§ MR. BERESFORD HOPEsaid, he would beg to ask the First Commissioner of Works, What steps Her Majesty's Government have taken or propose to take for the purchase of a site for the enlargement of the National Gallery, for which votes have already been taken; and, whether it is intended to proceed at once with the new building?
§ MR. AYRTONsaid, he might state that Her Majesty's Government, and their predecessors in Office, had taken the requisite steps to acquire the site which had been provided by the several Acts of Parliament passed for the purpose; and he believed the whole of the land would be obtained before the close of the present financial year. But the Government had not been able to consider fully what steps were to be taken for the purpose of erecting the new building. They had hardly yet arrived at a conclusion on that matter.