Punch (7.1844)

PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.

121

THE WRONGS OF BARTHOLOMEW FAIR. LORD NON-CONTEN

i

unch might propound many deep specula- Sfflfc'iil
tions to account for the decay of this
time-honoured festival, which Ben Jon-
son has immortalized—and at which the
Lady Castlemaines were wont to at-
tend in masks to see Jacob Hall, the
rope-dancer. We might give many acute,
and, to ourselves, most satisfactory reasons
for the present nullity of St. Bartho-
lomew, but we will this year merely
hazard on", and it is this. We believe,
then, tha politics, and the acts of public
men, haw materially contributed to the
fall of the glories of Smithfield. Now, do
all people read the newspapers; and after
the broad farce, the sleight, the trick, the
fire-eating, and word-eating, to be wit-
nessed in both houses of Parliament, how
—in the name of pure fun—can we relish
the small mummeries of the fair-players,
and Mr. Merry man ? What is Nelson Lee's Show to the House
-of Commons ? Has he, too, among all his troop, so rich an actor as
Lord Brougham ? Could he get up any scene equal to the many
delicious bits of acting ofthe past session between the Ex-Chancel lor
nnd Lord Campbell? What, again, is the roundabout, compared to
Brougham? What, the small interest of the lucky bag, to the inte-
rest Sir James Graham has gathered about the bag ofthe postman ?
There were, to be sure, fried sausages at the feast of St. Bartho-
lomew; sausages that sang sweetly in the pan. But what are savoury
pork sausages to that feast of reason which ever and anon Young
England offers—odoriferous sacrifice ! — to the mental palate of the
nation ? No—no ; Parliament, we are sure of it,—has ruined Bar-
tholomew Fair. There are very few members—very few, indeed—
who ought not to make compensation to the tumblers and fire-eaters
for having taken the bread out of their mouths.

Besides this, the "great ones of the city," have done something to
destroy the Smithfield Saturnalian. Certainly, the Court of Alder-
men have much to answer for. We should like to know, for instance,
where the mummer could be found worthy to rival Alderman
Gibbs ? Has there, in the memory of that solemn person, the oldest
inhabitant—has there ever been any performer at Bartholomew Fair
who afforded so much excitement to the citizens of London, and to
the town in general, as the treasurer of St. Stephen's, Walbrook ?
Did the great Gvngell himself ever play so many curious tricks
with pieces of money ? We think not. Again, if we look at the
dramatic literature of the fair, what is there in the whole round of
its fiction equal to civic reality ? We can all recollect the thrilling
plot and startling incidents of St. Bartholomew dramas now passed
away—but was there one equal to the real drama iu which Sir

tmm>

Lyndhurst.—Content or Non-Content ?
Brougham.—Oh ! Non-Content, of couiia

On ! no, I say ; don't mention it,

'Tis really too absurd ;
I don't admit a single thing :

I won't believe a word.
From all that Noble Lords have said,

In tolo I dissent ;
Why, doesn't every body know
I'm always " Non-Content \ "

They tell me I'm an obstinate,

Impracticable man ;
I'm open to conviction—but

Convince me if you can.
i blame your views, deny your facts,

Dispute your argument ;
Then why the question put to me ?
.John Key played so conspicuous a part ? A drama that, m his own i course r'm « Non-Content "

touching words, might be entitled " The Unguarded Moment."

No, no ; the real mummers of life have beaten the fictitious ones. Content, indeed ! I never was,

From childhood's dawn till now ;
And I should greatly like to see

The statement I'd allow.
To differ only I '11 agree ;

On that I'm firmly bent.
I am, I will, I must, I shall,
Be always " Non-Content."

^jSttntiYs Hnnbom JWottoES.

for political leaders.

Motto No. 1. " Sentat mille vafer modis."—Horace.

" He tries wafers a thousand ways."—Sir James Graham

— No. 2 a Ingenui vultus puer, ingenuique pudoris,

V,r nulla fide."— Latin Grammar.
" He who in youth was modest as a lass, NUlhUNlr bU CJSlllAlIN!

Is now become a man as bold as brass."— (From our Paris Correspondent.)

Probably Lord Brougham, i \\te arc informed by a remarkably fine officer in the National

— No. 3- ovos tyepwv to, fj.vo-Ti.Kd.—Aristophanes. ; Guards—(the gentleman, by-the-by, is also a remarkably small dealer

IVe suspect Colonel Siblhorp. , in coke and charcoal)—that, in the event of a war, it is intended to

— No 4. " Positusque car bo in placard the Paris fortifications with "lists of impositions upon

Csespite vivo."—Horace.
" The flame is kindled and the turf's alive."

This has been attributed to many gentlemen. W
incline to the Duke of Richmond.

English visitors," under the conviction that, if they could not keep
the British out of Paris, nothing else would.

a prospect for paddy.
Tm- Repeal rent, we understand, is weekly increasing; and Mr.
CCorkklx having just been let out, Ireland may expect to be still further

Wonders will Never Cease.

*•»"'■ aimed at.

The Musee Marine has just been enriched by the addition of a remark-
able curiosity found at Tangier during the recent bombardment. It i? a
shot that was fired by the Suffren, and actually hit the object it waa