436 
was begun by Napoleon, and has since 
been completed in Paris—in which the 
proportions and general style of archi- 
tecture have alone been copied; but 
the. fine sculptural frieze, &c. not at- 
tempted. 
On a line with the front of this 
new Parthenon, on either side, in the 
space between it and the opposite 
sides of the square, already described, 
are to be erected, on emblematic pe- 
destals, statues of his late and present 
Majesty.* The imagination of the rea- 
der will easily suggest, even’ from this 
imperfect sketch, an accumulative range 
and expanse of architectural grandeur, 
of which modern Europe can present 
no rival example. 
But this is by no means all. The 
close courts and dirty lanes on the 
north side and eastward of St. Martin’s 
church—the harbours, at present, of 
more nuisances than one—are to be 
levelled ; and a spacious street is to be 
opened, which will not only communi- 
cate, in a more direct. and eligible way, 
with the neighbourhood of the Winter 
Theatres, but will be extended to the 
British Museum :—thus facilitating the 
free communication, or forming, rather, 
a ready channel of reciprocal inter- 
course, between the grand depositories 
of Art, of Intellectual Recreation, and 
of Science. The British Museum itself 
is also to undergo an extensive and 
magnificent metamorphosis—to be en- 
larged and re-edified, ‘and thrown open 
to the view; so that the building itself, 
with its surrounding gardens and. plan- 
tations, may take rank among the archi- 
tectural embellishments of what may 
almost be called the New Metropolis. 
On the Pall-Mall extremity of this 
line of magnificent improvements, alte- 
rations of equal splendour, and of a like 
liberal taste, are also to be made. The 
facade at Carlton Palace is to be taken 
down—its place supplied by an open 
palisade—the void space of the court 
to be planted with ornamental shrubs— 
the palace itself to be enlarged and ele- 
vated.—[We are among the number of 
those who hope, that, if its site is still 
to continue the place of Royal residence, 
the house will be taken entirely down, 
and a palace of suitable grandeur erected 
in its place.|—Two suitable wings are to 
* We hope they. are not to be West- 
macoted—or, as a French virtuoso, per- 
haps, might pronounce it, Vest-me-coaled/— 
like his Grace of Bedford, &c. in Russell- 
“square, &e. &c. 
Improvements in the Neighbourhood of Chaving-Cross. 
heart of Europe. 
(June I, 
be added, in Pall-Mall, to the right and 
left of the present line of boundary: 
but whether these are to be assigned to 
the purposes of the arts, the one as a 
National Gallery of Paintings, and the 
other of Statuary, is not yet determined, 
The first suggestion of his Majesty, we 
understand, was such; but Sir Thomas 
Lawrence, whose opinion is much lis- 
tened to upon these subjects, is under- 
stood to incline decidedly to the re- 
commendation, that the galleries of Art 
and of Science should be united in the 
same range of buildings; and, accord- 
ingly, that the national dépots of paint- 
ing and sculpture should be appended 
to the British Museum. 
Other parts of the improvements, in 
the neighbourhood of Carlton House 
and St. James’s, are, it seems, more 
definitively arranged. The disposition 
of the Park is to be essentially altered. 
The canal is to be widened fifteen feet ; 
a road or mall, for the accommodation 
both of those who ride and those who 
walk for their amusement, is to be 
made, and planted on each side; anda 
handsonie stone bridge is to be thrown 
across, in the place where the tasteless 
wooden bridge for some time stood, to 
facilitate the communication between 
the neighbourhoods on the opposite 
sides; and Buckingham-house (which is’ 
again to become a royal residence) is to 
be enlarged and re-edified, in a style of 
grandeur correspondent with the sur- 
rounding scenery. At the same time, 
the present Mall, to the boundary of 
the existing park-paling, is to be taken 
into the royal gardens;. but, instead of 
being enclosed, as the gardens now are, 
with a wall, is to be fenced only with 
an open palisade: so that the gardens 
and plantations, with the palaces they 
partly enshroud, will become part of 
the picturesque scenery thrown open for 
the visual gratification of the public. 
_ The same palisading system is also to 
be adopted with respect to Hyde Park: 
upon the intended improvements of 
which, we shall not, at present, enlarge. 
But it will be obvious, that the range of 
the three parks, St. James’s, the Green 
and Hyde Parks, thus united and im- 
proved, will form an area of healthful 
recreation and picturesque beauty, cor- 
respondent with the splendour of the 
architectural improvements, and worthy 
to be ranked among the splendid embel- 
lishments of the metropolis of a mighty 
nation, which, in more points of view 
than one, may justly be regarded as the 
ORIGINAL 
