William the Norman, and finally died. The Conqueror and his successors resided here from time to time, and indulged their love for building. To William Rufus we are indebted for the superb Westminster Hall, and Stephen built the chapel dedicated to his namesake, the proto-martyr. Destroyed by fire in 1298, it was rebuilt in the finest Gothic style by Edward II. and Edward III. Since in early times the King presided in person over his courts, these also were attached to the palace at Westminster, and it was not until 1882, on the opening of the new Law Courts, that their severance from Westminster became complete, except in so far as the House of Lords continues to act as the ultimate Court of Appeal. The year 1834 was fraught with an evil destiny for the old palace. In the great fire on

October 16th, all traces of the palace, including buildings most intimately associated with the growth of England, were swept away, except the crypt of St. Stephen's Chapel and the Hall of William Rufus. As noted above, for a long period the Commons assembled in the Chapter House of Westminster Abbey, but in the reign of Edward VI. St. Stephen's Chapel was set apart for that purpose, and continued in use until 1834. Thus for nearly three centuries this old Gothic church was the local habitation of the House of Commons. During that long period, what scenes it witnessed and what men here carried on the constitutional progress of Great Britain! Here Raleigh, Bacon, Cecil, and the other great men of the Elizabethan epoch, guided the policy of the nation during the tremendous struggle, both diplomatic and military, with the Papacy and with Philip of Spain. Here,

under James I. and Charles I., gradually developed the men and the parliamentary power which shattered the royal prerogative,' and gave England the first great impulse towards civil and religious freedom. Here Eliot, Pym, Hampden, Oliver Cromwell, and the men who supported them, overthrew the Stuart tyranny. It was from this chamber that Charles I.

walked, baffled in his attempt to seize the Five Members, with the ominous

cries of Privilege,' Privilege,' ringing in his ears, having taken, little as he dreamed it, a long step towards that scaffold on which, seven years later, his life was to end. Here the great struggle with James II., and the establishment of popular rights under William and Mary, took place. It was here that, under Lord North, that policy was initiated and persevered in that led first to the revolt and then to the Declaration of Independence by the American Colonies. Those old walls echoed to the eloquence of the Pitts, Burke, Fox, Canning, the Parliamentary giants of ninety years ago; and the last great historic conflict there fought and won was the struggle that ended in the passing of the Reform Act of 1832. New men, new methods, new forces, were thus brought into direct relation to the governing powers of the nation, and it was not without significance that just at this crisis in national affairs the old home of the Commons, long felt to be inadequate to modern requirements, should be swept away, thus necessitating the erection of the new Palace of Westminster on a colossal scale, no longer as a royal residence, but as the fitting home of imperial government. Our illustration on p. 176 gives a famous scene in the old chamber. It represents Eliot, in 1629, defending the rights of the Commons, the Speaker meanwhile being held in the chair, which, in deference to the royal will, he was anxious to leave before Eliot's motion was carried

It was then that Eliot uttered the famous words, so soon to be vindicated: 'None have gone about to break Parliaments but in the end Parliaments have broken them.'

Although so much has perished that we would fain have had preserved, there still stands at Westminster a building whose historic interest is second

Like the other

to none in England-the great hall of William Rufus. rulers of his race, the Red King was a great builder. He did much towards the completion of the Tower; he set over against the Confessor's monastery a huge banqueting hall. The contrast in well the contrast in the characters of the two kings. ancient structures, we see it only it only after it has

the buildings expresses Like so many of these passed through many

vicissitudes. Henry III., Edward I. and Edward II. all had a hand in it. In 1291 it was damaged by fire, and in 1398 Richard II. enlarged it and added the splendid roof, which from that time to this has been one of the

It is two

marvels of London. It has the distinction of being one of the largest halls in the world with a wooden roof unsupported by columns. hundred and ninety feet long, sixty-eight wide, and ninety-two high. Rich in its architecture, it is richer still in its memories.

Let us glance