[Illustration: B]E it known that a sort of Fair or miscellaneous Market
is held in the New Cut (excuse mention of such a place) every Sunday
morning. There do people of the baser sort buy their Sunday dinners, and
other matters which they fancy they want. The Lambeth Vestry, justly
indignant at such goings on, appealed to COLONEL HENDERSON to put a stop
to them. That haughty and sarcastic official declared that he should do
nothing of the sort, unless the shopkeepers who keep their shops open on
Sundays were also obliged to respect the day of rest. We pity the
Colonel's want of logical power. What is there in common between a
respectable shopkeeper, who pays rates, and a low person who wheels a
barrow, or rents the flap over a cellarage? The Vestry scorned such
terms, and have been taking the names of the vendors at this fair, and
such addresses as the miserable creatures could give. Summonses have
been issued, but the matter stands over for a few weeks.
At the end of that time, _Mr. Punch_ cordially trusts that the Lambeth
Vestry will sternly carry out their plan for promoting the
respectability of the New Cut, and if COLONEL HENDERSON again refuses to
help them, let appeal be made to MR. BRUCE. There is not the least
pretence for holding the Fair. Let the people in and about the New Cut
buy their fish, meat, and the rest of their luxuries on Saturday. What
is to prevent them from doing so. Wages are always paid at an early hour
on Saturday, and by four o'clock on that day the wife of an artisan has
always received from her husband the bulk of his earnings, less perhaps
by a trifle which she playfully returns to him, that he may have a pipe
and a pint before going to bed. He would be considered a bad fellow if
he did not give her the money, or if she had to coax it out of him late,
or to take it from his pocket when he had sunk into the gentle slumber
of intoxication. That he should surlily refuse it, and strike her, and
force her to wait until morning brought better temper, is too monstrous
an idea. "Our flesh and blood" never does this sort of thing.
Let the Wife therefore make her purchases on Saturday. Let her take her
fish and meat home. We are perfectly aware that they are perishable
articles, but we suppose that they can be put into the pantry
down-stairs, or that, if domestics or cats are distrusted, the food can
be placed in the refrigerator. That article is cheap enough, anyhow, and
a very good one can be got for three or four guineas, and it is the
affectation of ignorance to say that ice is not at hand, for we know
that the Wenham Lake carts go round several times a week--this we state
from our own knowledge, and we hate sentimentality. By this means not
only will offence to the refined natures of the Lambeth Vestry be
avoided, but the vendors of the articles will be released from work, and
enabled to attend places of worship. To their own declaration that but
for Sunday trade they must go to the workhouse, we lend a deaf ear.
Morality cannot yield to Necessity. A prudent man will earn his income
in six days. If he cannot, we must echo the remark made by a
conscientious person at a meeting on the subject, and say, "Let him
starve."
_Mr. Punch_ strongly upholds the Lambeth Vestry in this business, and
thinks their conduct quite worthy of the reputation they have so long
borne. He is much displeased with the Colonel of Police, and hopes never
to have to say, in MR. POPE'S words--
"Stern HENDERSON repented,
And gave them back the Fair."
If Vestries will enforce Sabbatarianism, and if Alliances will totally
deprive the weaker classes of the Refreshments of which they mostly make
bad use, we shall raise the standard of national morals, and entirely
efface the discontent which some persons believe is felt with national
institutions.
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SEASONABLE SENTIMENT.--May the Commission of Inquiry into the Megaera
business get to the bottom of it!
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