Present State of the Houses [of Parliament]. Illustrated London News. Architects: Sir Charles Barry and Augustus Welby Pugin. 1840-60. Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham 2006.
By means of a coffer damn erected on the west side of Westminster Bridge an army of workers is erecting "the lofty pile" beside "the silent highway" of Father Thames. The columnist notes that, , the destiny of the nation is to be decided "by the debates that will be carried on within its walls."
We cannot but think its locality is most fitly chosen; the stream that bears on its bosom the commerce of a world flows before it, while close beside it are the venerable Hall and Abbey rich with the recollections and associations of departed centuries. The very spirit of antiquity seems to hover over the walls and buttresses yet fresh from the hand of the artificer, shedding something of its venerable influence over that which dates but from yesterday. — Illustrated London News
References
"Present State of the Houses [of Parliament]." Illustrated London News (1842): 104.
Last modified 29 September 2006