THE CLEOPATRA-NEEDLE DIFFICULTY.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR.")
SIR,—Among the numerous sites which have been suggested as a final resting-place for Cleopatra's Needle, should that interesting relic ever reach our shores, no one has, to my knowledge, pointed out the one which appears to me to be the most, if not the only, suitable spot on which to erect this famous monolith. I allude to the fine, open, rising ground in Hyde Park, between the east end of the Serpentine and the Marble Arch. On this spot, where the Obelisk could be easily seen from the distance of half a mile in every direction, there is nothing, not even a single .tree, to break or mar the view. Here it could be seen and visited by millions ; it would be a salient and agreeable object where there is now a waste ; and last, but not least, it would not have near it, as it will at Westminster, if it rests there, numerous in- congruous objects to disturb its harmony, injure its prestige, and .cause damaging comparisons.
I cannot help here raising my feeble voice against the West- minster site. There could not be a worse in Europe. The height and glitter of the Clock Tower, the breadth and volume of the Houses of Parliament, the Gothic grandeur of the Abbey would serve to dwarf its fair proportions, while the statues and surroundings are .strictly incongruous and out of keeping, and would go far to render it ridiculous and out of harmony. There is, beside, no room there for the masses to look at it. Twenty people would form a .crowd that would require "moving on" all day long. Let the Hyde-Park site, at least, have a fair share of consideration.—I
Previous page
