§ MR. W. COWPERsaid, he would beg to ask the First Commissioner of Works, Whether the large accumulations of refuse from brick-kilns, that now cover the green slopes of Hyde Park, near the lower end of the Serpentine, have been placed there in the hope that they will imitate rock-work; or, if not, for what purpose they have been brought there?
§ MR. LAYARD, in reply, said he could assure his right hon. Friend that he had not the slightest intention of cheating him or any one else into the belief that the brickwork was intended for rock-work. What his right hon. Friend, with a poetical licence, called "the green 486 slopes" of Hyde Park formed merely the banks of a very dirty ditch, through which fell the outcome of the Serpentine. The brickwork had been placed there simply because it would form a good foundation for the subsoil in which certain shrubs were to be planted. He hoped that in a short time the plantation would be completed, and the offensive sight removed.