The Sun.
London, England, 1870-01-21 00:00:00

1.11 Pile V E .11 ENT S AT THE HOUSES OF PAI?LI A-

211 E: T.

The alterations which have been effected in the
nterior of the Houses of Parliament under the

lirection of Mr. E. M. Barry since last session,
,re described in this week's Builder.
_.The most
striking changes effected are in the central hall.
the witness-hall, and the three corridors leading
from the central hall to the Commons lobby, the
Peers' lobby, and the river-front committee-rooms
respectively. The dull brown- coloured paint
has been removed from the stonework of the
central hall and its corridors. The stone has been
covered with a preservative composition which
will enable it to be washed ; and as the cornposi-
ion has in no way discoloured the surface, the whole
of the stonework is now clean. 'The stone archways
leading to the Peers' and Commons' lobbies, and to
river front, have been enlarged, and light
;lazed oak screens, with plate glass above them,
-alb ituted for the stonework, in order to admit

nore light into the lobbis. The windows in the
:orridor to the river front have bet...o enlarged, and
kylights have teen introduced into the rooms at
he angles of the ball, where gas was fornnrly
accessary in the day-time. The effect of the

iianges generally will be greatly to increase the
light in the interior of the building. None of
the mosaic pictures are yet complete 1 in the
panels allotted to them over the four great arch-
says of the central ball. Mr.. E. J. Poynter,
£It.A., is the artist employed for the cartoons of
hese works of art, which are to be executed at
Venice by Messrs. Salviati. One picture, the St.
deorge, is completed, and is now being fixed.
lie whole of the panels of the groined roof of the
ball are filled with mosaics on a gold ground.
l'hey represent scrolls of roses, thistles, and sham-
rocks, interspersed with the royal cypher, crowns,
&c. No alterations have been made in either

douse of Parliament or their respective lobbies. In
the Royal Gallery the eight niches are now filled
with statues. Mr. B. Philip is the sculptor, and the
statues are wholly gilt, with a very satisfactory effect.
They represent the folio wing monarchs :—Alfred,
William 1., Edward 111., Richard 11., Henry
henry V., Queen Elizabeth, and Queen Anne. In

the Queen's robing-room, Mr. Armstead is pro-
ceeding with a series of bas-reliefs of oak, re-
presenting scenes from the " Morte d'Arthur."
[his fine room, with its frescoes by the late
Mr. Dyce, is now nearly completed, and will,
we believe, be added to the portions of the pa-
lace to which the public is admitted, soon after
Easter. "Works are still proceeding in the
Royal staircase. The stained glass has been
altered to admit more light, portions of the
door, have been pierced and glazed, and the four
groines at the top of the staircase are being deco-
rated with mosaics. In St. Stephen's crypt, the
baptistery has been completed, and inclosed with
elaborate wrought-iron gates, and with this work
the restoration of the crypt is now finished. Out-
side the palace, a work of some peculiarity and im-
portance has been carried out at the north-east cor-
ner of New Palace-yard, by the construction of a sub-
way passing under Bridge-street to the north-east
angle of the street, close to the Underground Rail-
way Station on the Thames Embankment. The
subway is intended not only to afford a safe and
convenient means of crossing the crowded street,
but is also meant to give access to the Westminster
Bridge Station of the Metropolitan District Rail-
way, and also the steamboat pier. The Mtropoli-
tan Board of Works is taking active measures to
prolong the subway to the pier, and this work it
is expected, will be completed before Easter. No-
thing, however, appears as yet to have been done
by the railway company to connect their station
with the new approach.

COURT OF COALIION COUNCIL.

The first meeting of Common Council since the
annual election of members on St. Thomas's-day,
the 21st December, was held in the Council Cham-
ber, Guildhall, yesterday, the Right Hon. the Lord
Mayor presiding. Several members who did not
make their declaration of office on their election
uow came to the table and did so.

THE CITY OF LONDON LUNATIC ASYLUM.

Mr. FINLAY inquired of the Lord Mayor if it
was the intention of the justices to enlarge the City
of London Lunatic Asylum at Stone.
The LORD MAYOR said he could hardly answer
for the justices generally, but he did not believe
there was any such intention. (Hear, hear.)