EXC

402

EXC

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It will appear a very singular pendent to the above obser-vations, that we should have to insert the following petitionto the Gresham Committee, from the very parties to obligewhom, this “ uncovered ” area was insisted on.

“ The undersigned Merchants of the City of London are ofopinion, that, in the construction of the new Royal Exchange,sufficient attention has not been paid to the comfort of thosewho attend the same, and beg most respectfully to submit tothe Gresham Committee the following alterations, which arenecessary before they can assemble there without danger totheir health and personal comfort. The alterations sug-gested are :—“ L That the area be covered in. 2. Thatsome remedy be provided to remove the cold damp fromthe pavement. 3. That a remedy be also provided to protectthem from the currents of air.”

The above petition has been signed by Messrs. Barings,Rothschilds , Heath, Morris Prevost, Doxat and Co., Lemmeand Co., and some hundreds of the first firms in the city.After much discussion in Committee, the clerk was directedto communicate to the memorialists :—

“ That in the montli of September, in the year 1838, beforethe Gresham Committee took any steps whatever as to theerection of a new building, they applied by circular to mostof the leading merchants and brokers, requesting their opi-nion as to whether the new Exchange should be a coveredhall, or partially open, as in the original Exchange ofMr. T. Gresham, and in the one recently destroyed ; thatbesides, the Committee took every opportunity, by personalinquiry, of ascertaining the wishes of their fellow-citizens onthe subject; that the result of the circular, and of theseinquiries, was, that a large majority wished the Exchange tobe partially open, as heretofore, alleging the great noisein the Bourse at Paris , and the necessity for ventilation ofthe most free kind, as their reasons for the decision ; thatin consequence of this determination, they directed a part ofthe merchants’ area to be left uncovered as before, but that,for greater shelter, they further directed that the coveredspace should be increased from one-half, (the proportion ofthe space covered in the late building,) to two-thirds ; andthat the architect of the present edifice had strictly followedout these instructions ; and, for these reasons, the Committeecould not comply with the wishes of the merchants ; that,with regard to currents of air, the Committee had directedsuch inner doors to be put up, at the north and southentrances, as might check the draughts, at the same time pro-viding that such doors should not interfere with the extensiveuses of the area of the Exchange, as a thoroughfare to allthe neighbouring streets, the Bank, the Stock Exchange ,and other important public and private buildings of theneighbourhood.”

We have given the above, as apropos to the question of aroofed or unroofed area, though this is hardly the properplace for a petition delivered some months after the Exchangehad been opened for business. Such a petition, however,proves clearly the justice of the observations we, in commonwith the great body of the profession, have urged to the cen-tral space of the building having been left uncovered.

To return from this apparent digression.—After much con-sideration as to whether the material employed should bemagnesian limestone, similar to that used for the Houses ofParliament , it was determined that the whole of the exteriorof the building, with the exception of the socle or stylobate(which was to be of granite) should be Portland stoneof the best quality. This point having been decided, theGresham Committee at length found themselves in a positionto enter on the contracts for the new structure. Aboutfourteen of the principal builders were applied to, and sent

in tenders ; and those of Messrs. Webb for the fimt j^jack'(the excavation and concrete foundation); and of ccepted. 11 * 6son for the second (the super-structure),—were accepfirst was for £8,000—the last for £115,000. .

In excavating the merchants’ area, (originally in base'have been left solid,) for the purpose of extending , u ;tiesment beneath that part of the plan : a number of an p or merwere discovered, beneath what was the west wall ot t ^ uctu rebuilding; in particular, the remains of some Roman ^eowere found, which proved, on examination, to n p,utbuilt on a very large pit or pond, irregular m 3 ^j. ea dtli)about 50 feet in length from north to south, 34 m ^ inand 13 in depth. This pit was filled with hardene ^eswhich were immense quantities of bones of sheep, red

and horns of

stags, also numerous fragments o ^ a \ns$tRoman pottery, usually called Samian ware, pieces co ppefand glass vessels, broken lamps, &c., and seveia^ p flDJ i-coins, two of the emperor Vespasian , the remainder ® c0 n-tian—all of which antiquities were, by the terms o ^j or|( ]aytract, reserved for the Gresham Committee. Gn JJi3the 17th January, 1842, the first stone was l al j c er6'Royal Highness Prince Albert , with much state j^rsmony, a full description of which appeared in the n ^ Ljjty,of the day; and the works then proceeded with sue ' c j ia ng ethat in three years from that date the new Roym ^orfewas completed—a very brief space of time for sueespecially considering that it consists entirely of st °S xC bang eOn Monday the 28th of October, 1844,^the^ offl p andwas opened by Queen Victoria in person. H ie P jjjce t&®circumstance” of such a ceremonial are not for a wo ^atio 113present, they have been duly chronicled by those P“ t i,ese ■'which record so faithfully and so minutely events i 0 f th ebut the following observations, which appeared m ^ tb atnewspapers at the time, seem so pertinent to the su pre'we think their insertion here not inappropriate. tiling 9 '

sent ceremonial,” says the writer, “ will, in niany ( yjrginresemble that which was presided over by * 1 theQueen;’ for state and its observances partake ^ sl>S ,tional, and are transmitted down with compa ra * eU) pu' e 'changes. But in all else how different! Whu ^ jj tlia

the increase in , yjc-

- 0 -, in the Eng eJD pir®

toria, since it was the England of Elizabeth . . 0 t > ,

° the populf^ds of

and what a metropolis !constitutes the strength

How vastof nations,

is one of many tongues and nations ; the P u |’“'j ll]I1 dre a . ychief city is counted, not by thousands, but y a nd ci ^

" rp t ], a t 0

tl>8

id

clnet city is counted, not by thousands, a im a

thousands ; and as for the commerce of the re ^of Gresham’s royal mistress, it was, as compa re j et tothe England and London of to-day, but as the ^ co aocean ; its development has been as vast as 11 jj etvve eiibring ‘ Dodona ’s forest from an acorn cup- t he T eday on which a Queen of England passed thr°^=>j th® ho^

hi> s

•id >

ple-Gate to open the first Royal Exchange - j aI)

which will see another Queen of the same ^_.great

along the same road on the same august erra wo r

been the destiny of England among the nations ^ ^ fuj 1 'j.At this point the mind naturally goes forwar gtftte ot eand asks itself the question, what will be * w j, e n 41 . )ecrowning city’of the traffickers of the ear , :’ te waP s ’ e ?

, , , _ now whit® j ia nge

* id*

centuries shall have passed over the now ^ ^ jjx 1

fair chambers, and sculptured portico, of the th e 8

1 T 7 -I ■ -11 1 ,1 omBire, > Vil , A\^

What will be the condition of the empire, _ g liall''Lj, e yration that gazes on the pageantry of*® "just ?many succeeding ones—be mingled with ^ ^ n( j no t jje

are solemn questions ; and, happily for us, c ^ ^ ^ v/b e ^ 0 {from human intelligence. The mangel, in Milton’s immortal epic, re'

The misery

vealed to him

in muLun a iimuviiw ^ what

the future race of man, is but a type ot