HL Deb 12 July 1887 vol 317 cc492-3
LORD MOUNT-TEMPLE

asked the Lord Great Chamberlain, Whether permission will be given to the subscribers for a statue of the Earl of Iddesleigh to place their statue on the floor of the Central Hall of the Palace of Westminster, in a position not intended or contemplated by the architect as the site of any statue, or to place their statue on one of the eight vacant pedestals in the Lobby at the entrance of the House of Commons, which were designed by the architect for eight statues? He wished the statue to be worthy of the statesman, and in harmony with his character for wisdom, good sense, and appropriateness, and not the right thing in the wrong place. The Committee had been guided by the sculptor, without consulting architects of eminence. The effect of a statue always depended on surroundings, which, in this case, would be inharmonious and injured by a modern statue of a different character from the 48 statues and the 20 angels richly decorated. The statue would be a great eyesore to the building if placed where it was intended.

LORD AVELAND

said, that in May last he was asked by his noble Friend the Lord President of the Council (Viscount Cranbrook), on behalf of the subscribers to the Lord Iddesleigh Memorial, to allow a statue to be placed in the Central Hall. He assented to the request; and he understood that in doing so he was acting in accordance with the wishes of a large number of the friends of the late Earl, Members of both Houses of Parliament, and also of other subscribers to the Memorial.

After some observations from Lord BRAYE,

EARL GRANVILLE

said, he was the only Member of the Committee who, on different grounds, took exception to the site chosen unanimously by the rest of the Committee. At the same time, he acquiesced in the unanimous wish of the rest of the Committee, and he was bound to say that lie thought that the arguments in favour of the present site were not so strong as the objections to all the other sites proposed, including the Lobby site.

THE EARL OF WEMYSS

asked, whether the statue of Lord Iddesleigh would harmonize with that of Earl Russell?

EARL GRANVILLE

said, he could not go into details; but both statues would be by the same sculptor, and it was therefore improbable that there would be any great difference of character between them.