THE HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT;—The site of the old Royal Palace at Westminster is now occupied by the Houses of Parliament, which form one of the most magnificent buildings ever erected in a single decade in Europe; probably, indeed, the largest Gothic edifice in the world. The reader who has not yet had the good fortune to make a survey of this superb temple of legislation may glean some idea of its vast proportions when we state that it covers an area of nearly nine acres; that to the eastward- it presents a frontage of nearly 1,000ft.; that towers of lesser magnitude than the gigantic Victoria Tower crown other portions of the building; that fourteen halls, galleries, vestibules, and other apartments of great capacity and noble proportions are contained within its limits; that it comprises eight official residences—each first-rate mansions fit to receive families of high degree; that twenty corridors -and lobbies are required to serve as the great roadways through this aggregation of edifices; that thirty-two noble apartments facing the river are occupied as committee-rooms; that libraries, waiting-rooms and dining-rooms, and clerks' offices exist in a superabundant measure; that eleven greater courts and a score of minor openings give light and air to the interior of this superb fabric; that its cubic contents exceed 15,000,000ft., and that the whole structure contains no fewer than 500 or 600 distinct apartments. The Royal or Victoria Tower, at the south-west angle, is one of the most stupendous works of its kind ever conceived; it is 75ft. square, and rises to a height of 345ft. The Clock Tower is 318ft. high, and the large clock has four dials, each 2 3ft. in diameter. The Houses of Parliament cost in all about three millions sterling.