A request from Mr. White (on Nov. 20th, 1854) for further information on some points connected with extra services remained unanswered for six months, and was finally met, at an interview with Mr. Wilson on May 26th, 1855, by a withdrawal of the point relating to Mr. Pugin, an offer of three per cent. on all the expenditure, and of one per cent. for measurement on all works to which measurement applies. A complaint on Sir C. Barry’s behalf of the ex parte statements made by the Board of Works to the Treasury and kept from his knowledge, and a request to be furnished with some information as to their nature, were met, after another month’s delay, by a refusal. On this Mr. White addressed a counter-proposition to the Treasury, in a letter of July 14th, 1855, in which, after alluding to the large amount of “extra services” rendered,[87] and the claim of interest on the large sums which, by the Treasury’s own estimate, were due to the architect, and had been arbitrarily deferred, he proceeds as follows:—“I feel that I am justified in adhering to this part of the claim (for extra services) which I fully believe would extend to a sum of at least 10,000l. The claim for interest, if worked out in detail, would amount to at least as much.”
He then, after asserting strongly Sir C. Barry’s legal right to the whole five per cent., submitted a counter-proposition—viz., to accept the three per cent. commission and one per cent. for measurement on all certified works, provided that the claim for extra services and interest were referred to some eminent person (Sir John Patteson, Sir E. Ryan, or Mr. J. Shaw Lefevre were named), or a specific sum were paid to close all such claims.
It will be, of course, understood that, in lieu of this payment of four per cent. and the extra claims, Sir C. Barry was prepared to accept the regular five per cent., and withdraw all extra claims whatever, which indeed, but for the attempt to diminish what he considered to be his fair remuneration, would never have been insisted upon at all.
To this letter no official reply was given, and accordingly a general reference of the whole question to arbitration was proposed. Both these propositions were rejected. The services for warming, ventilating, &c., previously ignored, were, after a consultation with Lord Palmerston, agreed to by Mr. Wilson, and 500l. per annum offered as a remuneration for them. In other respects the former terms were adhered to; all reference, either general or special, was unequivocally refused; and an offer to accept 5000l. in payment of all other extra services was apparently left unanswered.
The Treasury now proceeded to the final step. A minute was drawn up at a meeting of the Lords (Jan. 29th, 1856), simply reiterating the former terms (except with regard to the warming, &c.), and concluding as follows:—
“My Lords continue to be of opinion that their terms are not only fair but liberal. Considering, moreover, that this matter has gone on for nearly twenty years without any distinct understanding being arrived at, my Lords are of opinion that it is inconsistent with the public interests that it should be any longer delayed, and that they therefore, as far as they are concerned, must record these terms as their final decision on the points at issue. They are pleased, therefore, to direct that no further payment be made on account, until a final settlement of the past and an agreement for the future be concluded.”
This peremptory minute was framed without any further communication with Sir. C. Barry, and presented to Parliament without any of the correspondence on the subject. It was also published in the ‘Times’ of the next day without his receiving any notice of the publication. Accordingly he felt compelled to send to the ‘Times’ next day a brief statement of facts, remarking on each of its clauses in succession.
A last application was made by Sir C. Barry, in an interview with the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Mr. Wilson, in which he advanced a plea that the original 25,000l. fixed by Lord Bessborough represented a percentage, not of three, but of four per cent. The plea was evidently an unfortunate one, entering as it did on statements, which, from the nature of the case, it was almost impossible to substantiate with any certainty, and, moreover, taking the case off the broad grounds on which it stood, to return to an agreement long since dropped on both sides. The Treasury were not slow to avail themselves of the advantage thus given them. In a minute of July 4th, 1856, they again traverse the whole ground, return to the original bargain, and conclude that Sir C. Barry has failed to establish his position; they refer to the correspondence in 1839, and his acceptance under protest of the sum offered, expressing a doubt (which, except in official circles, has not been generally felt) “whether they have not taken too liberal a view of the question;” and state that, as the allowance of one per cent. for measurement, &c., applied to some works for which the services of a surveyor were not ordinarily required, it was more than Sir C. Barry’s due, and should be considered as giving a full equivalent for any extra services.
It was clear, both from the tenor of this decision and the spirit which it manifested, that Sir Charles Barry could hope for nothing more from any friendly negotiation with the Government. Two courses were open to him. He could have brought the question to a legal issue, standing upon the vitiation of the original agreement, and the invariable practice of the profession. Had he been dealing with a private person, he would undoubtedly have done so; and, in looking back on the question, his friends are sometimes tempted to regret that he did not do so, even against Her Majesty’s Government. But there was serious difficulty in attempting such a course; and he himself was much shaken in health, and had lost much of the sanguine confidence of earlier days. He could not hope for much of that support of his claims in Parliament, which is almost the only influence capable of materially affecting a Government, nor could he rely on the aid of public opinion. The only other course was to submit, under protest, to terms which he felt unable any longer to resist. He addressed accordingly the following letter to the Treasury:—
“Old Palace Yard, 15th July, 1856.