DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1213#0174
132 TALLIs's ILLUSTRATED LONDOS;
Commons, which body had had before that time no set-
tled place of assembling. The old House of Commons
was formed within the chapel, chiefly by a floor raised
above the pavement, and an inner roof considerably below
the ancient one. This fictitious ceiling concealed its
richly-decorated roof, and its oil-paintings were screened
by an oaken wainscot. In the year 1800, on the union
with Ireland, to provide accommodation for the addi-
tional members, the house was enlarged, by taking down
the entire side walls, except the buttresses, which sus-
tained the ancient roof, and erecting others beyond, by
which more seats were gained. Upon the removal of
the panelling, some of the old paintings and decorations
of St. Stephen's Chapel were discovered. Galleries were
first erected in the House of Commons in the reign of
Queen Anne, bv Sir Christopher Wren.
On the 16th of October, 1834, both houses of Parlia-
ment, over which the ravages of time had passed harm-
lessly, which had escaped unscathed from the explosive
levelling of Guy Fawkes, and from the dilapidating
mania of the Roundheads, were destroyed by fire, an
element which has been more than anything else the
herald and precursor of metropolitan improvements. Talk
of sanitary commissions, indeed! how little have they
effected to promote the health and comfort of society,
compared with the terrific agency of fire! Fire it was
that swept away the old wooden penthouse habitations of
London in the Stuart days, and with these ill-ventilated,
crowded, and noisome dwellings, the lurking seeds of pes-
tilence vanished. For the widening of the streets, the
construction of houses of brick, and other domiciliatory
advantages we are indebted to fire, which, like a pioneer,
levelled the obstacles to improvement. Fire, by removing
prescriptive nuisances, suggests a better employment of
the ground which they cumbered; and we have no doubt
that neighbourhoods which now, under the authority of
tardy acts of parliament, are assuming a more respec-
table character, and attractive appearance, would have
Commons, which body had had before that time no set-
tled place of assembling. The old House of Commons
was formed within the chapel, chiefly by a floor raised
above the pavement, and an inner roof considerably below
the ancient one. This fictitious ceiling concealed its
richly-decorated roof, and its oil-paintings were screened
by an oaken wainscot. In the year 1800, on the union
with Ireland, to provide accommodation for the addi-
tional members, the house was enlarged, by taking down
the entire side walls, except the buttresses, which sus-
tained the ancient roof, and erecting others beyond, by
which more seats were gained. Upon the removal of
the panelling, some of the old paintings and decorations
of St. Stephen's Chapel were discovered. Galleries were
first erected in the House of Commons in the reign of
Queen Anne, bv Sir Christopher Wren.
On the 16th of October, 1834, both houses of Parlia-
ment, over which the ravages of time had passed harm-
lessly, which had escaped unscathed from the explosive
levelling of Guy Fawkes, and from the dilapidating
mania of the Roundheads, were destroyed by fire, an
element which has been more than anything else the
herald and precursor of metropolitan improvements. Talk
of sanitary commissions, indeed! how little have they
effected to promote the health and comfort of society,
compared with the terrific agency of fire! Fire it was
that swept away the old wooden penthouse habitations of
London in the Stuart days, and with these ill-ventilated,
crowded, and noisome dwellings, the lurking seeds of pes-
tilence vanished. For the widening of the streets, the
construction of houses of brick, and other domiciliatory
advantages we are indebted to fire, which, like a pioneer,
levelled the obstacles to improvement. Fire, by removing
prescriptive nuisances, suggests a better employment of
the ground which they cumbered; and we have no doubt
that neighbourhoods which now, under the authority of
tardy acts of parliament, are assuming a more respec-
table character, and attractive appearance, would have