Barry's plan as the best, but they
thought that they could not safely recommend the adoption of any plan
till the expense had been ascertained. The proceeding, was, however, a
plain intimation that the plan in question was the one which had been
adopted by the commissioners and the committee; and a committee also,
in the house of lords had arrived at the same conclusion. The manner of
proceeding gave great offence to the other competitors, and they brought
their complaints before the house of commons on the 21st of June, in a
petition which was presented by Mr. Hume. In this petition they stated
that they had, in framing their plans, taken the probable expense into
account, as an important consideration to which it was their duty to
attend; whereas the commissioners declared that they had come to a
decision wholly independent of the question of expense, as not an object
for their consideration. They further stated that they had given their
best attention to the elaborate instructions given by the committee, as
regarded the number and dimensions of the offices and apartments, while
the commissioners had been guided in the choice by the "superiority
of the elevation." They further stated, that, as well by the general
instructions, as by a report of the committee of the house on sound and
ventilation, of which committee one of the commissioners was a member,
they had constructed their plans with reference to these objects; but
the commissioners had declared that they did not allow that subject to
have weight in determining their preference. Finally, they arraigned the
preference which had been given to the four selected plans, and prayed
the house would either hear them by counsel at the bar, or appoint
competent persons to examine the grounds of the report of the
commissioners before finally adopting any of the plans. This matter was
allowed to lie over till the evidence which had been taken before
the select committee, by whom the commissioners themselves had been
examined, should be laid on the table. The whole subject was brought
forward by Mr. Hume on the 21st of July, who, after descanting at length
on the conduct of the commissioners, moved for an address to the crown,
to direct a new competition of designs, without limits as to the style
of architecture, but not to exceed a certain fixed sum as the cost of
erection, and that such designs should be examined and reported on by
commissioners to be afterwards appointed.