The Sun.
London, England, 1835-02-18 00:00:00

THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT.

Yesterday the neighbourhood of the Houses was thronged
with caravans, conveying tables, forms, desks, boxes for the
messengers in the lobbies, &c., and with carriages with Peers
and Commoners, and their friends and families, to view the
Houses. The officers and messengers of both Houses, pur-
suant to the arrangements made on Monday and yesterday,
were at their several posts ; so that the indiscriminate show-
ing of the Houses was stopped, and views were not conceded,
except by means of cards and orders for such purpose from
influential persons. The Houses look now exceedingly well,
all the furniture, tables, chandeliers, benches, &c., being in
their places ; and yesterday the Royal Arms were placed
above the Speaker's chair. The general appearance of the
House of Commons is deemed preferable to that of the Lords,
on account of its openness and spaciousness. The House of
Lords, on account of its narrowness, looks confined, but the
arrangements there, though on a small scale, are very com-
plete, and somewhat showy. The House of Lords has a
richer appearance, in consequence of the Gothic character of
its roof, the fronts of the peers' galleries, and the deep red
colour of the furniture, papering, &e. ; while the Commons'
House is conspicuously neat and simple, all the wood-work,
the benches, galleries, &c., together with the sides of the
House, being of oak, or of oak colour, and the coverings of the
benches, &c., green leather ; the contrast is equally striking
and agreeable.
The general entrance of the House of Lords for the Peers,
as previously stated, will be at the Royal gateway and along
the Royal gallery, but for those Peers who may choose to
alight at th more open space by the Commons' door, at the
stone buildings, there is raised, within the wooden palings, a
platform and railing leading from the Commons to the Lords'
entrance. There is, as heretofore, a separate entrance for the
spiritual Peers,—namely, at the only piece of the piazza that is
left, which is about the spot where the Peers used to alight
from their carriages, and shortly before approaching the Royal
entrance or gateway. At the side of the Royal gallery a room
is appointed for the Bishops to robe in.
The Speaker will approach the lobby from a passage formed
by one side of the cloisters, and which is directly under his
former means of entering the lobby of St. Stephen's. The
remaining three sides of the cloisters are parted off by walls.
The Speaker will descend a staircase from his official resi-
dence to enter the Cloister-passage, and having passed along
it, he will have to ascend a zig-zag staircase to get into
the present lobby. At the top of this staircase there is a room
for his secretary, and which will afford accommodation for the
Speaker, should he have any instructions to give previously to
entering the house. There is also a large and commodious
room for the Speaker behind the Speaker's chair, for him to
retire into when the house may happen to be in committee ;
but there is at present no means for him to go thence to his
own residence, except he pass down the house, or go across the
lower end of the House of Lords, or pass into the street, or
cross Cotton-garden. In fact, at the Commons, with the
exception of the main chamber, there is a dreadful deficiency
of rooms for offices, &c. The journal-office, the engrossing-
office, the committee clerks' offices, &c., are as far off as Great
George-street and Parliament-street ; and as to Committee-
rooms, not above three or four are left, so if there should be,
as there have often been heretofore, especially after a gene-
ral election, owing to the disputed returns, thirty or forty
Committees in one day, no trifling difficulty will occur to
Mid rooms for them to meet in. At the Lord's aid cannot be
afforded, as, in consequence of the total destruction of the
rooms and offices over the Piazza, in Palace-yard, many of the
officers are obliged to be accommodated in the new range of
buildings behind the Nouse of Lords, and which escaped
destruction,
The Commons' Library is over what constituted the I;tmg
Gallery. It is much smaller than the former lib'-ary. It is
neatly and commodiouslyAtted up, with tables, &c., and is
appr4achable front the Members' Gallery on the Ministerial
side of the House, but there is no getting into that gallery,
except by stairs at the lower end of the House ; or the
Speaker, when put of the chair, could retreat to his residence
via the Library.