Kilmarnock, Balmerino, and Lovat, were heard and condemned. Here, Warren
Hastings was tried, and Burke and Sheridan grew eloquent and impassioned,
while Senators by birth and election, and the beauty and rank of Great
Britain, sat earnest spectators and listeners of the extraordinary scene.
The last public trial in the Hall was Lord Melville's in 1806; and the
last coronation dinner in the Hall was that of George IV., when, according
to the custom maintained for ages, and for the last time probably, the
King's champion (Dymocke) rode into the Hall in full armor, and threw down
the gauntlet, challenging the world in a King's behalf. Silver plates were
laid, on the same occasion, for 334 guests,"--_Murray_.

The _Central_ or _Octagon Hall_ is an elegant and well lighted apartment
eighty feet in height. It is covered by a groined roof ornamented with 250
bosses.

The _Clock Tower_ is forty feet square and 320 feet high. The Palace Clock
in this tower is an eighty-day clock, striking the hours and chiming the
quarters upon eight bells. Its four dials on the tower are each thirty
feet in diameter.

From the Houses of Parliament we went over to see Westminster Abbey,
which is on the opposite side of the street. The contrast between those
buildings is so striking, that old Westminster seemed to be quite an
ordinary edifice. As I looked at its weather-beaten and moss-covered
walls, and its small proportions as compared with the grand edifice which
we had just left; I speculated what the old stable-like building might
look like on the inside. We had not entered long before I observed that it
was somewhat larger than I had imagined. It is 416 feet long, 203 feet
across the transepts, and 101 feet 8 inches to the roof.