was temporarily dropped.

In the meantime, during the brief armistice between the Governors and
the Royal Institution, plans for the College building had been agreed
upon and the contract had been let. The original plans had been greatly
modified so that the expenditure might be in keeping with the funds
available. But even with many changes the first estimate of L5,000 was
soon found to have increased in fact to between L10,000 and L12,000. One
of the original plans herewith reproduced, and typical of all the plans
submitted, called for a large building in the form of the letter H. The
two main wings looked east and west, instead of north and south as at
present, and between them was a connecting structure. Rooms were
provided for 100 students. The Medical building was to be separate. The
College building was to have a Chapel, but it was also to have a large
"cellar for beer and wine." Certain sections attached to the building
were distinctly classified and designated "for Professors," "for McGill
students," and "for servants and Medical students." It was found that
such a building would entail too great an expense, and the plans were
changed to provide two buildings, the present Central Arts Building and
the present East Wing, or Administration Offices. The latter was
intended to contain the Principal's apartments and rooms for Professors,
and there the Principal subsequently dwelt for several years. Between
the two buildings provision was made for a covered passage.

[Illustration: Original in McGill Library Photo Rice Studios
_The Proposed McGill College Original Building_]

It was soon apparent that the cost of the new buildings would be greater
than estimated. Before June, 1840, a sum of L2,783 had been expended and
provision had to be made for the payment of a further sum of L5,000 in
the following January. In order to secure this amount it was decided
to advertise for sale certain lots adjoining the College site on
Burnside Estate, and to procure plans for the laying out in building
lots of all the land not in use. This was the beginning of the disposal
of the unused part of the estate, a sacrifice which relieved the College
from temporary financial embarrassment but which in later years, when
real-estate increased in value, greatly depleted its revenue. The funds
at this time were so low that the Governors could not pay a watchman or
caretaker and the Board wrote to the Governors in October, 1840, asking,
"I