In this year (1852) the Houses of Lords and Commons took possession of the new Palace of Westminster, built from the design of Barry on the site of the old Palace, destroyed by fire in 1835. The style of architecture selected—the Tudor-Gothic—is not one which lends itself readily to grand or massive treatment, owing to the infinite repetition of detailed ornament; but it has this to recommend it, that it is exclusively indigenous to England, and the architect was successful in erecting on a very unpromising site a crowning example of that particular form of Gothic building. |The New Houses of Parliament.| The cost of the new Palace as it stands amounted to about £3,000,000; but it should be said that Barry’s design has never been completed. It was intended to extend the buildings to form a quadrangle round the court at the foot of the Clock Tower, to accommodate various Public Departments now housed in Whitehall and Downing Street.
From a Photograph] [by Valentine & Sons, Dundee.
THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT.
The political convulsions in France were mildly reflected in Great Britain during the year 1852—the year of three Administrations. In the first-named country, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, Prince-President of the Republic which he had turned into a farce, had secured the good will of the Army by restoring to them their Napoleonic Eagles, and then, with the whole armed force of the nation at his back, had issued an appeal to the people in the form of a plebiscite. By 7,824,189 votes to 253,145 they had bestowed on him the title and dignity of Emperor Napoleon III. Such an appeal and such a response could only be interpreted as the resurrection of the Napoleonic idea. |French Invasion Apprehended.| In the forefront of the policy of the new Emperor must surely be found vengeance for Waterloo and the humiliation of England. If this was not expressed in so many words, there were frequent passages in the speeches of Louis Napoleon which could bear no other interpretation. England awoke to her danger; the “nation of shopkeepers” did not wait for legislative measures, but quietly began arming and drilling, encouraged by the authorities, thus laying the foundation of that splendid defensive force of artillery and infantry of which the Volunteers are composed at this day. Great Britain possessed in 1852 a small army—about 24,000 infantry at home—absolutely without any reserve force. The Cabinet devised a scheme for creating a local Militia, to be drilled for fourteen days in each year, and to serve exclusively within their own counties. |Resignation of Ministers.| Prince Albert saw grave defects in the plan, and the Duke of Wellington liked it even less than he did; nevertheless Lord John Russell introduced his Bill to give effect to it. Then came Palmerston’s opportunity. He was a free agent now, and rendered good service in opposing an inadequate and almost wholly useless measure. On his motion the Government were defeated by eleven votes on February 20, and next day the resignation of Ministers was in the hands of the Queen. The Earl of Derby (the irreconcilable Lord Stanley of Peel’s Cabinet) undertook to form a Ministry, which, inasmuch as it could only be drawn from Protectionist ranks, was in a hopeless minority in the House of Commons. Lord Malmesbury took the seals of the Foreign Office, and Mr. Disraeli became, per saltum, Chancellor of the Exchequer and Leader of the House of Commons—an instance unique in recent times of such a position being assumed by one who had never before held office. |The “Who? Who?” Cabinet.| The rest of the Cabinet was made up of men then untried and unknown, though some of them afterwards rose to distinction, and got the name of the “Who? Who?” Ministry. The origin of the nickname was a conversation overheard in the House of Lords between the Prime Minister and the Duke of Wellington, who was eagerly questioning Lord Derby about the composition of his new Cabinet. The old Duke had grown very deaf, and all his inquiries were plainly audible to the House, as well, of course, as the Premier’s replies. “Who? Who?” asked the old Duke, as, hand to ear, he strove to identify the unfamiliar names, and “Who? Who?” became the title of the new Government. Weak as it was, however, and holding office as it did on sufferance only, the Derby Ministry was able to prepare and carry a Militia Bill which satisfied even so critical an expert as the Iron Duke himself.
Louis Haghe.] [From the Royal Collection.
THE FUNERAL OF THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON PASSING APSLEY HOUSE, November 18, 1852.
J. Leech.] [From “Punch.”