The Sun.
London, England, 1863-03-12 00:00:00

such as extending the embankment roadway east-
ward from Blackfriars-bridge to Queenhithe,

and also the plans for uniting the intended embank-

Talent at Westminster-bridge with the existing

embankment at Milaink. We must say that
the Commissioners have entered into the merits of

,he various suggestions submitted to them in a

careful spirit of investigation, having an eye more

o economy than to the general effect which might

be arrived at by a more liberal expenditure.
The Commissioners seem to have been deterred
from attempting anything beyond the present exi-
gency of the question. With them, sufficient for
the day is the evil or the good thereof, wholly over-
looking that they were bound and indeed were ex•
petted to lay out the improvement so as to be a
groundwork or foundation for the future. They
must have been aware that in a metropolis of this
extent—with a population daily increasing, some
consideration was requisite to meet the necessities
of posterity. Houses are not built for a day or a
year, bill-, for an age, and public buildings ought to
be constructed for all time—not only as an orna-

ment to the present but as a lasting memorial of
our taste, and an example to generations yet un-
born. In fact we of the prftent are but as trus-

tees to those who succeed us—and in our conduct
we should aim BD to act that our successors may
have just cause to be proud of their forefathers, and
strive to emulate the worthy examples left for their
benefit and edification.

Of the several plans submitted for making the
communication to the Mansion-house we think that
recommended by the Commission of 1861 the best,
inasmuch as it will open up the whole way from
Blacktriars-bridge in a direct line, and so relieve
the traffic pouring down from the west as well as
that coming in from the south over Blackfriars new
bridge, and other new bridges in contemplation. It
was proposed to extend the rcadway on the Thames
embankment as far eastward as Queenhithe, but the
extra cost was objected to, not, we think, with suf-
ficient reason as a matter of expense, if the exten-
sion were really expedient; but as the new street to
the Mansion-house intersecting new Cannon-street
would take off the traffic going over London-bridge,
and the line along Thames-street running parallel
with the river, would meet the other requirements
of trade, there was not the same necessity.
" The following is the comparative cost of the
three suggestions exclusive of works :-1. The
road and embankment from Biackfriars-bridge to
Queenhithe, and the consequent improvements,
£768,640 net. 2. The street to St. Paul's, widen-
ing St. Paul's Churchyard, as well as Walbrook and
Charlotte-row, £713,654 net. 3. The street pro-
posed by the Commission of 1861, £460,015 net.
For these reasons, and having fully considered the
question in all its bearings, we come to the conclu-
sion that the line of street proposed by the Com-
mission of 1861 is the best that can be suggested,
and we therefore recommend it for adoption."
Having disposed of the Eastern part of their in-
struction the Commissioners turn to the West, and
here we think they have recommended certain im-
provements, but they might have gone further.
Had they but taken half a leaf out of the Paris
book of renovation they would have better con-
sulted the wants which have so long been an eye-
sore to native as well as foreign visitors to those
venerable edifices in the immediate vicinity of the
Legislative Palace of the Empire. Not only
Westminster-hall, but the memorable aid glorious
old Abbey might have commanded more respectful
attention. Indeed, all our great public buildings
I are cooped up and confined within narrow limits
wholly detracting from their grandeur as well as
beauty. And but for their own elevation towering
above their pigmy companions they would be lost
in their wilderness of common-place heaps of
brick and mortar.

Indeed the incongruity is very damaging to our
national taste as it is disrespectful to our character
on the score of civilisation. If we be rich we lack

the proper means of displaying our wealth so as to
redound to our credit. In fact we have been so much

engrossed in our commercial pursuits as to have
overlooked the opportunity which the march of
time has thrown in our way. And now when a

'air chance presents itself we hesitate to take ad.

vantage of a circumstance which may not occur
again for centuries to come. To make the Thames
embankment we levy duties on coal and wine for a
certain period. If that plan of meeting the expen-
diture be just, surely its extension for a few years
more cannot be objectionable, seeing that the im-
provements are made for the pleasure and benefit of

those who succeed us. The commissioners think,
and perhaps rightly, that to continue the embank-

ment in front of the Palace would be

not only encroaching too much on the
river but would be very undesirable, as
interfering with the architectural beauty of the

Palace, and be offensive to our legislators in their
long line of committee-rooms facing the river. They
therefore propose to clear away the buildings con-

tiguous to the Houses of Parliament in Abingdon-
street and those southward, which are very objec-
tionable not only from their meanness, but from their
proximity to Victoria Tower, which might be
endangered in case of fire. They further propose
that the ground these premises occupy should be
Bleared southward as far as the line of Wool-street,
or 415 feet, and that so much of it as extends to the
line of Great College-street, or 230 feet, should be
embanked, kept clear of buildings, and laid out and
planted as ornamental ground. We are of opinion
that such an application of this space would relieve

the palace from great danger and nuisance, would
form a suitable appendage to the south front of the
palace, and be an agreeable embellishment to that
part of the river. We recommend further, that
the houses in Poets'-corner, Old Palace-yard,
Abingdon-street, and the mews in the rear, should
be taken down ; the Chapter House, Henry the
Seventh's Chapel,'and the south front of the abbey,
being brought fully into view ; the residences
which stand between the Chapter House and the
garden to the south be removed, and the site so
cleared, laid open, by which a clear space from Henry
the Seventh's Chapel to Great College-street would
be obtained, about 200 feet wide in its narrowest part.
They also suggest that six or eight first-class
houses might be erected at right angles with the
river, and looking on the ornamental ground be-
tween them and the Palace. Another improve-
ment is also suggested by running the line of Vic-
toria-street across the enclosure to the north-east
of St. Margaret's Church, so as to avoid the traffic
along Westminster-bridge, and facilitate commu •
nion with the Courts of Law and the Houses of
Parliament. Next, they propose widening King-
street on the west side, so as to relieve the pressure
in Parliament-street ; but, though that would be
an improvement so far, we cannot but thick that
the block of houses between Parliament-street and
King-street should be cleared away bodily, and
open the view
minster Hall, grandly out from the Abbey, West-
and the Houses of Parliament. The
excessive expense would not be so great as to deter
from such a magnificent improvement, which woula
be a spectacle for all time. When RENNIE was
pointing out the beauty of his handiwork in having
constructed Waterloo-bridge, in all its noble sim-
plicity, his Scotch friend, while admitting the fact,
said, " Aye, man ! but what did it cost ?" " Never