"The Honourable Lord has taken advantage of the most unjustifiable means (i.e. bribery) and has committed the most flagrant pillages. "

On the same day, the speaker of Parliament noted in the calendar: "Lord Elgin's petition has been filed. His ownership rights on the collection have been contested; his conduct has also been censured."

Among the first people to criticise Lord Elgin was H. Hammersley MP. He advocated that if any future Greek government demanded the Marbles back, England should return them without any further procedure or negotiation.

Dodwell and Clarke suggested at least the return of the Erectheum cornice and the Ionic column.

Also in 1890 an editorial by Franklin Harrison, which appeared in the magazine "19th Century", entitled "Return the Elgin Marbles!" maintained that the sculptures were more dear to the Greeks than to the British.

Besides that, Philip Sassoon MP, and Private Secretary to the Prime Minister at the time, wrote in the Times in 1928 that the splendid ruins of the Parthenon and the bright air of Athens would be a more suitable place for the most harmonious sculptures in the world, than the British Museum.