The Sun.
London, England, 1840-07-08 00:00:00

EVENING El; I TION

Prisoner—Gentlemen. when I come out er
of my wives have a claim upon me ?—(Lt..uq.hter.)
The COURT tieclino!d to answer the cx-si,m ;' And he
then reque.,ted that his "df;eL mci.:ts" might be reftnrJ
to him.

Tie COURT thought it better to rn:kLe no ordcr :
they might ho pLccd in the hanqs of the Guvernor of
the gaol. _

The mother of the prisoner, on quitting the Court,
finding herself an object of some attraction, became
somewhat communicative on her family history-. Among
other things she stated that her scn was one of 43encral
Evans's " Legion ;" and that she had sent a Jotter into
Spain, which had the effect of procuring his return to
England. She had come from Workington, in Cum-
berland, a distance of 115 miles, to attend the trial ;
far " her son was her son," and she could not rest with-
out coming. One thing She wou!d not allow curiosity
to penetrate—and that was, the myt4tery *h:cli hung
over the prisoner's birth. She had kept " the secret'
19 years, and was nut going to reveal it in tlia 20th.
All that she would say was, that " she had him to a
real gentleman."—Liverpool

SUPPRESSION C-F BARTHOLO-

MEW FAIR.

The following is th 3 Report, by the City Sa!icitcr,
to the Corporation: of London, on the subject of the
Suppression of the dangerous and disgusting nuisarce,
Bartholomew Fair. Operations for the gradual aboli-
tion of the Fair are to be taken immediately, in aceold-
once with the suggestions in the Report:—
To THE WORSHIPFUL THE COMMITTEE F,7:R. THE MANArIE
MENT AND CONTROL OF THE SEyEEAL I,IARKETS or
THE CITY OF LONDON.
GENTLEMEN,
I have, in obedience to your order, the honour to report
to your Worshipful Committee my opinion as to the right
of the Corporation of London to su;Tress Bartholomew
Fair, or otherwise to remove the nuisances and obstruc-
tions to trade to which it gives rise.
Finding, from the documents in my °Mai, that wnllict-
ing opinions had at various times been given upon the
Subject, I felt it my du'y to examine the repertories in the
Town Clerk's office, as well as the book in the Oisy Li-
brary, and in the British Museum, for the purpnee of trac-
ing, from the earliest period, the h.tory, cot only of Bar-
tholomew-fair, but of other fairs which formmly existed
in the metropolis, the right to hold .which was likewiso
founded upon charter or prescription, and nhich haver heti
abolished or falien into disuse.
Applying the received rules of law to the facts and cir-
cumstances with watch those sources of ii.forrnatierefur-
nished me, I should be disposed (were 1 unfettered by
authority) to report that tho Corporation might suppress
the fair without danger to the other chartered rights of
the City; but, inasmuch as gentlemen cf great%eminence
in their preSessi,nt have express d doubts upon this poin.,
and, upon a case submitted to thorn by the thee' City
reennatendad an application to Parliament to
effect this object, I Lel myself so far governed by their
authority as to refrain from rscornaLndiug the immediate.
and cntire abolition cf the Fair.
If, however, the Committee deem it a matter of para-
mount inportance to proceed at once to suppress it, I
should like to receive instructions to hold a conference with
those gentlemen, as I think there might be introduced in
tie case certain facts and arguments (not before brouglt
under their consideration) which would be calculated to in-
duce them materially to qualify their opinion.
I am, however, clearly of opinion that the Corporation
may lawfully circumscribe the limits and duration of the
Fair, and rna, make rules and regulations for its govern-
ment, which will remove the nuisances and obstructions to
trade, without attempting suddenly and entirely to sup-
press it; a proceeding which would doubtless be ascribed
to an attempt on the part of the Corporation improperly to
interfere with the recreations of the humbler clones of the
community.
At the earliest periods in which his'nry makes mention
of this subject, I find there were two fairs, or markets, held
on the spot whore Bartholomew Fair is now held, or in its
immediate vicinity. These two fairs were originally held
for two entire days only, the fairs being proclaimed en the
eve of St. Bartholomew, and continued during the day of
St. Bartholomew, and the next morrow. Both these fairs,
or markets, were instituted for the purposes of trade. One
of them was granted to the Prior of the Convent of St.
Bartholomew, "and was kept I.ir the clothiers of Eng-
land, and drapers of London, who had their booths
and standings within the churchyard of the priory, closed
in with walls and gates, and locked every night aad
watched for the safety of their goods-and wares.' r' The
other was granted to the city of London, and consisted of
" the standing of cattle, cod stands and booths for goods
with package, and stallage, and tells, and profits appertain..
ing to fairs and markets in the field of \Vest Smithfield.'s
At the dissolution of the monasteries in the reign of Henry
VIII., the right in the first-mentioned fair was sold to Sir
Jul:n Rich, the than Attorney-General, and was etOyed
by his descendants till the year 18 , when it was pur-
chased of Lord Kensington by the Corporation • and it is
now held by the Chamberlain of London and Town. clerk
as trustees, so that, in fact, all the rights and interests is
both fairs may now be said to be vested in the corpo-
ration.

The right to hold both these fairs having been grate ed for
the purpose of promoting the ibterests: of trade, it is
quite clear that no prescriptive right can be set up to
commit any nuisance incompatible with the purperes for
which they were crablished ; if, therefore, th. Corporation
should he satisfied that the interests of the public can b.
uo otherwise protected than by_ confining it to its original
objects and pirpoces, they may undoubtedly do so, and
this would, in fact, be equivalent to its entire suppressien.
Perbaps the Committee will not think it requisite in the
first Instance to proceed to such extremities.; the Corpolo-
tion, however, by abridging the duration of the Fair tso two
clear days, and by refusing to let standings for show booths,
may materially diminish the inconvenience at present
created, and thus prepare the way for its natural death, of
the approach of which, it has, I understand, already exhi-
bited certain marked symptoms.
The Committee arc probably aware that the license for
many years granted by the Corporation for mountebanks,
conjurors, &c. to exercise their amusing vagabondism at the
fair, extended to fourteen days, during, which period'it was
for several years allowed to be held. In these times the
fair was frequently presented by Grand Juries as a nui-
sance, and the complaints of sober-minced citizens were
load and long-contineed against the riotings and de-
baucheries to which it gave rise. The depressed state of
the Corporation 1-avenues at that time compelled them,
however, to supply their wants by tolerating the continu-
ance of those irregularities; and the Sword-Bearer and
other Ci'y officers were partly paid cut of the emoluments
derived from that discreditable source.
In consequence of these complaints various orders were
at different times made by the Corporation fur ibte pur
pose of iimiti.ng and regulating the fair; and in the year
1735, in particular, the Court of Aldermen resolved,
That Bartholomew Fair shall not exceed Bartholomew'
Eve, Bartholomew Day, and the next morrow, and shall
be restricted to the sale of goods, wares, and merehan-
dizes, usually sold in fairs, and no acting shall be per-
mitted therein,"

It is at all times difficult by law to put down th ascient
customs and practices of the multitude; hence we find
that great resistance was offered to the enforcement of
these regulations. In 1760 Mr. Birch, the Deputy City
Marshal, lost his life in the attempt, and the practices
which those regulations were intended to prevent, have
prevailed more or less to the present time.
I feel it due to the working. classes of the present dsy to
say that a perusal of the histories of London at the period
I have adverted to, as well as " Malcolm's Ai.eedotes,"
" Sir Robert Southwell's Letters to his Sea," and other
pamphlets and ephemeral publications of those times, con-
clusively prove that a vast progressive improvement has
taken place in the exhibitions of the Fair, as well as in the
conduct of the multitude that resorts dto it. Gambling-
houses of every class were formerly freely licensed, dis.
gusting scenes of every description were publicly exhibited,
and the most profligate vices of every kind were openly
practised, while the violence of Lady Holland's mob, as it
is termed, often broke out in frightful excesses, and spread
consternation and terror around.
It may be usefully observ‘,d here that May Fair, formerry
held near Hyde Park, under the authority of a grant to the
Abbot of Westminster; and the Lady Fair, Southwark,
held by a grant to the Corporation of London (both of
which had been the scenes of practices as disgraceful av
those that prevailed in Smithfield), were suppressed with-
cut the aid of Parliament ; and when we consider the im-
proved condition and conduct of the working classes in this
metropolis,and fleet upon the irrefragable proofs continually
before us that the humble orders are fast changing their
roads and steam-boats,
habits, and substituting country excursions by roll-
and other innocent recreations,
fcr vicious amuserntints of the description which
prevailed in Bartholomew Fair, it is perhaps not too
much to conclude that it is unnecessary for the Corporaticn
to apply to:Parliament to abate the nuisance ; but that if
they proceed to lay down and enforce the observance of
Judicious regulations. in the Fair, and to limit its duration
and extent, it may be permitted to continue, in the confident
belief that nny years will not elapse era the Corporation
may omit to proclaim the Fair, and thus suppress it alto-
get her, without exciting any of those feelings of discontent
and di.approbation with which its compulsory abolition
would probably be now attended.
I have the honour to be, Gentlemen,
Your most obedient servant,
CHARLES IsIgEARSON,
City Solioitzt: