_To the Editor of the_ DUDLEY WEEKLY TIMES.
SIR,--Our last Castle Fetes were heralded forth to the
pleasure-seeking public with more than ordinary pomp and
significance, by the _prominently announced fact_, that those
mighty engines of death and destruction (the Sebastopol
Trophy Guns), were to be ushered into the far-famed Castle
Court-yard, amid the din of arms, the plaudits of the people,
the beating of the heart-stirring drum, and the merry peals of
our excellent parish church bells. Being one of the admirers
of that march of pomp and day of _local exultation_, and
heartily concurring in the sentiments uttered by our public
functionary (the Mayor), I naturally anticipated that _some
suitable site would ere this_ have been found, _whereon to
permanently fix_ those trophies of our sanguinary struggle
with the great Power of the North; but no! Dudley like! the
famed Sebastopol guns, like the crumbling walls with which they
are surrounded, _seemed destined to be left alone in their
glory_. Anon the hobby-horses whereon the juvenile warriors are
daily wont to practice the art of cannon riding, and the more
matured admirers of naval glory, are accustomed to ruminate
upon the mighty events of _their departed lustre_, under the
consoling influence of that soother of the "ills and woes
that flesh is heir to" a pipe of the genial Virginian weed.
Such being the humiliating fact, I maintain, Mr. Editor, on
the ground of _public sympathy alone_, that these precious
relics of the famed Sebastopol should _immediately_ be taken
under the _protecting wings_ of the Mayor, on behalf of the
liege burgesses of this ancient city of the renowned Dodo,
or consigned to the fostering care of the popular president
of the Mechanics' Institute. Surely £50 would suffice to
provide proper gun carriages, and fix them on solid masonry
in front of the magnificent Keep, protected by a suitable
_chevaux-de-frise_, with an adequate _elevated_ covering to
protect them from the inclemency of the weather! Did not the
Committee of the last Castle Fetes _derive more additional
"grist to the mill"_ by the fact that the guns were to be
seen _under their auspices alone_? Hence the reasonableness
of that Committee taking proper care of those trophies, _as
showing more decent acknowledgement_ to the sightseeing public
for _the additional proceeds_ received to their funds by the
opportune presence of those national trophies. If it was worth
the trouble _to depart_ from the ordinary routine of official
propriety to receive the guns at the hands of Government,
surely it is but reasonable to hope that the sanguinary
admirers of national prowess should provide (like other towns)
a suitable place to deposit them on. Such being the public
belief, let the Committee of the Mechanics' Institute perform
their duty, by endeavouring to convince that public that
they are not _insensible_ to _the very exclusive and liberal
support_ they have from time to time received at the hands
of an hitherto silent but observant public, but at once make
a suitable provision for those interesting objects of public
curiosity, which are properly intended to be the enduring
evidences of a nation's triumphal prowess and valour, under
difficulties and privations unsurpassed in the annals of
warfare.
I am, your obedient servant,
ONE WHO LIKES TO SEE EVERYTHING IN ITS PROPER PLACE.
_Dudley._
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