Yesterday (Tuesday) was a day specially set apart by the
inhabitants of Dudley--having first duly consulted his
lordship's convenience--for celebrating in some marked and
public manner the elevation of Lord Ward, who is so intimately
connected with the town, to the dignity and position of Earl
of Dudley, a title which one of his ancestors had previously
held. The day seemed to be observed as a day of festivity and
general rejoicing, and the ordinary avocations of life appeared
to be in a great degree suspended. From an early hour the
bells of the various churches in the locality rang out a merry
peal, the streets were unusually thronged with pedestrians,
flags floated in the breeze from some of the houses, and the
universal subject of conversation was the Earl of Dudley and
his probable movements during the day. As we have already
noticed in these columns the distribution of about four
thousand pounds weight of beef, which the liberality of his
lordship had provided, it is unnecessary to state more now than
the fact that the beef was distributed among the poor on Monday
last in pieces weighing 4lbs. each, the clergymen and ministers
of various denominations in the town acting as the almoners
of the noble Earl's bounty. The colliers on the Dudley estate
were presented with a day's pay yesterday, in harmony with the
practice adopted towards their fellow workmen at Brierley Hill
on the preceding day, and we believe that Dudley was not the
only place that participated in the distribution of beef. Five
oxen were slaughtered for Dudley--one being apportioned to the
Kate's Hill district, one to Netherton, one to Wolverhampton
Street, and two to High Street. One or two bands of music
paraded the streets of the town yesterday, and about mid-day
everyone was on the tiptoe of expectation, and anxious to see
his lordship pass through the streets on his way to the Tipton
New Road, where the ceremony of