The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1880-08-14 00:00:00

THE STOURBRIDGE OBSERVER:

LORD LYTTON'S RETURN.

Lord and Lady Lytton and family, who arrived at
Portsmouth on Friday, the 6th, in th 6 troopship
Himalaya, paid a visit to the Queen at Osborne on
Saturday by Her Majesty's command, and in the
afternoon started in a special train for Knebworth
Stevenage. Hertfordshire. Preparations on a
grand scale, considering the size of the town, had been
made to give a fitting reception to the late Viceroy.
The Great Northern Company had decorated
their station and laid down crimson carpet on the
platform. The townspeople had united to decorate
the streets; bunting floated from hundreds of
Venetian masts, triumphal arches, bearing the
monograms of Lord and Lady Lytton and words
of welcome on their return, were erected, and several
houses were illuminated. The train arrived at
Stevanage at 7.15, and the travellers were met at the
station by members of the local committee, including
Mr. Bailey Denton, Mr. Hill Smith, F.R.C.S.,
Captain Fellowes, R.N., C. 8., and the Rev. W.
Jowitt, rector of Stevenage. After some kindly con-
versation the party were conducted to a carriage in
waiting, and here Lady Lytton was presented by a
young lady with a magnificent bouquet. The Ist
Herts Volunteers, forming a guard of honour, headed
a procession to the town, which halted near the first
triumphal arch. Despite the inclement weather, there
was a large concourse of persons, and Lord and Lady
Lytton were vociferously cheered. When silence was
restored,
The Rev. W. Jowitt read an address, to the effect
that the inhabitants of Stevenage desired to avail
themselves of that opportunity to express the respect
and attachment which they felt to Lord Lytton and
his house • that it was with a feeling of pride that
they found that the Sovereign had conferred upon
him the exalted honour of the Vice-royalty of her
Indian Empire; and that they congratulated him on
having won honours to add to those which he had
inherited from his distinguished father.

Lord Lytton, in reply, said,--Mr. Jowitt, gentle-
men, friends, and neighbours,—l beg you will allow
me to offer you from Lady Lytton as well as from my-
self our most sincere and grateful thanks for the very
kind and cordial reception you have so generously
given us to-day. (Cheers.) We appreciate it all the
more warmly because I am conscious we owe it less to
any personal claims we have than to your kindly re-
collection of our past residence among you. It is true
that my wife and I are Hertford folks, and to-day, I am
afraid, we must call ourselves old Hertford folks.
It is true that my family has been planted down in this
part of the country, I think I may say as long, if not
longer, than the timber of our house itself. Still, official
avocations and public duties of life since boyhood,
either in foreign countries or distant dependencies of
our own, have, I grieve to say, rendered far fewer
than I could wish my own opportunites of strengthen-
ing those local ties and winning those local friend-
ships, the prospect of which has been dear to me. We
have now returned to this old house of ours, which I
trust we shall never leave again, or, at least, never for
so long a period of time. Gentlemen, according to my
way of thinking, one of the best things a man can do
for his country is to live in it, if he only lives in it
worthily and well. But Ido hope that those who are
called upon to serve England abroad may, by their de-
votion and their honest labour in her service, establish,
at least, some claim to the goodwill and sympathy of
their friends and countrymen at home. It is as an
earnest of that that I feel especially grateful for the
great kindness of the welcome you have given us
to-day; and surely there is no public or national task
in the performance of which an Englishman may
more fairly ask his countrymen at home to place upon
his labours and his efforts every possible generous
construction—in any case, not a peevish or captious
construction—than in the Government of India. That
the administration of India must in all circumstances
and at all times be an anxious and laborious, as well
as beneficent and noble task, all will admit. One
thing in regard to India I feel I can say with con-
fidence, and on that point I think I speak with some
experience. lam confident that nothing more is
needed than patient, assiduous perseverance for
only a few years longer in that great system
of polity which successions of great and wise Eng-
lishmen have framed for the government of India to
give to that magnificent portion of Her Majesty's
dominions all the strength, wealth, and influence of
one of the Great Powers of the world. (Cheers.) I
am sorry, gentlemen, that, from unavoidable circum-
stances, I should have twice deferred my arrival at
Stevenage, but no doubt you know the cause of my
detention at Portsmouth to-day—viz., that it was in
obedience to Her Majesty's most gracious command.
In conclusion, I again thank you for your kind
feelingsreferencew
t towards
o connexion with
and fainji
Indi a,_; d I mustforaynourkindly
amidsmny wife
thank Mr. Jowitt for his exceedingly kind reference
to my dear and honoured father.
The party then drove off, the carriage pulling
.tip
outside Trinity Church, in an enclosed space, outside
which 400 school children were assembled. These sang
very sweetly, "Home, sweet Home," after which Lord
and Lady Lytton drove off to neb worth-hall, be-
tween four and five miles distant. At the entrance to
the park the tenants and their families, together with
all the villagers, had assembled. There were trium-
phal arches erected along the carriage drive, and over
three of them were the words, " LODI; life and happi-
ness," " There is no place like home," and " Home,
sweet home." Arrived on the terrace in front of the
house, the carriage stopped, and the people having
drawn around it, the Rev. F. G. Jenyns, rector of
Knebworth, read an address of welcome.

Lord Lytton made a short reply from his carriage.
On behalf of Lady Lytton and,himself and the young
people he nad brought home that day, he thanked his
tenants and friends for their hearty welcome. The
kindness with which they had been received rendered
doubly pleasant an event which during four years of
arduous and anxious work he could truly say both he
and the countess had been looking forward to. He
regretted that he had not been able to come among
them earlier that day, but he trusted that he would
have many opportunities of seeing and meeting them,
and experiencing the pleasure of being once again
among his old neighbours and friends.
Three hearty cheers were then given for Lord and
Lady Lytton, with an extra one for Viscount Kneb-
worth.