The Sun.
London, England, 1867-08-28 00:00:00

assistant engineer, to the Fox ; W. G. Littlejohn,
first-class engineer, to the Dee; and Joseph Monk,
second-class assistant engineer, to the Bristol. -

AN AMERICAN OPINION OF RUSSIA'S

DESTINY.

The Round Table, in its issue of the 10th instant,
discusses the two great Powers of the fature—
Russia and America•—devoting its first number to

the Muscovite. The error in the argument is the
danger to which, in the writer's opinion, India is
exposed from the advance of Russian conquest in
Asia. " Once on the Indus, the British dominion

over India will be practically at the mercy of the
Russians," says the Round 7able. Once in London,
England will be practically at the mercy of the

conqueror—or once anywhere, which denotes defeat
on the one side, and victory on the other, it is rea-
sonable to suppose that the position has simply been
the reward of victory. It is very evident, how-
ever, that the Round Table has little practical
knowledge of the position it writes or so fluently.
Them is no other country so guarded by a natural
belt of fortifications as the Peninsula of Hindoo-
stan. From Kurrachee to the Bolan Pass the coun-
try is an impracticable desert, which no civilised
army could cross even if unopposed. From the
Bolan Pass round to the Bay of Bengal the moun-
tains extend in unbroken ridges, covered with
eternal snow, through which there is but one known
road for an army. Of that road—the way through
the Kyber Pass—the English have had an experi-
ence they would be very sorry to repeat. From the
fertile Valley of Peshawur to Herat and Bokhara,
and further still, in other directions, the country is
a mass of sterile rock—of gigantic heights—of nar-
row fertile gorges—inhabited by clans of warlike
Highlanders fanatically attached to the Moslem
faith. The hand of these tribes is, as a rule,

against all others, and there is no possibility of
combining them in a movement, except dictated
by fanaticism, when the green flag is un-
furled and " Allah !" is the cry. A country more

difficult for military operations it would be impos

Bible for the mind of man to conceive, and a country
for itself less worth invading it would not be easy

to point out. We venture to state that if Russia
devoted her whole energy to the conquest of
Affghanistan that she would fail even against the
mountaineers unaided. By conquest we do not
mean the occupation of Herat, Candahar, Cabul, and
Jellalabad, which any strong military power in the
neighbourhood might take, and even hold as mili-
tary posts if the base of operations was not far
distant. What we say is, that by no effort of Russia
could she levy taxes in the Swat and other valleys,
and obtain the recognition and true allegiance of
the clans to the TZAR. Yet it is from this country
as a reliable base only that Russia could attempt
the invasion of India. Even supposing that such
a conquest, or say a combination between the
Christian and Mahommedan races was effected, the
enormous difficulty of supplying the materials of
war from Russia to an army in Affghanistan would
be like New York forwarding supplies overland to
troops operating in Wairussia. We mean as re-
gards the difficulties opposed by nature alone, and
without reference to the insuperable obstacles raised
by the countless hordes of Asiatics whom no treaty
could bind, who regard Christians as the enemies
of GOD, and whose hands are ever raised where an
opportunity to plunder offers. Russia, who was
foiled for a quarter of a century at her own
door by a weak band of Georgians and Circas-
sinus in a comparatively easy country, would
find the conquest of Affghanistan a task be-
yond her powers. It is not many months
since the finest British regiments, under one of the
most dashing Indian generals, got an unpleasant
taste of Affghan metal in a small campaign, where
they lost fearfully. The attempt was made to
root out a band of fugitive Sepoys who had or-
ganised themselves as a robber community in a
strong fort of the country. There was no wish
whatever on the part of the British to disturb the
inhabitants, but they chose to resist the intruders
and to protect the dwellers on their soil. It is ab-
surd to suppose that Russian troops can achieve
what the best English regiments fail in doing.
Even the Russians would claim but an equality,
and however mismanaged may have been the war
in the Crimea, it at any rate demonstrated that an
English regiment was something better than a Rus-
sian in a stand-up fight. The Round Table goes on
to say that " when on the Indus, the Russians can
mass the necessary troops on the frontier, and avail
themselves of all the ineradicable discontents of the
native population to destroy the handful of troops
that now controls the uncounted millions of natives.
It would be strange when this time comes, and it is
not far off, if England does not come to the con-
clusion that Christianity is better than Mahomme-
dan barbarity in Turkey as well as in India." We
are surprised at the Round Table falling into so
great an error as is shown by these and the few fol-
lowing sentences. It makes Russia, the champion
of Christianity, opposing England as the champion of
Mahommedanism, yet it gives to Russia the support of
the most bigoted Mahommedans in the world, while
it opposes the Mahommedan champion with all the
weight of Mahommedan enmity. The real danger
L of British India is exactly the reverse of the case as
I put by the Round Table. That danger consists of a
Power like Russia placing itself at the head of a
great religious movement that would combine and
direct the races of Central Asia against the Kaffir
rule in India. That is—that a Moslem invasion,
organised and supported by a'strong military empire,
is the true peril of British rule in Asia, and this, we
presume to be one of the reasons of England's great
tolerance, which the Round Table by implication con-
demns. There could be nothing more easy at this
moment than for England to raise these tribes
againit Russian conquests. Mission after mission
from Bokhara and other parts have waited on the
*lndian Viceroy to suggest this movement ; and Sir
JOHN LAWRENCE has been compelled to withstand
a strong pressure. Instead of Russia threatening
India—if the. Governor-General but held up his
finger he might kindle Central Asia into a blaze that
would roll back the Moscovite into his deserts
of Siberia. Does the Round Table suppose that the
Christian conquests of Russia meet with the sym-
pathy of the Mahommedan nations against whom
they are directed. If thers, be an eradicable dis-
content in India against British rule--now one of
the oldest powers of the Peninsula—is it reasonable
to suppose that there is nodiseontent in the Northern
nations against Russian rule, that of a new intruder ?
The TZAR would indeed have a charmed sys-
tem of government if he could grasp the
greatest continent of the earth without rais-
ing dislike and opposition. Yet this writer not
only leaps over all natural obstacles, which are in
truth the most stupendous known, but smooths
away the still greater impediments arising from the
enmity of the inhabitants. What the result
would be of a contest on the plains of India we can-
not pretend to predict. But these facts are patent :
—England's base being on the sea, is better far
than that of Russia. Indian soldiers are mere
mercenaries, to be procured in overwhelming
numbers for any cause, provided the inducement
of pay is forthcoming. There are British officers
in abundance who know how to organise and lead
these levies. The railway system of India, now
rapidly being completed, will place the ports of Cal-
cutta, Bombay, and Kurrachee in direct communi-
cation with the Punjaub. The two-thirds and
more of Europe, and the whole of Asia, are but a
dream of the writer, at which he may grow giddy,
though
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tory already in her possession, and not by wild and
vague conquest, which can but have the effect of
detracting from her strength. The position of
America is quite different. Her's is a mission to
occupy and to civilise uninhabited wastes, not to
conquer hostile tribes. We venture to say that
Russia's weakness will be in proportion to her ex-
tension of territory, and the Tzar. will be indeed
giddy if he is so ill-advised as to attempt to grasp
all Asia in his hand. We believe the Government
at St. Petersburg is well aware that its real danger
in Asia lies in the same cause as that of Great
Britain—the danger of a great Mahommedan re-
vival, the uprising of 10,000 tribes under some
prophet sent by GOD ; and as there is room for both

the Chitstian nations, the day, instead of being near,
is far distant when these Powers will act in enmity
instead of in concord. The true policy of both is'

not to clash, but if they do clash, the danger to
Russia, would be greater than to England.—Anglo-

American 7imes.

WESTMINSTER PALACE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE " PALL MALL GAZETTE."

SIR,—After allowing nearly two months to elapse
since my statement first appeared in the Building
News, ,[r. E. M. Barry meets the question by drag-
ging to light an old letter of my father's, dated
September 3, 1845. This is his sole reply. We
had a right to expect that the denial, if any could
be made, would have come in his own words, as he

Ls the architect employed to carry on his father's

work, and must be•fully cognizant of everything
connected with it. What he fails to disprove, allow
me, without further delay, to substantiate.
1. Mr. Barry is quite premature in supposing
that my father's letter in any way contradicts my
statement. He must surely be aware that the de-

signs for the Houses of Parliament were made at
a period long anterior to the date of the letter,
which refers to one particular arrangement made
with Sir C. Barry, " with the approval of the Go.
vernment," for certain works connected with the
internal fittings and decoration of the Houses.
It bears no reference to anything my father had
done ten years previously. It was in 1835 that
he made. for Sir C. Barry the designs which ob-

tained the competition. He had previously been
engaged in preparing designs for the same com-
petition for Mr. Gillespie Graham, for which he
received 300 guineas ; and he did not accede to Sir
Charles's application until he had obtained Mr.
Graham's consent. In order that my father's touch
should not be detected in two separate sets of

drawings, many of the designs were redrawn in
pencil by Sir Charles, as Mr. Talbot Bury can
testify. For these designs, which included the
whole of the elevations and sections, together with
some of the views, my father received 400 guineas.
It is clear, therefore, that the arrangement spoken
of in the letter of September, 1845, had nothing
whatever to do with previous works. The origin
of that letter will appear presently.
2. In confirmation of these statements I beg
to refer to the eighteenth chapter of Mr. Ferrey's
Biography, and to the following extracts from the
diaries thehese
:d—iaryBforr.l.Bh36d,
August 2.—Mr. Barry all day. August 2. mis e
for Mr. Barry.
amongsto f
otherin Y entries,father occur ln t
In October he seems to have commenced work-
During that month I find
ing the detail drawings.
the following entries:--
Sent five drawings to Mr. Barry, King's Staircase
Robing-room, Lords (2).
These are referred to in Sir C. Barry's letter,
given in Mr. Ferrey's Life, p. 245.
Nov. 6.—A1l the week on Mr. Barry's drawings. Mr.
Barry came. Nov. 12.—Sent eleven drawings to Mr.
Barry, porch, hall, central lobby, stairs, witness room,
King's tower (2), entrance hall (2). Nov. 26.—Eleven
drawings to Mr. Barry, court-yard front, ditto water
front, upper part of ditto, turrets, upper part of section
of tower, Commons' entrance, Speakers' Court entrance.
And later on in the year :
Drawings done at Mr. Barr "s. Two interiors of
library ; compartment, river front (second time); compart-
ment, land front (second time) ; upper part of centre
(second time) ; two great oriels, upper part above ditto,
end towers, part above ditto, upper part of bell tower,
lantern of ditto, angle turrets, south gables of West-
minster Hall, lower part of great tower, middle story of
ditto, upper part of ditto, drawing on vellum of King's
tower, entrance hall from water, throne and end of House
of Lords, end. of Speaker's chair, House of Commons,
Peers' entrance hall and dining-room.
These entries sufficiently prove that my father's
work embraced every portion of the new building.
3. Now then comes the real explanation of my
father's letter. After all these designs were made
and had passed into Sir C. Barry's possession, he
called up from Birmingham the late Mr. J. Thomas,
who had been working on the Grammar School
from my father's designs. To Mr. Thomas was
exclusively entrusted the execution of my father's
designs, which were most ungenerously withdrawn
from his control, and he was temporarily ignored
and thrust on one side. This caused him so much
annoyance, that when Sir Charles found himself
unable to proceed without my father's aid, and
renewed his application for a fresh supply of de-
signs, my father refused point-blank to work for
him, except on condition of holding an indepen-
dent official position under Government, to secure
him from any future indecision and caprice. This
Sir Charles was compelled to concede, and it was
in consequence of my father's appointment that
reports which seemed derogatory to Sir Charles's
position arose and were circulated. Hence the
letter upon which Mr. E. M. Barry now relies, and
which bears upon its very face unmistakeable
evidence of being written at Sir C. Barry's soli-
citation for his own peculiar advantage.
4. In conjunction with these facts, it is worthy
of especial notice that Sir C. Barry destroyed all
my father's letters to him, and that seventy-six
letters of Sir Charles's to my father, which were
at his (Sir Charles's) request placed by me in his
hands for perusal, previous to being made use of
by Mr. Ferrey in compiling his biography, were
retained by Sir Charles and never returned to
me. Notwithstanding his repeated promises, all
my applications to him were useless, and on one
pretence or another evaded.
'One letter, however, dated October 22, 1836,
remains in my possession. It is given in Mr.
Ferrey's Biography, p. 243, and happily is quite
sufficient of itself to prove the character of the
correspondence, if not the very important fact
which I have recently advanced, and now reiterate,
that my father was the actual architect of the
Houses of Parliament, that his was the master
mind which conceived, and his the hand which por-
trayed, their manifold glories, but that " tulit alter
honores." This statement would be incom-
plete without giving my father's reason for not
competing in his own name. It was simply this,
that being a Catholic he was under the idea that
he had no chance of success. Ile all along aban-
doned himself to this impression, which, rightly or
wrongly, I have heard him say, was fostered by
Sir Charles Barry.
In conclusion, I may add that no one regretted
more than my father the period of architecture
which was selected as the only one likely to take
at the time, and be the means of introducing a
better order of things later on. Nothing pained
him so much as the sinking of the building to its
present river level, and its featureless, shadowless
front. "Itis a grand failure," he said, " but it
was that or nothing." I need, however, scarcely
say that the centre gable or the north wing was not
my father's, nor the contemptible termination of
the Victoria Tower.—Yours faithfully,
E. WELBY PUGIN.
21, Savile-row, August 12.

Mr. Pugin's rejoinder to Mr. Barry, which ap-
pears in another portion of our columns, cannot be
allowed to pass without one or two remarks. The
extracts from his father's diaries show that he
worked upon all the details of the building, which
is not denied. But what we want to know is, the
extent of the work which he thus bestowed, which
is not indicated by the extracts before us. For
example : "Eleven drawings to Mr. Barry, court-
yard front, ditto water front, upper part of ditto,
turrets, Commons' entrance," &c., may mean that
the actual design of these portions of the building
was the work of Mr. Pugin, or it may mean that
he merely carried out in the details of mouldings,
foliage, and decoration, the general designs supplied
to him for the purpose by Mr. Barry. No doubt
it is most desirable that the question should be
settled, both for the sake of Pugin's fame and
of Barry's fame ; and as the reputation of every
great artist is a matter of public interest, so far
are the public concerned in the settlement. But
Mr. Pugin's assertion, in which we have no doubt
he is perfectly sincere, raises a question of far
more importance, both to the architectural pro-
fession and to the general public. If it is really
the fact that the elder Pugin was employed by
Barry to design the whole of the Houses of Parlia-
ment, saving the ground plan, that he was paid
400 guineas for so doing, and that Barry received
the credit of the ma, and 1444 employed M the