Star.
London, England, 1824-06-11 00:00:00

GREENWICH FAIR.

London is a vile place after all; and its smoke is never
so manifest as when seen half a dozen miles off—be-
sides it is so pretty to walk to the Tower and ship your-
self for Greenwich, making a perilous way through'
cords, anchors, and colliers—the Scylla and Charybdis
of Father Thames—and when all these dangers are past,
to catch a glimpse of the noble Hospital, stretching
its broad front along the water, just as you have made
that distant land—the Isle of Dogs—after having been
cramped uo in a wherry for an hour. "Remember
poor Jack !" is no disagreeable sound, and almost forces
open your purse-strings to the extent of a penny, or
even twopence before you step on shore, and once
again set at nought the perils of the waves.
The situation of the Fair is somewhat altered. • It I,
has become more straggling and less neat, for there do
not appear to be more booths, and yet they extend over
a greater surface, reaching almost to Deptford Creek,
where, as a finish, a gallant steam-boat has been brought
to, and lies dormant, half in water and half in mud, to
receive the visits of the tea-and-toast people who are sen-
sible of the delight of per forming a meal out of the com-
mon way. Alas, what an alteration has taken place on the
deck ! The broad-sail, that should have been spread
aloft, is degraded into an awning; the rudder lies use-
less at the stern; and the helm, that was. wont to be
occupied by the steady pilot, is now taken possession of
by ail old woman, who deals out the only steam on
board from the spout of the tea-kettle. We walked a
little further, and we thought we bad hit on the identi-
' cal pilot that had been banished fi om his birth-right, for
there was a poor fellow singing some doleful ditty of
a fell enchantress,
" Who the poor tar from his true love tore,"
while lie seemed to cast an eye, 61 more in sorrow than
in anger," on the interlopers in the vessel.
But the Fair is nothing when compared to the Park.
Gay groups were scattered through the scene, evidently
determined to make the most of their holiday ; all the
colours in and out of the rainbow were combined to
diversify their gay-day dresses, and each gentle rise
had its summit crowned with drones busy about
nothing. One-tree Hill was the great resort, however,
on the top of which stood the solitary tree from which
it has taken its name, and under the shade of which thel
good folks were stowed eight to the square yard, for the
purpose of getting cool; every son of Cockaigne knows
the delightful prospect from this spot; on the left ap-
pears the city of the world, crowned with an everlast-
ing wreath of smoke, through which the great Cathedral
determinedly makes its way like a constable marching.
through a crowd capable of resisting anything short of
authority. Immediately beneath the hill stands the
Hospital, with the river stealing on the eye, between the
intervals of the building, and to the right, far away,
stretches the stream, continuaily widening and gaining
strength till it rushes to meet the great devourer ; the
immediate vicinity gave great tokens of a military strong
hold prepared by the ladies; at the only two feasible
points of attack a most determined and impenetrable
ring was formed of lads and lasses to celebrate that most
ancient and honourable divertisement, yclept 6 kiss in
the :Mg,' !lac between these two grand points run-
ning tires of Cupid's darts were kept up from maidens'
eyes, to the gi eat peril of his Majesty's lieges, who were
fain to surren ler on honourable terms.

We must rot forget to mention our old friend Punch
—honest Punch—kind Punch, who is worth a hundred
of tLe fashionable kickshaws that are daily Falmed
upon us to be admired, and whose good.humeured
efforts to please at the expense of a broken pate can
net er be sufficiently praised: as we turned a corner, a
Pandean pipe was getting on as well as it could v,ith
" The conquering hero," and Punch's pavilion stood in
the rear: we were naturally anxious to know which act
of Punch's life claimed that honour, and we approached:
it was that affecting scene where our old favourite is
about to make his exit from this transitory wor1:1 by a
line, but contrives—for what cannot he contlive?—to
substitute the official in his place: we acknowledge the
justice of the allusion.

As the evening drew on, the crowds quitted the Park,
and concentrated in the neighbourhood of the fair. The
Crown and Anchor (not in the Strand) was crowded to
excess by aspirants to pirouetting celebrity, and the
neighbouring booths echoed and re-echoed with the oft-
repeated sound ,4 a pot of heavy ;" the consequences of
which may be easily divined—those that had been
deadly lively by degrees became deadly noisy, and
finished the affair by being dead drunk; but, however,
De Blurts & nil nisi bonatin.

PRINCELY TASTE.-It is a fact that tLere is a Prince,
now oil his travels, who takes particular delight in
killing hogs with his own hands, and then eating the
choice bits raw, before the meat is cold. The same
Prince is also very clever in making shoes for his own
horses and mules, and more than once he has graced
the interior of his palace with a blacksmith's forge. 1-le
is also a very daring and dexterous bull-fighter.