MUM' I 78 i m am e e k e tifAlcii i 3 es HI '0ffIgl9ir t II91 14(1

d3 Alimeurtsur museuM ota ni won' ne werno &feral line8 lo naoiag p.

ho'

.Noriii the andiende barely admitted and. allowed space rfor exist- under. Ntini I Plantagenets, of Oven .earlieri - was as rife suiting 4! NC9.,i les li.nt.,tnne4c4i ens ''fyliti ' ST4ii';`'its t tlai: En'Of •the ia , angle throwing- out a hint or' two upon :the eiowth of " the Briti:41 Con- ' atbrA•iiiois 49,11iii,Vcit'aildh iNtl ' •inti'le), /I. ,`.'gjekkeis' !the stitutioa." Malay eltaraetere popillne ,nerhaps celelmned, it' iv)itit,v ' 'eao 'it "fail- tlf.4 VisrAts..11Vieqp'y • Ihe"tiatK1.akikflthe ,the,ir , day paes. , bqfgve ; iw, ex/Away:at, Artie/ .;4old ,emumearipts, oil 1 ' p,Itific 01.*1 NI' I/6j ' Itfli 64' .'-,-,iiiiaer,e '*: :so obironielesienielemanuments, and, coming dewn4o,alitys of priie ia.

' Vikif for one thatoteotin*A4Annienlity Trodaglii rit literature ftto3 story of t1.'&71p't riliiiiita“ te ildetilleOvitli,Y1'aiipg' ' e Lonx14i;.t4t.,*t,', eyinal '' tii4;14'....A4 walls," partly growe up 4, sb t tli8 itd•Mis' ic 'tia ot a`4 141.1 t.ilt 3 r)y front idramits.;: paa ttinadeselalayellAlls,, and -whatever of hme ifilf the d (y Wettelvi 1 , ,. . ,`,e tte-O'i ItaCg, A Allis natiire the'itylog,q.: liiial*ift iititi'lift/khave eonibined to. -Peeserve.

t Avrtheth it i . - 6"6 . Mi 44 idn. • "tit'& AVIII' not :149,e4ren:fi)fautclitersttioietk iitrmtalbeetice, ef Alleohispery4I,Miis o s sufficient, and yet indicating the condition :ref , society? .soltich e 14-0:“Jeti•-' lest134). rOst"-a'li'ith • in tiet*Intli n4ateeMeaslanc, As. lie .49oLifnenneeitly; itlielicasoebUtAitst eforu2/..02iiinthielliensfljiboxes ' ' idle resiveireltsLiedour.lioieseats lay opens up a new TRIM e,fr 1:1&&_ Ik194t!

the religious houses in the article nuraele-moagennee.fisyith modern " firms " in more legitiMey Blade. Sotnething top, as we have hinted, crops out as to eoustitUtional rights and the °hams, or at least the exercise, of regal power. Take this proclamation, for instance.

"On the 13th October 1248, King Henry the Third with many prelate. end magnates met at London to celebrate the memory of the Translation of St. Edward. The King then cattikd a new fair to he Troolaitned at'West- .minster' which should continue tlfteeri days ; and-proinbited ir71 other fair, that used to be kept at that time of the 'year throughout England ; aka all trading within the City of London within doors anel withont chtrikt tha* time, that this fair at Weeturtinster uniOt be the mor e plentifilly storey' aunt frequented with all sorts of goods and people." To most people, such summary interference with tradihg trans- actions will seem the height of tyranny; but it may be ques- tioned whether it appeared unconstitutional to those days, or was in certain points at all events illegal. The resumption of grants was long a practice if not a right of the crown; and grants to fairs generally contained privileges to their frequenters, and a freedom from King's taxes, which was to some extent a denudation of its profits by the crown. To suspend the holding of fairs might, according to the doctrine of those ars, be a real preroga- tive, and of not much inconvenience to the itinerant traders, since they could go to Westminster as easily ais elsewhere. The sum- mary stoppage of the trade of London was a different matter; but in those days the state claimed great powers over traders. In fact trade arose and was carried on by permission from the crown. Without it the trader was, by usage, even liable to be robbed by any one who had the power, as is now the ease among many "independent" tribes of Asia. rh. charter was re- quisite to save the inhabitants of towns from spoliation during the dark ages: and this they had to buy. In such mode too the citizens of London acquired the privilege of keeping open shop. "A repetition of that trouble [the fair at Weadminster] was bought oft for a heavy payment ; but five years afterwards the same device was aonin adopted, and the Londoners obliged for a fortnight to shut up their saps, and in the middle of winter expose themselves and their goods in Tothill Fields to the inclemency of all weathers on a stinking or frozen marsh. After enduring various exactions, the citizens in 1266 obtained front this King, for 20,000 marks, enjoyment of their rights and liberties, with title to receive the rents and profits of their [corporate ?] lands and tenements."

But to turn from the English constitution to Bartlemy fair. Although it is difficult to suppose that in reality the earlier ages were less gross in manners and less profligate in morals than du- the last two or three centuries; yet they appear so in Mr. orley's volume, from the absence of that detailed description which begins with the times of plays, pamphlets, and journals. It may be true, as Mr. Morley intimates, that trade in the earlier ages was the prime object of a fair, and that it was then a mart, with the serious business of a mart. Religion, or rather supersti- tion, and pleasure, however went hand in hand with buying and selling, an rge coegregations of pleasure-seekers could hardly be broughttether rude times without a coarse licentiousness, which even the days of t . Merry Monarch could not parallel. There are inklings too of dein under the Plantagenets. The profes- sional zeal of a conventu brother in after ages preserved the personal traits of the origina., founder of the Priory and his suc- cessor; and lax enough in character they both appear to have • Memoirs of Bartholomew Fair. Bs Henry Morley. 'With hie: simile drais- lags engraved upon wood by the Brothel" Da12del. Published by Chapman and Hall.

-r

-been, verging in fact upoxthR manuscript of the thi

Priory of Saint BarthO omew an furnislje and awl

(1. ea illdie iff fith Pe. '410 all , a whthiiii'd' 0ho4IMwicked a nsolsts can be the dpilettabla tostettettenThattheisdifilw Id. ill desert -untilles 'became e saint, AbduliadAttisbreiwitodeoften'in :fine:fiash,is ittell,as in. theapitit; Even the tillirge...1i14lie Prilificibt611111t :14941C Of these soliil and grave Dec rota la, is

the other suit! a lam lady s

ne (Pf t? °e9iY(Volt•Wbalni"c;it't li.•1- r - ly d ) - - at et ' 1 • 14 -,r on -41'iliAii;', isetiesses thretsgh the mOIlastery ntes, yi 1 ‘ , 11, .111 1 CCe,./t, 011 0 M111C 075, ettrereellsWjar Of* tYr `stivitiell‘f i \also.. There is no denial if the f,,1414natfutefisepaite-,afiar,tne tlealLid3s cateipage, a priest kia.4es the cook- 1111i4.1le latettlfOlfr PaP011'ireln tlIft:Pcitei 'IdriiCeal°411317,,tetitLi-attighNisini.sitill'a,NArv•41,r: 'he iiillliP." He liiii'ftd, fisrdiiiii6glat .filit'litill•Y,Ah‘ii Ably, antis 'finally 11 rOreisteitad iiiti AlilliwbithitaittritotivetV,10/hdsedfeet Wild: hes:SW toine)frifin afar .,-torijilt. : .41-morlis awl il wenian are i &own, diuthelstoaktAtegothert :: They : i) l4I f941-.l..4411411Ilda:.49War.da thc."Klggilia *hp releaSef aim, sail in their cps,,resprus, thff..two devils by 7%viipha they hall ,.been tempted. So it. is 1 ouehbat. 'A'niOnk.te'arS from a mether,lier 'child; then murders the lohien.;,:inifif tifiaeals her under the lfgb. altar. Re runs wild, becomes -Batt and,W114n he is 'IselyilteeiiksIttlinithe Virgin the Mother and child - 1 Olio -again, Minnadbaslyii, etvivaci.ortpreservea." . I,

The &hit niece:it/Vet tlisif &lateen; in theemodern.senso of lite-

-AirifYliceorilptibrefis'aliaticif thfethainean travellerIlkntalier, towards 14liple1ese,o1oElii1thetit's reign, of whom, as Well as of his visit, We .filigte9 thblediottring. ' - .- : u : : • • -oillifklultisfentanniewasaGerman tutor, travelling in the Testi 15981through ,iferipattpolFeasee,filtaly, , end :England, who wrote an :',Itineritiitun that fel.zpIfiirVIOmy,ip3afs publtish,eilAno succet.iye .editions .at IlfrAflp:u. sett AZ 'IA& :liTegiAitVna-nisra sigietleu.. -kgitisieat1Pdi2 0,,tialeptit,?:rtatoi 'AMR tilibtifilir iiiwhisili Engliitid! is 'descrilktl, was made by Bentley for 'lloreials:Wiaipole, km& printed in 17,51.4ili Strawberry Hill. ' It-was included _ tifterwa4km ftheamond volume of -Dodsley'sflolleetions.'' Hentzner wait thelrow.Eair,. ' ' as • * ,z fla ' f' ' rouili lie.eyes of this GerMau obServer that we have-the follow- iii ' ye Lon ii lonieW Fair in the year 1598. e iveirtliy'' ,obeervetion, that every year upon St. Bartholomew's !DIN ffalienitfie fifir is held; it is usual for the Mayor, attended by the twelve principal Aldermen, to walk in a neighbouring field, dressed in his scarlet gewei ,Red about his neck sc golden chain, to which is hung a golden Fleece, and; beeides: that particular ornament which distinguishes the most noble order of the tiarter. iirifeia the Mayor ,goes out of the precincts of the city, a sceptre and sword and a cap are borne before him, and he is followed by the principal Aldermen in scarlet gowns with gold chain, himself and they on horseback. Upon their arrival at a place appointed for that pur- pose, where a tent is pitched, the snob begin to wrestle before them, two at a time; the conquerors receive rewards from the magistrates. After this is over, a parcel of live rabbits are turned loose among the crowd, which are pursued by a number of boys, who endeavour to catch them, with all the noise they can make.

"While We were at this show, one of our company, Tobias &dander, Ttoctor of Physic, had • his pocket picked of his purse ; with nine crowns, which, :without doubt, was so cleverly taken from bins by an Englishman, who always kept very close to him that the Doctor did not perceive it." Thus, the first sketch of Bartholomew Fair, made by a mere observer, meagre as it is, does not omit the pickpocket."

Henceforth authorities on what the comic song calls "the hu- mours of Bartlemy Fair" are sufficient. There is Ben Jenson's comedy ; there are notices of various kinds under Charles, the Commonwealth, and the later Stuarts, including Pepys himself. With the Revolution we reach the age of journals, magazines, ad- vertisements, and. handbills ; and though the eye of the saga- cious physician might detect the germ of mortal disease—in 1678 the civic authorities had a thought of suppressing the fair on ac- count of its "irregularities and disorders' —still it was resorted to by "rank and fashion" till well on in the last century. In 1732 "the prince and princesses went to Bartholomew Fair and saw Mr. Fielding's celebrated droll called 'the Earl of Essex' and the 'Forced Physician,' and were so well pleased as to stay and see it twice performed." This Mr. Fielding was the great novelist, whom Mr. Morley's researches show to have attended to theatrical fair business not once, as his biographers suppose, but pretty regularly over the decade 1728-1738. In fact the attrac- tion of the theatrical booths' sometimes compelled the regular theatres to close, and transfer the company to Smithfield. Good actors first appeared there. Yates, Shuter, nay Mrs. Pritch- ard, made their Mat at the Fair. In 1733 Cibber himself was compelled by the competition of the Italian Opera, other houses, and so forth, to appear at Bartholomew Fair—a fact which Pope seems to have passed by, unless it is glanced at in the line, "Till rais'.d from booths, to theatre, to court." But all this was "a gilded halo hovering round decay." Towards the close of the last century and at the beginning of this, riot, ruffian- ism, and blackguardism predominated ; respectable people could only go by daylight, and then only to certain parts. The next stage was more fatal still; indifference, neglect, forgetfulness,

. ,

enthusiasap. Mr. Morley talks.of burial ; there was nothing left to bury. By 1831 it was a losing concern to the celebrated Rich- ardson, and Wombwell only managed to clear himself.

"That the Fair was dead there could be no doubt. In 1841, Richardson paid, not only for his own booth, but also for the ground, shutters, and snaking up of Ewing's Wax Work, on condition that he received half of what was taken in the show. But he lost fifty pounds that year ; and Wombwell, who had a second booth called Morgan's, at the corner of the Greyhound Yard,:made only his expenses.

"The year 1840 struck away the exhibitions ; and from the more list of

IA. A singular illiminated formerly belonging to the now in the British Museum, ri the period, .npinilhe -morals ,of t 'One Of themselvds ; lti4lt4Mvkrsion is the general sneh: as is indicated, we . 1-a6voeol.le-Avitlit a99) gll'38,'.;C:7:1rIllu,A41' illu!i3v14olgolZ lug , 4, ...,,,„.., „fit 03.1.119144 •ill MO ti.M.UuTd 11111!hb4)asidil5fewttarli, Bartholomew lair avassasileadisid4alipsbo tht pro- IFn'..lorlirriiscrpteriVoIelIarliie 'io dm.,..,q,/fint 44 BENAPIlis A 4.910Wligi#1.tioitilliuSPOroasisAl/P .14+40144oltr4 4j 4u "ti's TO iiisille.'isinee f yeltir 1040,44vitlitlist attlil ,t*Iiistre41 e el ibv • !e gilt doter hqiviatthe tortunokyi filrhojIllayeks iradi *it hilt:awn! the datenigil■• .as,tnitch eaoadbbtrompubinlolscswbtiisao motif liatitelnar 1880ndlin t1,031.4sliM04,1:444144141354vvit thi#> w,,,, II*. :;in.kTItg :414(elliril.V-10 -net ativ' fair left ii•Urthri.sieyor srproelaimiirg. er hat veer, t kite, , the appsnuteu gateway,,,w;te tues.piceysary attea , ourat,thsit-it tars Y.

-',itieDIsior accompaaiie itbegeeilemeti'eiliose" if,Wits ii. rethl'it . ' Ku Ito* of AvardS oat Of Lw;certaht perehmentrienill;Jandile es tuiettitarayty. , afterrfivereears this term also wawniapousea1 with; and lianstolmasw :Bair

„was, prochemed for 1110,1u*taime in ,tbe year 18,51% 0,Theateke.existnet4 c of it is the old fee of three-and-sixpence still paid by tte rUab,,LO, ftflhe .. ee or

of St. Bartholomew the Great, for a proclamation in2his parish.' * ,

' .-.■t:e■

It Will have been soen that Mr. .Morley's 'book is no,t a-,111re tutrrativ. of bull'oenery: and fun, but.,e.oes deep t ho fig li:passi into social liistery, and. bandlas a Yank:Ay of subjects that 4ifli Slightlfoonueetd With tho fair. Faults the IvOrk liacn 'Which may be myntioned a touch of the showman style, illi14.. ex,-...ontion of Wallace, that took plaee iu, Smithfield ; hal fault is less " frequent and full" than iu conic of the ut4 previous works. However, if tlic faults were Inure numerous they Larc, they would uut prevent Memoirs ej Da ithulonietv . eir from being a very informing and suggestive work, and posses:iing novelty of ..eliaratter from the union of literary skill with anti- ituarian research. It may further be said. that it is a haudtsuine , volume, containing pWards of eighty wood-guts, derived from real monuments, not Mere inventions, and thus truly illuArating the narrative, and illustrating it With interest too. . WV; i.

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