The Daily Dispatch: October 31, 1861., [Electronic resource]

Westminster Palace.

‘ The frescoes in the lobby leading to the committee rooms of the House of Commons are curiosities of art. The artists by whom they were painted must feel a little bewildered now on viewing their handiwork.--Those frescoes — illustrative of passages in the writings of famous British poets — are rapidly assuming the appearance of dissolving views. What were intended to be memorials of art in future ages are vanishing within a decade. The figures representing English rivers seem very characteristically to be done in water colors. Marmion and Lara are apparently in an advanced stage of decomposition. The Red Cross Knight has got a few scratches from the dragon. One of the amiable daughters of Lear has an eruption on her neck, and the old gentleman himself and the rest of the family are apparently suffering either from skin disease or yellow fever. The spear of 1thuriel has not only touched Satan while suggesting evil dreams to Eve, but has left his mark behind. A slight puncture on the neck of Adam would suggest the idea that he also got a poke from the same weapon. St. Cecilia is losing her complexion and looks more angelic, but it is a beauty that will prove evanescent, and twelve months hence she may be as disfigured as her neighbors.

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