was to take place. The asylum is intended by his lordship for
the reception of those men in his employ who have lost their
sight through working in the limestone caverns, which underlie
the Castle Hill and grounds. The plan and "bird's-eye view"
of the institution show that it is intended to accommodate
twenty-six families, each family being furnished with a
suite of five rooms and out-houses. There will also be an
infants', boys', and girls' school, capable of accommodating
together about 150 children. A schoolmaster's residence will
be attached to the schools, and at a little distance a chapel
and minister's house will be erected. The chapel will be
consecrated by the Bishop of the diocese when completed, and
the noble Earl will endow it from his own private purse. A
laundry, sick ward, and convenience for a surgeon, form part
of the scheme, and the sanitary arrangements are of a most
perfect character. The block of buildings occupy three sides
of a quadrangle, and the whole is enclosed by a low wall and
ornamental palisadings, the entrance being through a neat
iron gateway, to which is attached a porter's lodge. There is
a separate entrance to the church on the south side of the
Asylum. In the centre of the east side is a tower, in which
is constructed a large tank for supplying the various houses
with water, the idea being that the tank shall be supplied by
the manual labour of the blind inmates, a pump being placed
over a conduit in the centre of the ground for that purpose.
Under such an arrangement it is contemplated that an ample
supply of water will always be at hand for every sanitary and
culinary purpose. The centre of the quadrangle is laid out
as a greensward, with footpaths intersecting it, and in the
rear about two acres of land are devoted to the purposes of a
kitchen and flower garden. The South Staffordshire Railway runs
along a short distance behind the block of buildings, and the
Oxford, Worcester and Wolverhampton Railway passes in front,
midway between the Asylum and the Castle Hill. The new turnpike
road from Dudley to Tipton is also closely contiguous. The
material used in the erection of the various buildings is red
and white sandstone, supplied from his lordship's quarries,
and the style of architecture is the early decorated Gothic.
The whole of the expense of the erection and fitting-up will
be borne by his lordship, and the asylum will, when complete,
form another memento of the princely munificence for which he
is so deservedly celebrated. About twelve o'clock yesterday his
lordship arrived upon the ground, in company with the Dowager
Lady Ward and the Hon. Mrs. Claughton and party. Among other
ladies and gentlemen also present at the ceremony were the Rev.
D. Melville and party; Rev. Dr. Browne, Vicar of Dudley; Mrs.
E. F. Smith, Mrs. S. D. Fereday, Miss Roberts, T. Tinsley,
Esq., (Mayor of Dudley), Mr. E. Hollier, (ex-Mayor), Mr. C. F.
G. Clark (High Bailiff) &c. The ceremonial commenced by the
noble earl placing in the cavity of the stone prepared for its
reception a glass bottle containing a copy of the _Gazette_ in
which he was declared to have been created an earl, and also
the current coins of the realm. His lordship then proceeded
to read the following inscription, which was engraved on a
brass plate placed over the cavity: "The corner stone of this
building, erected for the collecting together under one roof,
and for the comfort and consolation of those who have lost
their eyesight in the working of the Dudley limestone caverns,
was laid by the Earl of Dudley, of Dudley Castle, William Baron
Ward, of Birmingham, the 28th day of February, 1860. Richard
Smith, mine agent of the Dudley estates, to whose suggestion
this institution owes its origin. William Bourne, architect; J.
Hartland, W. Walker, builders. _Dimidium cœpti qui bene cœpit
habet._" The noble Earl then received a silver trowel from the
Dowager Lady Ward, to whom it had been first presented, and
the stone having been lowered to its final resting place, the
customary formalities were gone through. It may be incidentally
mentioned, that, at the request of a bystander a medal,
commemorative of the erection of St. Thomas's Church, was
also placed with the coins. The inscription on the plate was
surmounted by the Dudley arms. After the lowering of the stone
the Rev. Dr. Browne offered up prayer, and subsequently the
Earl of Dudley addressed the assembled crowd. He commenced his
remarks by reminding those present that although they had just
seen the corner stone of the building laid the work had not to
be begun, as the foundation has been laid for some time past,
and everything would now go on rapidly towards completion. It
gave him the greatest possible pleasure that he was enabled
on an occasion like that--so soon after his accession to an
earldom--to lay the foundation stone of a building which it was
his prayer would last till the sons and grandsons of those by
whom it would be tenanted should have passed away. They all
knew what the building was intended for, but he would add one
other word. Although a large employer of labour like himself
was bound as a matter of duty to provide for the maintenance
of those who by a dispensation of Providence were deprived of
their eyesight while in his employ, the contemplated benefits
of the asylum would extend further than that. In that building
they might meet those with whom they had been in the habit of
associating, and one would be enabled to comfort the other,
and add consolation to consolation as long as life should
last--that inward consolation which was so necessary to those
who had lost their outward sight, and therefore could not
look upon the beauties of earth. The inmates would thus feel
great pleasure in knowing that those who formerly were engaged
with them in the same occupation were sitting around them,
praying with them, and reciprocating the same sentiments. Their
wives--to whom they were bound by the common natural tie--and
their children--in whom their happiness must to a great extent
be centred--would also be near them, and around them, and would
grow up among acquaintances who, becoming friends, would prove
invaluable upon starting in life, as they often gave a man a
better chance of taking his proper position in society. The
noble Earl went on to say that he took no credit to himself for
suggesting such an institution, as it was not his due. If he
carried the work out it would be because, being by the gift of
Providence the possessor of such large estates, he felt it to
be his duty to look after those who suffered in his interests.
But the idea did not originate with him, but with a gentleman
who, day by day and week by week, saw with his own eyes what
escaped his lordship's--the suffering and misery of those who
lost their sight. The suggestion was made by a man well known
and highly respected in this district, where he was born, and
where he had ever maintained an unspotted name of honour and
integrity of purpose. That gentleman having suggested the
work, he (the noble Earl) was bound to carry it out, although
not perhaps without some jealousy, on account of not having
been the first to originate it. After expressing a hope that
in a few months they would see the building rise in all its
fair proportions, and that the day would soon arrive when they
should see those for whom the building was intended marching in
to take possession of it, his lordship concluded amid loud and
continued cheers. Three cheers were also given for Lady Ward,
the Rev. Dr Browne, and R. Smith, Esq. A number of copies of
a view of the projected building, which was dedicated to the
last-named gentleman, were then distributed by the noble Earl,
and the assembly soon afterwards dispersed.