The Sun.
London, England, 1857-06-02 00:00:00

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INAUGURATION
GR OF CALTHAIIORPE PARS,
1.

VISIT OF THE DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE.
Yesterday Calthorpe Park, presented condition-
ally by Lord Calthorpe as a place of public recrea-
tion to the artixana of Birmingham, was formally
inaugurated by H. R. H. the Duke of Cambridge,
the mayor of the borough (J. Ratcliff, Esq.), Lord
Calthorpe, and other influential noblemen and
entlemen connected with the town and neighbour-
hood, The day was unusually fine, and observed
as a general holiday in the manufactories, for whose
inmates the grounds are intended as a place of out-
door pleasure and amusement.
Calthorpe Park," as it has been designated by
the corporation, consists of five meadow fields
thrown into one piece of about 30 acres, intersected
with gravel walks, and planted, in addition to the
old trees, with a variety of choice if not highly va-
luable shrubs. The surface of the ground is some-
what flat, but the neighbouring hills of Edgbaston
and Moseley, by which it is surrounded, give
the seene a picturesque effect. It is situated on the
Pershore-road, about a mile and a-half from the
centre of the town, and is in all respects admirably
suited for the objects to which it has been this day
dedicated. _ _

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His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge ar-
rived at the Great Western Railway station, Snow
Hill, at •about half-past 12, and after a short stay
accompanied the mayor to the Town-hall. Here a
large company awaited his attendance. The'streets
on the line from Snow-hill to Paradise-street were
handsomely decorated with. banners, and the recep-
tion of the Duke most enthusiastic.
On their arrival at the Town-hall, his royal high-
ness was entertained to a sumptuous luncheon, at
which were present aniOngsFotbers, the Earl of
Shaftesbury Lord Calthorpe, Lord Leigh, the
Bishop of Worcester, Earl Talbot, Lord Ingestze,
the Earl of Lichfield, Lord Hatherton, and other
parties At local importance.
The entertainment being 'concluded the Comman-
der-in-Chief proceeded from the ante-room into the
hall, and received addresses from the Corporation,
the Committee of Small Arms, the Proprietary
School, and the Society of Arts. That from the
Corporation, as a matterof course, took precedence.
The following was read by the town clerk :
" TO HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS PRINCE GEORGE FREDERICK
WILLIAM CHARLES DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE, KNIGHT OF
THE MOST-NOBLE ORDER OF THE GARTER, THE GENERAL
COMMANDING-IN-CHIEF HER MAJESTY'S FORCES.
" May it please your Royalkliglaness—We, the mayor,
aldermen, sad .lnirgesses of the borough of Birming-
hami in the county of Warwick, in council assem-
bled, approach your royal highness on this auspicious
occasion with feelings of the most sincere and earnest
attachment .not only to your royal person, but to
your august and beloved cousin, our sovereign lady
Queen Victoria. During the recent campaign in the
Crimea, we contemplated, with the deepest interest,
the devoted manner in which your royal highness
emulated the noble examples of your gallant ances-
tors, .and we acknowledge the high and just posi-
tion with which the Queen has been pleased to reward
and honour your distinguished services with the utmost
pride and satisfaction. We regard with high apprecia-
tion the improvements commenced by your royal high-
ness in the administration of the army, which, in our
opinion, are calculated alike to vindicate the condition
of the soldier and increase the efficiency of the army in
the field, and we look to your royal highness for such
progressive improvements as will not only secure under
Providence the honour of our arms, but gain for your
royal highness, as it did for a- noble relative now de-
ceased, the honourable appellation of the soldier's friend.
The ready condesnension with which your royal highness
accepted the invitation of his worship the mayor for the
present occasion assures us that the benevolence of your
royal highness is not confined t) the army, but it is ex-
tended to the wide circle of her Majesty's subjects; and
we hail:with delight your presence among us this *day,
to do an act which cannot fail to reflect honour on your
name, concerning as it dues so intimately the advance-
ment and improvement of the moral and physical con-
dition of the industrious -clasiee of the kingdom. In
common with the inhabitants of the metropolis and other
large towns of the empire, we are conscious of a grow-
ing and absolute necessity that the toil-worn artisans of
our teeming population should have convenient oppor-
tunities for recreation in the fresh air; and, by the libe-
rility'and philanthropic spirit of a generous nobleman,,
we have now the satisfaction of inviting your royal. higt,
_nese, to inaugurate Calthorpe Park for the healthful' re•
creation of the inhabitants of the borough, to whose to
no, doubt the presence of your royal highness will contri-
bute much to induce the noble donor to secure it, if the
inhabitants show a due appreciation of the value of the
gift. That it may please the Divine Ruler, who pro-
tected and spared your royal highness amid thel perils of
the Crimea, long to preserve your valuable life among a
, contented people, blessed by a protracted peace, is our
devout and humble prayer: Given under our-corporate
common seal this first day of June, in the year of our
Lord, 1857."