APPLICATIONS OF TIMBER. 187 



of tjiis are of course now obliterated, and the exist- 

 in"^ hail is lelt without even an intended rival. It is 

 t\vo''hundredahd seventy-five feet long-, and seventy- 

 four feet wide ; and, thouo-h the orig^inal proportions 

 have been a little deran<red by the raising of the floor, 

 — which becainenecessary, as the vast accumulation of 

 ships in the river downwards, probably the deposi- 

 tion of, silt in the bed of the river, and certainly the 

 erection of London Bridg-e, (about one hundred 

 years aftgrwards,) caused the old floor to be over- 

 flow cd duri»^ floods, — it is still a graceful structure. 

 The roof of Westminster-hall is formed of chesnut, 

 and does njot tippeiir to be in the least decayed. This 

 great hall was^however, enlarged, ana had its pre- 

 sent roof .constructed, in the time of Richard II., 

 wlio, in the pijofi^sion of that expenditure which led 

 to Wat Tylers insurrection, is reported to have 

 feasted ten thousand guests under this. roof. West- 

 minstcr-hall is now set apart for the most solemn 

 state purposes, — such as the trial of persons im- 

 peached by the Commons ; and banquets at the 

 coronations of kings. 



The Parliament- Iwuse in Edinburgh, though a 

 much smaller and more recent structure than West- 

 minster-hall, has also a fine roof of the ancient de- 

 scription. The Parliament-house is one hundred 

 and twenty-two feet in length, and forty-nine in 

 breadth. The erection of it was completed in the 

 year 1640; it was built at an expense of 1600/., 

 by the corporation of Edinburgh ; and is used partly 

 as an ante-room to the courts of justice, and partly 

 as a place of resort for the inhabitants. The 

 trfasses and roof, generally speaking, are of oak ; 

 they have not the massive grandeur of those in 

 Westminster -hall, and the elFect is injudiciously 

 broken by gilding. 



