House of Peers--Opening and Alteration of the House of Commons--The Architect knighted in 1852--The Great Tower hardly completed at his death. Section III. THE REMUNERATION QUESTION--Its points of public interest--General question of Architectural percentage--Its bearing on the particular work--Original attempt at a bargain by Lord Bessborough--Accepted under protest--Re-opening of the question--First Minute of the Treasury, and reply--Mr. White acts for Sir C. Barry--Second Minute of the Treasury--Counter statement--Third Minute of the Treasury--Submitted to by Sir C. Barry--Protest of the Royal Institute of British Architects, and reply--Practice of the Government after Sir C. Barry’s death--General reference to the question of Expenditure--Summing up of the chief points of the controversy. The description of the greatest work of Sir C. Barry must necessarily occupy a considerable place in the narrative of his life. Independently of its intrinsic importance, both in a historical and architectural point of view, it was undoubtedly that, to which the best twenty years of his life were devoted, which gradually absorbed his attention, almost to the exclusion of other work, and which, not so much by its labour as by the anxieties, disputes, and disappointments arising during its execution, at last exhausted the health and strength of his iron constitution. It would be needless to give a detailed description of a building, which tells its own story to the eyes of the public; it would be entirely out of place to attempt a general criticism on its merits. But the points, to which it seems needful to direct attention, are partly historical, and partly descriptive or critical. In the historical part of the notice, contained in the present chapter, it will be necessary to give some particulars with regard to-- I. The history of the competition, of Mr. Barry’s success, and of the opposition with which that success was greeted. II. The order and dates of the erection of the various parts of the building; the alterations made during the progress of design, and the notice taken of them by Parliament; the new elements introduced into the work by the appointment of Dr. Reid to superintend the warming and ventilation of the building, of the Fine Art Commission to direct its embellishment, and of Mr. Denison and Mr. Dent to construct the great clock; and the assistance received during the progress of the work from other artists. III. The controversy carried on with Her Majesty’s Government on the subject of the professional remuneration of the architect. The next chapter is reserved for a descriptive and critical notice, and must refer to-- I. The growth of the design, and the reasons which dictated its general scheme and details.