatly advanced in years, is extremely important,
and if not secured soon, the claim may by her death be
lost for ever. We have little hesitation in saying that if
from one to two hundred pounds were advanced to enable
him to go through the preliminary formalities required, we
think by that trifling sum the proceedings would be so far
forwarded, that in the very next session an Act of l'arlia-
ment might be passed to restore him to his rank, honours,
and dignities, as Earl of Perth, if not to the hereditary es-
tates also.

CHEAP REPAIRS.-At a parish not one hundred miles
from Brighton, a bill was lately sent in by a tradesman to
one of the public bodies of the said parish, of which the
following is a literal copy:—
Mending the wheel-barrow - - ..e0 3 0
New side to the borrow - . . - 0 3 6
New staves, new splicing the horns and legs, putting on
iron-work, and painting the hallow - - 0 4 6
Two new cross-legs, and new boarding the barrow all _

- over . .. -
--A 6 6
New main side to the barrow - - - 0 3 6
New wheel to the barrow - - - 0 6 0
To putting in all the iron-work to the barrow, new naih,
and painting the iron-work to the ba.row - - 0 2 6
doudginga, two spikes to shafts, two clip* to legs, and 50
nails to the barrow - - . 0 3 10
New hoop-tire to the wheels of the barruw - .060

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