§ Mr. Arbuthnothaving moved for leave to bring in a bill for the sale of stock and other purposes relating to the land revenue,
§ Mr. Grey Bennetbegged to take that opportunity of inquiring the name of the architect under whose directions the new church in Langham-place was constructing? Every body who saw it shrugged up their shoulders, and inquired who could be the architect who invented such a monstrosity? Rumours had gone abroad and several persons had been mentioned as the authors of the plan; and it was but fair, using a vulgar proverb, to place the saddle upon the right horse. He should like also to hear what this mass of deformity had cost. For one, he was resolved not to pay willingly a farthing towards its erection; on the contrary, he should be glad to see it referred to a committee to inquire into the propriety of pulling it down, and for that object, though he was not rich, he was not unwilling to subscribe a fair proportion of the expense. Among the many deplorable objects of the kind' in the metropolis and its neighbourhood, this was the most melancholy departure from the rules of good taste that he had yet seen. The spire was only to be compared to an extinguisher on a flat candle- 36 stick. He had looked at a great number of new churches, and they seemed to vie with each other in deformity. They seemed to proceed from bad to worse; and the faults were multiplied with each successive effort. The architects seemed to strive with each other, how to produce an edifice unlike any thing that had ever been seen before, as if they wished to surprise the world with a new order of architecture, most purely absurd and most truly British. The good sense and good taste of the public were disgusted in every quarter; and there was hardly a man in the community (excepting the architects employed) who did not join in one opinion upon the subject. Even the common people looked up with astonishment at the edifices, wondering who were the asses that planned them and the fools that paid for them.
§ Mr. Arbuthnotbegged to assure the hon. gentleman, that he was not at all responsible; he disavowed any connection with the church in Langham-place and admitted that it was not the most ornamental in the metropolis. But if the new street built under the auspices of his right hon. friend was looked to as a whole, he apprehended that a general charge of bad taste could not be established. The church in question certainly would be better away, but it might not be easy to remove it. He would rather not name the architect [cries of name! name!]. If he were required to give up the architect, he must say that the church was built according to the plan of Mr. Nash. He might be allowed to add, that if this building was not very creditable to that gentleman's taste, there were many others in its neighbourhood that were eminently so.
§ Mr. Huskissonsaid, that up to that hour he had never seen the church in question, and was consequently not prepared to offer any opinion as to the good or bad taste or design. Neither had he inspected the plan, which he concluded had been submitted to the commissioners and adopted by them.
§ Leave was given to bring in the bill.