The Sun.
London, England, 1869-01-06 00:00:00

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 6, 18G9.

Sir CHARLES TREVELYAN has made out so strong
a case in favour of the new site proposed for the
Palace of Justice, that before any further steps shall
have been taken in the matter it is earnestly to be
hoped that the whole of the plans will be subjected
to a most careful and searching reconsideration. We
say this perforce ; we say this in spite of our strong
disinclination at the first blush to entertain the idea
of any change so complete and radicals after the
purchase of the Carey-street site, and not only the
purchase of that site, but the enormous and at pre-
sent, of course, the unsightly clearance which has
been there effected. Remembering that £BOO,OOO
have already been expended in clearing the site al-
ready selected, it is natural enough, however, that at
the first mention of its abandonment for another
should be regarded with a sort of instinctive reluc-
luctance, and even repugnance, as a suggestion in
itself almost amounting to the preposterous. When
it is borne in mind, nevertheless, that an
additional grant of at least £700,000 has
already been recommended by the Commissioners
for the purchase of additional blocks of buildings im-
mediately adjoining, making, with the previous ex•
penditure upon that site, a gross total of £1,500,000
—and remembering that that very sum of £1,500,000
is actually, as it happens, the estimated coat of the
proposed new site upon the Thames Embankment—
common sense seems to say at once that, after all, the
proposition of a complete change of site altogether is
not by any means so preposterous as it has been sup-
posed ! That it is, in point of fact, not preposterous
at all I Practically as Sir CHARLES TREVELYAN puts
it the two sites are estimated as costing identi-
cally the same amount—namely, £1,500,000. All
the additional expense that would be incurred
thereupon by a change of site being now adven-
tured upon, would, as Sir CHARLES adds, accrue
through any loss that might arise upon the sale of
the Carey-street site upon its being discarded through
a preference, by after-thought, for this newly-pro-
posed site upon the Thames Embankment. But even
there, upon that point, we are disposed to agree with
him, on a more mature consideration of the matter,
that any loss which might thereupon be incurred
would be in a great measure counterbalanced
by the risk we should most certainly rtua

of having to adventure upon a still larger
1 expenditure, supposing it determined to abide
by the site already selected, namely, that to the north
of the Strand and to the south of Carey-street,
Lincoln's-inn-Fields—in order to make it suitable
in every way to the purposes to which it
would have to be applied—in order, in other
words, to secure to the Palace of Justice, when
it should have been there erected, or while it
should even be there erecting, adequate light and
adequate ventilation, as well as broad and suitable
approaches from the east and the west no less than
upon the north and south. Accept for the sake of
argument the notion of its erection upon the
space now indicated as within reach upon the
Thames Embankment, and the advantages of the
latter become at once perfectly obvious, and, as it
now seems to us, entirely undeniable. Listen here,
to what is really and truly the gist of all, Sir
CHARLES TREVELYAN'S elaborate and comprehensive
argument. "The Embankment," he says, and says
quite truly, "is now the real ' Strand.' " There is no
ventilator or reflector like a tidal river, and it has
this peculiar quality, that the open space cannot be
curtailed. The site bounded by the Thames Em-
bankment, the Strand, the Temple, and Somer-
set-house is the most central in London ; and yet,
for space, and light, and air, it could hardly be
better if it were in the heart of the country. En-
mediately in front is a road 100 ft. wide, with a rail-
way underneath, which will furnish constant and
rapid conveyance to and from all parts of the town ;
and beyond the road is the river, with steam passen-
ger boats constantly plying to and fro. The com-
munication with the City would be infinitely more
convenient by the new street going direct to the
Mansion-house from the end of the Embankment,
than it would be by Cheapside, St. Paul's, Ludgate-
hill, Fleet-street, and the Strand, to the Law Courts
on the Strand and Carey-street site." All this is
perfectly undeniable. But so also is what follows
immediately, thereupon, as when Sir CHARLES
TREVELTAN adds, "The connection with the Houses
of Parliament and the public offices by the Thames
Embankment would be equally direct. The south
side of the river is joined to the north side by several
railway and other bridges ; and the general facility
of communication will be much increased by the new
road on the Southern Embankment and by the
wide street which has been opened from West-
minster to London-bridge. On the other side a new
street would connect the Law Courts with Holborn.
The space on the Thames Embankment is so ample
that a carriage road might be made, with an easy
gradient, which would sct down tho judges and bar-
risters at the doors of their Courts ; while, on the
Strand side, the Courts might be on a level with the
street. The site already acquired is seven and a
half acres. The Thames Embankment site is nine
and a half acres, and every foot upon it can bo built
upon. We should be able to take full advantage of
Mr. STREET'S façade towards the Strand, because,
having both sides of the street in our own possession,
except the Holy well-street block, the Strand might be
widened to the necessary extent ; and, on the other
side, towards the Thames, we could erect a building
worthy of our notice."' As for the superior splen-
dour of the proposed new site, not a word need be said
upon that point. It is only necessary to contrast the
two propositions, to recognize almost at a glance the
immense superiority of the site upon the Thames
Embankment.

IT is to be hoped that the general and well-earned
ridicule which the last act of the London University
Senate has called forth may induce that body to
reconsider the tenour and probable effect of their
recent regulations. The great centre of English
middle-class education long since attained a; position
of recognised usefulness. The London University was
founded for thepurpose of encouxaging a highercourae