Thursday was the day named by the Earl of Dudley as the day
when he should be happy to receive the deputation who had
expressed a wish to wait upon his lordship, to present to him,
on behalf of the town of Dudley, an address, upon his recent
elevation to the title of Earl of Dudley. Himley was named as
the place where his lordship would receive the deputation,
and, accordingly, between one and two yesterday afternoon,
the following gentlemen assembled at Himley Hall:--The Mayor
(T. Tinsley, Esq.), the High Bailiff (Mr. C. F. G. Clark),
Rev. Dr. Davison, Rev. G. Lewis, Captain Bennitt, Messrs. A.
B. Cochrane, J. E. Swindell, W. Haden, S. D. Fereday, J. G.
Walker, J. S. Bourne, Williscroft, Renaud, Grainger, Rudge,
Hollier, Jordan, S. Price, Aston, Sanders, H. M. Wainwright, W.
S. Wood, and Danks.
His Lordship received the deputation in his accustomed urbane
manner, and after the ceremony of recognition had been gone
through, the Mayor read the following address: "To the Right
Honourable the Earl of Dudley,--We, the Mayor, Magistrates,
clergy, gentry, and inhabitants of the parish and borough of
Dudley, beg to offer to your Lordship our sincere and hearty
congratulations on the occasion of your Lordship's elevation to
the Earldom of Dudley; and humbly pray that your Lordship may
be long spared to enjoy that dignity, and that it may by God's
blessing be handed down in direct succession to the remotest
posterity. Dudley, February 16th, 1860."
The address, engrossed on vellum in a highly decorative
style, bore the inscription, "To the Right Honourable the
Earl of Dudley," and was superbly illuminated in gold and
colours, his lordship's motto, "Comme je fus," preceding the
address. To it were added nearly 700 signatures, including the
leading inhabitants of Dudley, Netherton, and the outlying
districts comprehended within the borough of 40,000 inhabitants
from which his lordship derives the title. The address and
signatures thereto occupied twelve sheets of vellum, and the
whole was enclosed in a handsome Russian cover, on which, in
letters of gold, appeared the following dedication--"To the
Right Honourable the Earl of Dudley, of Dudley Castle, in the
county of Stafford, Viscount Ednam, of Ednam, in the county of
Roxburgh."
After the Mayor had read the address, and presented it to the
Earl, the High Bailiff made a few remarks in support of the
sentiments conveyed in that document. He said that although the
occasion of his lordship's elevation to an earldom was no doubt
of great importance to himself privately, still it was also of
great importance to the borough of Dudley, and his lordship had
paid a very high compliment to the borough in taking his title
from it. Therefore they had considered it their duty to present
to his lordship that address, signed, as it was, by all classes
and all denominations of the inhabitants of the borough, and by
those who were sincerely attached to both his lordship's person
and house.
The Rev. G. Lewis, in the absence of the Rev. Dr. Browne,
(Vicar of Dudley) begged, in the name of the clergy and
ministers of Dudley, to be allowed to avail himself of that
opportunity of expressing his congratulations upon his
Lordship's elevation to his new title. The title bore the
impress of a new bond of connection between his Lordship
and Dudley, and he (Mr. Lewis) trusted it would extend the
connection, and still more closely cement the bond.
His Lordship then replied to the address of the deputation
in a few observations, which were especially remarkable for
their felicity and the cordial feeling they displayed. The
noble Earl stated that he need not tell them that that was
one of the moments of his life which gave him the greatest
pleasure, and which he should remember the longest, and, as
they might suppose, he could not divest himself of the personal
pleasure attendant upon the reception of such a deputation
on such an occasion. But far beyond any gratification this
station of rank could give him, was the fact that the town
and borough of Dudley shared in that gratification, and spoke
out on the subject so distinctly as it did that day. But the
personal gratification was not all because he felt that it
was, really and truly, a congratulation upon a matter which
very much affected himself and his house. In these days, when
men not only demand their right to private opinions, but also
the right to express those opinions, it was more than ever
difficult to obtain an unanimous opinion as to who was worthy
of congratulation. Still it was always a great pleasure to
congratulate another; but when a man happened to be the object
of such congratulations, to be the object of which such a
meeting was called as that he saw before him, and the object of
the expressions which had been given utterance to, the pleasure
was naturally four-fold greater. With regard to what had been
said about the selection of the title of Earl of Dudley, his
Lordship remarked that he could not for one moment have dreamt
of taking any other title. He had desired that the link between
his family and the town might be drawn together closer, and be
stronger than ever, and to show them that such were his desires
he had taken the title of Earl of Dudley. When he was told that
he must take the title from some town, he took that title from
Dudley, and in adding Dudley Castle to it he had only stepped
in the steps of his forefathers, and taken their precedent
for his guidance. One happened to be in Worcestershire and
the other in Staffordshire, although few people perhaps knew
where the division of the counties was, and his only reason for
acceding to what was proposed to him was that he was told he
must name a place from which to take the title, and therefore
he followed the precedent laid down for him. It was not only,
however, that the occasion personally affected the town and
himself, but it was that in so large a body as that deputation,
there was a guarantee that there was a feeling abroad of the
mutual benefit to be derived from the town having so much
confidence in the nearest peer who happened to reside in the
neighbourhood, and the fact that the peer would find he could
not do without the support of his nearest neighbours. Perhaps
in former times there was not so much real understanding of one
another, and intimacy with one another, as had happily existed
between himself and the town; he had fallen upon other times,
when men were more closely drawn together by various ties but
at any rate, he did not know any time when any deputation,
representing so large a body, had come to Himley to offer
congratulations upon any event connected with the family. After
paying a very marked and highly eulogistic compliment to those
who represented his house in the dignified manner he was proud
to say they did, the noble Earl concluded by stating that the
address presented that day would be placed amongst the papers
of his family, and in his mind would be the most valuable of
them, because it was a guarantee that the bonds of connection
between the town of Dudley and himself would be drawn together
more closely than ever.
The Dowager Lady Ward was present during the proceedings; and
evinced a lively interest in them. Her ladyship, together
with the noble Earl, the gentlemen composing the deputation,
R. Smith, Esq., and G. Taylor., Esq., subsequently sat down
to a sumptuous luncheon, and at its conclusion the deputation
thanked his Lordship for the princely reception they had met
with, and retired.
His Lordship has courteously accepted an invitation to a
banquet at Dudley, on Tuesday, the 28th inst., and on the same
day his Lordship will supply the indigent poor of the borough
with beef. Upon the same day the children in the various
schools in the town will receive a treat, the expense of which
will be met by public subscriptions.--_Birmingham Journal._
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