§ LORD ERNEST BRUCEasked the First Commissioner of Works, Whether any site in the Metropolis has yet been selected for the erection of Cleopatra's Needle; and, whether there is not likely to be some difficulty, as to land carriage, in placing it at any great distance from the side of the river?
§ MR. GERARD NOEL, in reply, said, the obelisk referred to by the noble Lord was still at Alexandria. The vessel destined to carry it to England was in 191 the harbour of that port, and he hoped that in a couple of months she would be on her voyage home. Four important sites had been suggested for the obelisk. One was on the Embankment, opposite the Northumberland Avenue. Another, also on the Embankment, by Whitehall Stairs, was near St. Stephen's Club. [Ironical cheers.] That, he might say, was not his suggestion. The third site was in the open space to the south of Westminster Palace, opposite Abingdon Street. The fourth was in the centre of Parliament Square, in the midst of those distinguished men who now adorned that place. Nothing, however, had yet been definitely settled with regard to the site. As to the second part of the Question, there would, he believed, be great difficulty and even risk in endeavouring to convey the obelisk, which was supposed to weigh between 200 and 250 tons, through the streets of London to a place distant from the river side.