The Sun.
London, England, 1840-09-04 00:00:00

BARTHOLOMEW FAIR.

Yesterday being the 3d of September, the day on
which for so many years' the proclamation of Bartholo-
mew Fair has taken place in the Old Cloth Fair, Smith-
field, a considerable crowd assembled to witness the ce-
remony—people feeling convinced, from the symptoms
of mortality which the fair has recently shown, that it
would soon be numbered among the things which had
been, but which should be no longer. For several years
past, vain attempts have been made to abolish the fair
by a coup de main, but as this could not be effected,
other and more certain means have at length been de-
vised for its accomplishment, the most effective of which
is the progressional rise in the charges for ground. Tho
price this time has been fixed as high as 10s, per foot, a
charge which the majority of the booth-keepers find too
high to pay.

The populace began to assemble as early as ten
o'clock in the central portion of Smithfield, to witness
the erection of the booths and to be ready to witness
the ceremonial of proclamation. It was, however, very
generally reported by the police that the Lord Mayor
would not be present. This was probably done to pre-
vent the crowd from becoming too dense • but a few mi-
nutes after twelve o'clock, the erection of a barrier at
one end of the gateway-entrance to Cloth Fair, the
closing of the gates at the other, the cleansing of the area
itself, followed by the spreading of a carpet of saw-dust,
and the presence of the police, gave the lie to the state-
ment that the Chief 'Magistrate would not proc'aim the
ancient fair.

With regard to the fair itself, it will be the smallest
which has ever been held. The only show of any con-
sequence is Wombwell's menagerie. The ginger-bread
and toy-stalls were tolerably numerous, but not equal
to those of former years. The following notice was
posted in various parts of the fair :

" MARSHALL MAYOR.
" Notice is hereby given that Bartholomew Fair is
ordered to be closed on the nights of Thursday and
Friday at the hours of eleven o'clock, and on Saturday
at ten o'clock ; and every person keeping open any ex-
hibition, booth, or stall, after those hours, will be pro-
ceeded against for the same.
"By order of the Lord Mayor,
(Signed) " FRANCIS HOBLER."
It is probable that the early hour mentioned will not
be strictly enforced, but that a little will be left to the
discretion of the police. It has always been found
that whatever was the hour named it was impossible to
get the booths cleared for nearly an hour after that time.
The hours named, allowing for the lenity of the autho-
rities and the lapse of time which takes place in en-
forcing a moderate observance of the magisterial
order, will just ensure the close of the fair by midnight.
At half-past one the Lord Mayor arrived, and the
usual proclamation was read in the presence of the
Lord Mayor and several of his officials, by one of the
gentlemen of the Lord Mayor's office.
The formality having been thus gone through, the
Lord Mayor and his officers quitted the scene, and the
business of the fair commenced.

WESTMINSTER COURT 07

RE QUESTS.

A FEW UNINTELLIGIBLE ry OROS FROM TWO HIGH-
LANDMEN .-Hugh M.Federin and Donald M'Donald,
raw Highlandmen,
" Twa dogs that were na thrang at hame,"
presented themselves before the Court at the call of the
usher.

" Which is MTederin ?" inquired the usher.
" She's here hersel," said Hugh. " She'll be the
man," pointing to Donald M'Donald. " She'll pull the
bell here and she'll broke it there."
The Commissioners looked moon-struck at such queer
phraseology.

" Where do you come from ?" said a Commissioner,
in a tone between exclamation and inquiry.
" Herh !" returned Hugh M'Federin, in a sort of mo-
dified grunt.
" I ask you where you come from ?" said the Com-
missioner, still more astonished.
Hugh M‘Federin—She'll be Auchtermuchty.:
" And where do you come from ?" said the Commis-
missioner to Donald M'Donald.
Donald—She'll be Barrychibeen.
Three of the seven Commissioners lifted up their eyes,
and two of them fairly opened their mouths.
" What arc you ? said one of the latter.

" Herh r again grunted Hugh M'Federin.
What are you ?" repeated the COMMISSIONER, ra-
ther hastily.
Hugh M.Federin—De you think she's a sheep, or a
Miee, or a ki ?
" A mice or a ki 1" echoed the COMMISSIONER, al-
together lost in astonishment. " What does the tmn
mean?"

Donald (addressing Hugh) She (the Commissioner)
'ull be a ta►nmed England -- size is. Will she (Hugh)
ha' a gill ? When ae door sleeks anither closes.

Hugh—She dinna care a tam whether or yes.
And away the " children of the mist" marched out of
Court, leaving the Commissioners in a state of intense
bewilderment,

FOItTUNg-TELLlNG.—Blackheath is a famous
resort of the gipsy tribe, who encamp here for the purpose
of practising upon the credulity of the ignorant and inex-
perienced. Look at that Sybil to whom a young female
is listening with profound attention 1 Mark her sloe-black
hair, dark crafty eye, ivory teeth, and weather-beaten ap-
pearance ! I never behold one of these wandering pro-
phetesses without thinking of the vivid and life-like picture
which Mr. Hook has painted as " Martha, the Gipsy."
These jesuitical hags have all one mode of accosting their
dupes—to wit, "My sweet lady, cross my hand with a
piece of silver money, and I will tell you your fortune."
A good husband, numerous affectionate offspring, abundant
riches, coaches, horses, and servants, are promised without
limitation, to the young damsel desirous of looking into
futurity. Taking advantage, moreover, of some facts she
has herself elicited from the eager candidate for the joys
of matrimonial life, the cunning beldame clothes them in
other language, retails them to the fair inquirer, and thus
makes her fully believe in all that she has predicted.—A
Summer's Day at Greenwich.
COLLINS
. AND LOVETT.—The Chartists of
kr, emulating the spirit of Glasgow and Edinburgh, in-
tend soliciting Collins and Lovett to pay them a visit.
Preparations are makin;.,, to receive them about the middle
of September.—Ayr Observer.
The Havre Journal mentions that a few days
since the English colller Skylark, in going to Rouen,
struck upon a bank in the Seine, below Villequier, and ul-
timately sunk. Similar accidents happened to a French
sloop, which was run on board by a ship towed by a steamer,
and also to a lugger. The crews of the vessels were saved.
INQUEST AFTER NEARLY THIRTY YEARS.
—Wednesday an inquest was held in the parish church of
Fannet, county of Donegal, to investigate the eircum.
stances connected with the death of a female found buried
in Ballikinurd bog. It appeared from the evidence that
while some men were occupied cutting turf on Friday
evening, the 21st ult., they discovered the body dressed in
a dark stuff gown and flannel petticoat, with a scarlet hand-
kerchief tied round the head. The body was in a state of
the moat perfect preservation, the flesh not in the least de-
cuanypei
ed a
soarn
ts hsrmi veelll.l e d ,Tbhuet
wretchedperfealy
wfi romm a and
afrde eefvriodme n
tl ally
been barbarously murdered, as her throat was cut in a
most frightful manner, the hair, and a ribbon encircling
ttolh,:nhemead, stained with blood, and the left arm broken.
Several witnesses were examined, who clearly recognised
and identiSed the body as that of Betty Thompson, wife of
oMnt‘hSowfinNei,ay, 1 deceased,Bll,usnvdheor scuidrcduemnlsytadnicsaepspoefaa red
mostin
bs uosdpyi eiu sfoort
hni
rattyu ryee. a
rlst wasurme aeldl
nas tao nbi sohgi gwt
iot
hs e et
hae
nmeaal.l
mer,tsapparently perfect and unchanged as the day the
wtnirtfhorwtuhniactheschreeawtuarsesi wig•ahst7yumrdarekreedd: and the clothes of the
deceased
were uninjured by time. Even the small-pox,
were clearly discerni-
ble, from the powerful antiseptic properties of the bog.
Every exertion was made to throw light on the mysterious
deed, but without effect. The Jury found—" That the
body was the body of Bett Thompson, wh.) disappeared
y
in the month of Nlay 1811 and that she came by her
death in consequence 'of a Wound inflicted on her throat
with some sharp instrument, by some person or persons un-
known."

The Sentinelle of Toulon mentions another in-
stance of death occasioned by punishment in a Government
steamer. A sailor of the Lavoisicr, attached to the Levant
squadron, having been guilty of insubordination, was or-
dered '
into the coalhole
and was suffocated. The second
officer of the ship
balloon made
m sent home unde
father of the deceased has laid a complaint before the Pro-
cureur du Roi at Toulon.
AERONAUTICS. Mr. Gypson, the aeronaut,
several who last season ascended times in the vicinity of
London in a ballhis r arrest, and the
ade
twenty-sixth ascent last
Monday evening from Daventry, in Northamptonshire.
The principal attraction on this occasion to scientific per-
sons interested in such matters, and
from London to witness its effect, was the trial of a new
valve ..laced externally on the top of the balloon, by means
o
many of whom went
of which it was calculated the machine, on reaching terra
firrAa, might be almost instantly empties'
of its contents,
aad rendered stationary. On a late occasion, it may be
remembered, Mr. Green and a fellow traveller, descend.
ing iii boisterous weather, were dragged along
for nearly
half an hour, tearinc, their way through hedges, banks,
and other obitructions ; and not long since Mr. Gypson
was exposed to similar perils. He states, however, that
with the new valve, which, although
still susceptible of
improvement, answered the purpose for which he designed
it, he was enabled to exhaust the balloon completely, and
render it motionless in forty seconds, co that he and his
friends stepped out of the car at once with perfect ease.
TIE PASSPORT SYSTEM.—"The Minister of
the Interior, wishing,'
says the illessager, " to facilitate
the relations established between France and Sardinia, has
decided that in futur, Sardinian subjects shall not be re-
quired to exchange. their national passports for provisional
passes. The Authorities have, therefore, received orders
to allow all Sardinian subjects, from the 15th inst., to cir-
culate freely
in France provided their passports have had a
visa on the frontier.—[Wby is not this rule applied to Eng-
lish p4sports ?.)