The Sun.
London, England, 1851-09-11 00:00:00

LONDON,

SALE OF THE OLD HOUSE OF COMMOIVS.

Ye,,terday aasrs. Evtralield and Horne accom-
plished a feat in the House of Commons more re-
markable than even Olu Noll's " nit st remarkable
one. Uiver <i sired his my rniidons to take away-
that bauble," meaning the mace ; the worthy auc-
tioneers removed by their functionaries all the practical
and substantial parts of the legislative establishment.
From an early hour of the day all sorts of humbler
members of the building trade assembled in the House,
taking notes of lots where debaters took notes cf
speeches, and flitting about the haunts of power in
paper ceps. As to the sentiment of the occasion, it
found little room to play in the breasts of the honest
yeomen gathered there, every one of whom had a
pencil in his hand, and a purchase in his eye, with
all his thoughts concentrated not upon history, but
upon the price of bricks. Towards noon, however,
things altered a little, but not much for the better.
A clergyman or two dropped in after service at
the Abbey, and a few foreigners followed in the
rear. But with them came a horde of spectators,
with nothing particular to do, save occasionally to
throw in a joke for the enlivenment of the pro-
ceedings. The worthies began, of course, with un-
conscious plagiarism upon Mr. O'Connor's favourite
practical witticism, and, in the absence of the Speaker,
imitated that gentleman, if not to perfection, at least
to their own complete satisfaction and content. They
then made, ostensibly for their friends, but obviously
for the public, comic historical allusions, some of them
referring to periods at least as remote as the imprison-
ment of Smith O'Brien, and expressed audibly a wish
that " .Bellamy's " had not been dismantled, and that
chops might be had on the premises. All this, too, in
a house dreary as dismantlement could make it, with
bills posted here and there upon its walls, with every-
thing, even to the clocks, taken out of it, and no-
thing, save the canopy over the Speaker's chair, that
either looked like the comfort of furniture, or could
furbish up recollections of the past. But at length
Mr. Home, the auctioneer, arrived, and immediately
business began, with a silence, if not with a solem-
nity, worthy of the place. The chair, as we have
said, was gone, but into its place the rostrum was
introduced, whence the orator was to stimu-
late the jobbers around him into an eager
competition. He commenced, as auctioneers
always do, with a joke, observing that he
was about to do what was unprecedented in
Parliament—for that, though Speaker, he really
should have a great deal of speaking. The first of
the materials and fittings to be sold belonged to the
stone building, at the corner of St. Margaret-street ;
the first lot put up was " The slates and York coping
on the roof;" the first bid was half-a-guinea, and the
first " knock down," was thirty shillings. The next
lot, described as " the lead gutters, ridges, flushings,
and rain-water pipe to lower building," went for 361.,
and then the bidding improved—cisterns, and every-
thing of lead, seeming to be particularly in request.
For the kitchen range on the second floor, with its
various appurtenances, only 4/. was originally offered,
but it went at last for 71. 155., whilst the board and
timber floor of the kitchen, scullery, and passage
brought 121. ss. The sums proposed and accepted fur
some lots were infinitely less than this, several of
the minor ones going for 105. 6d., and 12s. only
given for a pair of green-baized folding-doors,
with barrel springs and brass guards, belonging to
the temporary back building. Others, again, realized
much larger amounts, exciting much emulation
among the speculators, and exercising all the tact of
the auctioneer. For instance, the bricks and internal
stonework of the building at the corner of St. Mar-
garet-street, with the buildings at the rear, &c., a lot
for which 251. was the preliminary offer, was finally '
knocked down for 65/. ; roof timbers, boards, paving,
joists, girders, doors, sashes, slates, zinc pipes, and
other materials of the various offices of the house, were
next disposed of in great profusion, at sums which
appeared to be generally recognised as about propor-
tionate to their market value, now a little above, and
now a little below, but never very wide of the mark.
The result was, that at the close of his labours, Mr.
Horne had noted down 902/. as the income of what will
probably be his least profitable day. This morning
he has to recommend goods more attractive than yes-
terday's, and possessing an interest as relics far be-
yond what attaches to them as mere builders' ma-
terials. As yet he has been at the offices and out-
works.

The House of Commons itself comes under the
hammer to-day; slates, rafters, roof and flooring, all
to be unreservedly sold. The wainscot canopy for
the Speaker's chair, the seats appropriated to the
fourth estate, the materials of the strangers' gallery,
the bricks and stonework of the whole house, are
" going," and must, by night, be all
.but literally
" gone."—Chronicle.