chapter 57
), entitled, "An Act to prevent the holding of Vestry or other meetings in Churches, and for regulating the appointment of Vestry Clerks," and under which order the annual salary of the Vestry Clerk for the time being has been fixed at £120, payable out of the Poor Rates. This meeting was very boisterous, severely censuring the action of the Poor Law Board, but it was no use, as the law had to take its unpalatable course.
THE DUDLEY NEW UNION WORKHOUSE.
1859. This long wanted and extensive Poor Law Establishment, was occupied early this year. The cost of the New Union House and Land, was upwards of £26,000; which had to be provided for by the four large Parishes, Dudley, Sedgley, Tipton, and Rowley Regis. The population of these four Parishes was estimated to be 130,000 souls; and the in-door paupers connected with each Parish had, up to this very necessary change, been confined in four wretched habitations, called Poor Houses, which were a thorough disgrace to the Union. The absence of all sanitary provisions and the immorality attending the benighted system of management and control, became a burning shame, and a stain upon our then local authorities. This was all happily removed when the old dens were pulled down, and a modern and more enlightened system of management was inaugurated at the New Union Workhouse. The Poor Rate at that date was two shillings in the pound; now we have to luxuriate on paying four shillings and sixpence in the pound, with our rateable assessment value increased upwards of £50,000. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they shall see the Workhouse." The New House was built to contain six hundred inmates, but it has been enlarged since then, and now contains seven hundred and sixty-eight souls. Mr. Thomas Shorthouse was then the Clerk to the Dudley Union, and Mr. and Mrs. Stillard were elected the first Master and Matron in the New House.
TO THE INDEPENDENT ELECTORS OF THE EASTERN DIVISION OF THE COUNTY OF WORCESTER.
GENTLEMEN,
A vacancy having occurred in your Parliamentary Representation, I have acceded to the request of many influential friends that I would allow myself to be placed in Nomination.
I cannot but share, as a Worcestershire man, the feelings that have been expressed to me on all sides, that the successor of Colonel Rushout ought to be, not only connected with, but a resident in the County.
Whatever my private principles may be, I cannot, under the circumstances of the moment, resist this appeal. I therefore venture to ask your confidence and your support.
To many of you I am personally known, and I shall take the earliest opportunity of endeavouring to become acquainted with you all.
While my Political Principles are Conservative, no man can be more sincerely desirous than myself to promote Progressive Improvement, both Social and Political; and as I believe these to be the sentiments of the present Ministry, I should, as your Representative, give to the Government of Lord Derby a general but independent support.
I am firmly attached to the Protestant Church of England, and anxious for the proper maintenance of her venerable fabrics, but, at the same time I am opposed to the compulsory exaction of Church Rates from those who conscientiously object to them, and I would support this principle in any measure which may be brought forward with the hope of settling this long-disputed question.
In the same spirit I would be willing to give my support to any measure which, having for its object the Improvement of our Representative system, will combine a just desire to extend popular rights with due regard to the maintenance of the Constitution.
I also attach great importance to the amendment of our Laws, and would promote any well considered attempt to effect that purpose.
I shall be ready to avail myself of every occasion to give you that explanation of my opinions upon the leading questions of the day, to which you are entitled from a Candidate for your Suffrages; and in the meantime I confidently anticipate a successful issue to the struggle in which I feel myself thus compelled to engage.
I have the honor to be, Gentlemen, Your faithful friend and obedient servant, JOHN SLANEY PAKINGTON.
_Westwood Park, Droitwich, January 28th, 1859._ Committee Room at Dudley, Swan Hotel.
* * * * *
TO THE ELECTORS OF THE EASTERN DIVISION OF THE COUNTY OF WORCESTER.
GENTLEMEN,
During a most successful canvass, I have so frequently been requested to express my views upon the leading Topics of the day, that I believe it will be satisfactory to state more fully my opinions, which it is impossible to do personally to each Elector of so extensive a Constituency.
I unhesitatingly pledge myself to Vote for the Total Abolition of Church Rates, the only practical solution of this irritating Question.
I attach great importance to the Amendment of our Laws, but do not hesitate to say, that "Consolidation must precede Amendment."
I am disposed to Vote for a thorough Reform in the Assessment of the Income Tax, believing it to press severely upon Industry, and to be unjust in its mode of application.
As a friend of Education, I am most anxious that every facility should be given for its more general advancement, and most assuredly will vote for the Repeal of the Duty on Paper, a Duty most obnoxious, and the greatest impediment to the diffusion of learning.
Unshackled by Party ties, _and entirely independent of any individual influence_, I earnestly solicit your Suffrages, and though confident of the result of this Contest, I trust the friends of the Liberal cause will not relax their exertions.
I shall continue my endeavours to become personally acquainted with each of you.
I have the honor to remain, Your obedient Servant, FREDERICK H. W. G. CALTHORPE.
_Perry Hall, January 31st, 1859._
* * * * *
EAST WORCESTERSHIRE ELECTION.
MR. PAKINGTON AND PUSEYISM.
The father of Joey Grimaldi, the famous clown, was an Italian, who bore the name Delpini and followed the avocation of a dentist, in London, where it was his lot to reside in 1780, the year of Lord George Gordon's "No Popery" riots. All foreigners then fell under suspicion as Papists and cut-throats, and the harmless tooth-drawer, when the infuriated mob were firing the dwellings of known or suspected Romanists on all sides of him, followed a custom which obtained in those days of terror, of labelling your house with an inscription signifying either devotion to Protestantism or hatred of Popery. So Delpini chalked upon his door, in the best English he could command, "Good people all take notice, dis house is a true Protestant."
Mr. Pakington hoists the same signal, and makes proclamation, "Good people all, Electors of East Worcestershire, take notice, dis house"--_videlicet_, the Pakington house--"is a true Protestant, and don't believe any insinuations to the contrary." Delpini's label, it is related, saved his premises from conflagration; Mr. Pakington's will not, I imagine save him from defeat. I propose to offer a few remarks in illustration of what Mr. Pakington's true Protestantism means, and what it has led to in his instance.
Mr. Pakington says, "Having reason to esteem the excellent private character and charitable exertions of Mr. Liddell, and consequently disapproving the abuse of which he has been the object, I could not do otherwise than vote against Mr. Westerton's election." I esteem the excellent private character and the charitable exertions of Mr. Pakington for the promotion of education and morality, but I shall certainly do otherwise than vote for him at the coming Election. The Pope of Rome bears an excellent private character, and is well reputed for charitable exertions. He has also been, I dare say, improperly and undeservedly abused. Recognising all this, does it furnish any reason why I should tender my adhesion to the Pope, or any excuse for my adhering to him, or favouring his religion? Mr. Westerton was put forward as Churchwarden by the party in the Church who were adverse to Mr. Liddell's Romanising practices. As a candidate he represented the true and wholesome Protestant element in religion, as opposed to the representative of the doctrines of Auricular Confession and a Semi-Popish form of worship, just as Mr. Calthorpe represents the Liberal element in politics--the principle of progress; and Mr. Pakington the Conservative, or rather the Tory element--the principle of keeping in office by being the "humble servants to command" of the House of Commons. The contest between Mr. Westerton and Mr. Davidson was a contest between Protestantism and the Romanistic party. It was watched throughout Great Britain with the deepest interest, for it was felt that the result would be to ensure the victory of religious truth, or give a disastrous triumph to the defiled and adulterated pseudo-Protestantism--the "mongrel church," as the Hon. and Rev. F. Baring truly called it--of Mr. Liddell and his backers. At that election the fate of the Protestant Church in England was weighed in the scales against the false doctrine, heresy, and schism of the Tractarians. Most happily for the country, most fortunately for the interests of mankind, the good cause preponderated. Tractarians kicked the beam, and all of us felt that a great mercy had been vouchsafed to the afflicted Church. But no thanks to Mr. Pakington. He flung his weight into the scale along with auricular confession, crosses, flowers, candles, images, and other play-things of Puseyism, and so far as by his voice he could, comforted and favoured the partisans of Romish observance as opposed to the purity and simplicity of Protestant Worship.
In that day--the day when Mr. Westerton was doing battle for Protestant interests with spirit and resolution worthy of a martyr--where was Mr. Pakington? Every one felt that a great crisis was impending in the history of the Church, and never was the Scriptural adage, "He that is not with me is against me," brought more closely home to Protestant breasts than at that moment. But where was Mr. Pakington? Not merely was he not with us; he was arrayed openly against us, and it might have been his vote, for aught he knew,--for the numerical difference between the candidates was trifling--that would have given a heavy blow and serious discouragement to Protestantism, by placing in the ascendent that party in the Church, whose sole end and aim is to bring back England to the bosom of the Roman fold, from which, as they conceive, she has ignorantly and perversely strayed.
And what is the excuse Mr. Packington offers--for he feels bound to make some apology--for having thus turned his back upon Protestantism? By alleging Mr. Liddell's excellent private character, his charitable exertions, and the abuse of which he has been the object. In the same way any good and charitable and abused individual, though of Red Republican principles, might obtain Mr. Pakington's vote, the consideration with him being, not whether he agrees or differs with a man's principles, but that a man--to entitle him to support--should be of excellent private character, and equally distinguished for charitable exertions and immense obloquy. When the vital interests of Protestantism are at stake, it is not the time to allow minor considerations to influence the mind and to sacrifice them to the private character of any individual, however excellent or however improperly abused. When the enemy is in front and the battle joined, it would be base to slink out of the ranks from consideration for a private friend engaged with the opposite party.
The vote for or against Mr. Westerton I am disposed to make a touchstone of sincerity, as regards attachment to Protestantism, or the reverse. Mr. Pakington may write up and call out as much as he pleases, "Good people all, take notice dis house is a true Protestant;" but he must excuse my saying that, after his vote against Mr. Westerton for the churchwardenship of Knightsbridge, I can attach no confidence to his professions. True Protestantism may have his lip-service, but false Protestantism, with its depraved doctrines and soul-sinking mummeries, had his countenance and his vote.
On the other hand, Lord Calthorpe--the father of the Liberal candidate--has uniformly and signally distinguished himself by his zeal on behalf of evangelical religion, and his steadfast resistance to the insidious aggressions of the Tractarian faction. His son--early trained in the same principles--is animated with the same feelings and convictions, which will produce the same fruit; and, when such a man invites my suffrage, as a candidate for the Legislature, I cannot doubt--even without regard to politics--that I ought unhesitatingly to prefer him to Mr. Pakington, or I feel that I should have small claim to subscribe myself
A PROTESTANT.
_February 4th, 1859._
* * * * *
EAST WORCESTERSHIRE ELECTION!
Mr. CALTHORPE has much pleasure in tendering his best thanks to the Electors of Dudley for their very decided and flattering support. He regrets the impossibility of personally canvassing all the Electors, and respectfully invites them to meet him at the LANCASTERIAN SCHOOL ROOM, DUDLEY, on MONDAY Evening next, the 7th day of February, at seven o'clock.
_Mr. Calthorpe's Committee Room, Old Bush Inn, 5th February, 1859._
* * * * *
EAST WORCESTERSHIRE ELECTION.
BROTHER ELECTORS,
Mr. PAKINGTON asks who is Mr. CALTHORPE, and how dare he presume to intrude himself upon the Electors of East Worcestershire? I would reply by asking what claims of pre-eminence Mr. PAKINGTON possesses in thus questioning your right to select for yourselves that person you consider most fitted to represent you, and upon what ground does he base his expectations of obtaining your support? Certainly not upon the exhibition he made at the Lancasterian School on Monday Evening, when he either had no principles to explain, or they were so antiquated that he lacked the power or ability to make them understandable to his audience! Can it be upon his desire to _dole_ out to you the very smallest modicum of Reform which may be possible, or that you must be pleased to wait a little longer, until you are more capable of appreciating it? I am quite willing to give Mr. PAKINGTON all the credit he so eloquently pleaded for on Monday Evening, to which his efforts on behalf of education fairly entitle him; but I cannot understand how it is that he should deny to the people a fair participation in those rights and privileges which that education so properly qualifies them to exercise. Is it that he would continue that animosity and those heart-burnings which the exaction of Church Rates has so long occasioned, or does he still desire the dominance of an Ecclesiastical authority which, since the reformation, the Protestant spirit of the people of England has declared shall not exist in this country? Does he think that you will support him on account of the resistance of himself and his party to the establishment of those great commercial principles which have tended so largely to develop the prosperity of this Country, and so materially to increase your own happiness and comforts? How dare Mr. PAKINGTON sneer at Staffordshire men representing you, when all so well recollect the insidious attempt of Sir John to transfer you to that County, and which, had not your timely and generally expressed indignation prevented, Mr. PAKINGTON would not now have had the honour of soliciting your suffrages; Mr. CALTHORPE is a progressive, consistent Liberal--one whose principles are adapted to the spirit of the times in which we live; he comes fairly before this great County constituency with stated opinions, and soliciting from it a Seat in Parliament. He does not attempt to get there by the exercise of an influence Mr. PAKINGTON so magniloquently talked about, and which we all know is so kindly exercised in a Borough with which he is connected. Is it not that Mr. JUNIOR PAKINGTON is put forth as a feeler against the time when, very probably, that Borough may find itself in Schedule A of a New Reform Bill, and your votes may then be asked for a Senior member of the family? I will venture to answer that as Free and Independent Electors of East Worcestershire you will not thus be dictated to, but will return Mr. CALTHORPE TRIUMPHANTLY AT THE HEAD OF THE POLL!
I am, Yours respectfully, A FREEHOLDER.
* * * * *
ELECTORS BEWARE OF TORY TRICKS!
MR. CALTHORPE is against opening the Crystal Palace, Theatres, and such other Places of Amusement on Sunday.
* * * * *
EAST WORCESTERSHIRE ELECTION.
TO THE ELECTORS AND NON-ELECTORS OF EAST WORCESTER.
GENTLEMEN,
I regret that the friends of Mr. Pakington have thought it to their interest to resort to open misrepresentation, and in the vain hope of injuring me in your good opinion are industriously circulating a report that I am "in favor of opening the Crystal Palace and Theatres on Sunday."
This is wholly untrue. I never made or approved of such a statement.
I am not in favor of opening the Crystal Palace, or Theatres, or any such places of Amusement on Sunday.
I am Gentlemen, Your faithful Servant, FREDERICK H. W. G. CALTHORPE.
_Central Committee Room, February 11th, 1859._
* * * * *
MR. PAKINGTON'S LAST.
"Nothing extenuate, nor Aught set down in malice."--_Shakespeare._
Brother Electors and Friends of the eastern division of the county of Worcester, _my_ kind friend Lord Ingestre could not do _me_ a greater kindness than that which he has now done _me_, namely, that of addressing you in his usual eloquent, terse, and pointed style, to introduce to you _my_ humble self, the present candidate on the Conservative interest, and of expressing as he has so forcibly done the political views which _I_ entertain in common with him. _I_ am engaged, gentlemen, as you are all of you well aware, in a most vigorous, a most determined, and, from what _I_ hear on all sides of the county, anything but a desperate contest. _I_ am carrying it through with vigour, and _I_ will win if _I_ can. Gentlemen, as you must be well aware, labour of all kinds, whether of the body or the mind, involves considerable fatigue. That is the case in regard to every kind of labour, but when you find a crisis like the present at a time when from accidental circumstances _I_ had to undergo on other grounds and for other purposes a most severe week of mental labour, and when at the end of that week _I_ had to commence this battle, which, from certain reasons to which _I_ will not now further allude, required in _my_ particular instance a tremendously oppressive amount of energy and exertion both of body and of mind, under these circumstances it is a great kindness on the part of _my_ friend Lord Ingestre that he should take one half _my_ duties himself, in stating as he has done what are _my_ personal qualifications and _my_ political views. You all know what _my_ father's political views are, and if you want to know _mine_, gentlemen, they are contained in _my_ address, which has been circulated throughout the county. But _I_ tell you that, important as _I_ consider political matters to be, at this present crisis and in this present battle, politics with _me_ are as nothing. _I_, however, know all electioneering dodges very well; _I_ know where _I_ am and whom _I_ am now addressing; _I_ am going to win. But politics, as _I_ said, are now second with _me_. _I_ am not fighting a political battle so much as one of high-minded independence as a Worcestershire country gentleman. God forbid that _I_ should boast of anything like an ancient family. The _Pakington_ family have been for three hundred years residing near here, and in the very centre of the county. _They_ have been Worcestershire people to the backbone. _I_ am now residing near Worcester, where _I_ am endeavouring to do _my_ duty in that station of life to which _I_ am called. _I_ am trying in various ways to exert around _me_ that kind of homely influence which kind and homely thoughts and actions will always produce by whomsoever exercised. _I_, for _my_ own part, have no ambition for Parliamentary life. If _I_ wanted a seat in Parliament for its own sake _I_ know where to get one. _I_ have been asked over and over again, by gentlemen of the highest influence, to stand for this or that place, to go here and to go there, in different parts of the country, and have been regarded as a likely candidate for a seat in Parliament. But _I_ have said "No, _I_ don't want to be a Parliament man, _I_ have no desire to go to Parliament myself, but if ever _I_ represent a place it shall be, not a town in the north or south of England, but some town or division of a county that has some claim upon _me_, and where _I_ have as a country gentleman some kindly feeling entertained towards _me_ and _my_ family." These, gentlemen, are _my_ private feelings. You will see that in the address _I_ have published _I_ have made use of the expression "Whatever _my_ private preferences may be." These are the circumstances to which _I_ allude. But now _I_ am ready to state briefly what are _my_ principles. _I_ need hardly repeat that _I_ am a true Conservative, because _I_ believe true Conservatism to consist in aiding social progress and the reparation, when necessary, of those institutions of our country to which England owes its present greatness. As your representative, it will be _my_ duty to support that Government which is to give the greatest stability to the nation at large, and the greatest amount of happiness to the community. So far as _I_ am able to judge, the Government of Lord Derby fulfils these requirements, and _I_ believe they will not waver. _I_ am fighting in three different capacities. Firstly, as the son of a Worcestershire man, _I_ won't have two Staffordshire members; secondly, _I_ am a Conservative, not one of the stiff old Tories of the old school. _I_ am a Conservative of the present day, of this very hour. _I_ am unpledged by any past political measures. As a Conservative and as a politician _I_ should object to having another gentleman of strong Liberal opinions to represent the agriculturists of the Eastern Division of the county of Worcester, the majority of whom are, _I_ believe, eminently Conservative. _I_ must, therefore, as a Conservative, strongly object to Mr. Calthorpe. Thirdly, _I_ object to Mr. Calthorpe, and this is _my_ strongest point of all, casting aside politics, that which is the strongest objection _I_ feel, and which is now the key to _my_ actions, is that _I_ am an independent man, and _I_ will not see _my_ county represented by a comparative stranger without offering _my_ services to the electors. That is the keystone to _my_ movements. _I_ know whom _I_ have got to deal with. _I_ know where Mr. Calthorpe comes from. It is a matter to _me_ of no consequence who wrote the letter requesting him to come forward as a Candidate, but _I_ know his supporters right and left, every one of them. Gentlemen, _I_ object to Mr. Calthorpe coming here. He may be a Staffordshire man, or a Warwickshire man, but he certainly is not Worcestershire. His father, Lord Calthorpe, is a man whom all persons must respect and justly respect. He is a friend of _my own_ father, and _I_ know him well. Mr. Calthorpe himself was a school-fellow of _mine_, but, as he tells you himself, he has since been almost round the globe, and _I_ have not seen so much of him as _I_ could have wished. _I_ like him personally very much, but he appears to have picked up some very funny notions. The last time that _I_ spoke to him he was an out-an-out no end of a hog man, and no mistake about it; but he was then just about starting for Timbuctoo, China, or some other distant place, and _I_ have not seen him since. (Laughter). His property is just of that kind that might occasion a mistake. It is situate near the confines of Worcestershire. The bulk of it is away from this county, and neither Lord Calthorpe nor his son have, _I_ verily believe, so much land in the county as you can stick your hat on. (Renewed laughter). Where does he date his address from? Perry Hall. Where is Perry Hall? (A voice, "It is a garden down at the bottom of the town," and great laughter). _I_ am very glad to hear it, and if the hon. gentleman who gave _me_ the information can tell _me_ of his own knowledge that Mr. Calthorpe was there when he wrote his address, _my_ argument is at an end. We know where Westwood Park is, and we know where Witley Court is, but where is Perry Hall? (A voice, "It is Mr. Calthorpe's _villa_.") But, gentlemen, Mr. Calthorpe's first address is a puff of smoke; it's a blind, and he finds it is so. (A voice, "Not he.") He does. Why does he not attend public meetings? (A voice, "He's a-coming.") Let him come; _I_ am ready to meet him anywhere he pleases. _I_ say that Mr. Calthorpe's first address is a sham; that he finds it so himself, and therefore he is obliged to publish a second, which _I_ now hold in _my_ hand. (A voice, "There's a third coming out.") _I_ am glad to hear it; let it come. (Great confusion.) As _I_ was saying, Mr. Calthorpe's address is all moonshine. His friends got frightened; the views he expressed were not satisfactory, and therefore he has published another, stating stronger views. _I_ am a man of business, and when _I_ write _my_ views in one letter _I_ don't write a second, still less a third for that purpose. _My_ occupation now as a candidate is a matter of business, and _I_ am not going to write a second address; _I_ don't need it. Here (pointing to his first address) are _my_ views, _my_ opinions, and all about _myself_; _I_ don't require a second address. As _I_ said, _I_ don't enter now on political differences at all but there is one question to which _I_ must allude. As _I_ have told you, _I_ am playing a deep game; and with _me_ it is a determined one. Those who know _me_ privately, and _I_ am surrounded by kind friends, know that when _I_ make up _my_ mind as _I_ have done in this contest, _I_ carry _my_ object through if possible, so _I_ am going on determined to fight this battle. _I_ am fighting a good fight, and when a move is made in this game of political chess between _me_ and _my_ adversary, be he who he may, _I_ will meet it if _I_ can by a good move of _my_ own. Mr. Pakington then referred to the following attack upon him in the _Morning Advertiser_:--"Mr. Pakington, his (Mr. Calthorpe's) opponent, is, on the contrary, a bigoted Puseyite, and one of the most prominent partisans of the Hon. and Rev. Mr. Liddell, in the parish of Knightsbridge." On which Mr. Pakington, among other things, said--_I_ wish to explain that _I_ merely resided in that parish, subscribing to the schools and attending divine service at the church; but having now ceased to reside there, _I_ have nothing further to do with it, and _I_ indignantly deny the charge made. He concluded by saying--_I_ see that some of you are getting a little fatigued, and _I_ am tired myself. _I_ am very glad to have had this opportunity of meeting you, and _I_ hope to do so many more times. We cannot do so too often. As _I_ said before, _I_ will come again if _I_ am wanted; but _I_ have duties of a like kind elsewhere, for which duties _I_ now go to prepare. _I_ am very much obliged to you for your kind reception.
_Note_,--The "Printer's Devil" has exhausted his stock of _I_'s.
QUERY--Why is Mr. PAKINGTON like a Peacock?--Because his _tale_ is full of I's.
* * * * *
EAST WORCESTERSHIRE ELECTION.
TO THE ELECTORS AND NON-ELECTORS OF THE EASTERN DIVISION OF THE COUNTY OF WORCESTER.
GENTLEMEN,
The friends of Mr. Pakington having failed to injure Mr. Calthorpe, by the false statement that he is the Nominee of Lord Ward, have resorted to another falsehood which has led to the following correspondence.
"EAST WORCESTERSHIRE ELECTION."
"_Teddesley, February 13th, 1859._
"MY DEAR INGESTRE--
"I take the liberty, to which I am sure you will not object, to publish my letter to you, and your answer.
"I remain yours sincerely, "HATHERTON.
"The Viscount Ingestre, M.P., &c."
* * * * *
"_Teddesley, February 11th, 1859._
"MY DEAR INGESTRE--
"My attention has been called to a paragraph in the _Daily News_ to the following effect:--
"'Lord Ingestre, and Mr. Lygon, and Mr. Dowdeswell, formerly M.P. for Tewkesbury, addressed an assembly of farmers from a window opposite the Corn Exchange, Worcester, on Saturday afternoon. In the course of Lord Ingestre's observations, he said the idea of bringing forward Mr. Calthorpe as a representative for the Eastern Division of Worcestershire was hatched by Lord Hatherton, at his seat at Teddesley, and then communicated to Lord Ward, who gave a ready acquiescence to the suggestion.'"
"What purely accidental conversation I may have had with Lord Ward about East Worcestershire Election, at a visit he paid here--just after Lord Northwick's death--in pursuance of an engagement made a fortnight before, it is unnecessary for me to relate. But the statement that 'the idea of bringing forward Mr. Calthorpe as a representative of East Worcestershire was hatched by me at this place,' or anywhere else, is without a shadow of foundation.
I never was consulted or likely to be about the choice of a candidate: and except one letter from a customary correspondent conveying to me the information that Mr. Calthorpe's friends had resolved to bring him forward, of which I then heard for the first time, I never had with any one any kind of communication respecting his election.
"I am sure that after this statement, you will pardon my enquiry whether you have been correctly reported in the above paragraph--and if so--on what authority you have made such a statement?
"I remain yours sincerely, "HATHERTON.
"The Viscount Ingestre, M.P."
* * * * *
"_Ingestre, Stafford, February 12th, 1859._
"DEAR LORD HATHERTON,
"The report of what I said at Worcester is substantially correct with this exception:--
"What I said was 'the scheme was hatched _at_ Lord Hatherton's, at Teddesley,' &c. Not _by_ Lord Hatherton. You ask me on what ground I made that statement.
"I reply, I knew Lord Ward had been at Teddesley, I believed that Mr. Calthorpe met him there, and knowing the interest you take in political matters as evinced during the last Stafford election, I thought it probable that the idea of starting Mr. Calthorpe for East Worcestershire was hatched at your house. If I have made any mis-statement in this matter, I much regret it, but I believe the probabilities were sufficient to bear me out in the assertion that I made at Worcester.
"Believe me, dear Lord Hatherton, sincerely yours, "INGESTRE."
The reply of Lord Ingestre reduced to plain language, says a writer in the _Daily Post_, amounts to this, "I knew that Lord Ward had been at Teddesley, therefore I imagined the rest, and what were suspicions only I affirmed as facts."
Notwithstanding Mr. Calthorpe's repeated denial of his ever having expressed a wish that Theatres, the Crystal Palace, and such like places of amusement should be opened on Sundays, Mr. Pakington's friends have repeated the calumny,--Mr. Calthorpe's Central Committee beg to inform the Electors of the Public Meeting held at Stourbridge, on Monday last, that Mr. Calthorpe not only contradicted this false and calumnious statement, but emphatically declared that he is OPPOSED to the opening of Places of Amusement of any kind on Sundays.
_Central Committee Rooms, Stourbridge, February 15th, 1859._
* * * * *
EAST WORCESTERSHIRE ELECTION!
THE INCOME TAX!
At PERSHORE, on Monday last (see _Times_ report), Mr. CALTHORPE stated, "that he would not pledge himself to vote for a repeal of the INCOME TAX!"
After this, what do you think of the would-be _Liberal_ Candidate?
Is Liberal or Illiberal the proper term for such a Candidate?
Think, and judge for yourselves!
DOWN WITH THE INCOME TAX!
* * * * *
EAST WORCESTERSHIRE ELECTION.
Mr. CALTHORPE'S COMMITTEE earnestly request all their friends to refrain from any allusion, much less retort, to the scandalous and malicious production issued by the other side. The party who can thus, for electioneering purposes, malign and insult their neighbours and fellow-townsmen, and what is infinitely worse, their townsmen's wives and daughters, may be safely left to the contempt of all right-minded men of all
## parties, which cannot fail to be their natural reward.
_Mr. Calthorpe's Committee Room, Old Bush Inn, Dudley, 17th February, 1859._
EAST WORCESTERSHIRE ELECTION.
February 22nd, 1859. This was considered to be the most severe contest, for a single seat, which had ever taken place in this division of the county. There had not been a contest at all during the last 22 years in this division; and it had become a matter of doubtful speculation as to which party, Tory or Liberal, could carry the day. The Tories had from almost time immemorial held possession of Worcestershire, both East and West, and it required a stout heart and a willing hand to engage in this political strife. The new coming Reform Bill was selected as the battle ground for the Liberals, and the Tories stuck to their old traditions, and relied upon their usual coercion, and their alleged doings for the county in the past. So far as Dudley was concerned, we had to fight under manifold and peculiar conditions, for the "head and front" of the old Tory party had but recently forsaken their old love and "gone over into the camp of the rabble herd," to help the Radicals in the two last Borough Elections to defeat the hated and intolerable territorial influence; so that the county electors in Dudley, both Liberals and Tories, were all sailing in the same boat against the Tory county influence. Men had to decide upon voting for the pocket or the conscience; and singular indeed was this mixed medley of Tories, Liberals, Conservatives, old Whigs, hot-heated Radicals, and seditious Chartists, hurrying with bated breath to the same Poll. There was much satisfaction felt on this occasion that we had two highly respectable gentlemen as our candidates; the Honourable F. H. W. G. Calthorpe coming forward as the Liberal candidate, whilst the Tory interest was endorsed by the candidature of Mr. John Slaney Pakington, son of Sir John Pakington, a Worcestershire man. The freeholders in Dudley were placed on the horns of a dilemma, by the fact that the Tory, or Badger party as it was called, on this occasion adhered to the traditions of their party, although at two recent Borough elections they had renounced their political opinions, and joined hand and glove with Mr. Sheridan, and the Radicals and Chartists.
The Liberals, the Whigs, and the Liberal Conservatives, energetically espoused the cause of Mr. Calthorpe, and were successful, with the county, in placing him at the head of the poll by a majority of 321 votes.
As to the fitness and mental qualifications of the two candidates, there could not be one moment's doubt of the superiority of the Liberal candidate's claims upon the electors, for Mr. Calthorpe was a clear-headed business man, whereas Mr. Pakington was a young, docile gentleman, little acquainted with the rough usages of political life, and was feared to be a mere passive instrument in the hands of an unscrupulous political faction; and what made matters worse for his success, was his utter inability to talk and deliver himself of the political opinions he was credited to possess.
On February 22nd, 1859, this election came off, with the following results at all the polling places:--
CALTHORPE. PAKINGTON. Dudley 343 176 Stourbridge 553 244 Halesowen 326 131 Kings Norton 329 289 Bromsgrove 248 228 Droitwich 163 220 Evesham 118 251 Pershore 137 310 Shipton 67 114 ---- ---- 2284 1963 ---- ----
Majority for Mr. Calthorpe, Liberal, 321.
This was considered a great victory against the then Tory Government and the Lygon interest, which had always ruled this division of the county.
There was more political fun, chaffing, and coat turning on this occasion than had ever occurred in this Borough since the excitable days of the first Reform Bill, and the plentiful crop of political squibs plainly shewed that both parties were made sensibly alive to the importance of the contest. We had the straightforward Saxon practice of open voting in those days, so that it was well-known to what political opinion a voter gave his allegiance.
TO THE ELECTORS OF THE EASTERN DIVISION OF WORCESTERSHIRE.
GENTLEMEN,
After so severe and protracted a contest, allow me to congratulate you on the great and glorious triumph you have obtained for the Liberal cause.
The victory is yours. I am the representative of it. I feel deeply the proud position in which you have placed me, and I hope to prove my gratitude by a zealous attention to your interests and by a faithful service in that cause which you have sent me to the House of Commons to maintain.
I would fain hope that many of those who have in this contest been opposed to me, will on future occasions be numbered among my friends, and I trust that now the battle is over, all unpleasant feeling may cease.
Gentlemen, I remain, with heartfelt thanks, Your obedient Servant, FREDERICK H. W. G. CALTHORPE.
_Central Committee Rooms, Stourbridge, February 23rd, 1859._
The vote on the New Reform Bill having caused a dissolution, the following addresses were issued:--
TO THE ELECTORS OF THE EASTERN DIVISION OF THE COUNTY OF WORCESTER.
GENTLEMEN,
Six weeks have not elapsed since you did me the honour to elect me as one of your Representatives. Grateful for the favour conferred, I am again a Candidate for your suffrages.
The Government has announced a dissolution on the question of Reform, and in my opinion they were quite right, first, in accepting the vote of Thursday, March 31st, as a vote of want of confidence, and secondly, in referring the question of Reform to the Constituencies and to public opinion at large.
I feel confident the result will be a good and durable measure of Reform, calculated to satisfy those classes who are as yet unrepresented, and to allay those feelings of discontent excited by the feeble, unjust, and insufficient Reform Bill recently introduced by the Government.
During the brief period I have been your Representative, I have neglected no opportunity of recording my vote in favour of the principles you sent me to Parliament to maintain, and which I shall ever feel it my duty to support.
I have, I believe invariably agreed with my colleague, and I trust that all those who intend to record their votes in my favour, will extend to him the same support and influence.
I hope that I have proved attentive to your interests, and have shewn every courtesy to those of my constituents who have done me the honour to correspond with me.
I am, Gentlemen, Your faithful and obedient Servant, FREDERICK H. W. G. CALTHORPE.
_33, Grosvenor Square, London, April 7th, 1859._
* * * * *
TO THE ELECTORS OF THE EASTERN DIVISION OF THE COUNTY OF WORCESTER.
GENTLEMEN,
A dissolution of Parliament having been announced, I beg to declare my intention of offering myself as a Candidate for the honour of being one of your representatives for the fourth time.
I trust that you have found me acting consistently with the principles of civil and religious liberty, which I have always professed, and I hope that my earnest endeavours to be attentive to your interests may have met with your approval.
I am well aware of the great inconvenience, and interruption to business, caused by frequent dissolutions of Parliament, and I would gladly have supported any moderate measure of progressive Reform, brought forward by Lord Derby's Government, rather than have incurred such a result, could I have done so without depriving a number of my Constituents of their ancient right of voting, which the bill introduced would have unjustly taken from them.
On referring to the Division Lists, I am happy to see that my Colleague, and I, have on all occasions supported the same measures, so that the votes of your Members are no longer neutralised by being given in opposition to each other; under these circumstances, may I venture to hope that all those who do me the honour of supporting me, and to whom I may have been longer known, will kindly extend the same to my friend, Mr. Calthorpe.
I have the honour to remain, Gentlemen, Your faithful and obliged Servant, J. H. HODGETTS FOLEY.
_Prestwood, April, 1859._
* * * * *
The Ratepayers are respectfully requested to attend early to-morrow (Friday) and record their Votes for Mr. MAURICE.
DUDLEY VESTRY CLERKSHIP.
Close of the first day's Poll:--
For Mr. Maurice 135 For Mr. Brooke 73 For Mr. Dingley 39 For Mr. Coulton 17
Majority for Mr. Maurice over the highest Candidate, 62. Majority for Mr. Maurice over ALL the 3 Candidates, 7.
_April 15th, 1859._
March, 1859. The new Reform Bill, introduced by the Conservative Government,--Earl Derby's--was discussed for eight nights in the House of Commons, and defeated by a large majority, which caused the Tories to dissolve Parliament, and appeal to the electors.
Singular Winter. March 29th, 1859. A heavy fall of snow took place this day and night, it being _the first snow_ we had had during all the winter, 1858-9.
TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE CHARLES STANLEY MONCK, VISCOUNT MONCK.
MY LORD,
We, the undersigned, Electors of the Borough of Dudley, respectfully invite your Lordship to become a Candidate for the Representation of the Borough, at the next vacancy, and pledge ourselves to use every legitimate means to secure your return.
We have the honour to be,
My Lord,
Your Lordship's obedient Servants,
George Stevenson Hy. P. Skidmore A. B. Cochrane Edwd. Bowen Robert Houghton J. E. Swindell Thomas Morris J. H. Smith John Williscroft Thomas Stevenson J. F. Watkins Chas. Russell John Finch John Whitehouse James Cartwright C. F. G. Clark Chas. E. Swindell Frank Evers W. H. Brooke Fras. Sanders John Cochrane Sam. C. Davison, B.A. Thomas Oakes Edward Wood W. C. Wood Geo. Thompson Solomon Woodall Danl. Jordan Thomas Roberts Henry Cartwright Joseph Russell Samuel Golding David Round William Cooper Saml. Woodall Solomon Higgs David Pearson James Griffiths William Coley Jos. Griffiths Jos. Willetts Abner Smith Matthew Troman James Smart Joseph Brownhill William Stagg Benjn. Horton Charles Hill John Dawson Thomas Sheppard Henry Wood David Lloyd John Meese Joseph Pitt John Smithyman Henry Skidmore James Miles Joseph Rowley Charles Stamps Charles Nicholls Robert Matthews Ferdinando Rollason John Dutton Phillips Joseph Hingley John Hingley Thomas Round &c., &c.
_March 30th, 1859._
BOROUGH ELECTION.
April, 1859. No sooner had our political elements settled down, after the severe county contest of the preceding February, but we were called into agitation again by the sudden dissolution of the Conservative Parliament, and Dudley was taxed to its utmost to so trim its political sails, and put square men into round holes, in order that its former political triumphs might not have been won in vain. Mr. H. B. Sheridan, the sitting member, sought re-election again, backed by the Radicals and Chartists, and supplemented by a contingent of sturdy old Tories, who felt they had not a shadow of a chance of carrying a man of their own liking; so they determined to keep alive the resentment against the influence which had so recently assailed their cherished dignities, and swept from under their feet all the political power their party was ever again destined to weald, both in the Borough of Dudley and County of Worcester. These offended old townsmen convened a sort of meeting at the Hotel, which was designated "a meeting of Conservative electors," and after some tall talk, with closed doors, it was decided to throw their Tory interest into the Radical Camp, and support the sitting member, Mr. Sheridan; for their political chief publicly asserted his determination to vote for "hog, dog, or devil, in order to spite Lord Ward." Nothing could have ended more suicidically than this repetition to thwart the castle influence. They must have known that as a political party they were impotent; for the recent county election unmistakeably pronounced Dudley to be Liberal; and the Tory interest, with Lord Ward at its back, could not turn the tide of Liberalism in the Borough, so that again to support a trimming, wary candidate, who first came amongst us as a Conservative, and now declared himself to be an Independent candidate, sitting below the gangway in the House, was to entirely abrogate their long-life cherished Tory opinions and support Mr. Sheridan, because they could not bring forward a candidate of their own choice.
Whilst these manœuvres were in hand, the Liberal party were in negotiation with the Reform Club in London to send us down a candidate, and the Honourable Viscount Monck, an Irish gentleman of good family and undoubted administrative qualifications, came down to the Bush Hotel, and after a lengthened interview, he was selected to be run against the Radical-Tory party as a Liberal-Conservative.
A perusal of the Requisition to Lord Monck and the names of those who formed his committee, shews that the thinking portion of the electors were desirous, if possible, of removing a political stigma from the Borough, and throwing over that dubious "incubus" which had sat too long upon purity of motive and action, which Dudley electors had ever been wont to endorse. Mr. Sheridan complained that he had all along one lord to fight against, and now he had two lords in the field; that the charges alleged against him in the Albert, European, and other shady speculations, were matters of mere business, and did not concern the electors of Dudley, and that his promises at the last election had been literally fulfilled. Lord Monck, on the other hand, came amongst us as a stranger, not only to our locality, but he had also enjoyed a seat in the last Parliament where his votes were recorded.
Great efforts were made on this occasion to defeat the old member, Mr. Sheridan, and the narrow majority of 71 votes, aided by all the Tory influence that could be brought to bear in his support, clearly showed that if the Badger element had not been severely pressed into the cause Lord Monck would have been elected.
TO THE ELECTORS OF THE BOROUGH OF DUDLEY.
GENTLEMEN,
Her Majesty's Ministers have announced an immediate dissolution of Parliament, and the duty of choosing a Representative in the House of Commons has therefore devolved upon you. Encouraged by the very flattering requisition I have received from an influential portion of your body, I venture to solicit your suffrages at the approaching election.
Having sat in the House of Commons during the entire of the last Parliament, my opinions on most of the questions of the day stand recorded in the votes.
During the last thirty years great improvements have been effected in reference to our Parliamentary Franchises, our Municipal Institutions, and our commercial and fiscal condition. I have been long connected both by official and personal ties with those who, for the greater part of the period referred to, have been the leaders of the great Liberal party by whose exertions these changes have been effected. The principles by which they have been dictated, I desire to see extended in their application.
The question upon which the country will have to decide at the approaching election is that of Parliamentary Reform. I am in favour of a bona-fide extension of the Franchise, both in Counties and Boroughs, which would, by a lowering of the present qualification for the suffrage, admit within the pale of the Constitution an adequate representation of the labouring classes; and I desire to see a portion of their present representation transferred from the smaller and less important Constituencies, to those larger communities which the growth of trade and wealth has produced.
I am opposed to the proposition for taking Votes at Elections for Members of Parliament by Ballot, because I think under its operation corruption could not be detected, and I do not wish to destroy the influence of the Non-Electors, which would be the case under a system of secret voting.
In reference to Taxation, I am desirous of taking off, as the necessities of the State will permit, all those taxes which press upon trade, or impede the springs of industry, and I desire to see judicious economy and retrenchment carried into every branch of the public service.
I consider the Income Tax in its present form presses unjustly upon incomes derived from trade and industry.
I have always in Parliament voted for the abolition of Church Rates, because, as a member of the Church of England, I think the pecuniary gain to the Establishment is not a compensation for the ill will and odium which the enforcement of the claim produces.
I am in favour of the most complete freedom of trade, and have always voted for every measure which tended in that direction.
I desire to see Government aid to Education extended to all classes of my fellow subjects, without distinction of sect, or creed.
Should I have the honour of becoming your Representative, the local interests of your important Borough shall always command my best attention.
I hope before the Election to have the pleasure of calling upon each of you, and shall be happy to explain my opinions more in detail.
I have the honour to be, gentlemen, Your most obedient Servant, MONCK.
_Bush Inn, Dudley, April 5th, 1859._
* * * * *
TO THE INDEPENDENT ELECTORS OF THE BOROUGH OF DUDLEY.
GENTLEMEN,
Her Majesty's Ministers having decided on appealing to the country, a dissolution of the present House of Commons may be expected in about fifteen days.
I hasten to inform you that it is my intention to present myself as a Candidate for the honour of again representing your Borough in the important Parliament about to be assembled.
Unconnected with, and influenced by, any party considerations whatever, I have watched with much anxiety the recent struggle, having in view the redemption of my pledge to support any Government which would give to the Country such a measure of Reform, as would secure to the people an increased share in the representation, believing that the Educational progress of the Working Classes entitles them to be dealt with in a fair and liberal spirit.
In all other matters connected with the interests of this great Country, I confidently refer to the Votes I have given, as your Member; and I shall immediately ask you, both by public Meeting and by personal Canvass, whether I am not entitled to a continuance of that confidence which so triumphantly returned me at the last Election.
Your faithful Servant, H. B. SHERIDAN.
_House of Commons, April 6th, 1859._
* * * * *
TO THE ELECTORS OF DUDLEY.
Mr. H B. SHERIDAN will arrive in Dudley this evening, to meet the electors!
Reserve your promises for the man who has won your political independence, and served you, as your representative, consistently.
_Dudley, April 6th, 1859._
* * * * *
DUDLEY ELECTION.
Copy of Letters from CAPTAIN BENTON to H. B. SHERIDAN, Esq., M.P.:--
Dudley, April 7th, 1859.
DEAR SIR,
The words made use of to Mr. LOCOCK by Mr. SMITH, when in London, are as follows:--
That LORD WARD paid Five Thousand Pounds away in Dudley per week for wages, and that, unless the Electors of Dudley and its neighbourhood voted which way he pleased, he would shut up his Pits for two years,--therefore, stop those wages. Moreover, that many of the Tradesmen were under obligation to the Bank, and their circumstances should be exposed, and that they should have no further accommodation.
Yours obediently, JOHN BENTON.
To H. B. Sheridan, Esq.
* * * * *
3, Charles Street, Oxford Road, Islington, April 8th, 1859.
DEAR SIR,
Having received a letter after I had the pleasure of meeting you and your friends at Dudley, from Mr. LOCOCK, requesting me to return to town, I was unable to see you prior to my departure, and regret it is not in my power to meet you this evening. I have made you acquainted with certain facts, relative to the influence of the Priory, and the threats made use of relative to the Electors of Dudley. I assert such has been the fact, and beg to say, I will on any occasion publicly declare that the contents of my former note to you are most strictly true.
With my best wishes and respects to your Committee and Friends, believe me,
Yours, very faithfully, JOHN BENTON.
To H. B. Sheridan, Esq., M.P.
* * * * *
DEAR SIR,
In consequence of a Letter from a Mr. BENTON containing erroneous statements having been read by Mr. SHERIDAN, M.P. at a Public Meeting held last night in Dudley, I beg to send a copy of the Letters I have this day addressed to those gentlemen on the subject.
I remain, dear Sir, yours faithfully, RICHARD SMITH.
_The Priory, April 9th, 1859._
* * * * *
Copy of a Letter addressed by RICHARD SMITH, Esq., to H. B. SHERIDAN Esq., M.P.:--
The Priory, Dudley, April 9th, 1859.
SIR,--I have seen a copy of the letter addressed to you by Mr. Benton, which you read at a meeting of the Electors of Dudley, held last night at the Lancasterian School-room, and cannot but regret you should have allowed yourself to give such a letter to the world, with your comments thereon, without first ascertaining, by communication with me, whether the statements made therein upon hearsay were true.
The statements which Mr. Benton has made are entirely without foundation, and I unhesitatingly give them an unqualified denial.
I send you a copy of a letter I have written to that gentleman, and I rely on your giving it an equal degree of publicity with Mr. Benton's communication. Whatever differences of opinion may exist between us politically, I confidently appeal to your sense of what is due from one gentleman to another to comply with this request without delay.
I remain, Sir, Your obedient servant, RICHARD SMITH.
H. B. Sheridan, Esq., M.P.
* * * * *
Copy of a letter addressed by RICHARD SMITH, Esq., to Mr. BENTON, referred to in the letter to Mr. SHERIDAN, M.P.:--
The Priory, Dudley, April 9th, 1859.
SIR,--I have learnt with surprise that a letter addressed by you to Mr. Sheridan, having reference to certain statements said to have been made by me to Mr. Locock, was read and commented on by Mr. Sheridan, at a meeting of the Electors of Dudley, held at the Lancasterian Schoolrooms last night. I beg most emphatically to deny that I ever used to Mr. Locock (or any other person) the words, or any such words, you have been pleased to put forth.
I never said to that gentleman, "that Lord Ward paid five thousand pounds away in Dudley and its neighbourhood per week, and that unless the Electors of Dudley voted which way he pleased that he would shut up his pits for two years, and therefore stop those wages;" "or that many of the tradespeople were under obligations to the Bank, and their circumstances should be exposed, and that they should have no further accommodation;" or any words to that effect.
I cannot but regret you should have permitted yourself to make such unfounded statements which are not only unjust and injurious to me, but are a libel on the Tradesmen and Bankers of the town.
I add for your information that I am in no way connected with either of the Banks here, that I have no knowledge whatever, or the means of acquiring knowledge, as to the obligations of the Tradesmen of Dudley to their Bankers, nor any power to regulate or affect the amount of accommodation that their Bankers may afford them.
As your letter has been read at a meeting, I think it right to publish this also.
I am, Sir, Your obedient servant, RICHARD SMITH.
John Benton, Esq., London.
* * * * *
TO THE ELECTORS OF THE BOROUGH OF DUDLEY.
BROTHER ELECTORS,
Mr. Smith (Lord Ward's Agent) has appeared before the Public on his own account, not only by letter, but by various illegitimate means. Let us, as Electors, enquire who this Mr. Smith is? or what reliance can be placed on his veracity? and, as every man ought to speak from his own personal knowledge, allow me, as an Elector, to state some facts which have more specially come under my notice, that is--
That he has been seen driving out with Mr. Benton on several occasions.
That he is known to have dined with him.
That he has written a letter denying what that gentleman made public.
That he has been up to London, and seen Sir C. Locock and his son.
That he dares not publish the conversation which took place at that interview.
That he has on many occasions tried to coerce the Inhabitants of Dudley--I. Naylor, Esq., to wit.
That he has deprived Tradesmen of his Lordship's support, because they had consciences and dared to use them.
That he has not been a very good friend to the Widows and Orphans one family who once resided in Sedgley can prove.
That he never was over particular about the rights or feelings of any one, when his own interests were in the scale.
* * * * *
The above individual may give an unqualified denial to the exact wording of Mr. Benton's letter, but I defy him to prove the sum and substance is not there.
In reference to this _Pit Bank_ case, there is an old adage very applicable, viz.--"That we should believe every man honest until we find him a rogue!"
"An Elector" in the Daily Post (_proper name "Post"_) talks of a _Firebrand_ being in the town. I admit it, we have had one in the town many years; it has tried to burn down our _Independence_. Our common honesty, our very _liberty_ have been brought to the stake; but I beg to inform Mr. Smith and his _esteemed_ friends, that we shall come out _scatheless_, and that his "quack" supporters may save their _Goose Oil_ for their own scorched backs!
I am, Gentlemen, Yours respectfully, AN ELECTOR.
* * * * *
DUDLEY ELECTION.
TO THE CONSERVATIVE ELECTORS OF DUDLEY.
At a meeting of Conservative Electors of the Borough, held at the Hotel, Dudley, on Wednesday the 20th day of April, 1859, it was resolved:--
"That under existing circumstances, it is deemed expedient that the Conservative Electors should support the sitting Member, H. B. Sheridan, Esq., and this meeting therefore pledges itself to use all proper means and exertions to secure his re-election.
Ordered, that the above resolution be printed and circulated.
Signed, THOS. BADGER, Chairman.
_The Hotel, Dudley, April 20th, 1859._
It was always considered that the decision of the Conservative party at this meeting secured the re-election of Mr. Sheridan; although he was well known to be in bad odour with many of the leading Conservatives in the Borough. The recent opposition in the county election, where many of the Conservatives supported Mr. Calthorpe against young Mr. Pakington; had so soured the rigid old Tory party in the Borough, that they became reckless about the future consequences of their shameful political delinquencies; the result was, that these very resolute disclaimers of the Priory influence, spited their own cause by again returning a candidate they did not appreciate, and unwillingly helped to ring the death knell, not only of the Priory veto, but also of future Tory dictation; and placed this Borough in the advance guard of full blown Liberalism, with Mr. Sheridan as its Member still.
DUDLEY ELECTION.
TO THE CONSERVATIVE VOTERS.
FELLOW TOWNSMEN,
An appeal is now made to you to record your Votes for Mr. Sheridan. Let us see _what claim_ Mr. Sheridan has upon our support on the present occasion, _before_ we assist _again_ to return a man to Parliament who has so shamefully violated his profession and principles. Was not Mr. Sheridan returned for Dudley, at the last Election, _as a Liberal Conservative_, of the most _independent kind_, supposed to be _above_ the influence of any section of the Electors; and has he not, at the dictation of a few Radicals, _invariably_ voted in Parliament for all Radical Measures, and opposed Lord Derby's Government to the utmost of his power? Did he not pledge himself _to vote against the Ballot_, and has he not _voted in favour of the Ballot_? Did he not promise to vote against the Repeal of Church Rates (unless an equivalent was given), and did he not vote for their total unconditional Repeal? This, then, is the man, _on whose promises_, you are again called upon to rely; to send to Parliament again, as an _advocate of anything_ which his _varied_ supporters may suggest.
If, brother Conservatives, the sacred cause of Conservatism is worth upholding in its national integrity, _reflect_, _consider_, _and forbear_ to commit yourselves to such a humiliating course, as to vote for a man whose _practices and principles_ you have so often _condemned_ since he has been in Parliament. At some future period our cause will be on the ascent, and you will then regret _having assisted_ to hand over the Borough of Dudley to Radicalism and Faction. Mr. Sheridan, you are told, has _again promised_ your rash and indiscreet leaders, that _he will this time_ support Lord Derby's Government. How will _that new arrangement_ meet the views of his Liberal supporters, for they _will not_ be found "_to blow hot and cold_;" and pray ask him, what kind of Government he will support when Lord Derby's rule is over? Why the natural inference is (taking the past as evidence) that Mr. Sheridan will support _any Government_ which will please _his next best_ supporters in Dudley! He has proved himself _unstable_, _unsettled_, and _wavering_ in his political convictions, the "_Shuttlecock_" of any party that will promise him support; and as such, totally unfit to represent the intelligence and wealth of the Conservative interests; and a miserable guide for the Radical faction.
Are you determined to belie your Conservative principles and vote for a "_Shilley Shalley Radical_," the man who has branded your honoured townsmen (the Bank Directors) with a breach of that trust which many of us (as Shareholders) have placed in their hands, in betraying to the public the state of your private affairs? Is such an _unscrupulous Weathercock_ entitled to the support of the Constitutional Conservatives in Dudley, who have ever been ready to uphold and maintain, the honour of their townsmen, and the sacred principles of Constitutional Monarchy? _Reflect_, brother Conservatives, before you place your sacred trusts in the hands of such _an uncertain leader_; for _the past has proved_ his political infidelity to our cause and interests, and your recorded votes in his favour will assuredly prove your political inconsistency. If you cannot conscientiously support Lord Monck, the Conservative Liberal Candidate, then stand aloof from this _attempted unnatural_ compact; and calmly watch Mr. Sheridan's "_New Dodge_," with a few of the young and heated Conservatives; become again, _another evidence_ of his own falseness, and a lasting monument of his supporters' political blindness and folly.
Ask yourselves what _political sympathy_ this man can expect at your hands, after the broken pledges that he has committed.
Reflecting Conservatives, let not _the shade_ of our departed Conservative chiefs _darken the path_ of the present crisis; and God forbid that the sons of our venerated townsmen should become the leaders and promoters of Radicalism, Inconsistency, and Confusion; for the Voter for a Conservative Pakington, six weeks ago, surely will not be found voting for a _nondescript_ Sheridan at this coming Election.
AN OLD CONSERVATIVE.
_Dudley, April 21st, 1859._
* * * * *
TO THE ELECTORS OF DUDLEY.
GENTLEMEN,
During the time I have been absent in London, _i.e._, since Thursday, I find that my political opponents have been indulging in the same tricks, with the view of prejudicing me in your eyes, which characterised the anonymous communications to the _Birmingham Daily Post_.
I allude to a paper which has been sent to the Electors of the Borough, purporting to be a history of the "Times" Fire Insurance Company, by which they seek to have it inferred that I have done some act in connection with that Company which would damage me in your estimation.
Instead of replying in detail to the _abominable falsehoods_ which are therein contained, I shall content myself by saying--
That I never was Secretary to the "Times" Insurance Company.
That I am still a Director of that Company, which has amalgamated with the "State" Office.
That I am the largest Shareholder in the Company.
That I am paying calls at the rate of six or seven hundred pounds every few months.
That I have lent to the Company, at various times, about eight thousand pounds, most of which is still owing to me.
That for the last two years, we, the Directors, have not received fees for our weekly attendance, or any other remuneration for our services.
I may add, that the losses by fire, have, for some years past been very disastrous to this and all other similar Companies, and the greatest sufferers by these losses are the Directors, of whom I am one.
The whole affair is an Electioneering artifice, as appears on the face of it; and one which I treat with the contempt it merits.
The fact of neither the writer nor the printer of this absurd tissue of slanders having dared to give their names, is sufficient evidence of the utter worthlessness of this so-called _Cambridge_ effusion.
I am, Gentlemen, Yours faithfully, H. B. SHERIDAN.
_April 21st, 1859._
* * * * *
THE COMMITTEE'S SUPPLICATION.
_Air_--"_Oh! Susannah, don't you cry for me._"
You've come down here from Rochdale, our Member for to be, 'Tis hard that we should stand the shot, and you get off scot free; No doubt you are a mighty man, with potent powers of speech, But still we didn't ask you here to bleed us like a leech. Oh! John Bright, wont you find some tin, We fear 'twill be expensive work for us to get you in.
Your name is printed in large type, while ours are printed small, The printers and the bill stickers are paid to daub the wall; And 'tis a shame, and does somewhat of shabbiness betray, That you should have the dance, John Bright, and we the piper pay. Oh! John Bright, &c.
The honour's great to us, John Bright, to serve so great a man; We cringe, and worship your great name as humbly as we can-- But let us not in vain, great man, your ample pocket sue, For we all think it very hard, John Bright, to pay for you. Oh! John Bright, &c.
We puff you off as liberal, and hope you may be so, And by some deeds, as well as words, that you are liberal shew; And let it not be said you wouldn't find a five-pound note To pay for cabs and cars to take the people up to vote. Oh! John Bright, &c.
* * * * *
TO THE ELECTORS OF THE BOROUGH OF DUDLEY.
GENTLEMEN,
Having completed my Canvass of the Borough, and endeavoured personally to pay my respects to every Elector, I am desirous to express to you my sense of the kindness and courtesy with which I have been received by the whole Constituency, and my sincere thanks for the very large amount of support with which I have been honored.
If I should have omitted through accident or inadvertence to call upon any Elector, I trust such omission will be attributed to its true cause, and not to any intentional disrespect on my part.
The result of my Canvass inspires me with a full assurance that I shall be returned as your Representative, and I have only to beg that those who have favored me with the promise of their support will kindly attend early at the Poll, at which I pledge myself they shall have an opportunity of recording their Votes in my favor.
I have the honor to be, Gentlemen, Your obedient servant, MONCK.
_Committee Rooms, Bush Inn, April 21st, 1859_.
* * * * *
DUDLEY ELECTION.
Mr. Sheridan's Committee having heard that the Canvassers of Lord Monck have, with the view of prejudicing Mr. Sheridan's position with the Liberal party, FABRICATED STATEMENTS to the effect that he has recanted his Political opinions and compromised that party by pledging himself to a course hostile to their views, in a letter written to THOS. BADGER, ESQ., beg to assure the Electors that SUCH STATEMENTS ARE ENTIRELY UNTRUE.
Mr. SHERIDAN will read the letter at the Meeting at the Lancasterian School Room, on Tuesday Evening next, and refute the unwarrantable reports which have been circulated respecting it.
BY ORDER.
_Committee Room, Swan Hotel, Dudley, 23rd April, 1859._
* * * * *
DUDLEY ELECTION, 1859.
POLLING DAY, FRIDAY, APRIL 29th.
Hours of Polling from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Lord Monck's Committee Room, April 27th, 1859.
DEAR SIR,
It is exceedingly desirable that every Canvasser should strictly attend to the following instructions:--
The Canvass Books should be made up correctly, showing the Returns up to this day; and any Canvass Book not so made up should be immediately taken to the Committee Room for the purpose.
Each Canvasser to-day or to-morrow at the latest, will please give notice at the Committee Room, stating what Cab or Car accommodation he may require, so that proper arrangements may be made for supplying it.
On the morning of the Poll each Canvasser is earnestly requested to proceed to his district with all speed, securing the doubtful Voters first, and continuing his labours until every Voter who has promised, or is inclined _favorably_, has voted.
It is very desirable that each Canvasser should attend frequently at the Committee Room, to ascertain what Voters have not polled, and for this purpose he may enquire for any particular Voter by name or number, or as to any number of unpolled Voters in any particular street or place, and arrangements will be made for this information being immediately supplied.
Information must be immediately given at the Committee Room as to any wavering Voter, so that any aid may be rendered that may be necessary.
Any additional Cab or Car accommodation must be applied for as required.
LORD MONCK earnestly requests that every Canvasser will zealously continue his labours until every Voter that can possibly be secured has voted, and afterwards attend at the Committee Room to aid in any other way that may be requested.
W. C. WOOD, Chairman.
* * * * *
DUDLEY ELECTION.
TO THE ELECTORS OF DUDLEY.
I beg to thank you for the overwhelming expression of your confidence at the NOMINATION this morning.
I beseech you not to relax your exertions on behalf of myself and your Political Independence.
Be early with your Friends at the Poll, and our Success is certain.
I am, Gentlemen, Your faithful Servant, H. B. SHERIDAN.
_Committee Room, Swan Hotel, Dudley, April 28th, 1859. One o'clock p.m._
* * * * *
April 29th, 1859. Close of the Poll:--
Mr. H. B. Sheridan, Independent 432 Viscount Monck, Liberal-Conservative 361 ---- Majority for Mr. Sheridan 71
* * * * *
TO THE ELECTORS OF THE BOROUGH OF DUDLEY.
GENTLEMEN,
The state of the Poll at its close shows a result unfavourable to my desire to represent you in Parliament, and my opponent has been returned as your Member.
It therefore only remains for me, in the same spirit of good feeling and good humour in which I have endeavoured to carry on the contest, to return my sincere and heartfelt thanks to those amongst you who have honoured me with their support at the Poll.
I deem it, however, only an act of justice to myself and my Committee to state that, had the promises of support which were made to me in the course of my Canvass been fulfilled, I should now be your Member.
Into the causes which have led to the failure of these engagements, I do not mean now to enter; but I consider it an unwarrantable act wantonly to involve a Constituency in the turmoil of a Contest, and I therefore desire to leave upon record the fact that my Committee had good grounds for expecting a different result of the Poll.
I now take leave of you, I cannot say without some feelings of disappointment, but with none of irritation or annoyance.
To the gentlemen of my Committee who have laboured so assiduously in my cause, I beg to tender my most grateful acknowledgments, and to the whole Constituency my thanks for the courtesy and kindness with which I have been treated since I came amongst you.
I have the honour to be, Gentlemen, Your obedient Servant, MONCK.
_Committee Rooms, Bush Inn, April 29th, 1859._
October 28th, 1859, Mr. Theophilus Tinsley was elected Mayor, and Mr. C. F. G. Clark, High Bailiff, of the Borough of Dudley for the ensuing year.
DUDLEY RIFLE CORPS.
November 23rd, 1859, a requisition, signed by upwards of 120 of the leading inhabitants of the town, was presented to the Mayor, T. Tinsley, Esq., requesting him to convene a public meeting, to take into consideration the expediency of forming a Volunteer Rifle Corps in this Borough. Mr. Henry Money Wainwright, Solicitor, was elected the first captain, which honourable appointment he held with great dignity and efficiency for a number of years. A public subscription was originated to raise funds for a suitable equipment of the corps, when upwards of £150 was received for that object.
Died, November 29th, 1859, Edward Dixon, Esq., Jun., only son of the late esteemed Mr. Dixon, Banker of this town.
DUDLEY GARRICK CLUB.
Some of my readers may be pleased to see a re-print of one of the earlier Play Bills of this enterprising Volunteer company of our younger townsmen, who founded one of the most enjoyable entertainments ever held in the town. Too much praise cannot be accorded to these young gentlemen for the assiduity and care they always manifested in placing upon the boards some of the most exciting as well as highly finished dramatic pieces of the day. These theatrical performances were liberally patronized by all parties, and gave universal satisfaction to all concerned, and their proceeds were liberally given to our local charities.
DUDLEY GARRICK CLUB.
POPULAR ENTERTAINMENT,
Assisted by Miss ISABEL ADAMS, Miss BELLAIR, Miss HINTON, and Miss HOLMES.
The Entertainment will commence with
THE READING OF AN ADDRESS.
After which will be produced the latest Metropolitan successful Comedy-Drama, in three acts, entitled
MIRIAM'S CRIME!
DRAMATIS PERSONÆ.
Bernard Reynolds Mr. W. ATKINS. Scumley (a reprobate) Mr. S. WARING. Huffin (a lawyer) Mr. A. SHEDDEN. Daniel Mr. C. PAIN. Biles (a clerk) Mr. H. WOODALL. Miriam West Miss ISABEL ADAMS. Mrs. Raby Miss HINTON.
SONG Miss BELLAIR.
To conclude with the evergreen popular Haymarket Comedy, in three acts, of
PAUL PRY!
Colonel Hardy Mr. A. SHEDDEN. Frank Hardy Mr. RICHARDS. Witherton (an old bachelor) Mr. S. WARING. Harry Stanley Miss BELLAIR. Grasp (a steward) Mr. C. PAIN. Doubledot (an innkeeper) Mr. W. GORTON. Simon Mr. GEO. PITT. Mr. Stanley Mr. C. RUSSELL. Paul Pry Mr. H. WOODALL.
(Servants, &c., by Members of the D.G.C.)
Mrs. Subtle Miss HINTON. Phœbe (with a song) Miss ISABEL ADAMS. Eliza Miss W. HOLMES.
A FULL THEATRICAL BAND IS ENGAGED.
Hon. Sec. Mr. JAMES WOOD. Stage Manager Mr. H. WOODALL. Prompter Mr. T. NEATH. Perruquier Mr. JAMES FOSTER.
Doors open at half-past Six--Curtain to rise at Seven o'clock. Reserved. Seats, 3s.; Unreserved Seats, 2s.; Back Seats, 1s.
Children in arms not admitted.
Tickets may be obtained from Mr. LAXTON, Bookseller, High Street (where a Plan of Reserved Seats may be seen on and after Wednesday, January 27th); Messrs. WARING, Wolverhampton Street; Mr. EVAN ROBERTS, Stone Street; or from any Member of the Committee.
Carriages may be ordered for half-past Ten, and will set down with horses' heads facing Snowhill, and take up, horses' heads facing the Town.
THE EARLDOM OF DUDLEY.
February 13th, 1860. The Right Honourable Lord Ward was created "Earl of Dudley and Viscount Ednam." This important event was received with great satisfaction, both in the town of Dudley and the surrounding villages and hamlets, and the ancient town of Dudley was especially aware of marked consideration, in having the new elevation in the Peerage of the House of Himley called after our loyal and trusty old Borough. Deputations of congratulations to the noble Earl poured in upon him from all quarters, and the most notable must be claimed, the "Great Deputation," which in much pomp and state emanated from the then Mayor, Theophilus Tinsley, Esq., and the principal inhabitants of Dudley, who were most graciously received by the new Earl of Dudley, at Himley Hall, on February 18th, 1860. The following is a report of these congratulatory deputations.
PRESENTATION OF AN ADDRESS TO THE EARL OF DUDLEY.
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._
* * * * *
THE EARLDOM OF DUDLEY.
Yesterday a deputation from Brierley Hill waited upon the Right Hon. the Earl of Dudley, at Himley Hall, to present to his lordship, on behalf of the inhabitants of Brierley Hill and the district, their congratulations on his lordship's recent elevation in the peerage. The deputation started from the Star Hotel (Mr. English's), about one o'clock, in four carriages, and consisted of the following gentlemen:--Rev. S. Franklin (incumbent of Brierley Hill), Rev.--Gray (curate), Rev. J. Roebuck (Independent minister), Rev. J. Williams (Wesleyan minister), Dr. Walker, Messrs. Ford, P. Harris, R. Plant, W. H. Westwood, G. Pearson, Chapman, Wheeler, Williams, Horton, Homer, and Cook. Upon arriving at the Hall, the deputation were received by the noble Earl in a very cordial manner, and Mr. R. Plant, after making a few eulogistic remarks, proceeded to read the following address:--"We, the undersigned, clergy, ministers of the gospel, and others, inhabitants of the town of Brierley Hill and district, beg to present our congratulations to your Lordship on your accession to your family dignities and honours, bestowed upon you by the act of our most gracious Sovereign; and that you may be spared to live long in the enjoyment of your revived family title, and that it may be handed down through succeeding generations, is our fervent wish, who fully appreciate your Lordship's interest towards us, as exhibited in your untiring efforts to promote the welfare and prosperity of this locality." To this address were attached about 1,200 signatures. In order that beauty and harmony should be better preserved the signatures were transcribed, and with the dedication and address the _souvenir_ took the form of a thin royal octavo volume, beautifully bound in gilt russia. On the outer cover appeared the following words:--"Address from the town and district of Brierley Hill to the Right Honourable the Earl of Dudley, 1860." On the frontispiece the Earl's crest and motto were tastefully lithographed in gold and colours, immediately succeeding which was the following dedication:--"To the Right Honourable the Earl of Dudley, of Dudley, in the county of Worcester, and of Dudley Castle in the county of Stafford, Viscount Ednam of Ednam, in the county of Roxburgh, 1860." The dedication and address were printed in colours, and each of the pages containing the signatures was surrounded with an illuminated border. After the reception of the address, the noble Earl made a few appropriate remarks in reply. He said that an address of such a character, signed as it was by about 1,200 persons, was a source of great gratification to him, and would have been equally so if it had consisted of simple sheets of paper, instead of assuming the elegant form it had. Considering the short time occupied in obtaining the signatures (one day) it was extremely gratifying to find such a feeling exhibited towards himself and his house as was evinced by the 1,200 who had come forward and signed the document on behalf of themselves and those surrounding them. It proved that Brierley Hill was fast rising in all the importance due to a town, and he hoped it would still continue to rise, and be supplied with such public buildings as it required, towards which object he should always be happy to render a helping hand. With regard to supplying the requisite churches and chapels for the district, his Lordship took occasion to remark that it was almost impossible to "overtake" the work--to use a Scotch expression. It was also difficult to obtain ministers who would enter into the work with a proper spirit, and properly perform it, and generally it was very difficult to find sufficient accommodation for the wants of the place. After alluding to the importance of mechanics' institutions, and kindred sources of improvement, and remarking that they were also necessary in a growing locality like Brierley Hill, his Lordship concluded by remarking that the address presented that day would be treasured along with the most honoured archives of the house and family; and as he might not stand again before the same body of gentlemen, who represented 1200 inhabitants, and doubtless many more, he begged them to convey his thanks to each person who had signed the document, and participated in the congratulations conveyed.
Deputations from Netherton, Sedgley, and Quarry Bank (near Brierley Hill) were also present. The latter address was as follows:--"To the Right Hon. Earl of Dudley, &c., &c., &c. May it please your Lordship, we, the undersigned clergy, churchwardens, and tenants under your Lordship in the new district parish of Quarry Bank, Diocese of Lichfield, and in the county of Stafford, take the liberty of congratulating your Lordship on your elevation by our most gracious Queen to the Earldom of Dudley, a dignity heretofore enjoyed by some of your Lordship's ancestors. We humbly conceive that this evidence of Royal favour has been most judiciously conferred upon a nobleman, the management of whose property throughout this entire district justly entitles him to be ranked amongst the kindest, most liberal, and best of England's landlords, in whom an industrious and well-conducted tenantry always find a protector, friend, and patron; at the same time your Lordship proves by great liberality your anxiety for the religious and moral welfare of the people of this district, granting, in this mining country where land is so valuable, ground for the erection of a church for the people, for a churchyard, for parsonage and gardens, liquidating the balance of mortgage due on parsonage to Queen Anne's bounty, defraying the entire cost of introducing gas into the church, subscribing annually towards the support and the education of the young in the district, and contributing towards the aid of clerical ministrations throughout the parish. Fervently do we pray that your Lordship may long be spared to enjoy every blessing, and that the dignity conferred upon you by our gracious Queen may descend (with even increased honours) to your Lordship's latest posterity." The gentlemen comprising the various deputations were subsequently entertained by the noble Earl at an elegant and sumptuous luncheon, after which they thanked his lordship for his cordial reception, and retired.
The Dowager Lady Ward, with two or three lady friends, and G. Taylor, Esq. (his lordship's estate agent), were present during the interesting proceedings.--_Birmingham Journal._
After the several deputations had been gone through, it was deemed the correct thing to invite the noble Earl to a grand banquet, to be given by the Mayor, and principal inhabitants of the town and district. This ever-to-be-remembered dinner became the source of much merriment to those present, as well as annoyance and chagrin to two reporters to the press, who would not accommodate themselves to the pressure that had to be put upon the small space afforded in the Hotel Ball Room to seat 128 guests at this dinner; the consequence was, that the eloquent speeches were not reported at all, and the whole affair resolved itself into a semi-private dinner party.
It was an unfortunate incident that the then Mayor was neither a moderate speaker, or well acquainted with the Queen's English, and the mistakes and blunders that were made, under the eyes and ears of so many distinguished visitors, were a source of much annoyance to the better sort of people in the town, who had some sincere regard for the fame and honour of Dudley. However, this celebrated banquet was destined to have one Chronicler, who in the following lines records the proceedings.
DUDLEY CASTLE AND THE GREAT BANQUET.
BY SOLOMON SQUIB.
I sing in praise of our old Castle Walls, Its tilts and tournaments, fêtes and balls; Of the great Dodo, and his humble bride, Daughter of the far-famed Edmund Ironside, Whose son Athelstan its Towers erected, Whose successors its buildings for centuries protected; Of the martial achievements of great Simon Ward, Of his noble descendant becoming its Lord; Of its loyal defence in the great revolution, Its destruction by fire, and its sad dissolution.
I sing of the days of chivalry, Of the noble spirit of rivalry. When every knight detested a sinner, And swore to be true to his fair Dulcinea. When each one received the accolade, And was dubb'd and in costly mail array'd, With a strippling squire to carry his shield, Determin'd to conquer and never to yield To any power but the power above, For the sake of his bright-eyed lady-love. I sing of the tournaments of old, When every knight with a spirit bold, Dash'd his gauntlet into the ring, Defying all comers from peasant to king.
Strange times were these, when the Lord of the Castle, With bondsmen and freemen excited with wassail, Rush'd on their neighbours by day and by night, Shouting vociferously, "Might shall be right!" E'en in the days of our good Queen Bess, Ashwood and Priestwood were forced to confess The power of seven score madden'd with wine, Who stole their best oxen, their sheep and their kyne.
These customs were past when our Earl's noble ancestor Fair Frances won, and the Lord of all blest her With children whose numerous descendants were famed For talents, for actions, for virtues oft named,-- Talents acknowledged by Peel, Byron, Moore, Kings, Lords and Commons, by the rich and the poor-- By Oxford and Cambridge, by linguists, by all, By the foes of old England, far and near, great and small.
## Actions engraved on the hearts of the people,
And telling their story from steeple to steeple. Virtues in Heaven's blest mansions recorded, Where the vile never go, and the pure are rewarded. I care not for critics, 'cased in temples of marble, Sending forth bombshells and missiles of garble, 'Gainst the wide reputation of Dudley's great Earl,-- Let them come forth, and their banners unfurl, With their mischievous motto, "Wealth's all my eye;" Go back, silly mortals, and mind the small fry, And we'll give a shout of exuberant joy, For our great benefactor, that broth of a boy, Who never deserts us in time of great need,-- Noble patron, we heartily wish thee God speed! Thy bounty has blest many a worthy civilian, And given enjoyment and fun to the million. Our Whitsuntide fêtes on the Castle to wit: But stay, this long metre this subject won't fit.
Reader, with your permission, I'll make a short digression; For brevity is best, no doubt, When wit, fun, frolic, are about. The Castle Fêtes, alas! alas! Let them to oblivion pass, With the ugly Balance Sheet, Afraid the public eye to meet; We no doubt can do without it, Therefore say no more about it. Why rave, and rant, and grumble? Zounds! The gains exceed a thousand pounds! In spite of the great defalcation, And the costly presentation, Sufficient to clothe and equip a score Of the "Dudley Volunteer Rifle Corps."
I now sing of the blind man's happy home, The Asylum for those who care not to roam, The magnificent gift of our patron and friend,-- May his praises resound to the wide world's end. 'Twas a gladdening sight, it did one's heart good, When he laid the foundation stone, humbly he stood, 'Midst the ragged, and wretched, and the poor cast-away, The well-to-do folk, and the great and the gay,-- Proclaiming "My worldly possessions I owe To the Ruler of all things above and below, And through life my earnest endeavour shall be To distribute those blessings given to me." Well spoken, my Lord, may your stewardship meet The approval of Him who knows no deceit; Then when titles and grandeur shall crumble to dust, Your soul will be found 'mongst the righteous and just.
And now let us sing of the great Deputation, With address clothed in gold, a sweet gratulation. To Himley they journey'd without ostentation, Made their bows and delivered a first-rate oration. So flattering, so powerful, it caused quite a sensation,-- And ended at last with the Earl's observation, "My friends, your respect has my warm approbation; "I pray you partake of a cold collation." Each one took his seat without hesitation, Eat and drank and talk'd o'er the affairs of the nation, And the Captain delivered a long peroration, So fulsome, it met with the Earl's condemnation. The business being o'er, and the Mayor's invitation Accepted, each went to his own habitation. And the Mayor, uplifted with such exultation, Sends forth the following proclamation:
"O yes! O yes! be it known to all men, (We never shall see the like again), On the 28th instant we hold our Banquet! And after the 19th no seats will be let-- A guinea a piece--'Hark! forward, boys, hark!' Signed, P. G. M., L. M. N. O. P., C. F. G. (Clerk)." 'Twas a splendid affair, all the tickets were taken, And they sat down to fish, flesh, fowl, and bacon. The Mayor took the chair, and the Bailiff was Vice,-- _Vice versa_, some thought would have been the best choice. The great guest was welcom'd with loud acclamation, And the nobles were greeted with kind adulation: Talented Lyttelton, "honourable" Ward, (Promoters of progress, stem foes to discord,) The great Dean of Worcester, the immaculate Paul, The Sheriff whom no power on earth can appal: These were the guests that graced the Mayor's table, Men full of good works, free, willing, and able To assist us in all things pertaining to good, To bodily comforts and spiritual food. And besides, there were present the renown'd Dr. Browne, The unknown Doctor D., and the _élite_ of the town, All the Clergy of the Established Church were there, Only one Chapel preacher thought fit to appear. Ten magistrates (bless 'em), a glorious batch, Like jolly good fellows, came up to the scratch; Exclusive of them there appear'd twenty-two, In the Coal and Iron trade some few good and true. Eight respectable lawyers, five doctors, four quacks, Seven victuallers, four sellers of leather and wax, Eight drapers and tailors, the glass-master Renaud, One hatter, one painter, one printer, one Howard; Tom and John the surveyors, fond of all things good; The important ex-Mayor, and the little Ned Wood, Tom Smart the butcher, and the millionaire Guest, Fourteen agents (two ticketless) make up the rest: Numbering one hundred and twenty and nine, And all pleased with their excellent dinner and wine.
The cloth was drawn, and the plate went round, And in lieu of two tickets two guineas were found: The shorthands were call'd from the taproom below, By the Clerk and Committee, yet none would go; Inducements were offered, but all was in vain, The help of reporters they could not obtain,-- They'd insulted most grossly the "fourth estate," And all they could say would not compensate; Its reporters they forced from their usual places, (A thing never known e'en at prize-fights and races), And sent them down stairs till the stuffing was o'er, And then "This way, gentlemen, to the next floor." Why the dirtiest hole throughout all the nation Could not have display'd less civilization.
Amidst great confusion, and cries of "Chair, chair!" The business proceeded by our eloquent Mayor, Proposing so brilliantly each loyal toast, I'm afraid he disturbed old Demosthenes' ghost. He came to the Bishops and Clergy at last, And on the great Doctor his north twinkler cast Up jumps the bold Doctor and spouted away, 'Bout Dudley's great Earl, whom none can gainsay "Look at his acts and his kind liberality, "Especially confined to this favour'd locality. Then he spoke of St. Thomas's tottering steeple, And the need of a church for the Cemetery people: "Much money is wanted, but little is found; "Will you suffer God's Temple to fall to the ground? "Let the Town Hall and such useless fabrics be floor'd, "But let not my Church and your vestry be lower'd; "I claim your support and your very best wishes, "For the sake of the long lost loaves and fishes."
And now comes the toast, the toast of the day, "The great Earl of Dudley"--huzza! and huzza!!! 'Twas given by Blackwell in a splendid oration, Boldly deliver'd without ostentation, Free from all twaddle and mean adulation. He gained great applause from beginning to end, And the Earl was pleased to call him "his friend." (This Blackbird, so flighty, sagacious, and clever, In crossing a Brooke, once display'd a white feather.) But what said the Earl in reply to the toast? Magnanimous sentiments! could the town boast Of another like him, we'd have nothing to fear, All would be prosperous year after year. He spoke like a man of the warmest sincerity, Express'd his desire for Dudley's prosperity, Declar'd he was willing to do all he could Towards all things pertaining to public good. Improvements were wanted all over the town-- The dirty old Town Hall he'd have taken down; And hop'd he should see, in a very short time, More refinement in all things, less ignorance and crime.
Ye pooh-poohing puppies, ye foul-mouthed jokers, Contemptible cynics, and broken-down croakers, Your rancorous shafts can't harm or offend Our high-minded leader, our patriot and friend. Go to bed, rantipoles, your day's on the wane; Lie still, for you'll never be wanted again.
The Earl in due time gave "Long life to the Mayor," And the chairman responded in terms rich and rare; He talk'd of his "_Earlship's_ well-known _festivalities_," Our local inducements, our strange nationalities. Of his "READING at Himley the great Deputation," And his "_Earlship's_" high and magnificent station. The guests were astounded at language so able, And the Earl, overcome, dropp'd his head on the table. Lord Lyttelton fancied it could not last long, So balanced a spoon on the tip of his tongue!! It ended at last with a hem and a haw, And the Mayor sat down with immense _eclât_. The High Bailiff came out with his "verbalized finery", Inexplicable terms and unmeaning irony. The town and the Trade, and Squire Knight's quackery He prefers the year round to Dickens or Thackeray; He loves the black country--may nothing upset it,-- For though he may leave it, he'll never forget it.
Mr. Haden replied to the "Coal and Iron Trade," In language concise, unadorned, unarrayed. Our Captain, as bold, as the heroes of Rome, Proposed "Lady Ward" and the old house at home. Our Lord Lieutenant, whom all men adore, Drank success to our Volunteer Rifle Corps. Th' intelligent Fred, whom the world scarcely knows, In an eloquent speech, thought fit to propose The health of the Sheriff, whom none can gainsay, His namesake and friend, and the County's mainstay. To the "Sports of the Field," Will Grazebrook replied In a humorous speech which none can deride: Yet, sad to relate, when this sportsman departed, Full of good cheer, light-headed, light-hearted, On his travels towards home he upset a trap, Which eventually proved a serious mishap. The coachman pull'd up, but all advice scorning, "Drive on," cried his master, "I'll call in the morning." Shame! shame! Billy Grazebrook; if a fox had been there You'd have been at the death, and not in the rear; But alas! a fond husband has now to bewail The loss of his lov'd one: so here ends my tale.
* * * * *
DUDLEY.
EARLDOM OF DUDLEY.
_To the Editor of the_ DAILY POST.
Sir,--In your impression of this day's _Daily Post_ it is observed that your Mr. Simpson, the recognised Dudley reporter of the _Daily Post_, has thought fit to advert to what he conceives to be "an indignity" offered to the reporters of the press, at the dinner given to the Earl of Dudley last evening.
As one of the Committee of Management in that matter, I would wish, by your permission, to rectify some of the erroneous impressions which your remarks are calculated to convey to the public.
I beg to inform your readers that the "Press" was one of the "first considerations" of the committee at its meetings; as a proof of which your Mr. Simpson obtained, through the influence of the committee, the exclusive privilege to report the proceedings of the Himley deputation, and received that distinguished recognition rarely accorded to the "Fourth Estate."
The unprecedented rush for tickets to do honour to the Earl of Dudley, and the very confined nature of the space for dining at the disposal of the committee, necessarily compelled that body to adopt "extraordinary means" for the purpose of giving as many of the public as possible an opportunity of "doing honour to whom honour is due."
Under these pressing circumstances, the representatives of the press were respectfully solicited to accommodate the committee by dining at its expense, truly "downstairs," because there was "no available dining space" upstairs, with the clear intimation that they would be accommodated with seats, wines, and dessert in the dining-room as soon as the cloth was drawn. This offer the egotistical representatives of the press indignantly declined to accept, and, unfortunately for the gratification of the public, forgot their quota of courtesy due to the committee by neglecting to forward their portentous decision until it was too late for the committee to procure additional reporters.
These, Sir, are the naked facts of the case, and however much it is to be regretted that the interests of the press should get into disrepute by an assumption on behalf of its reporters, it must now be left to the dispassionate public to determine whether the committee would have been justified in displacing a number of gentlemen to make way for the reporters of the "Fourth Estate" (merely at the time of dining), and whether the press has the right to arrogate to itself, on all occasions, "the chief corners in the temple."
I am, your obedient servant, C. F. G. CLARK, High Bailiff.
_Dudley, February 29th, 1860._
[In a few remote places, and in those circles of society into which modern notions of courtesy have imperfectly penetrated, we still find some lingering belief that the Press and its representatives are very much in the position of singers at a feast, to have a plate sent out to them in the corridor, and a chair in the windiest corner of the room when the cloth is drawn. But it is not often that we have the idea so honestly expressed. According to Mr. Clark, the accommodation of the Press was one of the earliest considerations of the committee, who seem to have balanced the profit of admitting 127 diners against the propriety of restricting that number to 125 and two reporters, by whose agency the whole of the vast district through which we circulate would in effect have shared in the honour done to the noble guest, and in the eloquence with which that honour was recognised. The committee, in its shortsightedness, deliberately chose to make room for two diners more, under the impression that they would manage the Press somehow,and the spirit of courtesy in which that "management" was undertaken may be inferred from the tone of the remarkable letter of our correspondent. It appears that by some gracious act of condescension our reporter was actually allowed to accompany a deputation to Himley Hall, "a distinguished recognition," quoth Mr. Clark, "rarely accorded to the Fourth Estate." The gentleman who can assume these grand airs, which the master of Himley Hall himself would be about the last to dream of, was very well qualified to execute and excuse the orders of the committee in asking the reporters to come in with the dessert. We quite approve of their refusal to submit to this servants' hall treatment. They have no right to expect, and as far as we know, they never lay claim to the chief places at feasts; but so long as their refusal is expressed with courtesy they have our entire approval when they decline to submit to treatment, the result not of accident or oversight--this we are sure they would be the first to make allowance for--but, as the "early consideration" shows, deliberately resolved upon. It was not until all the tickets were sold that this dining-down-stairs project was made known to our reporter, or we would have taken good care that he should have had such accommodation as a guinea could have given him. It is very droll, in the midst of all that is silly in this letter, to hear it charged against the reporters that they didn't study the convenience of these gracious gentlemen, so far as to allow them the opportunity of obtaining "other reporters." Other reporters! One would imagine these commodities were as easy to procure as change for a shilling. But suppose they were provided; we say it for ourselves, and we dare say the same for the majority, if not the whole, of our contemporaries, that the product of the "other reporters" would have found its way to the office waste-paper basket. As it is, the committee have made a pretty mess of it. They have dined the Earl truly, but they have contrived to rob the honour of half its graciousness and all its value, by denuding it of the crowning grace of publicity.--ED. _Daily Post_.]
* * * * *
_To the Editor of the_ DAILY POST.
Sir,--There is a paragraph in your edition of to-day respecting the banquet last evening, given by the town to the Earl of Dudley, in which the writer is facetious, regarding the indignant treatment to which it was proposed to submit the gentlemen of the Fourth Estate, and their noble protest against such treatment. Doubtless your sense of what is just and fair will admit a statement on the part of the committee of that dinner.
On Wednesday up to four o'clock 111 tickets had been sold--bought and paid for. The Mayor had been requested to reserve four for various parties, and six were kept for the invited guests, making in all 121. On Wednesday evening four more were issued, making 125; and on Monday evening, when the committee next met, a list of a dozen applications could not even be considered. Besides this 125, it was expected that some few guests might be present, and there were at least three (Mr. Melville, Mr. Campbell, and another); and careful and accurate measurement of the room had given as a result the utter impossibility of putting more than 128 into it. Where then, I ask, could the reporters be accommodated at dinner, being, as they might be, some six or eight? Arrangements were made for their dining, and as soon as space could be obtained, by the absence of the waiters, a table was placed for their accommodation in the centre of the room. We were perfectly willing to treat them as well as circumstances would allow, but we could not do what was palpably impossible.
I have only to add that a full report of the banquet shall be forwarded to you for Saturday's _Journal_. The committee would have been best pleased to have a professional report; but in default of that must do the best they can to preserve a record of that portion of the events of the day.
I am, Sir, yours faithfully, ONE OF THE COMMITTEE.
[Our reply to this is that there were only two papers represented, our own and the _Wolverhampton Chronicle_. The committee should have reserved two places for those reporters, no matter what the demand was. That is a prime article in the creed of all public dinner-giving committees, and a wise one we think.--ED. _Daily Post._]
Shortly after these civic proceedings were accomplished, the noble Earl laid the Foundation Stone of the Blind Asylum in the Tipton Road, which was built at his Lordship's entire cost, as a home and maintenance for those unfortunate miners and stone quarry men, who are constantly losing their sight by explosions in his Lordship's extensive mines. In consequence of these sightless men refusing to avail themselves of this charitable hospitality, this noble structure was tenantless for some years, until it was so liberally given up by the Earl of Dudley to the Trustees appointed by the late Joseph Guest, Esq., "for the purpose of founding a hospital in Dudley," which has since that time been of incalculable benefit to the working classes, and now assumes vast usefulness as our renowned "Guest's Hospital." The following ceremony took place on that occasion:--
ELEVATION OF LORD WARD TO AN EARLDOM.
CELEBRATIONS IN DUDLEY YESTERDAY.
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
LAYING THE FOUNDATION STONE OF THE BLIND ASYLUM
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.
THE BANQUET.
Of the banquet in the evening to the noble Earl we can say nothing, except that we believe about 120 sat down. The Dinner Committee, in making their arrangements, seem to have ignored the existence of such an institution as the Press, and it was not till all the tickets were sold, and all the available space occupied, that they appear to have entertained the idea that probably the public would like to know something about their proceedings. Accordingly, in their magnanimity, they arranged that provision should be made in some room "downstairs," where the reporters might eat and drink by themselves, and await the summons to "go up higher," which happy period, it is supposed, would have arrived when the cloth was withdrawn, and the serious part of the business of the evening commenced. However, the representatives of the "fourth estate" present did not feel inclined to submit to such unusual indignities. In consequence of these proceedings of the committee our readers are deprived of a report of the speeches made at the banquet; but we may perhaps be allowed to remark that such a mode of conducting what is really public business, is alike disrespectful to the noble Earl they intended to congratulate, and insulting to every person who has a just idea of the dignity of the press. If the committee had informed us that the right of a reporter to be present was only purchaseable, we should, for the sake of our readers, have taken care that this right was secured for our representative.--_Daily Post._
June 18th, 1860. The Old Town Hall, which had stood between two and three centuries in the Market Place, Dudley, was doomed to destruction, and workmen commenced pulling it down this day. The noble Earl of Dudley had previously signified his intention to erect a handsome Italian Fountain on the site, which now adorns our Market Place.
Died, October 14th, 1860, Mr. Thomas Rudd, Jeweller and Watchmaker, Market Place, after a very protracted illness, brought on by an accident in his gig. Aged 52 years.
THE COURT LEET.
Oct. 26th, 1860. This ancient Court for the barony of Dudley was held yesterday at the Hotel. There were present in addition to J. H. Bourne, Esq., (Steward of the Manor), S. Bourne, Esq., G. Taylor, Esq., T. Tinsley, Esq. (Mayor), and C. F. G. Clark, Esq. (High Bailiff), Messrs. S. Fereday, J. Jordan, Grainger, Hollier, Finch, Williscroft, E. Wood, W. Sheppard, Smart, S. Cook, Marsh, Timmins, Bowen, Minty, Watkins, Houghton, W. C. Wood, Saml. Rudge, S. Price, Patterson, D. Lloyd, D. Jordan, G. Stevenson, C. H. Tyler, C. Lucas, Dixon, T. Sheppard, Smith, Terry, and Wesley. The opening of the Court having been proclaimed and the jury duly sworn, Mr. G. Stephenson proposed, and Mr. Finch seconded, the election of Mr. Clark (late High Bailiff) to the office of Mayor for the ensuing year. There was no opposition and consequently Mr. Clark was declared duly elected. Upon the proposition of Mr. Hollier, seconded by Mr. W. H. Brooke, Mr. E. Grainger was elected High Bailiff. The Sergeants, Messrs. A. Patterson and J. Jordan, were reappointed, as were also Messrs. C. Lucas and S. Smart, (flesh-tasters), and Messrs. W. Minty and J. F. Watkins, (constables). The only alteration made in the appointment of ale connors was the election of Mr. W. Smith instead of Mr. J. Smith, who is ill, to act in conjunction with Mr. W. Sheppard. Mr. Samuel Cook, amid some merriment, made his customary annual protest against the illegal appointment of a Mayor of Dudley, inasmuch as Mayors were usually elected from the Court of Aldermen; and although he found from ancient documents that there was once a court of Aldermen in Dudley, yet as there was not such a court now, the office of Mayor must have become extinct. He protested most solemnly against the farce of continuing such elections. (Laughter). Mr. Cook was thanked for his protest, and the subject dropped. Mr. Clark, in a few words, thanked the jury for the honour conferred upon him that day, and expressed his hope that at the termination of the year of office they would find that he had discharged the duties incumbent upon him in a very satisfactory manner, and that he could allow the mantle of an office which had been in existence 200 years to descend upon his successor unsullied in the slightest degree. The various officers were then duly sworn to "serve our Sovereign Lady the Queen," &c., and the business of the Court terminated. Subsequently the whole of the above-named gentlemen, together with F. Smith, Esq., Messrs. T. Oakes, W. C. Wood, sen., Bateman, Houghton, Deely, Cartwright, &c., sat down to a luxurious dinner, provided by Mrs. Smith, of the hotel, in her accustomed good style. Amongst those who sat down to dinner was Mr. S. Cook, who so indignantly protested against the proceedings of the morning, and the fact caused not a little pleasantry.--_Daily Post._
Died, November 11th, 1860, Isaac Badger, Esq., J.P., aged 76 years. Mr. Isaac Badger was the last of a section of contracted Tories who had literally ruled this town for half a century. Tory in political faith but Radical in practice, unlettered but audacious, this gentleman rode over all obstacles, and died a rich man, respected by a large circle of life-long friends. A public funeral was given to his remains, as a mark of respect.
FUNERAL OF THE LATE ISAAC BADGER, ESQ.
THE BAILIFF (in the absence of the Mayor), respectfully invites those Persons who are desirous of paying a last Tribute of Respect to the Memory of the late ISAAC BADGER, ESQ., to meet at the DUDLEY ARMS HOTEL, on FRIDAY Morning next, at 11-30 precisely, for the purpose of joining the FUNERAL PROCESSION from his late residence to St. Edmund's Church. As a further mark of respect the Public are respectfully requested to
## PARTIALLY CLOSE their respective Establishments on the Morning
of the above day.
EDWARD GRAINGER, BAILIFF.
_Dudley, November 14th, 1860._
The following list of returns of the various Parliamentary Elections in this Borough may be useful as an occasional reference:--
A LIST OF THE DUDLEY BOROUGH ELECTIONS, SINCE THE BOROUGH WAS ENFRANCHISED IN 1832.
1832. Votes. John Campbell, Reformer 318 Sir Horace St. Paul, Tory 229 ---- Majority 89
1834. Mr. Thos. Hawkes, Tory 322 Sir John Campbell, Reformer 254 ---- Majority 68
1835. Mr. Thos. Hawkes, Tory 327 Mr. Forbes, Radical 250 ---- Majority 77
1837. Mr. Thos. Hawkes, Tory 385 Mr. Merryweather Turner, Radical 289 ---- Majority 96
1841. Mr. Thos. Hawkes, Tory 436 Mr. Smith, Radical 189 ---- Majority 247
1844. Mr. Jno. Benbow, Tory 388 Mr. Wm. Rawson, Freetrader 175 ---- Majority 213
1852. Mr. Jno. Benbow, Tory 400 Mr. Jas. Baldwin, Radical 231 ---- Majority 169
1855. Mr. Jno. Benbow. Died, February 26th, 1855.
1855. Sir Stafford Northcote, Conservative 346 Mr. Jas. Baldwin, Radical 3 ---- Majority 343
1857. Mr. H. B. Sheridan, Doubtful Mr. Sandars, resigned, Conservative
1859. Mr. H. B. Sheridan, Radical 432 Viscount Monck, Liberal Conservative 361 ---- Majority 71
1865. Mr. H. B. Sheridan, Radical 526 Mr. Francis Truscott, Conservative 275 ---- Majority 251
1868. Mr. H. B. Sheridan, Radical. Unopposed.
February, 1874. Mr. H. B. Sheridan, Radical 5149[36] Mr. Fred Smith Shenstone, Liberal Conservative 4181[36] ---- Majority 968
May, 1874. Mr. H. B. Sheridan, Radical 5607 Mr. Noah Hingley, Conservative 4889 ---- Majority 718
1880. Mr. H. B. Sheridan, Radical 6948 Mr. Alfred Waterman, Conservative 4163 ---- Majority 2785
TRIAL OF MR. SAMUEL COOK, DRAPER OF DUDLEY.
1827. Posterity will view in very different light the public acts of this remarkable townsman, when we consider that all the points of the Great Charter, which he so strenuously advocated, and never failed to bring to the front when occasion presented itself, have now, save one or two divisions, been passed by succeeding Parliaments, and entered upon the Statute Book of this country, as just and lawful measures to be exercised by voters in sending "fit and proper men" to make laws and administer the gigantic affairs and policy of this great country. Mr. Samuel Cook's great sin was, "that he lived before his time;" his great heart, and undying love of justice and fair play, made him a leader amongst the people and a friend of the oppressed and friendless. His Republican principles were based upon a well-informed insight into the motives and actions of the governed and governing, and where he overstepped the bounds of _what was considered proper decorum, and enunciated political and social doctrines_, which were far in advance of the times in which he lived, he followed the dictates of an honest and earnest mind, burning to regenerate what he believed to be an unnatural and vicious state of both political and social growth. Mr. Cook was at times decidedly fanatical, headstrong, and ungovernable, but he _held a reason for the faith_ which led him on at periods to denounce, in unmeasured language, the perpetration of wrongs under which society then laboured and groaned, and the oppression, and the grinding down of the half-starved wretches who craved his protection and claimed his care. It has often been urged that the unwise riots at the Lye-Waste amongst the Nailers in 1827 led to the arrest and trial of Mr. Cook at Worcester Assizes, on August 1st, 1827, "for falsely, seditiously and maliciously writing and publishing in his shop window at Dudley certain false, seditious, and scandalous libels, tending to inflame the minds and alienate the affections of the people from his majesty the King, and to excite them to traitorous insurrections against the Government."
The fact of Mr. Cook being then an active advocate of the rights of labour, and "a fair wage for a fair day's work," added to his invincible courage in rooting out the oppression and injustice which then tainted the nail trade under the manipulations of that detestable "go-between" the Nail Fogger, made him an object of fear and dread to the Nail Masters, whilst he became the idol of the Nailers, and a very desirable person and agitator to be denounced, "shut up," and removed from his chosen sphere of action; hence the persecution for the first time of this remarkable and courageous townsman. Mr. Cook _was no paid agent_, and what he did for upwards of thirty years was done from a sure belief that it was his mission thus to oppose all oppression, and assert the undeniable rights of man. He became a serious pecuniary loser by these lengthened social and political proceedings, and died, December 8th, 1861, at the ripe old age of 75 years.
Mr. Cook had a large host of genuine friends and admirers who had viewed his arduous long-life labours with admiration and profound regard. I need hardly say that Mr. Cook received no personal harm or imprisonment for his supposed misdeeds, but was found "legally guilty" and bound over to come and receive judgment _when required_, which never occurred. He was ably defended by Mr. John Campbell, who was a very rising man at the Bar, and eventually became the first M.P. for Dudley. The public reception which awaited Mr. Cook on his return from Worcester Assizes was of a most characteristic and demonstrative description, for he was met near Stourbridge by a deputation with a carriage and four grey horses, and from thence driven to old Dudley amid a perfect ovation of men, women, and children of all classes. A brass band discoursed sweet and patriotic music at the head of a procession, said to number 40,000 people, who, ever and anon, continued their welcome acclamations in honour of their triumphant friend, patriot, and advocate. It will be a long time before we shall meet with such another self-sacrificing life in Dudley.
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October 3rd, 1861. The Dudley Rifle Corps up to this date had, under the energetic management of our highly respected and talented townsman, Captain Wainwright, acquired great proficiency; so the Mayor (Mr. C. F. G. Clark) offered a handsome silver cup, value £8, to be shot for, as an absolute prize, which was won by Corporal Devall, the successful winner of the Beauchamp Cup a short time before, who made 18 points on this occasion at the three ranges, securing three more points than in his former shooting.
THE DUDLEY RIFLE MOVEMENT.
Wednesday was a gala day with this company. The proceedings commenced with a rifle match for a handsome silver cup, given by C. F. G. Clark, Esq. (Mayor of Dudley): and Corporal Devall, the winner of the Beauchamp Cup (shot for last week), was again the victor. He made eighteen points at the three ranges--three more points than won the first cup. The other competitors who most nearly approached the winner were as follow:--Lieutenant Sanders, 16; Ensign Hewitt, 16; Sergeant Wood, 17; J. Wilkinson, 14; Albert Wood, 14; J. H. Smith, 13; J. Bromwich, 16; Worrall, 14; G. Fellows, 12; Burton, 14; Blackstock, 15; Dixon, 11; Wilson, 14. In the evening the officers of the company were entertained at a sumptuous dinner at the Bush Hotel (Mr. J. Cartwright's), provided by the non-commissioned officers and privates, intended as a return of a similar compliment paid to the men by the officers some time ago. About eighty sat down, under the presidency of Sergeant G. H. Deeley; Sergeant Williscroft occupying the vice-chair; and among the other invited guests were, Rev. J. Davis (hon. chaplain to the corps), Captain Woolridge (adjutant to the battalion), W. Haden, Esq., J. P.; C. F. G. Clark, Esq. (Mayor), E. Grainger, Esq., (High Bailiff), T. Tinsley, Esq. (Ex-Mayor), S. D. Fereday, Esq., G. Taylor, Esq., J. Renaud, Esq., &c., &c.--The efficient band of the corps played a selection of music during dinner. After the withdrawal of the cloth, the customary loyal and patriotic toasts were proposed in due order from the chair. In responding to the "Bishop and Clergy," the hon. chaplain defended the rifle corps movement against the attacks of those who said it was inconsistent with the profession of Christianity to be a soldier, and quoted various examples from Holy Writ in support of his argument. Among other examples he instanced Joshua, David, Goliath, Jehoshaphat, and John the Baptist. The rev. gentleman concluded by expressing a hope that all engaged in the Volunteer movement would understand the obligations they took upon themselves, and endeavour to discharge their duties properly. The health of the corps followed. The "Army and Navy" followed, with "three times three" for Captain Woolridge. The Captain on rising to respond, was again received with loud cheers. He said the toast of the army and navy was always well received, but seldom or never so cordially as by a company purely civilian in character, because those who worked at home for their own good seemed to have a sort of innate sympathy with soldier or sailor who worked hard, but not for his own aggrandizement--for they could hardly tell him of one who had grown rich in the service. They were sympathised with because they worked for the honour of their Queen and the safety of the country. (Cheers.) The Volunteer movement had been eulogised by everybody, from her Majesty downwards, and it was scarcely his place--if, indeed, it was necessary--to say anything about it then, connected as he was with the movement, and occupying some such position as an attache did to an embassy, inasmuch as he was obliged to perform the orders received from head quarters. As far as he knew about the policy of head quarters, he was sure they did not intend to reduce the regular army in consequence of the efficiency of the volunteer corps in the kingdom. He thought their intention was to keep up the army as it was at present, so that if war broke out they might be employed in defending our wide-spread colonies, and the volunteers, if wanted, could keep peace at home. After alluding to the difficulties which surrounded the office of adjutant, Captain Woolridge went on to compliment the Dudley Company upon their efficiency, and said that if they would only go on as they had begun, they ought to achieve great things. He had eleven companies in his district, but he believed the Dudley corps was the only one which was almost or entirely self-supporting. From such a company he should expect to see an example set to others, both as respect to discipline and conduct. Now that Government was going to provide instructors and ammunition, he should like to see a company out of the battalion perfectly equipped for service in the field, and he knew of no company possessing such pecuniary advantages for such a purpose as the Dudley Company. The gallant captain concluded, amidst loud cheers, by again speaking in eulogistic terms of the general character of the corps. The "Lord Lieutenant and Magistrates of the County" was responded to by W. Haden, Esq., in a brief speech, in which he took occasion to remark that, in discharging the difficult and onerous duties of their office, it was of the greatest importance that the Magistrates should be supported in their decisions by the good feeling of their fellow townsmen; and if they were supported in their work by such a respectable body of fellow-townsmen as he saw before him that night, the decisions and acts of the Magistrates must have far more importance and weight than they otherwise possibly could. The toast of the evening, "The Officers of the Corps," followed in a neat speech from the chair, to which Captain Wainwright responded on behalf of himself and his brother officers, and was received with boisterous outbursts of applause. He said they had been associated together in a new and difficult undertaking for about two years. The officers especially were surrounded with difficulties, inasmuch as they had to learn their own business before they could teach it to others, and to acquire the art of obtaining a certain amount of obedience from those who were not accustomed to obey military command. Looking back all this time he thought his brother officers would agree with him that they were very much indebted to the members of the corps for the attention they had always paid to their duties, by which great assistance had been rendered to the officers. To quote the expression of Colonel McMurdo at Worcester, they were indebted to the company for the "forbearance" they had shown to their officers. It was necessary that such "forbearance" should be shown, because officers had to learn their duties like the men, and they required a greater amount of attention, and consequently they might not be performed so well as they ought; but with the help afforded by the members of the company they would in time become better informed than they were. Therefore he hoped they would continue to help the officers for the future, and all act as harmoniously together as they had done that day, and then the corps would be a credit to the county and the country. Alluding to the address of the chaplain, in which that gentleman remarked upon the blessings of the Almighty resting upon those who were attempting to get possession of a land that was promised only, the Captain remarked how much more might they expect that blessing to rest upon those employed in the defence of a country already in possession. (Cheers.) After stating that he took the entertainment given to the officers that evening as an expression of the good feeling and harmony subsisting between them, the speaker referred to the assistance they had received from their friends and neighbours, and to the proposed movements for the future, including the shooting to come off next week for a "Lancaster rifle," presented by W. Haden, Esq.--The winner of the Beauchamp and Mayor's Cups (Corporal Devall) was then formally presented to the Mayor, who presented him with the cup won that day, and addressed him in a suitable and encouraging speech. Corporal Devall replied "The Mayor," with three cheers; "The High Bailiff," "The Chairman, Vice-chairman, and non-commissioned Officers," "The Lieutenants," "Quarter Master," (Mr. Johnson), and other toasts followed. In addition to the instrumental music of the band, the proceedings of the evening were much enlivened by various vocal performances.
DUDLEY ELECTION, 1832.
1
NOW Dudley boys! Exalt your joys, Nor fear the Tory faction; Lord Russell's Bill, Indeed it will Reduce them to a fraction.
2
CAMPBELL you know Is sure to go, Though all their might are using; HORACE'S friends Can't gain their ends; They have no chance but losing.
3
_Frank, Tom, and Paul_, _Isaac_, and all, Their slaves will call together; The SHIP REFORM Their puny storm With perfect ease will weather.
4
No doubt they'll try To place him high On the first day of polling; Then Lygon like, He soon will strike, Down like a stone come rolling.
5
So Parson Ned Gives meat and bread To those who will but hear him; With bread and meat, And a free seat, The poor folks won't go near him.
6
The reason's plain. He's short of brain, And wants what still is better; To make men slaves The madman raves-- Says gold shall be their fetters.
7
Won't SOUP nor ALE? NOR GOLD PREVAIL? Whatever is the matter? The people see, And will be free-- Justice demands the latter.
8
'Twixt Church and state, The wound's so great, It can't again be healed; What with the Tithes, And Parsons' lives, Poor Church her doom is sealed!
9
They say old Gray Has turned away-- HORACE ST. PAUL preferring; And tinker _Dick_, That honest stick, It seems _some brass is stirring_.
10
Where is great _John_ The Draper gone, Chairman at last Election? The Bowling Green, That source of spleen, Which led to his detection.
11
Highway Robbers, Church-Rate jobbers, And such as have a pension; All of one mind, You soon will find, Most prompt in their attention.
12
Now once for all, We'll have no PAUL! Indeed it would be folly; Led by the nose, By our old foes-- _Rough Joe and Doctor Molly_.
As a great amount of talk and contention has of late been indulged in by all classes of ratepayers, in reference to the proceedings of the Dudley Town Council; more especially about the Deep Drainage, and the Public Baths, &c., it may not be out of place in preserving a record of the names of those gentlemen and ratepayers who, in 1864, appended their names to the largest requisition ever signed in this town, "for the purpose of considering the desirability of presenting a petition to the Queen in Council, praying Her Majesty to grant a Charter of Incorporation to this Borough."
INCORPORATION OF THE BOROUGH.
TO SAMUEL RUDGE, ESQ., MAYOR OF DUDLEY.
We, the undersigned, Ratepayers and Inhabitants of the Parish of Dudley, respectfully request you to convene a PUBLIC MEETING, for the purpose of considering the desirability of presenting a Petition to the Queen in Council, praying Her Majesty to grant a Charter of Incorporation to this Borough.
James C. Browne, D.C.L., vicar Alexander George Davies, M.A., incumbent of St. James's John Davies, M.A., incumbent of St. Edmund's E. H. L. Noott, B.A., incumbent of St. John's, Dudley Robert Harper, M.A., head master of the Grammar School George Lewis, Presbyterian minister, Dudley Richard Rymer, Wesleyan minister, Dudley David Evans, Baptist minister, Dudley Matthew Gibson, Unitarian minister Jas. Bond, Catholic priest, Dudley Samuel Price, tanner and currier Hy. Coldicott, solicitor Theophilus Tinsley, merchant Thos. Sheppard, ironmonger Geo. J. England, maltster and brewer Ed. M. Warmington, solicitor John Round Tilley, tanner Daniel Timmins, surgeon R. C. Buck, chemist W. Challingsworth, victualler Reginald Unwin Dudley, silk mercer William Beddard, Jun., wholesale grocer John Finch, iron founder Henry Bagott, woollen draper C. F. G. Clark, chemist Thomas Price, tanner and currier J. O. Pearse, agent James Cartwright, wine merchant Saml. D. Fereday, surgeon J. H. Deakin, wine merchant Joseph Taylor, agent W. H. Laxton, bookseller Thos. Baker, shoe manufacturer John Dawson, chemist John Whitehouse, Dudley Saml. Bastick, hatter John S. Fisher, jeweller James Hemmings, shoe manufacturer H. Wythes, plumber Ed. Bowen, draper Joseph Sheldon, milliner Alexander M. Intyre, draper Thos. Maguire, boot maker Ebenezer Hutchings, news agent C. Cetti, furniture dealer Joseph Holland, pork butcher William Coleman, spirit merchant Isaac Collins, hosier William Hewitt, fruiterer George Henry Hewitt, ditto E. Lancey George Whitford, bookseller S. Q. Cook, draper Joseph Caswell, tobacconist J. C. Green, banker John Cartwright, banker's clerk E. Dunn, chemist W. Piddington, tobacconist Henry Woodhouse, innkeeper F. C. Hickling, clerk John Bromwich, jeweller Cornelius James, wire worker George Thorns, pork butcher Edwin Baker, fruiterer J. C. Westley, brass founder B. Wilcox, currier J. Parsons Alexander Barker Bartholomew Duffy, shoemaker James Frost, iron merchant Jos. Walker, wholesale draper William Palmer William Holland, builder John G Wright, auctioneer S. Grosvenor, M.B., Oxon. W. Fletcher and Sons, nail ironmongers William Smith, victualler James Grigg, wheelwright William Wilkinson, vice and anvil manufacturer James Woodall, builder Matthew Smith John Jones, shoemaker Charles Pardoe, victualler Thomas Parsons John Baker Thomas Lees, shopkeeper William Iles, iron dealer Saml. Ward, butcher Charles T. Sturtevant, artist James Henry Bourne, grocer Joseph Owen, broker John Fisher, merchant William Richards, draper Richard Coates, watchmaker William Insull, bookseller Fredk. Tandy Saml. Lee, baker Hy. Mence, shoemaker J. Thompson, painter Richard Davies, fruiterer J. T. Edwards, watchmaker Francis Garner, confectioner Richard Williams, shoemaker Joseph Watson, victualler Henry Bodin, builder George Grove, builder Wm. Hooper, victualler George Smith, engineer Edward Round, agent George Hartshorne, iron merchant Daniel G. Ward, iron merchant George Cooke, victualler James Wright, engineer H. and J. Wright and Co., engineers Thomas Ward, victualler Jesse Crompton, farrier John Hyslop, wine merchant George Ashfield, baker Thomas Hale, schoolmaster Thomas Marsh, grocer William Nelson, builder George Chaplin, hatter Robert Houghton, draper John Williscroft, hatter Thomas Roberts, draper John Evans, hosier C. H. Gare, chemist John Smart, fruiterer Mark Malugani, umbrella manufacturer Thomas Timmins, butcher Joseph Waterson, cabinet maker Mark W. Dickins, agent Joseph Williams, schoolmaster Charles W. Westley, brass founder Hy. Harper, coal master James Fisher, surgeon, Dudley John Tandy, Dudley William Gordon Coulton, solicitor, Dudley George Wood, wine merchant Joseph Stokes, solicitor, Dudley Samuel Mills, stationer, Dudley Enoch Brooks, currier James Shedden, stationer William Waring, tailor Samuel Waring, tailor Thomas Wright, ironmaster James Wilkins, hair dresser Samuel Dudley, confectioner Joseph Green, millinery warehouseman John Harris, hosier James Homer, butcher Messrs. T. and S. Davies, spirit merchants C. H. Tyler, cement manufacturer W. Morris, tailor John Bagott and Son, tailors E. Hollier, chemist T. L. Rutland, clothier Edward Smith, grocer John Neale, hatter George Morris, cab proprietor M. Dennison, chemist Thomas Willis, wholesale grocer, Market Place Fox Wright, commercial traveller, Rose Hill Thomas Stevenson, clothier Benjamin Guest, confectioner Edward Wood, woollen draper Thomas Reynolds, confectioner Thomas L. Stevenson, clothier James Cowden Haxeltine, butcher Thomas Allen, wine merchant James Ellis, wine merchant Richard Clark, haberdasher George Stevenson, clothier Edward Devall, clothier Joseph Stevenson, clothier Joseph Goodwin, printer, &c. John Davies, furniture dealer Henry Timmins, butcher James Brown, egg merchant William Pearsall, victualler James Smitheman, victualler M. Brown, agent Hughes and Hanson, wine merchants Cordy Manby, merchant, Dudley Henry Jennings, clerk, Dudley J. W. Matthews, oil merchant, Dudley Joseph Eld, tobacconist, Dudley George Edward Horton, surgeon John Underhill, licensed victualler Owen Wright, vice and anvil manufacturer, Tower-street J. Houghton, surgeon, New-street Evan Roberts, innkeeper Thomas Brettell, surveyor Thomas Davenport, innkeeper Thomas W. Smart, bacon factor Arthur Timmins, upholsterer John Castree, agent Geo. Burn Lowe, attorney at law Thomas Morris, chemist, &c. Chas. Russell, auctioneer John Bent, Jun., auctioneer Thos. Steedman, merchant Richard Winter, banker's clerk James Sackerson, cabinet maker Richard Wilkinson, vice manufacturer Joseph Skidmore, victualler A. Gaul, saddler George Bagott, Chemist, High-street, Dudley E. T. Terry, grocer, Dudley John Danes, shoe manufacturer William Summerland, milliner, &c. John Jordan, grocer Edward Grainger, draper Rudge and Griffith, drapers James Shedden, tailor Alexander Shedden, tailor Alfred Bowers, butcher Isaac Aulton, victualler William and Edward Thompson, maltsters Edward Packwood, pork butcher Thomas Danks, auctioneer William Steele, photographer Henry Smith, maltster Frederick Blunson, hosier, &c. George Pitt, currier Joseph Hillman, currier Thomas Harvey, general dealer Daniel Timmins, hairdresser John Roberts, watchmaker Henry Hayward, butcher James Stokes, cutler William Bagott, draper Henry Wood, grocer Thomas Mason, tobacco dealer Thomas Smith, maltster James Evans, butcher Job Thomas Hamblett, grocer, &c. Ann Richards, grocer Henry Rushton, builder Solomon Danby, victualler John Chambers, victualler Joshua Wilkinson, vice maker, Freebodies William Clarke, baker Thomas Westwood, slater Jacob Westwood, slater John Lloyd, victualler Daniel May, butcher Henry Beeston, butcher Thomas Price, pawnbroker
And others, making a total of 717 signatures of largest Ratepayers.
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In compliance with the above numerously signed Requisition, I hereby convene A PUBLIC MEETING to be held in the PUBLIC HALL of the NEW MECHANICS' INSTITUTE, Wolverhampton Street, on FRIDAY Evening, JANUARY 22nd, 1864, at half-past Six o'clock.
SAMUEL RUDGE, Mayor.
_January 15th, 1864._
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[Illustration: V. R.]
MUNICIPAL INCORPORATION
OF THE
PARLIAMENTARY BOROUGH OF DUDLEY.
WHEREAS, in pursuance of the Provisions of the Act of Parliament passed in the 5th and 6th years of the Reign of His late Majesty King William the Fourth,