222 



THE CIVIL EiNGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[JUNE) 



alteration sliull be made without the sanction of the Commissioners of Woods 

 or the Lords of the Treasury ?— Yes ; without the sanction of the Lords of 

 the Treasury, or the Commissioners of Woods and Forests, or myself. 



Mr. Barry then hands in as evidence an extract from the contract 

 for the works, entered into by Messrs. Grissell and Peto, which fully 

 bore out tlie statement above made by Mr. Barry ; and at this portion 

 of the investigation, which closed the architect's examination for the 

 third day, we have only one more observation to moke, and that is, 

 that we fully agree with Mr. Barry, that the Government exercised a 

 sound discretion in leaving to him the carrying out of the details of 

 the internal arrangements of the building, and all the alterations con- 

 sequent upon the subsequent additions and the increased accommoda- 

 tion which was required. 



Dr. Reid, whose inventions in warming and ventilating buildings 

 are intended to be applied to the New Houses, was called on then to 

 give his evidence, and though his examination consisted very much 

 of wliat lawyers call "leading questions," evidently with a view of 

 endeavouring to make him impugn the practicability of the perfect 

 application of the principles of his invention, to certain alleged ar- 

 rangements of the structure referred to, he does not admit the exist- 

 ence of any difficulties that might not be overcome even in the cases 

 put to him. his testimony went generally into an explanation of the 

 principles of liis plans of heating and ventilating, and he concludes 

 his evidence by observing that all the smoke of the building, none of 

 which would he at all seen, would be carried off by one shaft, except 

 from a few apartments of great altitnde and minor importance, if the 

 plan formerly adopted by the Committee was carried into execution. 



During the greater portion of the time of the sitting of the Com- 

 mittee on the next day that it re-assembled, they were occupied in 

 readitig over the correspondence and documents handed in by Mr. 

 Barry, to which we have above alluded, and which were received by 

 him from the respective boards, authorizing the general alterations 

 and changes to which reference had been made so often in the course 

 of the present enquiry. 



The following few little facts relative to the comparative height of 

 different parts of the building, as stated by Mr. Barry towards the 

 close of the fourth day's proceeding may be interesting to our readers. 

 The general line of the building was not intended to be the same 

 throughout ; there was a difference of between three and four feet, to 

 be on the ground level between the north and south sides of the 

 houses, which we take it means the river side and the land side. A 

 height of about sixteen feet was to be maintained between the ground 

 floor and that of the |)rincipal one. The principal floor was to be 

 twenty feet above Trinity high water mark, but a portion of the base- 

 ment story which was to be called the crypt was to be in part below 

 Trinity high water mark, but not below the river. 



On the last day upon which the Committee met, which was the 

 6th of May, Mr. Barry's examination was again resumed by a series 

 of questions, directed as heretofore with a view of eliciting from liim 

 an admission if possible, that the alterations which he had made, and 

 about which so much had already been said, had been done without 

 authority, because he had not consulted any one with respect to their 

 details. But their Lordships did not succeed in extracting any such 

 concession from the witness, who maintained all through that any al- 

 terations he had introduced, were either in pursuance of direct orders, 

 or the consequence of them. If he had not any direct authority, he 

 had, as he conceived, an implied authority for his acts ; and as he had 

 never been called upon to consult or explain to any person as to how 

 he was to effect the changes proposed, in detail, he had not conceived 

 himself bound to do so. 



With reference to another subject connected also with the subse- 

 quent arrangements which he was expected to make, and devote con- 

 sideration to, he is asked ; 



Have you made, up to the present moment, any alteration in consequence 

 of ciimmunicaiion .\ith the commission of fine arts? — I have proposed an 

 alieraiion. in consequence ol a regret expressed by the Commissioners of 

 Fine Arts, ihat there were not sufficiently large spaces for paintings ; name- 

 ly, tlmt a chanpe slinuM be made in the design of the Victoria Hall or Gal- 

 lery to aHord the large spices lor pictures which are wished for. 



Docs that occasion my material alteration ? — It makes no alteration in the 

 arrangement of tin' plan ; it is only an alteration in point of taste. I beg to 

 take ihis opponuni'y to observe, iliat there are various reasons which in- 

 duce me Ui shift ihe roLjing roum : one the difficulty of lighting it, in conse- 

 quence of I lie roofs being coniinueil from the south front to the central tower 

 upon 1 ne levtl, tur ihe purpose if carryi g cut the adopted mode of ventila- 

 lion, and the siill greaier cliBiculty of lighting the cross corridor. I beg to 

 F ly that in my opinion ihe^e are alterations exceedingly to the advantage of 

 I he building. 



We shall trouble our readers with only one more extract from the 



evidence given upon this occasion — it comprises the termination of 

 these proceedings. It is the raciest, as well as the 



Last scene of all 

 That ends this strange and eventful history 



And furnishes a very fair specimen of the spirit in which the entire 

 investigation was carried on, as well as the spirit and independence 

 with which the inquisitorial style adopted towards the individual as- 

 sailed, has been so manfully met. 



While their Lordships were deliberating on the evidence, of course 

 Mr. Barry was orderecl to withdraw. The Report however goes on 

 to inform us that in a brief space afterwards, — 



The witness is again called in, and is informed, that Ihe Committee have 

 come to the folloHing resolution: viz.. Resolved, that it appears from the 

 evidence of Charles Barry, Esquire, that during the progress of the building 

 of the Houses of Parliament certain departures have taken place from the 

 original [dans approved of by the Committees of the two houses of Parlii- 

 ment, and ordered to be carried into execution, under the directiun of the 

 Boards of Treasury and of Works, which alterations have been made by Mr. 

 Barry without any authority from either of those Boards, to which circum- 

 stance they think it right to call the particular attention of this House. 



(^fr. Barry.)— I beg to be permitted to say that it is not true that I have 

 made alterations without authority. I have only admitted that as to the 

 mode of making those alterations I had no authority. 



Your argument is, that because you were directed to provide certain things 

 there was an implied authority to do other certain things which became ne- 

 cessary ; but you have not submitted those plans?— Yes. 



Did any of the original plans which were laid before the Commissioners 

 (ontain the column in the very centre of the Victoria Tower round which the 

 Queen's carriage w as to turn, landing Her on the eastern side, and then going 

 out through the archway to the south? — In the plan approved by the Com- 

 missioners ihat was the case, but in the plan approved by the Committees of 

 Parliament that was not the ca.se. 



Did not Lord .Sudeley often converse with you on the impractibility of your 

 plan, and did not you as often say that you were correct? — Very likely, and 

 1 am not sure now that I was not right. 



Then why was a change made ? — Because I have since had the means 

 of ascertaining all the difficulties of the case. I have communicated with 

 the Master of the Horse, anil have had an opportunily of ascertaining cor- 

 rectly the space in which the horses of the state carriage can turn j and 

 though I beleive they might have been made to turn in the space originally 

 allotted tor the purpose, yet if the horses were restive there might perhaps be 

 some difficulty. 



Still you told the Committee you thought you were right ? — I still think 

 that the carriage and the horses might have gone round the pillar, but from 

 tlie information since received 1 thought it better to give up that arrange- 

 ment, and avoid all risk. 



You say that it is not true that you made these alterations without any 

 authority ? — I do most explicitly. 



Supposing the Committee were to insert any "sufficient" authority?— 

 That of course is a matter for your Lordships to determine as you may think 

 fit. I conceive that I had sufficient authority, and have fully stated the 

 grounds upon uhich I think so. 



On that point you will have to defend yourself to the Board of Works? — 

 J am quite prepared to do sii, ii' necessary. 



And so ended this prolonged and extraordinary investigation. It 

 will be for the public to judge how far their Lordships were justified 

 by the circumstances in arriving at the conclusion to which they came, 

 or agreeing to the resolution they have adopted. That Mr. Barrv has 

 passed most triumphantly through as trying an ordeal as one man 

 could well be put to by his fellow man, we have not a second opinion. 

 That he has told the Committee bluntly and boldly the truth, thewhole 

 truth, and nothing but the truth, can hardly be denied. And he has as 

 bluntly and boldly told them that it mas not true that he had made altera- 

 tions niihoitt authority, and that he should be prepared to defend him- 

 self, if necessary, to the Board of Works. For ourselves we have but 

 little to add to what we have already observed on this subject. The 

 entire case resolves itself into a very narrow compass — it may be 

 briefly summed up thus. Mr. Charles Barry drew a plan, for an erection 

 upon a space of ground of 5^ acres, which was approved of. That 

 area has increased by 2 acres, and changes came in governments, and 

 new ideas struck the powers that were, and increased accommodation 

 for various persons and things not before thought of was required, and 

 then came the application of new principles for warming and venti- 

 lating, and subsequently the consideration of the embellishment of the 

 house for the purpose of encouragement of the Fine Arts. All these 

 matters necessarily called for great and important changes, and as Mr. 

 Barry well knew, that he alone would be held responsible in the end, 

 for anything defective in the whole, he gave all these changes his 



