MELVILI. : DIARY OF MR. LOVELL REEVE. 355 



consist of excavations of great magnitude in the limestone rocks, and 

 were lit up for the occasion, at the expense of Lord Ward, with from 

 fifteen to twenty thousand candles, and extensive gas illuminations 

 and red and blue lights. Dudley is about ten miles distant, and our 

 party travelled thither in canal boats. We were fortunate enough to 

 head the party. Upon arriving at the extremity of the cavern, Sir 

 Roderick Murchison addressed the multitude (for many thousands 

 were assembled, the public being admitted freely after the Association 

 had passed in) with the aid of a speaking trumpet, and described the 

 geological structure of the caverns. Three stentorian cheers were 

 given for Lord Ward, three for Murchison, and the Geological Society, 

 and three for France in honour of the presence of the French 

 Ambassador, who returned thanks through the speaking trumpet. 

 A canal flows through the caverns, serving to reflect the illuminations, 

 and upon returning along a lofty subterranean gallery, to look down 

 upon the multitude of visitors, illumined at intervals by the burning 

 of the blue and red fires, presented a scene I shall never forget. Sir 

 Roderick led the van, distinguished by a green chieftain's hat and 

 feather. Upon getting into daylight he recognized me, with an "how 

 d'ye do" ? recollecting me, I presume, by my portrait. From this point 

 our party proceeded to the summit of a rock forming the brink of a 

 huge hollow basin, called the Wren's Nest. Here Sir Roderick 

 delivered an excellent lecture on the geological features of the sur- 

 rounding country, and a vote of thanks was proposed by the Bishop 

 of Oxford in a glorious speech in which he styled him the " Silurian 

 King upon his Silurian Throne " (the name given by Sir R. to the 

 bed of rock upon which he was sitting), and the hills again resounded 

 with cheers. Mr. Robert Ransome has arrived, and was with us to- 

 day at Dudley ; he is gone this afternoon to the Hydropathicum and 

 will be back on Monday. 



I am just returned from church. The Bishop of Oxford's sermon 

 was truly powerful ; the church was crowded to suffocation, and yet 

 everyone listened to it with immense interest. It was a charity ser- 

 mon for the benefit of the lying-in hospital, but which he made chiefly 

 subservient to the subject of the cholera and the thankfulness with 

 which the people of this town ought to be inspired on account of their 

 immunity from this disease. He explained through the parable of the 

 leper why we ought to regard all sickness (not all pain) as a visitation 

 for some offence ; whether he quite persuaded me of this I hardly 

 know — at all events, he inspired me with sincere feelings of gratitude 

 to God for the preservation to this time of myself and all that's dear 



