The Sun.
London, England, 1847-04-05 00:00:00

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NEW HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT.
During the last week it has been very generally
stated, that the apartment in which the House of
Lords has held its sittings since 1834 was in course of
demolition ; this, however, is not exactly the fact.
Nothing more than the furniture and fittings are being
removed; the walls, roof, and floor remain untouched;
and that chamber will not only throughout the re-
mainder of the present session, but, probably, for
some time longer, be used as a passage from the en-
trance near Abingdon-street to the new House of
Lords, which building is now on the eve of com-
pletion. Respecting this portion of the Palace at
Westminster the strongest interest and curiosity
are felt. It has been seen by a few who are judges
of art ; by a few others who reward it as they would
any of the sights with which London abounds ; and
the united reports of both classes have sent forth
accounts of its graceful splendour, noble pro-
portions, artistic beauty, and admirable adapta-
tion to its purposes, which, certainly, have not
taken the world by surprise, for great re-
sults were universally expected ; but the occasion
supplies a favourable opportunity to perform the
grateful task of giving to these vague rumours con-
firmation and consistency—of assuring the nation that
the hundreds of thousands already expended on this
vast undertaking, as well as the sums yet to be simi-
larly applied, will produce commensurate advantage,
while the liberality and taste of this country and of
the present generation must be largely acknow-
ledged by our immediate descendants, and rewarded
by the admiration of distant countries and future
ages. The more immediate purpose with which we
now notice the new Palace is to describe the House
of Lords, which of course constitutes the most dis-
4i4guished and dignified"-ticrtion of .this magnificent
edifice. That it forms an appropriate and pre-emi-
nent feature in our great temple of legislation, is a pro-
position on which no judgment can be pronounced
without at least a cursory glance over the whole of
this splendid structure. The reader who has not
yet had the good fortune to survey its outlines
must be told that to the eastward it presents
a frontage of nearly one thousand feet—consider-
ably upwards of nine hundred ; that when complete
it will cover an area of nine statute acres ; that
the great tower at the south-western extremity,
which has already been raised to the height of 90
feet, will ultimately reach the gigantic elevation of
four hundred ; that towers of lesser magnitude will
crown other portions *of the building; that fourteen
halls, galleries, vestibules, and other apartments of
great capacity and noble proportions are contained
within its limits ' • that it comprises eight official
residences, each first-rate mansions, fit to receive
families of distinction ; that twenty corridors and
lobbies are required to serve as the great roadways
through this aggregation of edifices ; that two and
thirty noble apartments facing the river will be used
as committee-rooms ; that libraries, waiting-rooms,
dining-rooms, and clerks' offices, exist in a super-
abundant measure ; that eleven greater courts and a
score of minor openings give light and air to the
interior of this superb fabric ; that its cubic content
exceeds fifteen millions of feet, being one-half greater
than St. Paul's ; and that it contains not less than
between five and six hundred distinct apartments,
amongst which will be a chapel for Divine worship,
formed out of the crypt of old St. Stephen's.
With such facts presented afresh to the minds of
some readers, and for the first time offerel to the pe-
rusal of the great majority, we now proceed to de-
scribe the gorgeous apartment in which the Peers of
England are to deliberate from day to day, and in
which the three branches of the Legislature will at
stated times assemble. It is to be reached from the
new House of Commons by a long line of stately
halls, ante-rooms, and corridors ; but the immediate
vestibule of the Upper House is a great triumph of
art, a fine specimen of exquisite though subdued
beauty. By a gradual and agreeable progression,
the admiring stranger is led from one degree of ele-
gance and splendour to another, till he gains sight of
the throne. Folding doors of burnished brass, formed
of delicate tracery, in the style of the florid Gothic,
admit the House of Commons to the bar of the Peers;
and the spectator, proceeding by that route, enters a
room, ninety feet by forty-five feet, and in height
forty feet. The ceiling first attracts attention. It
is not arched, but perfectly horizontal ; mas-
sive ribs, carved and gilt, divide it into eighteen
compartments, and each of these is subdivided into
five minor compartments or panels, the ground of
those panels being azure, enriched with heraldic de-
vices. The ribs are, of course, supported by corbels
and by spandrils, perforated. At each point in the
ceiling where the ribs intersect each other there are
pendants, which greatly enhance the beauty of that
portion of the building ; but there are no depending
lights—no lustres, no chandeliers swinging from the
roof, to conceal elegance or cover deformity. The
length of the House of Lords extends from north to
south, and during the day it will be lighted by
twelve windows, six on either side—which nearly
reach to the ceiling, but do not approach within
twenty feet of the floor. These apertures are to be
double glazed, the inner portion being stained glaslf
One of this number has already been finished, it ex-
cites much and deserved approbation, but the other
eleven windows let in at present more light than the
architect intends they should eventually supply, for it
is obvious that their effect will be much softened by
the influence of the intended staining of the glass;
the general result, therefore, now is more glare from
the unrestricted admission of light than will ulti-
mately be found to prevail. The completion of the
windows will, doubtless, add much to the elegance of
this apartment, though it will somewhat subdue the
magnificence which now dazzles every beholder.
Upon the same level with the windows, but on the
northern and southern walls, are six compart-
ments' three on each extremity of the House, five of
which are now temporarily covered with figured
damask. They are ultimately to be filled with fresco
paintings

One of these six which stands immediately over
the throne has been completed ; the subject is the
baptism of Ethelbert. It is to be hoped that at all
events the three frescoes at the south end will be en-

trusted to one artist, for the effect of dissimilar
styles upon one short wall could not fail to offend
even the most uncultivated taste. Such an appro-
priation of space would constitute no monopoly, for
the compartments throughout the new palace in-
tended for frescoes almost exceed calculation. With

these no progress can be made until the several apart-
ments in which they exist shall have been cleared of
the ordinary workmen, and resigned to the exclusive
possession of the artist. The spaces between the se-
veral windows and compartments are fourteen in
number, and they contain niches which are yet to
be filled with statues of the barons who obtained
Magna Charta. _ _

Having now disposed of the upper That
of the
House, we descend to the galleries. That which is
intended for the admission of strangers bearing
Peers orders occupies the north wall, and contains
accommodation for about one hundred and fifty per-
sons. The throne and the reporters' gallery fill
spaces of pretty nearly equal extent, but at opposite
ends of the House. With the exception of those
spaces there is carried round the entire apartment a
light gallery, consisting of only one line of seats, and
capable of containing about one hundred and eighty
persons. This portion of the building will, we un-
derstand, be appropriated to a few ladies, and to
Members of the House of Commons. The railing
which protects these seats is a very beautiful speci-
men of brass work and enamel. The only other gal-
lery is that intended for reporters, which is placed
in front of that for strangers, but considerably nearer
to the floor, and immediately over the bar. The
situation thus appropriated for reporting is certainly,
in the most favourable position that could be as-
signed for that purpose, consistently with the accom-
modation of the Peers and the architectural arrange-
ments of the building.

The floor of the House presents to the eye of the
spectator three principal divisions, which extend
transversely, viz., from east to west, each occupying
the full breadth of the apartment, but unequal parts
of its length. In the upper or southern division are
the throne, together with the spaces assigned to dis-
tinguished foreigners and eldest sons of Peers. The
boundary of this division is fifteen or sixteen feet
from the south wall. Next comes the central region,
or " body of the House," which seems capable of
containing the four hundred and forty Lords spiritual
and temporal. The table and woolsacks will of
course occupy the middle portion of the floor. At
either side of these are placed, on ascending steps, five
lines of benches, covered with scarlet morocco leather,
which will be of course reserved for the exclusive use
of the Peers. The woolsacks have not yet been intro-
duced. It is to be hoped they will bear such
i a re-
semblance to that which they are intended to imitate
as similar pieces of furniture did in the old House of
Lords, and not be such mean looking squabs as cum-
bered the temporary building during the last 13 years.
The body of the House is about fifty feet in length,
by the full breadth of forty-five feet. The northern or
lower boundary of this division is called the bar,
where the Speaker, accompanied by the assembly over
which he presider, stands when summoned to attend
her Majesty or the Royal Commissioners. From that
place gentlemen of the long rube address the House
in its judicial capacity ; witnesses are also there ex-
amined, and culprits are arraigned. The space below
the bar will afford standing room for two or three