During the time that he held possession, a public declaration was made by

the town crier that a man would fly from the top of the assembly room to

the extreme north of the Grounds. All Brighton was tickled by the

announcement, and hours previous to the time stated for the intended

flight, throngs of people were wending their way northward, and taking up

their position, where they imagined they could obtain the best view of

the sight. The Round Hill was covered with one mass of human beings,

whose eyes were concentrated upon a slight scaffold that was erected on

the roof of the building. From the top of this structure a stout cable

was stretched to the foot of the bridge at the maze, affording sufficient

evidence that no hoax was intended. Expectation, therefore, was on

tip-toe; and after patience had undergone a long endurance, a

slightly-built man, in light fleshings, with Zephyr-like wings, was seen

to ascend the scaffold, causing an universal clapping of hands, and the

firing of the guns at Staines's mimic fort. About a couple of minutes

sufficed for the performer to make the necessary adjustments for his

flight, and then, amidst loud huzzas, he, waving a flag in each hand,

gracefully glided down, head foremost, beneath the cable, along which

revolved an arrangement of wheels, to which he was attached

longitudinally. Those who had a gratis view of the exploit smiled, and

contented themselves with the satisfaction that the sight had cost them

nothing; but those who went into the Gardens and paid, to see whatever

could be seen, felt sorely vexed, and some were so excited as to attempt

a castigation of the exhibitor. His friends, however, quickly liberated

him from his machinery, and he took a flight through the maze that

enabled him to elude his pursuers.

The "Flying Man" was Mr. William Constable, who, on the disposal by his

brother of his business to Mr. Ireland, accompanied Daniel to America,

where they devoted themselves to scientific pursuits. His flying freak,

on his return, was as well for a scientific purpose as to benefit Mr.

Ireland, and the principle has been since applied in saving human life in

cases of fire and shipwreck. In 1841 he introduced the art of

photography, then called Daguerreotype, into Brighton, his "blue room"

being a very attractive feature on the Marine Parade, near Atlingworth

Street. He died on Sunday, December 22nd, 1861.

Other speculators from time to time, with but little better success than

Mr. Ireland, tried their luck upon the estate. Year by year showed the

gradual decay which neglect engenders; the buildings became dilapidated

and unsafe for occupation, the flowerbeds were transformed into a

wilderness of weeds; and at length, after having been made even the

asylum for wild beasts, and the arena for the dissoluteness of pleasure

fairs, the Gardens, that might have continued one of the chief prides of

Brighton, and the Cricket Ground--the fame of which is perpetuated by

Mason's celebrated print of the renowned players of Sussex and Kent, and

their supporters,--the envy, as it was, of other cricketing counties, were

sacrificed to the spirit of building, from the want of foresight in the

inhabitants, who now universally admit that both should have been

preserved to the town, as they were an establishment for the people's

amusement and recreation, with which nothing of the kind in the county

could compete. The present, the Royal Brunswick Cricket Ground, kept by

the veteran Box, is capacious and well-formed; but it lacks the

picturesqueness, and the spectators have not the shelter from wind and

rain, and the shade from the trees which gave so vast a superiority to

the Hanover Ground. Previous to the formation of Ireland's Gardens, some

tea-gardens were in existence on the Marine Parade, about the locality

now occupied by Eaton Place. They were merely a summer retreat for a cup

of tea during an afternoon stroll, and a place of call in winter for a

glass of hot elderberry wine.

In the "good old times" the people's entertainments differed much from

the sports of the present race, as the following copy of a handbill will

show:--

COCKING.

To be fought at the Cock Pit,

WHITE LION,

NORTH STREET, BRIGHTON,

ON

THURSDAY,

THE 18TH APRIL, 1811,

A Main of Cocks for TWENTY GUINEAS

a Battle, and FIFTY GUINEAS the Main;

between the Gentlemen of the Isle of

Wight and the Gentlemen of Sussex.

Feeders: Pollard, Isle of Wight; Holden, Sussex.

N.B.--A pair of Cocks to be on the Pit at

Eleven o'clock.

[RUDDUCK, Printer, Brighton Place, Brighton.

On Easter Monday, April 23rd, 1810, the holiday folks, in all their

Sunday finery, assembled in great numbers, as was their custom, at the

Bear public house, Lewes road, on the ground contiguous to which they

were entertained with the polished diversions of cock fighting and the

baiting of a badger. On the following day, Easter Tuesday, according to

annual custom, a bull-bait came off at Hove; when, during the

proceedings, the bull unexpectedly broke from the stake, and in an

instant charged upon and routed the compact phalanx of gazers, happily

without inflicting material injury on any one. The incident caused a

postponement of the bait till June 11th. The hand-bill announced:

A BULL BAIT AT HOVE,

ON

MONDAY,

JUNE 11TH, 1810.

A DINNER will be provided, and on Table at

Two o'clock.

The dinner took place at the Ship Inn, Hove, in the field belonging to

which,--that whereon the Coast Guard Station is erected, at the bottom of

Hove Street,--the baiting took place.

The vicinity of Brighton is admirably adapted for Hunting, a sport which

received considerable impetus from the Prince of Wales having an

excellent pack of harriers kennelled at the Prince's Dairy, a suburban

retreat on the London Road, which His Royal Highness purchased of Mr.

William Stanford, in October, 1805. In October, 1821, some of the dogs

exhibited symptoms of hydrophobia; the whole pack was in consequence

destroyed by poison, and the carcasses were conveyed away in a waggon and

buried in a pit, purposely dug to receive them, in the south part of

Streeter's garden, just within the gateway, to the right of the church

path, opposite North Street Brewery. The Duke of Richmond at that period

hunted his fox hounds in the neighbourhood of Brighton. The present

packs are supported by subscription, and consist of the Southdown Fox

Hounds, and the Brighton and the Brookside Harriers.

About forty years since "hobby horse" exercise was a very favourite

diversion with the gentry. These "hobbies" were the original

velocipedes, now worked by a crank action; but they then consisted only

of a fore and a hind wheel, with a slight saddle rail between, upon which

the rider sat, holding on by a handle that guided the front wheel, and

then, by striking out his feet with a walking action, the machine became

propelled, its speed being regulated by the ability of the horseman.

Much practice and great judgment were required to make a proficient

rider. Many extraordinary feats of pedestrianism were performed with

these machines; but the most arduous were the competing with the stage

coaches to and from London. The earliest account we have of stage

coaches at Brighton is in 1798, when the Princess of Wales pair-horse or

post-coach was put on the road to London by way of Steyning and Horsham,

the same route by which the eight-horse fly-waggons had previously

travelled. Pack-horses were the only mode of performing the journey

prior to the fly-waggons, and the lanes and bye-ways then being very

narrow, recesses in the hedge-rows were made in certain places to permit

of the laden animals standing aside that they might be passed, as their

packs, which extended considerably on each side of the animals, would

otherwise, frequently come in unpleasant contact with the fair sex, who

on pillions occupied similar positions to merchandize when on horseback.

In 1801, two pair-horse coaches ran between London and Brighton on

alternate days, one up, the other down, and they were driven by Messrs.

Crossweller and Hine. The progress of these coaches was amusing. The

one from London left the Blossoms Inn, Lawrence Lane, at 7 a.m.; the

passengers breaking their fast at the Cock, Sutton, at 9. The next

stoppage for the purpose of refreshment was at the Tangier--Banstead

Downs,--a rural little spot, famous for its elderberry wine, which used to

be brought from the cottage "roking hot," and, on a cold wintry morning,

few refused to partake of it. George the Fourth invariably stopped here

and took a glass from the hand of Miss Jeal, as he sat in his carriage.

The important business of luncheon took place at Reigate, where

sufficient time was allowed the passengers to view the Barons' Cave,

where it is said the Barons assembled the night previous to their meeting

King John at Runnymeade. The grand halt, for dinner, was made at

Staplefield Common, celebrated for its famous black cherry trees, under

the branches of which, when the fruit was ripe, the coaches were allowed

to draw up and the passengers to partake of its tempting produce. The

hostess of the hostelry here was famed for her rabbit puddings, which,

hot, were always waiting the arrival of the coach, and to which the

travellers never failed to do such ample justice that ordinarily they

found it quite impossible to leave at the hour appointed; so grogs, pipes

and ale were ordered in, and, to use the language of the fraternity, "not

a wheel wagged" for two hours. Handcross was the next resting place,

celebrated for its "neat" liquors, the landlord of the inn standing

bottle-in-hand at the door. He and several other Bonifaces, at Friar's

Oak, &c., had the reputation of being on pretty good terms with the

smugglers who carried on their operations with such audacity along the

Sussex Coast. After walking up Clayton Hill a cup of tea was sometimes

found to be necessary at Patcham; after which Brighton was safely reached

at 7 p.m. It must be understood that it was the custom for the

passengers to walk up all the hills, and even sometimes, in heavy

weather, give a push behind to assist the jaded horses.

About 1809, a great revolution took place in coach travelling. Some

gentlemen,--at the head of whom was the late Mr. William Bradford, or, as

he was then styled, "Miller" Bradford,--12 in number, formed a capital by

shares of 100 each, and established two four-horse coaches. The cattle

were cast-horses of the Inniskilling Dragoons, then stationed at

Brighton. In 1815, another vehicle of the same class, the "Bellerophon,"

a huge concern, built with two compartments, one carrying six, the other

four inside, and with several out, was driven by Mr. Hine. This coach

received its name from the ship in which Bonaparte, after his defeat at

Waterloo, was conveyed to exile at St. Helena. The "Bellerophon" was

soon found to be too heavy for the improving speed, and was abandoned for

lighter vehicles, until travelling attained its perfection on the

Brighton road, the time taken in the transit having diminished from

twelve hours to five, and on one occasion the "Quicksilver," with a

"King's speech" of William IV., made the journey down in three hours and

forty minutes! From the year 1822, at different periods of the year, not

less than sixty coaches were on the road,--thirty each way.

On a moderate calculation, Hine must have brought into the town more than

one hundred thousand persons, and that without an accident: a

circumstance which, in its day, was as beneficial to Brighton as is now

the proverbially high character for safety, convenience, and civility of

the London and Brighton Railway. Amongst the celebrities of the day whom

Hine was accustomed to bring down, were Mathews, in his "prime and

bang-up," who used invariably to borrow the huge box-coat of seven capes;

Munden; Lieutenant or Jack Bannister; Quick, another famous actor;

"Squire" Thornton, of Clapham; Rev. Rowland Hill; and many noblemen of

the Court of George IV. Most of these men are, of course, like Hine

himself, "dead and past away." Some few passengers, however, who have

travelled by the "Union" and "Alert," and who have "booked" in East

Street by Miss Hine,--the honest old coachman's daughter and sister of Mr.

H. G. Hine, the artist whose works adorn much of the illustrated

literature of the present day,--still survive; others must have had the

name made familiar to them by hearing their fathers and grandfathers

talking of the famous coaches and coachmen of Brighton.

In the height of Brighton coaching times, Castle Square upon the

departure and arrival of the coaches,--but more especially at noon, when

from the "Blue," the "Red," "Snow's," and the "Age" offices, the "crack"

whips, the _elite_ of passengers, and the best "blood" on the road,

started at the striking of the Pavilion clock,--was thronged with company

to witness a most animating and animated scene. Of coaching nothing now

remains at Brighton but the parcels' booking office of the Railway

Company, originally the "Red" and subsequently the "Blue" coach office.

By a singular inadvertence the word "Company" was omitted in the original

Act of the Brighton Railway, so that the Directors of it were of the

London and Brighton Railway, and not Railway Company. The amalgamation

of the Eastern and Western branches, under more recent Acts, has

constituted the whole scheme in connexion with the mainline, the London,

Brighton, and South-Coast Railway Company.

As early as 1825 the construction of a railway between Brighton and

London was contemplated; but it was not till 1835 that the subject was

entertained with earnestness. Five schemes were then propounded, known

by the names of the different engineers who projected them, namely:

Stephenson's, Rennie's, Gibbs's, and Cundy's; and the South-Eastern. The

first scheme was most favourably received; and in September of that year,

at a public meeting of the inhabitants of Brighton, a resolution was

passed requesting the Borough Members to support its adoption in

Parliament. Upon reconsideration, the inhabitants were impressed with

the idea that they had been too precipitate; as the Terminus of

Stephenson's line, being immediately to the west of Brighton, would only

favour that special district, instead of being beneficial to the town in

general; they therefore reversed their decision in favour of Bennie's, or

the Direct Line. The public mind being thus fickle, the other

competitors anticipating that there was yet a chance for them, pressed

forward their suit, resulting in a severe contest, which gave promise of

a great expenditure of money, with no line at all; as, protracted by the

accumulation of oppositions, the Session of Parliament for 1837, was

about to terminate without its sanction to either project. The

interposition of Government determined the business; a military engineer,

Captain Alderton, was deputed to investigate and report upon the merits

of the several lines, and his conclusion was, "That the Direct Line is

the best line between London and Brighton." That line, then, was

accordingly adopted, and on the 8th July, 1837, the Bill for its

construction received the Royal assent, with this clause attached, "That

the total capital of 1,800,000 be raised by the subscribers to the

several lines in the following proportions:--The Direct

line--Bennie's,--550,000; Stephenson's, 550,000; Cundy's, 100,000;

South-Eastern, 330,000; and Gibbs's, 70,000." The various contracts

for the formation of the line were soon entered into, and on the 4th of

February, 1839, Mr. Alfred Morris laid the first permanent rail of the

line, at Hassock's Gate, Mr. Samuel Thornton being the contractor, and

Mr. T. H. Statham the resident engineer.

On the 11th of May, 1840, the first six miles of the western branch, to

Shoreham, was opened; on the 25th of March, 1841, the main-line from

London to Hayward's Heath, within fifteen miles of Brighton, was opened;

and on Tuesday, September 21st, 1841, the whole of the line of railway

from Brighton to London, was opened with some little ceremony and great

rejoicing, the first trip--from Brighton to London--being performed in two

hours and a quarter; leaving Brighton at 6.45 and arriving at London

Bridge Terminus about 9. From time to time other additions, as branches

from the main trunk, have been added, affording facilities for travelling

to most parts of the kingdom south of the metropolis.

The handsome building of Italian style, which constitutes the Brighton

Terminus, is the design of Mr. Mocatta; and the original sheds attached

to the Terminus were designed by Mr. Rastrick, whose remains, under a

massive granite monument, are deposited in the Extra-Mural Cemetery,

Lewes Road. The Railway is considered a passenger and pleasure line,

and, during the Summer season, excursion trains make important items in

the traffic returns, as the line is in the direct route from London to

Paris, _via_ Newhaven and Dieppe, and at the various stations throughout

the line villa residences are the retreats of the families of the London

merchants who diurnally travel to and from their places of business.

Hobby Horse racing round the Level formed an attraction to the

fashionable company that, daily, on horseback and in good old-fashioned

and aristocratic hammerclothed coach-box and powder-bewigged coachmen and

footmened family carriages, thronged Morris's Royal Repository: for that

great toy-mart and favourite lounge really had regal patronage,

especially from William and Adelaide, who were frequently extensive

purchasers. His Majesty, upon one occasion, when Duke of Clarence, was

struck, while there, with the entrance of three ladies in the garb of

Quakers; and as the two eldest were looking over some articles of

peculiar attraction, His Royal Highness addressed himself to the

youngest, who was about fourteen, and said, "So, I see that thou art not

above the vanities of this gay world." The fair young Friend said

nothing; but the matron, under whose care she was, gave a look more

expressive than words. The Duke felt it; and immediately purchasing a

handsome work-basket, respectfully asked the eldest lady's permission to

present it to her daughter. The answer was mild, but laconic. "She will

receive it, and thank thee, friend." The basket was accordingly taken,

with the same courtesy as given; and thus the matter ended.

During the prosperity of the Repository, which had a fame for the bows

and arrows which it supplied, archery was much in vogue, the Archery Club

having their rendezvous in the Queen's Park, which is situate on the

south-west acclivity of the Race Hill, and is approached by an entrance

that abruptly terminates Park Street, contiguous to the German Spa. This

Park, which is between sixty and seventy acres in extent, was formed in

1825, by Mr. Thomas Attree, whose Italian villa, designed by the late Sir

Charles Barry, crowns its northern summit

Various as have been the attractions offered for the entertainment of

visitors, the meed of their success and duration has preponderated in

favour of those projected in the vicinity of the sea, which is the main

feature of attraction to Brighton, that commands an uninterrupted marine

drive and promenade along its whole three miles' frontage. The promenade

was of small dimensions at its commencement, and originated with the

owners of property between Cannon Place and Preston Street, Mr. Pocock,

coal merchant, at its east extreme, and Mr. Robison, of Regency House, at

the west end,--the promoters of the undertaking,--superintending its

construction. Its position was in about the middle of the present

carriage-way, which from time to time has been widened to accommodate the

increased traffic. The original seats upon the Esplanade--for so from its

commencement has the walk been called,--bore the names of the houses in

front of which they were erected; but the Commissioners of the Town, in

the plenitude of their wisdom, perceiving the improvement which would be

effected by extending the walk, took the control of it into their own

hands; and earth from the excavations made for the erection of the

Places, Squares, and Streets adjacent, being abundant, in a very short

space of time the promenade was continued to the extreme point of the

parish, much to the discomfiture of the owners of boats and bathing

machines, who were accustomed, for safety, to haul up their property upon

the Wharf that stood, protected by a strongly-built brick wall to the

south, immediately off the bottom of Regency Square, whereon, when it was

known as Belle-Vue Field, stood a large capstan, that was used by means

of a small tunnel under the road--through which a hawser passed,--to haul

up vessels upon the Deals, ship-ways that were fixed there for repairing

moderately sized craft.

Not unfrequent sights at this spot were severed capacious boats of slight

build, which had been captured from smugglers, who had had the temerity

to try a cargo there; as forty years since, and even more recently,

contraband ventures were of very common occurrence. The last successful

"run" in broad daylight took place about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, July

19th, 1821, at the bottom of Ship Street, while the Custom House Officers

were attracted to the Level to witness the Coronation sports. The

working party had assembled in the Old Ship Yard, and at a signal given,

by way of the Gap 300 kegs of Hollands were slung and off before the few

persons present, who remained in the town, could comprehend the scene.

Most of the cargo was, as usual, conveyed inland, where the readiest

means were offered for its concealment and disposal. Captured smugglers

were, at that period, put on board the Hound revenue cutter, Captain

Butler commander, which was stationed off Brighton, and a smuggler chase

by her was frequently a very exciting scene from the shore. Men who

embarked in the hazardous enterprise were frequently missing; but whether

their lives were sacrificed or they had been captured and shipped off in

the Royal Navy, upon foreign service, a considerable lapse of time and a

combination of circumstances only determined. One of the most desperate

of a noted gang in the neighbourhood of Brighton was David Scales, who,

on the night of November 7th, 1796, while going, with many more, over the

hill to Patcham, heavily laden, was overtaken by excise officers and

soldiers. The smugglers fled in all directions; a riding officer, as

such persons were called, gave chase to Scales, who was likewise on

horseback, and called upon him to surrender his booty, which he refused

to do. The officer knew that Scales was too good a man for him, they

having tried it before; so he shot Daniel through the head.

A monument to his memory was erected in Patcham churchyard, with the

following inscription, now obliterated by time:--

Sacred to the Memory

of

DANIEL SCALES,

Who was unfortunately shot, on Tuesday evening,

Nov. 7, 1796.

Alas! swift flew the fatal lead,

Which pierced through the young man's head

He instant fell, resigned his breath,

And closed his languid eyes in death.

All you who to this stone draw near,

Oh! pray let fall the pitying tear:

From this sad instance may we all

Prepare to meet Jehovah's call. {313}

On the 24th of April, 1806, an encounter took place off Brighton, between

the revenue cutter, Leopard, and a smuggler, when Aldridge, the commander

of the contraband vessel, was killed in the action, and one of his crew,

named Morris, was so desperately wounded in the chest that he died a few

days afterwards.

As a more immediate than a sidelong marine walk, the Chain Pier was

projected, agreeable to the annexed prospectus:--

The utility of a Pier at Brighton, carried a sufficient distance

beyond high-water mark, so as to enable Steam Packets and boats to

lay alongside, and embark or land their passengers, is universally

admitted; and the proposition has excited greater interest since the

resolution has been formed of establishing a Steam Packet Company to

France, because it is reasonably anticipated that the two concerns,

although not intended to be incorporated, must be essentially

beneficial to each other.

In a national point of view it is certainly most desirable, that the

intercourse between the two countries should be facilitated and

extended; and there can be no measure adopted which could more

effectually promote this end and increase the prosperity of this

great and flourishing town, than the proposed Pier.

When so many advantages are evidently comprehended, both to the

individuals who may be concerned in the undertaking, and the public

generally, it becomes a subject of deeper solicitude, that there

should be no fallacy in the principle, no imperfection in the

constitution, which would endanger its future security, and frustrate

the important object.

First, with regard to the durability of the materials, it should be

observed, that it is intended to construct the Pier, wholly of iron,

with the exception of the platform. The oxedale of cast Iron is so

incorruptible that its effects can scarcely be brought within the

scope of calculation; and wrought iron, with common attention to

cleaning and painting, may be considered as almost imperishable. But

even if the time should arrive (which must be exceedingly remote) to

render it necessary to renew it, every bar can be taken out and the

whole replaced in detail, without any interruption to the passage of

the Pier, so that the capital invested in the concern is not

chargeable with more than common interest. The planking of the

gangway will require to be renewed perhaps once in ten or fifteen

years, and this expense is accounted for under the head of charges.

With regard to its strength, when there are so many conspicuous

examples of the powers of piles to resist the sea in the most exposed

situations, any theoretical illustration would be superfluous. But

before notice is taken of the works which have preceded and given

rise to the proposed plan, a few instances may be stated, such as the

Sheers, the Whittaker, the Gun Fleet, and other beacons on the North

Coast; and coming nearer to the point itself, the iron beacon on the

Black Rock, near Leith, which is about two miles S.E. from the

Trinity Pier, has stood alone for years; North Yarmouth jetty, and

the Pier at Ostend, on the opposite coast, remain firm, opposed to

the sea from the S.E. and N.W. and require no repair but what arises

from the decay of the timber; and at Cronstadt, in the Gulph of

Finland, there are batteries erected on piles like so many islands,

which have remained there from the time of Peter the Great.

It may now be noticed, without entering into so wide a field, that

the Trinity Pier, which (although on the same principle) is in all

respects a more slender and inferior structure to the proposed Pier

for Brighton, was erected during the stormy season of the equinox;

and even in its unfinished state, while it was of course less capable

of resisting the shock of the sea, it suffered no injury; and since

its completion, the following reports will show that its strength and

security are beyond all question, and what is of as much importance,

its utility has surpassed the most sanguine expectations.

Copy of a Report from the Directors of the Trinity Pier Company,

dated Leith, Sept. 20, 1821:--

"These are to certify, that the Trinity Pier was loaded with 118 Pigs

of iron ballast, or upwards of 20 Tons, the same that were sent out

by Mr. Crichton for proving the said Pier, and that the above ballast

was loaded between the piers regularly placed. And we also certify

that there was no interruption to the passengers to and from the

Steam Boats that were laying alongside at the time it was so loaded.

And we further certify, that under all the circumstances of the case,

that the said Pier has undergone a more severe trial or proof than

was specified in the agreement with Captain Brown; and that the said

Pier is in all respects perfect, and in good order.

"Given under our hands at Leith, this 20th day of Sept. 1821.

(Signed) "ALEXANDER SCOTT,

ALEXANDER STEVENSON,

Directors of the Trinity Pier."

Copy of the second Report from the Directors of the Trinity Pier

Company, dated Leith, the 16th November, 1821:--

"Leith, Nov. 16, 1821.

"CAPTAIN SAMUEL BROWN, R.N.

"Sir--In compliance with your wish to hear how the new Pier of

Suspension, at Trinity, has stood the late violent easterly gales, to

which it is very much exposed, we feel very great pleasure in

informing you that it has not received the most trifling damage; and

that since the pier-head has been lengthened to 70 feet, the Steam

Boats are able to lay on the lee-side of it with perfect security in

the strongest gales we have had, the violence of the sea being

exhausted in passing through the different ranges of the piles.

"So little is the vibration of the chains and platform, that we have

never known the least alarm to be expressed by passengers going along

it; and great numbers frequent it even in this inclement season,

merely for the purpose of taking a walk along it.

"We are, Sir,

Your obedient Servants.

(Signed) "ALEXANDER SCOTT,

ALEXANDER STEVENSON,

Directors of Trinity Pier Company.

GEORGE CRICHTON, Treasurer."

As there will be plans upon an extended scale, laid before a general

meeting, or a committee of management, it is unnecessary to advert to

them at present: it may, however, be satisfactory to state, the

extent, from high-water-mark to the end of the Pier, 1,000 feet, and

the width ten feet: each of the inverted arches will be 251 feet

span, and the outer Pier-head will form an area of about 4,500 feet,

and an elevation of 10 feet above the highest spring-tides. The

expense of erecting a Pier and constructing a floating Break-water,

which will be essential, as a protection from ships or vessels

running foul of it, and at the same time afford additional facility

and convenience for ships putting to sea from the beach, will be

27,000. {315} It is proposed that a Company should be constituted

and incorporated, under the denomination of the Brighton Pier

Company, and that the sum of 27,000, forming the joint stock of the

Company, be raised by subscriptions of 100 each.--The affairs of the

Company to be conducted and managed by a Committee, consisting of a

Treasurer and 10 Members, who are to be chosen by a majority of votes

of the Proprietors, at a General Meeting; and that five of the said

Committee are also to be chosen by a majority of votes to act as

Directors or Managers of the Company; and that the Committee of

Management and the Directors collectively, shall have the power of

appointing a Pier Master, and other persons, whose services or

avocations may be required for the general benefit and advantage of

the Company. All other rules relative to the reciprocity of interest

and the financial branches of the Company, are to be fully set forth

and explained in a separate instrument, to be drawn up in a proper

legal form by a Solicitor.

The situation in all respects most suitable both for the convenience

of the public and the interest of the Brighton Pier Company, is

opposite the East Parade of the Old Steyne, and as T. R. Kemp, Esq.,

and C. S. Dickens, Esq., have, in the most liberal and handsome

manner, which must lay, not only the proprietors of the Pier, but the

whole community, under lasting obligations, granted a sufficient

space of ground for forming the Pier, and relinquished all their

manorial rights, it will not be necessary to apply for an Act of

Parliament for authority to levy and collect a toll, or pontage in

the Pier, because the beach is free for landing and embarking in

boats as heretofore, and it becomes perfectly voluntary or optional

to enter upon and pay for the accommodation of the Pier.

It is intended that the platform shall be horizontal with the East

Parade, and extend in the same direction out to sea--as there can be

no doubt that the Pier would become a place of fashionable resort,

great emoluments would be derived from this source alone,--independent

of this, would be the specific revenue secured by a lease to be paid

by the Proprietors of the Steam-Packets, and as it is one of the

objects of the Pier to permit the shipment of carriages and horses,

under certain regulations consistent with the convenience of

visitors, a considerable sum will be raised by this means.

It is not intended that Merchant's ships should load or discharge

their cargoes at the Pier, and no fish to be landed unless under

particular circumstances to be judged by the Pier-Master;--but as

great advantages must be derived to the Town, and Proprietors of the

Pier, from the traffic in fruit, eggs, &c. &c. with France,

small-craft and boats are to be permitted to come alongside, by

paying certain dues for the vessels, and a certain rate upon their

goods, the amount of which will be fixed by the Committee of

Management; pleasure-boats, and boats hired for pleasure, are to pay

certain dues for laying alongside the Pier, and a further rate for

the company landing from or embarking on board them, and the shore

boats belonging to the Town of Brighton and others, which are in the

constant practice of using the beach, whether owned in the town or

not, are to be permitted to land passengers, who are to pay the usual

rate for landing on the Pier; but the boats before-mentioned are to

be exempted from paying any dues for _coming_ alongside, and the crew

are to be allowed to land without any charge being made: but such

boats are not to continue at the Pier longer than is necessary to

land or take on board passengers or pleasure parties, and are to be

subject to the orders of the Pier-Master, in regard to the length of

time to be allowed for this purpose, and this permission alluded to

is not to be considered as an abandonment of the right of the Pier

Company to charge boats of the above description the usual Pier dues,

but as a favor and preference given to the fishermen and boatmen

belonging to the Town of Brighton and its dependencies.

There is no circumstance connected with this establishment of a Pier

at Brighton, which will be viewed with more satisfaction, either by

the Proprietors or the Public, than the ready means it will afford of

dispatching boats to the assistance of vessels in distress--however

well disposed the fishermen or pilots may be to venture to sea in a

heavy gale to their relief, their utmost skill and hardihood are

unavailable to launch their boats through the serf at low water; and

even at the height of the tide it is frequently impracticable; it is

therefore intended either to construct a slip or inclined plane in

the centre of the outward Pier, to contain a boat of the largest

class, and provide anchors and cables for her, and appoint her in all

respects ready to launch off in the heaviest gale at a moment's

notice,--or to erect Davits on each side of the Pier to support boats,

which will always be ready to lower down.--There are no description of

vessels better calculated for this service than what are termed the

Brighton hog-boats,--when they are fairly clear of the beach and

breakers, (which the boat would be the moment it was launched,) they

work off the coast in the most surprising manner.

As it will at all events be necessary to have a boat's crew of at

least four active able bodied men, belonging to the Pier, those men,

in order to be available for the duty alluded to, must be Pilots for

Shoreham or Newhaven, and when the large boat is to be sent to sea

there can be no difficulty in engaging three or four men to complete

the compliment. That in the course of time many ships and vessels

may receive assistance, and be saved from shipwreck by this means, is

the most reasonable of all hypotheses--and as the vessel and other

smaller boats would be part of the property of the Company, and

maintained by it, they would be entitled to salvage or to a

remuneration in proportion to the extent of services rendered, as

usual in such cases.

But the sources from whence the revenue of the Pier is to be derived,

which will yield a large interest to the Proprietors agreeable to the

sum which they may have respectively invested, will be so

satisfactorily shewn in the following statement, that it is not

necessary to reckon on any profits arising from such contingencies,

however plausible and flattering the prospect may be.

REVENUE:

s. d.

Pier dues from 4 Stream-boats, each 400 0 0

100 yearly

,, 25,000 passengers to and from 2500 0 0

France, per Steam-vessels, in the

course of the year, at 2s.

,, Luggage, packages, &c. &c. 500 0 0

,, French vessels to pay 1s per ton, 200 0 0

and the crew to be exempted from

dues, viz.--200 vessels averaging 20

tons each, 1s

,, Goods, packages, &c., from French 300 0 0

vessels

,, 100 carriages to and from France, 100 0 0

20s

,, 200 horses ditto ditto, 10s 100 0 0

,, Pleasure Yachts, crews exempted, 50 0 0

supposed

,, Company embarking and landing, 2s 100 0 0

,, Parties of pleasure in the 50 0 0

Brighton shore boats

,, Ship boats landing and embarking 50 0 0

passengers 5s for the use of the

Pier, which will exempt the crew

,, Produce of the Pier as a 3650 0 0

promenade, at 10 per day

8000 0 0

CHARGES:

s d.

Pier 200 0 0

Master,

yearly

Boat's 150 0 0

crew, 4

men,

yearly

Two 104 0 0

Toll-

keepers

Wear and 40 0 0

tear of

ropes, &c.

Painting 40 0 0

Pier twice

a year

Wear and 30 0 0

tear of

gangway of

Pier

Lighting 20 0 0

of Pier

Night 38 0 0

watchman

Secretary, 300 0 0

office,

&c.

922 0 0

922 0 0

Net produce yearly, or 25 per Cent. 7078 0 0

on amount of capital

The merits of the plan are here brought to a very narrow compass, and

it is confidently believed that there will appear no disposition to

overrate the advantages, or to excite any undue bias in the public

mind that might ultimately lead to disappointment.

Subscriptions will be received at Messrs. HALL, WEST, and BORRER;

Messrs. WIGNEY, STANFORD and Co., Brighton; and Messrs. WILLIS,

PERCIVAL and Co., London.

It is much doubted whether the expectations of either the projectors or

the shareholders have ever been realized, except as regards outlay and

charges. The structure was commenced in October, 1822, and completed in

twelve months. On the 25th of November, it was opened by the skilful

projector, Sir Samuel Brown, R.N. The Pier, which projects 1,150 feet,

is approached by an Esplanade 1,250 feet in length. The foundation

consists of four clumps of iron shod and nail-mailed piles strongly bound

by cross and wale pieces of great substance. The clumps are 250 feet

apart, and are crowned with cast-iron towers, over which pass the main

suspension chains that emerge from the cliff, into which they are canned

fifty-four feet, and are there fastened to a mass of iron, three tons in

weight, firmly embedded in masonry. The south ends of the chains pass

down a casing of wood to the rock, into which and the massive piles of

the extreme platform they are bolted and keyed.

Just one year after the completion of the Pier, namely, on the 23rd

November, 1824, the structure underwent a severe trial, but it nobly

stood a storm which devastated the southern coast of England, some

portion of the wooden platform and the ornamental iron-work alone

receiving slight damage. Two dolphins, however, to the west of the Pier

in an angular position, consisting of small clusters of piles, over the

crown of which to the Pier-head large chains were stretched to fend-off

any vessels that might be driven in by a south-west gale, were completely

washed away. The havock to property along the sea-front of the town was

tremendous.

On the 15th of October, 1833, the structure received some injury from

lightning, and on the 22nd of November following a dreadful gale of wind,

after causing the platform to writhe like the action of a serpent,

heaved-up the chains, twisting the pendant rods into fantastical shapes,

discharging the wooden roadway into the raging surf, and wrenching one of

the towers from its perpendicular. The inhabitants, looking upon the

injury done as a calamity to the town, immediately set a subscription on

foot, and in a very short time, 1,200 was raised to effect the

restoration of the edifice, which was further secured by a chain cable

beneath the platforms, attached to each clump of piles, to check all

future oscillation and heaving.

For many years the arrival and departure of steam packets, employed in

the passenger intercourse between Brighton and Dieppe, formed a great

attraction for visitors to the Pier. The first steamer employed in the

station was the Swift, of eighty-horse power. A packet service by

sailing vessels, previously existed, during the times of peace, dating as

far back as 1792, when the Prince of Wales, a schooner, Captain Burton;

the Princess Royal, a schooner, Captain Chapman; and the Speedwell, a

cutter, Captain Lind, were the vessels employed. These were succeeded by

the Nancy, Captain Blaber, which was run down in mid-channel; Ann and

Elizabeth, Captain Daniels; Nautilus, Captain Wingfield, who is still

alive and vends pork in Brighton Market; Elizabeth, Captain Lind; Lord

Wellington, Captain Cheesman, who was afterwards, for years, in the

General Steam Navigation Company's service, on the same route; Prince

Regent, Captain Bulbeck; Neptune, Captain Wallis; and the Thomas, Captain

Clear. This vessel was instrumental in saving the life of Mr. Charles

Green, the celebrated aeronaut, on the occasion of his ascent from the

Gas Works, at Black Rock, October 1st, 1821, with his Coronation balloon.

The Thomas had left some of her passengers and the Captain at Eastbourne,

and was just off Beachy Head, in charge of the Mate, Francis Cheesman,

who bore down upon the balloon, then unmanageable upon the water, and

driving the vessel's bowsprit into the silk of the aerial machine soon

liberated the gas, and rescued Mr. Green from his frail wicker-work car.

At various periods the Chain Pier has been the medium and focus of

special entertainments in the separate and combined attractions of fire

and water. The structure on the evening of its inauguration was

illuminated on both sides throughout its whole extent, in coloured lamps

forming "God Save the Queen, and the House of Brunswick." More recently

exhibitions of fireworks have taken place upon it. The most memorable

event by way of pastime was the Brighton and Hove Regatta, which took

place on Thursday and Saturday, July 21st and 23rd, 1853, when public

money to the extent of 364, was competed for, prizes of 120, 105, and

52 10s, by yachts, and other prizes varying from 20 downwards, to the

number of fourteen by sailing and rowing boats. The weather for several

days previous to the Regatta--which had been arranged to extend through

three days,--was most unfavourable, a strong wind from the south-west

preventing the arrival of yachts which had just contended in the Yarmouth

Regatta. Several however, of heavy tonnage were in the matches, the

first of which was gained by the Alarm, 248 tons, J. Welds, Esq., in a

contest with the Sveridge, 280 tons, T. Bartlett, Esq., which was

declared by yachting men unparalleled in the superior nautical tactics

which were displayed. The Hotel-Keepers' Prize of 50 guineas, with 50

guineas added, was won by the Arrow, 102 tons, T. Chamberlayne, Esq.,

four competed. The Ship-Owners' Prize of 50 guineas was gained by the

Phantom, 25 tons, S. Lane, Esq., beating the Thought, 25 tons, G. Coope,

Esq. The First Class Pleasure Boat match, 20, was won by the Skylark,

Mr. A. T. Mills; and in the Second Class Pleasure Boat contest for 10

guineas, the Royal Frederick, Mr. B. Kent, successfully contended against

three others. In the four-oared Galley contest for 15, the Arrow, Mr.

J. Nottidge succeeded against six others. Friday, the intervening day of

the matches, was an entire blank; a dense fog with a drizzling rain

prevailing from sun-rise to sun-set. On the evening of Saturday, there

was a grand display of fireworks on the Chain Pier.

The Regatta was of simple origin. A few of the principal tradesmen who

were accustomed to meet of an evening in conviviality at the New Ship

Hotel, chanced in the early part of March, 1853, to have in their company

Captain Moore, connected with several yachting clubs. He spoke of the

admirable position of Brighton for yachting matches, and the attraction

they would be to the inhabitants and visitors. A communication was

forthwith made to the Commodores of the various Royal Yacht Clubs, and

the idea being favourably entertained by them, a committee was formed,

with Mr. H. P. Tamplin, the High Constable, as their Chairman, and the

author of this book as their Honorary Secretary. Subscriptions came in

bountifully, the whole of the town being most favourable to the project.

The Railway Directors presented 50 guineas; the Hotel Keepers gave a

prize of 37 guineas; the inhabitants of Cliftonville 50 guineas; the

Ship-Owners 50 guineas; and Chain Pier Company 18 guineas. The Theatre

was placed at the service of the Committee, and the proceeds of an

amateur performance under the management of Mr. D. H. Greenin, aided the

funds, as did also a fete at the Swiss Gardens, Shoreham, and a concert

at the Royal Pavilion. So anxious and energetic, in fact, was the public

in general for the Regatta to be a great success, that at its

termination, the sum of 148 remained in the hands of the Treasurer,

arising principally from the weather preventing the whole of the

programme being gone through.

As an Englishman's conclusion to a popular enterprise, a dinner took

place at the Old Ship Hotel; and then, at the New Ship, where the

Committee held their meetings, the Committee--of which Mr. Charles Sprake,

the landlord, was a member,--gave an invitation dinner to the Honorary

Secretary, who was presented, at the hands of the High Constable, with a

most gratifying testimonial, thus inscribed,--surmounted with the Brighton

Arms,--upon a silver-mounted portemonnie:--"Brighton and Hove Regatta,

1853. Presented to Mr. J. A. Erredge, with a Complimentary Sum, by the

Committee, for his Valuable Services, as their Honorary Secretary." As a

feature of and to commemorate the Regatta, Mr. John Smith, King's Road,

who fitted-out several of the Committee in nautical attire, had an

appropriate gilt button struck, of neat design.

Amongst the matches not contended for in the Regatta, was that for the

Cliftonville Prize, which remained in abeyance till the Autumn of 1856,

when fresh subscriptions and the interest of the money in hand,

accumulating the Fund to 304, a second Regatta was arranged, which came

off on the 26th of August, when Prizes to the amount of 207 were

awarded. A grand display of fireworks and the discharge of incidental

expenses cleared off the balance.

A great attraction to the Chain Pier, after the packets ceased running to

and from Dieppe, was a band of music that entertained the company who

promenaded the Pier-head. The Military Concerts at the Pavilion,

however, are at present the musical feature for visitors, who every

Wednesday and Saturday afternoon throng the suite of Assembly Rooms; and,

when the season and weather are favourable, the eastern lawn, where also,

for nine years past the Brighton and Sussex Horticultural and

Floricultural Society have held their Summer and Autumn Shows, which

annually increase in attraction and importance. The Museum and Picture

Galleries that occupy upper portions of the Pavilion, likewise afford

visitors many an hour's agreeable ramble amongst the works of art and

other rarities which are daily accumulating. An annual exhibition in

connexion with the Brighton and Sussex School of Art, with an Art Union

attached, takes place in the Galleries; and there is also an apartment

appropriated to the School of Art. In the height of the season, grand

concerts by _artistes_ of celebrity take place in the Music Room, which,

being easier of approach than the Town Hall, has superseded the large

room there, where on the occasion of Jenny Lind--the Swedish

Nightingale,--singing on the 23rd of August, 1847, the receipts were

1,200.

A species of diversion, termed a soire, has of recent years been very

popular, the intellectual being by it agreeably blended with the

recreative; science and the fine arts gracefully admitting a sistership

with Terpsichore, the active votaries of which goddess in their sundry

modern gyrations of polka and schottische, contrasting strangely with

"Lady Montgomery's Reel," led off in the same Pavilion, August 13th,

1805, by the Honourable Miss Seymour and a son of the Duke of Clarence,

"with suitable ease, spirit, and vivacity," and in a country-dance to the

tune "Murphy Delaney," the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Clarence

"taking an active part in the wholesome exercise." There was as great a

diversity then in dance music as at the present time, passing events

suggesting new ideas to composers and musicians. Upon one occasion, Mr.

Kramer, the leader of the Prince's private band, being in the Telemachus

Room of the Old Ship Hotel, arranging the music for a ball which was to

take place in the evening at the Royal Pavilion, had his attention

attracted by the voice of a noted character from Lewes, Jemmy Gosney, who

with a peculiar nasal twang was announcing in Ship Street that he had for

sale "Book almanack, new almanack, Moore's Almanack." To the surprise of

the vendor of _Vox Stellarum_, he heard his words repeated at a window

opposite, where, on his clarionet, Kramer so imitated the old man's

voice, that, in the evening, he availed himself of the incident to

introduce it as a novelty, in the course of a dance, much to the delight

of His Royal Highness and the company in general.

During the sojourn of William and Adelaide in Brighton, in 1834, Sir

Andrew Barnard, at the request of his Majesty, enquired of Mr.

Gutteridge, the organist of the Royal Chapel, if there was anything to be

obtained in the way of singing amongst the townsfolk. Mr. Gutteridge

recommended the members of the Brighton Madrigal Society, with whom, for

eight guineas the evening, an engagement was effected, but at so short a

notice that the singers were perplexed to procure the appropriate dress

for the occasion, namely, black coats and white vests. At the suggestion

of a friend, however, a second-hand clothes' shop in the Lanes was

visited, and there they found all that was required; but one of the

party, who was desirous of the loan of a coat for the night,--for which

loan a half-crown was asked,--not having the cash about him for the

deposit that was required to ensure its safe return, was necessitated to

go out and obtain a well-known hair-dresser in Ship Street as his bond.

The performance of the Madrigals took place in the Royal Music Room, in

the presence of their Majesties and party, amongst whom was Lady Kennedy

Erskine, the King's daughter, an excellent judge of music, who highly

complimented them on the efficient manner in which they had acquitted

themselves. After the singing, they withdrew and partook of supper, at

which they were attended by two footmen in the Royal livery, to one of

whom the leader of the party--who had a black ribbon pinned in his

waistcoat pocket to simulate that he wore a watch, and who was

unaccustomed to a servant in waiting,--said, "Hulloa, old fellow, don't

bother yourself about us, sit down and have some with us." The servant

smiled, but declined, and only forgot his position as attendant by

taking, when urgently pressed, a glass of wine all round with the guests.

In 1834, when Madame Sala, the mother of Mr. F. A. Sala, the novelist,

was in the zenith of her profession as a songstress, and also as a

teacher of singing, a placard on a board was placed at Eber's Library,

now Dutton and Thorowgood's shoe warehouse, Castle Square, announcing a

concert at the Town Hall, for her benefit; when some person,--it was

supposed envious of her fame,--two evenings previous to that announced for

her concert, disfigured the placard by cutting out some of the letters of

her name, making it to read thus:--MAD SAL, which, coming to her

knowledge, caused Madame to abandon the concert from fear of further

insult. Her patrons recompensed her, but could not erase from her

recollection the unmerited malignity.

Only a few years since, Brighton was greatly infested with street music

from organs, hurdy-gurdies, and pianettes; a crusade, however, of the

peace authorities drove them from the town, to which they have not since

been allowed to return. Itinerant bands of wind instrument players yet

remain, greatly to the annoyance of the inhabitants, of whom the

performers most importunately ask remuneration for the woful discord they

discourse. An accredited Town Band of no mean talent is in existence,

supported by voluntary contributions and subscriptions; but it struggled

for some years before it could attain a position, intruders upon their

presumed rights frequently drafting off, by offers of superior

engagements, their best performers. German bands were at one time very

prevalent, but they remained only the novelty of a few seasons;

pilferings by their leaders, petty quarrels and jealousies amongst

themselves, and the non-appreciation by the public of what by some

persons might be termed their talent, causing most of them to leave the

town, if not the kingdom. The most respectable of them formed the

nucleus of the Town Band, whose most general place of performance is on

the lower western Esplanade, contiguous to the principal pleasure-boat

station, where parties for a sail or row, or fishing excursion meet with

everything they desire for a nautical pastime.

Persons who are desirous of witnessing deep-sea fishing can also be

gratified by making arrangements with owners of the regular fishing

boats; and as the various kinds of fish, the habits, manners, customs,

and costumes of the fishers, and the mode of fishing off this coast have

not undergone any change by time, the graphic description of the Brighton

Fishery by the Welsh Zoologist, Thomas Pennant, who died in 1798, is here

most apposite:--

"The fish-market, both wholesale and retail, is kept on the beach, a

little beyond the baths; the boats used in the fisheries are from ten

to fifteen tons, made remarkably strong to secure them against the

storms in their winter adventure. The mackarel boats are navigated

by three or four men and a boy; there are about forty-five for the

mackarel fishery, and twenty-five for the trawling; they set sail

generally in the evening, go eight or ten leagues to sea, and return

the next day. The fishing is always carried on in the night. The

crew are provided with tea, coffee, water, and a small quantity of

spirits, for at sea they are remarkably temperate; their indulgence

is only on shore. They only take with them bread, beef, and greens,

which, and sometimes fish, they often eat with their tea and coffee.

They are a hardy race, and very healthy; yet, during the Summer

season, they have very small interval from labour. They get a good

meal, and a very short repose by lying themselves on a bed during the

few hours in the day on which they come on shore. They bring their

fish in baskets to the beach, fling them in vast heaps, and instantly

a ring of people is formed round, an auction {325a} is begun, and the

heap immediately disposed of; the price is uncertain, according to

the success of the night. Mackarel in the year 1793, were sold from

1 to 7 a hundred; they have been sold as high as 15 a hundred.

{325b} Mackarel and soles are the great staples of the place, nine

or ten thousand have been taken at one shooting of the net. Mackarel

swim deep in calms, and rise to the surface in gales, when the

largest fish and the greatest quantity are taken. {325c}

"The nets consist of a number of parts, each of which is from

thirty-six to fifty yards long and deep, and are kept buoyant by

corks. These united form a chain of nets a mile and a half long.

Before they are used in the Spring, they are taken from the

storehouses and spread upon the Steine; a privilege, time immemorial,

granted to the fishermen. The boats are drawn on shore at the latter

end of the Winter, and placed in ranges on the lower part of the

Steyne, and other places near to the sea. The interval from labour

is very small, for numbers of the boats are in the early Spring hired

out to dredge for oysters, to supply the beds in the Medway and other

places.

"The greater part of the fish is sent to London, packed in baskets,

usually weighing about three quarters of a hundred in each; they are

put into small light carts, which go post, carry from fifteen to

thirty baskets each, and reach our capital in eight or ten hours.

"The mackarel are supposed to come from the Bay of Biscay. In the

early Spring they are taken off Dieppe; they next appear off Mount's

Bay, where they are caught in seines, and sent by land to London in

small baskets; the shooting of nets has not been found to answer off

the Cornish shore. They arrive in the channel off Brighthelmston in

the middle of April, and continue to the middle of July, after which

they will not mesh, but are caught with hooks, and are at that season

nearly unfit for eating. In June they are observed to approach

nearer the shore; they continue in the channel till the cold season

commences, when they go progressively north or east. The fry is seen

of very small size in October and November.

"The herring fishery begins in October; those fish appear in great

quantities along shore, and reach Hastings in November. The fishery

is very considerable, and adventurers from every country engage in

it. A boat has ten last of ten thousand each. The fish which are

not sent to London fresh, are salted or cured as red herrings. The

nets resemble those used in the mackarel fishery, only the meshes are

smaller: they are about twenty feet deep, and are left to sink of

themselves. The congenerous pilchards are sometimes taken here in

the mackarel nets, but in very small quantities.

"Soles, the other staple fish, are taken in trawls in great numbers.

The fishery begins in April, and continues all the Summer: in April,

1794, the weight of two tons was caught in one night. I saw in the

same month a heap of soles on the market beach none of which were

less than nineteen inches long. The other congenerous fishes were

turbots, generally very indifferent; brills or pearl; smear dabs;

plaice, and flounders.

"Various kinds of rays are taken here; such as the skate, the fuller,

the thornback, the sand-ray, which has sharp slender spines on the

edges, opposite to the eyes; minute spines along the edges of the

fins, and upon the fins like the fuller; the back and tail

shagreened, marked with round black spots; the teeth sharp and

slender. A ray, not uncommon on the Flintshire coasts, is twenty-one

inches long, of which the tail is eleven; the nose is pointed, and

semi-transparent; two spines above each eye, and three placed in a

row on the back; three rows on the tail, of which the middle runs far

up the back edges of the body from the nose to the anal fin, rough,

with rows of minute spines; back quite smooth, of a fine pale brown,

regularly marked with circular black spots; teeth quite flat and

smooth.

"Of the shark genus, the angel-fish is not uncommon. The smooth

sharks, or topes, are very numerous; they grow to the length of four

feet. I saw opened several of this species, and can vouch for the

truth of the young entering the mouth of the parent in time of

danger, and taking refuge in the stomach. I have seen from twelve to

twenty taken out of a single tope, each eleven or twelve inches long.

This species is split, salted, and eaten.

"I here met with the corbeagle of Mr. Jago. The length was three

feet nine inches, the thickest circumference two feet one inch. It

is a rare species, allied to the Beaumaris shark. The greater and

lesser spotted dog-fish are very numerous.

"The common angler is frequently caught here, and sometimes of an

enormous size; from the vast width of the mouth it is called here the

kettle-man. The launce, and two species or weevers, are very common;

the greater grows to the length of sixteen inches, is two inches

deep, the weight of two pounds, and is a firm well-tasted fish. The

fishermen have a great dread of the spines, and cut them off as soon

as taken.

"The cod fish tribe are rather scarce, except the whitings, which are

sometimes caught in mackarel nets, but chiefly with hooks. They are

taken in April; but the best season is in October. I saw here the

common cod, the whiting-pout, the coal-fish, and the five-bearded

cod.

"The doree is frequently taken here: I saw one of fifteen pounds

weight, and the length of three quarters of a yard. I saw here the

lunated gilthead, and ancient wrasse, the basse, and red or striped

surmullet: the last small. The red and the grey gurnards were

common.

"Salmons are unknown here, which I am told is the case on all chalky

coasts. The gar or needle-fish are often seen here, and of great

lengths. I shall digress improperly in saying that the razor bills

and guillemots, inhabitants of Beachy Head, are frequently caught in

the mackarel nets, unwarily diving in the pursuit of the fish.

Prawns are in their season taken in vast abundance near the shores,

which wanting rocks to give shelter to the lobsters and crabs, those

delicacies are brought from the more distant parts of the coast."

A very general pastime with the low caste of the seafarers, when the

weather is too boisterous for their fishing and boating operations, is

sea-roaming, watching the margin of the turbulent waves upon the beach,

to pick up the trifles which the surge may chance to throw up. Some

years since,--before steam vessels were in use,--when weather-bound ships

were unable to get out of the bay, of which Brighton forms the northern

boundary, wrecks of richly laden crafts frequently afforded rare prizes

for the roamers, who now, more than from the spoils, _via jetsam et

flotsam_, pick up from strangers whom they may chance to meet on their

stroll, many a silver coin, fictitious tales of their losses, bad

voyages, and their starving large families, rarely failing to exact a

coin of the realm, hence they are known amongst the better class of the

nautical fraternity by the name of cadgers. On the faith, too, that

"early birds pick up the worms," not to be despised a living is obtained

by frequenting at day-break the vicinity of houses where parties have

been held the previous night, in search of jewellery, trinkets, or money

that by any casualty may have been dropped. For many years this mode of

life has been a monopoly by a man named Simmonds, who, also, throughout

the livelong day pursues with a keen eye and a raking stick the business

of gutter hunter.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

THE HISTORICAL STREET OF THE TOWN.

For historical lore, few continuous ranges of buildings in the kingdom

are connected with so many national and local incidents as West Street,

Brighton, which was formerly approached from the west, at the south end,

by a hill, that ranged with Kent Street, which originally terminated due

south to the West Cliff. The hill was of an altitude that, upon its

removal, to make the roadway level between Russell Street and West

Street, the front doors of the houses were one story above the pathway,

compelling the construction of flights of steps in the fore-courts,

commencing from east to west half the distance up, where a landing was

formed, from whence another flight set off northward to the door-ways.

The Cliff there at that time, was known as The Bank, a provincial term

still used for it by most of the aborigines. The incline of the Gap went

from the east corner of the street, direct south to the sea, which washed

it in stormy weather, when, for safety, the bathing-machines and the

boats stationed thereabouts, were hauled into the street as high up as

Duke Street.

Upon the first house in the street, that at the south corner of Kent

Street, for many years, just beneath the parapet which surmounted the

front wall, was a Latin inscription in raised Roman capitals, which at

various periods, as some of the letters became obliterated by their great

exposure to the weather, and from their restoration not being effected

with promptitude, underwent several changes, as, EXCITAT ACTA ROBUR,

strength awakens action, i.e., the consciousness of power arouses men to

acts; EXCITAS ACTIS ROBUR, thou awakest strength by deeds; EXCITAT ACTIS

ROBUR, he arouses to strength by acts; EXCITAS ACTA, ROBUR, thou wakest

or excitest to deeds or actions, O strength. Its last appearance,

EXCITUS ACTA ROPAT,--which defied all efforts of translation,--being the

cause of much ridicule, the letters were entirely removed. Immediately

opposite this house, suspended from the Cliff, was the town fire-cage,

constructed of iron hoops, wherein, at night, a fire of

strombolum--collected along the sea shore,--and common coal, was generally

kindled, as a guide to the fishermen on their return to shore. On New

Year's Day, 1810, a horrid act of brutal violence was committed in

connexion with this land-mark: Two men, named Rolfe and Barton, who were

engaged to attend to the fire, having some words in the course of the

evening, Rolfe determined to arrange the beacon by himself, and therefore

procured a new iron frame and suspended it accordingly. This, however,

he had no sooner done than Barton attempted to cut the fastenings and let

it over the Cliff, and as Rolfe endeavoured to prevent his carrying his

ill-natured design into effect, Barton thrust a knife into his abdomen,

and literally let out some of his bowels. Barton escaped, but a reward

of 20 being offered through the Town Crier, he was captured, but only

suffered a short imprisonment, as Rolfe, after having endured great pain,

eventually recovered.

The events connected with the King's Head have been detailed in Chapter

XVIII. The low, stone-coloured, brick building immediately opposite this

hostelry, was the favourite residence of Mrs. Thrale, the wife of the

wealthy owner of the London Brewery, now known as "Barclay and Perkins's

Brewery." Amongst the general visitors to Mrs. Thrale were Dr. Samuel

Johnson and Madame D'Arblay--Fanny Burney--the authoress of Evelena, who in

one of her letters--Madame d'Arblay's Diary--describes the residence as

being at the court end of the town, and exactly opposite the inn where

Charles II. lay hid previous to leaving the kingdom. "So I fail not,"

she adds, "to look at it with loyal satisfaction, and His black-wigged

Majesty has from the time of its restoration been its sign." Mrs.

Thrale, who upon her second marriage was Madame Piozzi, the mother of

Mrs. Mostyn, who died recently at Sillwood House, has her name thus

recorded in the parish book--

February 16th, 1791.--On application of Mrs Thrale, it is ordered that

a poor boy proposed by her be received into the Poor House, during

the pleasure of the officers, on being paid by the said Mrs Thrale 4s

weekly for his board.

It happened upon one occasion that while Dr. Johnson was visiting the

Thrales, he accompanied them to the Baths,--those on the site where

Brill's Ladies' Swimming Bath now stands,--at which public lounge he met

the Vicar, the Rev. Henry Michell, with whom, drawing their chairs close

to the fire in the ante-room, he soon got into conversation. For some

time their manner was calm and their language subdued; but at length some

strong difference arising in their arguments, the Vicar seized the poker,

and the Doctor the tongs, with which, upon the grate they suited "their

action to the word" with the utmost energy. The general company present,

who were enjoying a country dance, suddenly ceased their evolutions,

which could not be resumed till the Master of the Ceremonies, Wade, with

his proverbial politeness, pacified the heated debaters.

The water from a wooden pump at Thrale's house, was supposed to be

endowed with peculiar medicinal properties, from the circumstance that

after his too potent night indulgences in wine, Dr. Johnson was

accustomed early the following morning--before the family were about,--to

slip down stairs in his dressing gown, and doffing his wig, require of

the female domestic to pump freely on his over-heated bald head. Mr.

Hargraves, apothecary, who afterwards occupied the premises, being aware

of the Doctor's infallible restorative after his potations, strongly, in

the way of business, prescribed the marvellous liquid to customers who

had been too devout at the shrine of Bacchus.

Foote, the comedian, one day, dining at the house, with Johnson and

others, finding nothing to his liking, for some time sat in expectation

of something better. A neck of mutton being the last thing, he refused

it, as he had the others. As the servant was taking it away, however,

understanding that there was nothing more, Foote called out to him,

"Holloa! John, bring that back again, for I find it's neck or nothing."

Prior to 1794, a low public house, called the Half-Moon, stood out

prominently and fronted down the street immediately below Bunker's Hill.

It was the general resort of gipsies and beggars, who so continued to

throng the house during the Summer months, that on their taking their

leave at the termination of the previous Autumn, the owner, Mr. Patching,

demolished the old premises and constructed the present building, known

as the Brighton Sauce Warehouse, to afford the wandering customers better

accommodation upon their return. The Winter of 1793-4 was very severe;

to facilitate, then, the progress of the building during the frost, the

boulders of which the front is principally composed, were heated at the

malt-kiln of the West Street Brewery, the men employed in the work being

principally the soldiers of the militia regiments quartered in the West

Street Barracks. The new building proved to be a great mistake; as the

migratory tribes, on their return in the Summer, thinking that extra

charges would be made upon them to assist in defraying the expenses of

the new erection, betook themselves to other quarters, and hence, from

lack of custom, the license was transferred to a smaller house, the

present Half-Moon, at the corner of Boyce's Street, just below which, in

Ashby Court, lived an old matchman, a well-known character of the town.

Although "Lucifers" have almost rendered null and void the flint, steel,

and tinder-box, yet in villages the brimstone-tipped bunches of flat

matches are even now extant, and age picks up a scant existence in

vending them from door to door, to dames who pride themselves upon their

antiquated notions and doing what their good mothers did before them;

their almost sacred observance being always to have hot embers on their

social hearth, from which by means of a common match, a light may always

be obtained.

In Brighton, the most celebrated of the match-vending craft, was John

Standing, familiary known as "Old Rosemary Lane," from the following song

which he incessantly uttered while pursuing his daily avocation:--

There was an old 'oman

In Rosemary Lane,

She cuts 'em and dips 'em

And I do the same.

Come, buy my fine matches

Come, buy 'em of me,

They are the best matches

'Most ever you see.

For lighting your candle

Or kindling your fire

They are the best matches

As you can desire.

Standing was a native of Hurstperpoint, where for some years he followed

the occupation of a bricklayer, and was considered a good workman; but

having had the misfortune to fall from a scaffold when about 30 years

old, he was disabled from his usual employment, as he by the accident

received a severe injury to the spine, which ever after prevented him

from assuming an erect posture; and one of his eyes was knocked out, his

thumb was broken and reversed, and he was otherwise much mutilated.

At first his business circuit with matches was through the villages under

the hill, where he was very well known; but other venders, of the gipsey

tribe, combining to drive him off their ground by underselling him, he

moved on to Brighton, where his injured bodily condition and the novelty

of his ditty obtained him a good trade, and in a very short time many

regular customers. In fact, to the outward world his prospects appeared

so thriving, that many persons asserted he was, miser-like, accumulating

a fortune; for although he never asked alms, his lame, blind, and aged

condition excited sympathy amongst strangers, who rather gave to him than

purchased of him.

John was married; but his wife, who was also aged, was not without her

share of misfortunes. She was the manufacturer of the establishment, and

being exposed to hard work and the rigour of a severe winter, the cold so

affected her limbs that it was found necessary to amputate one of her

legs, and, also remove nearly all the toes from the other foot, from

their becoming frostbitten; added to which, she by an accident lost an

eye. In January, 1833, Standen was taken suddenly ill in East Street,

during one of his morning perambulations, and in a few days, on the 9th

of February, he terminated his life, after having for nearly 40 years

traversed the town, singing his unvaried song, day by day, through all

weathers. His wife survived him but three days, the shock, occasioned by

his death, being too severe for her shattered constitution to withstand.

They were borne together to their grave in the Old Churchyard, by some

kind neighbours, their coffins having been provided by the parish.

The house, the Albany Tavern, at the top of Duke Street, commanding the

view of the sea, down West Street, was for many seasons during the abode

of George IV. in Brighton, the residence in lodgings, of Johnny Townsend,

the noted Bow Street Runner, who was in constant attendance for a long

series of years, upon the Royal Personage when he was Prince of Wales and

King. West Street at that period was a place of fashionable resort,

especially for equestrians, Royal blood daily frequenting it, and often

paying a visit to Townsend, with whom they frequently essayed to

luncheon, the viands for the occasion being sent up from the Royal

Pavilion. Townsend was a shrewd but illiterate man, a staunch politician

of the Tory school, kind-hearted, generous, and charitable, an agreeable

companion with his equals, a man who commanded the respect of his

superiors and his inferiors; but he was a sore terror of refractory boys

and girls.

In the house immediately above Duke Street, and directly opposite

Cranbourne Street, lived, on his retirement from business, Mr. Beach

Roberts, a Brighton celebrity, who, at the commencement of the present

century was a tinman, carrying on a respectable and lucrative business

upon the premises now occupied by Mr. B. Lewis, silversmith, Ship Street.

In his latter days he was termed the "Walking Newspaper," inasmuch as he

was acquainted with all--and sometimes more than all, of the news of the

day. On the 13th March, 1810, some person, by way of a hoax, inserted in

the London papers, the following:--"Died, yesterday, Beach Roberts,

Esq.,--a gentleman who had enjoyed a wider sphere of connexion in the

County of Sussex than most men, who had been elected to the office of

High Constable of this Parish seven different times; for the last twelve

years been foreman of the Grand Jury at the Quarter Sessions at Lewes;

and who has left one hundred thousand pounds; ten thousand of which are

to be applied to charitable purposes within the limits of the town; one

thousand towards the support of the Magdalen Hospital, and the remainder

to be equally divided between his son and daughter." The hoax became the

current topic of the day, and subjected Mr. Roberts to several

congratulatory addresses from his friends; as he was at the time about

forty-five years of age, in the enjoyment of good health, and of a

promising constitution. It may be added that he never served the office

of High Constable, and that he had no children.

In the house next above that wherein Mr. Roberts lived, for some little

time resided--carrying on the business of a butcher,--James Ings, who on

the 23rd of February, 1820, was, on the information of a confederate,

apprehended with eight others, in a hay-loft, in Cato Street, Paddington,

for being concerned in a plot to destroy the Ministers of the King, while

at a cabinet dinner that evening in Grosvenor Square, London, at the

residence of the Earl of Harrowby, the President of the Council. The

plot is known as the Cato Street Conspiracy, wherein Ings took so

conspicuous a part that it was arranged that on their leader, Arthur

Thistlewood, presenting a parcel at the door of Lord Harrowby's house, he

should head the rest of the conspirators, rush in where the company were

assembled, and massacre the whole of them indiscriminately. Just

previous to their apprehension Ings prepared himself for the desperate

enterprise, by putting a black belt round his waist and another over his

shoulders; he also put on two bags like haversacks, and placed a pair of

pistols in his belt. Then looking at himself with an air of exultation

he exclaimed, uttering an oath, "I'm not complete now; I have forgot my

steel;" whereupon he seized a large knife, about twelve inches long, and,

brandishing it about, swore he would bring away two heads in his bags,

and one of Lord Castlereagh's hands, which he would preserve in brine, as

it might be thought a good deal of hereafter. The whole of the

conspirators were found guilty of High Treason, and on the morning of the

first of May, Thistlewood, Ings, and three others were hanged and

decapitated at Newgate; the rest of the traitors were transported.

The executioner of these misguided men was James Botting, a native of

Brighton, and son of Jemmy Botting, the possessor of some small property

at the back of West Field Lodge, immediately to the west of the bottom of

Cannon Place, and known as Botting's Rookery, from its being the resort

of tramps of the lowest order. Botting also, on the 30th of November,

1824, at Newgate, carried out the last penalty of the law upon Henry

Fauntleroy, the banker, who formerly had his residence at the west end of

Codrington Place, Western Road, and was found guilty of uttering a forged

deed with intent to defraud Frances Young of 5,000 Stock, and a power of

attorney to defraud the firm of Marsh, Stacey, Fauntleroy, and Graham,

Bankers, Berner's Street, London, of which house he was the acting

partner.

For several years previous to his decease, which took place at Brighton,

October 1st, 1837, Botting, in consequence of paralysis retired from his

situation as public hangman, the latter days of his existence being eked

out by a pension of five shillings a week, granted by the Court of

Aldermen of the City of London, for whom, in the course of his duties, he

had deprived 175 "parties"--as he termed them--of their lives; as during

his career executions at Newgate were very common, the offences for which

life was forfeited being so numerous that in one week thirteen persons,

namely, eight on Wednesday, November 23rd, and five on the Tuesday

following, November 29th, 1821, suffered, none of the crimes for which

they were executed--thanks to the enlightenment of our legislators,--now

exacting as a penalty the life of a fellow creature. Botting, in his

latter days, was a well known character about Brighton, the streets of

which he was accustomed to traverse by means of a chair, which he

alternately used as a species of crutch, and as a seat, but he always

appeared isolated from the world, as no grade of society seemed ambitious

of the acquaintance of Jack Ketch.

The most commodious and commanding family mansions of the Old Town are in

West Street, wherein have resided, during the past forty years, several

of the magistrates and the clergy, and many members of the medical

profession of Brighton. At the present time several of the houses are

occupied by opulent families: and the lanes and courts which formerly on

its west side detracted from the general respectability of the street,

having been demolished, the property thereabouts has become considerably

enhanced in value, and is much sought after.

CHAPTER XXIX.

THE PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS, CHARITIES, AND ENDOWMENTS.

It is the pride of the inhabitants that no town in the kingdom possesses

so many Public Institutions for the general well-being of the community,

as Brighton.

Foremost amongst these, though a National Institution and but co-equal

with similar other branches to complete its general working throughout

the kingdom, is the Post Office, which, in all probability, originally

formed a part of the General Postal systems as established in 1657 and

1660. We have no authority as to the primitive mode of conveyance of

letters, but doubtless it was on horseback, and afterwards by mail cart,

as "A Description of Brighthelmston" {337} mentions:--"During Summer the

post sets out from Brighthelmston for London every morning (excepting

Saturday) at nine o'clock; and arrives there every evening (excepting

Monday) about seven. In the Winter season the post goes out at eleven

o'clock at night on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays; and

returns from London about eight on Thursday and Saturday mornings." The

Post Office was then at Widgett's, afterwards Crawford's, and then

Fisher's Library, Old Steine, the present premises of Mr. Shaw,

confectioner, from whence, upon the throwing of the Promenade Grove into

the Royal Domain, in 1803, it was removed to premises constructed in the

Grove gateway at the top of Prince's Place, when Mr. J. Redifer was

appointed the Post Master. During the time that Crawford was Post

Master, his son, one of the present Members of Parliament for the city of

London, was the only letter-carrier in Brighton. Mail coaches between

London and Brighton were not put on the road till 1807. On the 22nd

September, 1822, the Post Office was removed to 67, East Street, where it

continued till June, 1827, when the premises, 149, North Street, were

appropriated for the business. From thence, on the 23rd of September,

1831, it was removed to the house immediately south of the Unitarian

Chapel, New Road, Mr Ferguson being the Post Master.

The uniform charge for letters of one penny per half ounce,--introduced in

1840, by Mr. Rowland Hill,--and afterwards the abolition of the newspaper

duty, when the postage of the public journals, and subsequently and now

all printed works passing at the rate of one penny for four ounces,

rendering the premises in the New Road inadequate to the increase of

business, the Post Office, on the 26th of March, 1849, was removed to the

present site, opposite Trinity Chapel, in Ship Street. The premises

there were very narrow and contracted, till August, 1858, when the

present commodious structure was erected. Mr. Charles Whiting, the

present Post Master, entered upon his duties in October, 1850. Previous

to the postage reduction, letters in the out districts of Brighton were

collected every evening by bellmen, who, for one penny, conveyed letters

to the General Office. Branch offices superseded the bellmen, or

collectors; and now, pillar-boxes, placed with great discretion in all

parts of the town, have rendered the branch offices in some localities

wholly unnecessary. The first pillar letter-box in the kingdom was

erected at the corner of Fleet Street and Farringdon Street, London, in

March, 1855. The Post Office Savings Bank opened at Brighton on the 10th

of March, 1862.

The first Bank in Brighton--the Old Bank,--immediately opposite the

premises subsequently and now the Union Bank, was established in 1787,

under the firm, Messrs. Shergold, Michell, Rice, and Mills. It withstood

the panic of 1825; but a few years after, transferred its declining

business. The New Bank was the next established, the firm being Messrs.

Wigney, Rickman, Stanford, and Vallance. Wigney, who was also a brewer,

happening one day to meet the builder of the sea wall of the Junction

Road, Mr Bennett, upon whom Dame Fortune rather frowned than smiled,

said, "Why, Bennett, surety, if I remember right, you also, were once a

brewer?" "Yes," said Bennett, "but I made a sad mistake, Wigney; I

turned at the same time a builder instead of, as you did, a banker; thus

I have always continued a needy man, from not having other people's money

to speculate with." The rejoinder was very significant, as the sequel

proved. The Bank was at first in Steine Lane, with a second public

entrance by the side way to the Pavilion Shades; from whence, in 1819, it

was transferred to the apartments, now the coffee room of the Pavilion

Hotel, Mr. Edmund Savage, who had obtained the license in 1816, having

arranged with the bankers that they should rebuild the house in the

Castle Square front, so that they might have the Bank on the ground-floor

of the new building, and give up the rooms in Steine Lane, in exchange.

The room where the banking business had been transacted, Mr. Savage then

appropriated to a smoking-room, and converted the clerks' room into a

Gin-shop. But as Mrs. Fitzherbert was then living immediately opposite,

in Steine Lane, he was fearful of offending her by placing any writing on

the house; the thought, however, struck him, that, inasmuch as the height

of Mrs Fitzherbert's house, to the south of him, prevented the _sun_ from

_shining_ upon his house, he would adopt the word "Shades," and place it

over the door, where had before been written "Bank," that being the only

word used to publish the place. An immense trade was soon carried on in

that little room, where three young men found full employment in serving

at the counter, and two as porters were engaged besides. The extensive

trade thus obtained soon induced other publicans to adopt the word

"Shades" to their bars; and at the present time there is scarcely a

public-house in the kingdom but uses the term. The only place previously

where the word "Shades" was adopted was at a Vault near Old London

Bridge, where nothing was sold but wine measured from the wood.

When known as Wigney's Bank, from the other partners having withdrawn

from the firm, the banking business was carried on at the premises which

occupied the western entrance of the Avenue in East Street. Mr. Isaac

Newton Wigney, M.P., who was then sole proprietor, to the dismay and ruin

of many of the inhabitants, stopped payment on the 4th of March, 1842.

The chief clerk of the New Bank, as it was originally constituted, was

Mr. Thomas West, who, on the 1st of August, 1805, with Messrs. Browne,

Hall, and Lashmar, founded the Union Bank, their neighbour, Mr. Daniel

Constable, being the first person to open an account with them; Messrs.

Hall, Lloyd, Bevan, and West constitute the present firm. Mr. Lashmar

left the Union Bank, and, in conjunction with Mr. Mugridge, opened the

Sussex Bank, in St. James's Street, which closed its doors on the

pressure of the panic of 1825.

The panic was also the death-blow to the County Bank, at the south-east

corner of Castle Square, which a few years previous had been opened by

Messrs. Tamplin, Creasy, and Gregory, the latter,--who was the manager of

the concern,--being the noted Barnard Gregory, who alternately was a

banker's clerk--at Masterman's, London, and Wigney's, Brighton,--wine

merchant, chemist and druggist, editor of the _Brighton Gazette_, chapel

building speculator, theatrical performer, manager of the Sussex and

Brighthelmston Fire Insurance Company, and finally, as a public man,

proprietor and editor of an infamous London newspaper, the _Satirist_,

for a frightful calumny published in which, on the ex-Duke of Brunswick,

he was incarcerated one year in Newgate. Later in a life which has but

recently terminated, he speculated on a second wife, an elderly maiden

lady, the daughter of Mr. Thompson, a wealthy public-house broker, of the

Priory, Hampstead. The circumstance of his marriage with this poor lady

is an illustration of the character of the man. He was passing the

evening with some friends, when the facility of getting a wife became the

topic of conversation, Gregory spoke with his usual confidence: he could

get a wife whenever he pleased--at a day's notice. Being rallied on his

vanity, he offered to lay a wager that he would be married, and to a

woman of reputation, before the next night. The wager was accepted--the

stakes deposited. Gregory was the winner. Before the next day was over

he had proposed, was accepted, had a wife, and, in compliance with the

conditions of the wager, had brought her to Brighton from London, where

the marriage was solemnised, before the close of the twenty-four hours.

The London and County Bank, Pavilion Buildings, a branch of the London

and County Joint-Stock Banking Company, Lombard Street, London, first

opened in Brighton, at the south-east corner of Prince's Place, in 1838.

It removed to the present premises in 1853. Mr. John Geddes Cockburn is

the Manager.

The Brighton Savings' Bank was established in Duke Street, at the top of

Middle Street, in 1817, with Mr. George Sawyer as Actuary. His

successor, Richard Buckoll, became a defaulter, and absconded. Mr.

William Hatton is the present Actuary, and the business is carried on in

the New Road, upon premises erected by Mr. John Fabian, to the plan of

Mr. Baxter, architect, on the site of the Royal Pavilion ice-well. Upon

its removal from Duke Street, the Bank occupied a portion of the property

on the east side of Prince's Place.

No other Banks are now in existence in Brighton. The Unity Joint-Stock

Mutual Banking Association, about four years since, had a branch of their

establishment at the north-east corner of North Street, but its business

was so limited that it soon closed its doors. The National Savings' Bank

Association (limited), 1, Pavilion Buildings, had for a time a puny

existence, and then, on becoming amalgamated with a like institution, was

lost to public notice. The Bank of Deposit,--branches of which were in

all parts of the kingdom; and the Parent Office in Pall Mall, London,--on

premises next to the London and County Bank, held a position in public

confidence for some years; but in 1861, in consequence of Peter Morrison,

the Manager, becoming a defaulter and a bankrupt, and eventually

absconding, many hundreds of depositors were irretrievably ruined. The

District Savings' Bank, contiguous to the Odd Fellows' Hall, Queen's

Road, after enjoying an unenviable notoriety, and involving many small

capitalists in pecuniary difficulties, in 1861 abruptly closed. Bill

discounters and usurious money-lenders abound in the town, their business

being principally amongst those whose bills and promissory notes are not

recognised by the regular bankers, who abstain from transactions that

afford a probability of proceedings in the County Court; hence exorbitant

bonuses and interest--which no fair trading can meet--are exacted, and the

non-fulfilment of payment becomes the precursor of ruin.

The Fourth Estate of the Kingdom, the Press, is, for independence of

principles, well represented in Brighton. The oldest locally established

of this important institution is the _Brighton Herald_, first published

in September, 1806, the proprietors being Mr. Matthew Phillips and Mr. H.

R. Attree. at 9, Middle Street, under the editorship of Mr. Robert

Sicklemore. Its price was seven pence, and such was the size of the

sheet--upon each of which there was a stamp of three pence half-penny,

besides a duty of three shillings and six pence upon every

advertisement,--that it did not contain more than a quarter the matter now

sold for two pence. From Middle Street the publishing office was removed

to 13, North Street, from whence, after between two and three years, it

was removed to premises on the site now occupied by 114, in the same

street, immediately opposite the North Street Brewery. Since March 25th,

1810, the _Brighton Herald_ has been printed and published in Prince's

Place, by Mr. William Fleet, who, about twenty years since was joined by

his son, Mr. Charles Fleet.

The first number of the _Brighton Gazette_ was printed and published on

premises beneath Donaldson's Library, Old Steine, on the 22nd of

February, 1821, by Mr. Edward Hill Creasy. In November of the same year

the business was removed to the premises, 168, North Street, where it has

ever since continued to be published. On January 22nd, 1824, Mr. John

Baker became part proprietor, and on the 26th of February, 1835, it was

first printed in Church Street, at the office adjoining the National

Schools. The last publication of the _Brighton Gazette_ with the name of

Mr. Creasy attached thereto, was on the 18th of July, 1844, only a few

months prior to his decease. On the 28th of December, 1848, the paper

first bore the name of the present publisher, Mr. Charles Curtis, and in

the Autumn of 1852, the printing office was removed to the Pavilion

Dormitories. In professed opposition to the _Brighton Gazette_, the

_Brighton Chronicle_ was published on Wednesday, the 6th of June, 1821,

at 3, Prince's place, by Mr. Cummins; its career, however, was very

short.

The _Brighton Guardian_ made its first appearance under the management

and editorship of Mr. Levi Emanuel Cohen, on the 31st of January, 1827.

It was enlarged on the 30th of November, 1830, and, on the 1st of

January, 1851, it appeared as an eight page--small size--publication. In

its present size it was first published on the 3rd of October, 1853.

From the day of its first issue to the present time, the printing and

publication have taken place on the same premises, 34, North Street. For

some years prior to the decease of Mr. Cohen, which took place on the

17th of November, 1860, the _Brighton Guardian_ was his sole property.

His brother, Mr. Nathan Cohen, is the present proprietor. Strong party

feeling, some few years since, started the _Brighton Patriot_, in

opposition to the _Guardian_; but its existence was very ephemeral.

The _Brighton Examiner_, which since its first issue, January 18th, 1853,

has continued the property of Mr. J. F. Eyles, was originally published

at 33, Western Road; from whence it was removed to its present printing

and publishing office, in North Street, opposite the Queen's Road.

Consequent upon the abolition of the newspaper duty, the _Brighton

Observer_--the original of the local cheap press,--made its appearance at

54, West Street, on the 28th of November, 1856. It was first enlarged on

the 27th of November, 1857. On the 28th of December, 1858, the printing

and publication of the _Brighton Observer_, the property of Mr. Ebenezer

Lewis, took place at 16, King Street, where, on the 30th of September,

1859, it was again enlarged; and on the 25th of July, 1862, the office

was removed to the premises where it is at present printed and published,

53a, North Street, the building which was originally the first Theatre in

Brighton, and, then, in 1790, the printing-office of Messrs. William and

Arthur Lee.

The only other local newspaper now in existence is the _Brighton Times_,

printed and published by Mr. William Pearce, Bartholomews; established

the 28th of April, 1860. From time to time, since the repeal of the

stamp duty, speculators have started the _Sussex Mercury_, _Brighton

Chronicle_, &c., but only as errors consequent upon the lack of

experience, and upon the parade of great professions.

The Alms-Houses, those termed the Percy Alms-Houses, six in number,

immediately north of Hanover Crescent, and bearing along their faade

"These Alms-Houses were erected and endowed at the request of the late

Philadelphia and Dorothy Percy, 1796," were built by Mrs. Mary Marriott,

for the reception of a similar number of poor widows, of the Church of

England, who have received no parochial relief, agreeably to the

testamentary instructions of Mrs. Philadelphia and Mrs. Dorothy

Percy,--daughters of the Duke of Northumberland,--who endowed them with the

sum of 48 per annum, which amount was doubled upon the demise of Mrs.

Mary Marriott. Two gowns and a bonnet are also allowed to each widow

every year, and a Duffield cloak once in three years. By a bequest of

Mr. James Charles Michell, in 1833, the sum of 1 16s. is added to the

endowment; and there is also 300 invested by Mr. Skinner, for repairs of

vaults, and the surplus in coals. Attached to the Percy Alms-Houses are

other similar dwellings, the two to the north and three nearest the south

having been erected by Mr. John Fabian, for Miss Wagner, the sister of

our much respected Vicar, conjointly with whom was built that which bears

on its face the following inscription: "1861. In pious remembrance of

the late Marquis of Bristol. M. A. W.--H. M. W." pleasingly expressive of

the purport of its erection.

In unison with this grateful memento, the annexed address of condolence

was presented to the present Marquis:--

The Rev. the Vicar of Brighton, to the Marquis of Bristol,

Brighton Vicarage, February 24, 1859.

My dear Lord,

Enclosed is an address of condolence on the part of the Brighton

Clergy. I make myself responsible for the signature of Mr. Henry

Elliott, now on the Continent, because I know his deep feeling of

affectionate gratitude to your venerated Father, from whom he, like

myself, received countless benefits.

I have the honour to remain, my dear Lord,

Your Lordship's ever faithful servant,

H. M. WAGNER.

TO THE MARQUIS OF BRISTOL,

ADDRESS OF CONDOLENCE ON THE PART OF THE CLERGY OF BRIGHTON.

Through a long period of time we have been connected with your Father

by so many holy and endearing associations, that we hope you will

allow us the privilege of a fellowship with you even in the deep

affliction which it has pleased God now to send upon you. We know

that sympathy belongs indeed to One, and we earnestly pray that He,

who only can, will make all grace and comfort abound to your own

heart, and to the hearts of all your family, under your present

bereavement.

But while we thus feel how little worth is all human consolation in

our hours of deepest sorrow, we nevertheless trust that it may not be

unacceptable to you at this time to receive, as certainly it is most

pleasant to us to render, the united tribute of our respectful

gratitude to the memory of your venerated father. Associated as he

was with us for so many years as a parishioner, friend, and a

benefactor, there are few who can appreciate, as we can, the extent

and the self-forgetfulness and the humility of his singular

benevolence.

It would be very difficult for us to give adequate expression to our

sense of the devotedness with which he used his high station, his

property, and his influence for the promotion of those holiest

interests of religion and charity, of which we are in some measure

the guardians and representatives in this Parish. There are very few

of us who have not personally experienced, in some good word or work,

the great kindliness of your father's character. To the poor, his

whole life copied Him who "went about doing good." Very many are

there of the humblest and most indigent, who would be the first to

testify that they ever found in the Marquis of Bristol a brother's

love. While the monuments of his munificence which stand forth

amongst us, the record to many generations of his pious care for the

souls, and bodies of his fellow men, are, we believe, well nigh

unparalleled in any parish, the Sussex County Hospital, with its

commodious Chapel, the Church of St. Mark, our Parish Church in its

restored beauty, and our two Cemeteries, with many other noble or

sacred Institutions scarcely less than these,--all associated with his

name,--bear witness, not only to his vast beneficence, but to the

wisdom also with which he selected the channels in which that

beneficence should flow. And over all he threw such a suavity of

manner and beautiful simplicity, that it was only when the action had

passed that we woke up to the discovery of its greatness, which the

grace of his presence had forbidden us to see.

Accept, then, at our hands the assurance of the sorrowing affection,

not of ourselves alone, but of a whole parish, which feels itself,

like you, bereaved; and permit us to add the prayer, that your

father's God may pour upon you, and upon your children, and upon your

children's children, the rich inheritance of that father's spirit of

universal love.

H. M. Wagner, Vicar of Brighton.

Thomas Cooke, Perpetual Curate of St. Peter's.

C. E. Douglass, Curate of Brighton.

John Ellerton, Curate of Brighton.

W. Mitchell, Curate of Brighton.

James Vaughan, Perpetual Curate of Christ Church.

Thomas Trocke, Perpetual Curate of the Chapel Royal.

C. D. Maitland, Perpetual Curate of St. James's.

H. V. Elliott, Perpetual Curate of St. Mary's.

Edward B. Elliott, Perpetual Curate of St. Mark's.

Spencer R. Drummond, Perpetual Curate of St. John the Evangelist.

Joseph Hurlock, Chaplain of the Sussex County Hospital.

A. D. Wagner, Perpetual Curate of St. Paul's Church.

J. H. North, Perpetual Curate of St. George's.

Randolph Payne, Assistant Curate of St. Paul's Church.

Charles Beanlands, Assistant Curate of St. Paul's Church.

Thomas Scott, Assistant Curate of All Souls' Church.

J. Chalmers, Perpetual Curate of St. Stephen's.

H. H. Wyatt, Perpetual Curate of Trinity Chapel.

Frederic A. Stapley, Assistant Curate of St. John the Evangelist.

Alexander Poole, St. Mark's Church.

Henry G. Cutler, Assistant Curate of Christ Church.

Thomas Coombe, Perpetual Curate of All Saints'.

W. Fleming, Assistant Curate of All Souls'.

John Allen, Chaplain Brighton Workhouse.

R. S. Smith, Perpetual Curate of All Souls' Church.

What may be very appropriately termed the Wagner Alms-Houses--which are

without endowment,--are for the benefit of unmarried

women,--spinsters,--above the age of fifty, and who possess, or are ensured

the yearly income of 15 at the least.

Howell's Alms-Houses, which are not yet endowed, are situated in an open

space of ground approached by iron gates on the west side of George

Street. They are eight in number, and in the centre of the block of

buildings, surmounted by a dial, is the following inscription:--

HOWELL'S ALMS HOUSES,

_Erected_ 1859.

Supported by voluntary Contributions, for the reception of reduced

Inhabitants of Brighton and Hove, under the regulation of a Committee

of Management.

The inmates of these houses are elected by the donors and subscribers,

and all persons not under 60 years of age, who have resided in Brighton

or Hove at least ten years previous to the time of election, and have not

received parochial relief during such period, are eligible.

These were built by Charles Howell, Esq., Dial House, Hove, upon ground

valued at 1,000. It was the original intention of this philanthropic

gentleman to have bequeathed the ground and the money for the erection of

the houses, by will; but with the very laudable desire of seeing his

benevolent intention realized during his life time, Mr. Howell preferred

perfecting his work himself, and he has vested the property in the

following Trustees:--Henry Michell Wagner, Vicar of Brighton; Charles

Wellington Howell, Robert Upperton, jun., John Pankhurst, and Piercy

George Pankhurst. He has also conveyed to the above named trustees two

houses in George Street, the rents of which, about 26 a-year, are

charged, first with the repairs of the Alms-Houses, and then for the

general purposes of the Charity.

The original plan provides for five more houses; for the erection of

which and the endowment of the whole thirteen the co-operation of the

public is solicited. May the anxious wish of Mr. Howell that the whole

of the buildings be completed and permanently endowed, before it pleases

the Almighty to remove him from this sphere of his benevolent acts, he

speedily realised.

For mutual benevolence no institution has a firmer basis than the

Manchester Unity, I.O.O.F., whose Hall for the Brighton district, forms a

prominent feature of the Queen's Road, where the first stone of the

building was laid on the 27th of June, 1853, by Mr. Tamplin, the then

High Constable of Brighton. Mr. John Fabian was the builder of the

edifice, upon a piece of ground which was purchased for 500 of the Rev.

James Edwards. The building proceeded without interruption until the

27th of August, when a Bill in Chancery, to restrain the erection, was

filed by Mr. Alderman Patching, who possessed property and resided

immediately opposite the Hall. The building was thus delayed; but, on

the 4th of November, an appearance was put in on behalf of the Building

Committee, when the case, Patching _v._ Dubbins, came on for hearing

before Vice Chancellor Sir Page Wood. The plaintiff's plea was, that in

the covenant under which he bought the ground upon which his premises

stood, it was stipulated that no building, except monuments or

headstones, should be erected on the plot of land opposite, which was an

unburied-in portion of the Hanover Burial Ground. Defendant's counsel

argued the fact that plaintiff had permitted the erection of the

Dispensary on a portion of the same ground, and had allowed two months to

expire since the building was commenced before he filed his injunction;

and further, that the building was not opposite, but a foot or two to the

north of being opposite. The case was argued at length, and the Vice

Chancellor gave a verdict for defendant, with costs.

The building then proceeded; was formally opened on the 26th of June,

1854; and its opening was shortly after celebrated with a public banquet,

at which the Mayor of Brighton, Lieut.-Colonel Fawcett, presided. The

total cost of the ground, building, fittings, furniture, &c., was 3,000.

Four Lodges of the Order hold their meetings weekly in the Hall, and

endeavours are being made to establish Schools upon the premises for the

education, at a reasonable cost, of the children and orphans of members.

Five other Lodges meet in various parts of Brighton and Hove. The first

Lodge, 118, one of the oldest belonging to the Unity, was established in

Brighton, in 1822. The Widows and Orphans' Fund, in connexion with the

District, has been in existence twenty-one years, having been established

in 1841, and its members, with very few exceptions, include the whole of

the members in the Brighton District. It has an accumulated capital of

over 6,000, chiefly invested in debentures on the rates of the town.

Lodges of the Brighton, London, and Nottingham Unities of Odd Fellows,

are held in various parts of the Borough, as are also Lodges and Courts

of the several Orders of Druids and Foresters.

The Free and Accepted Masons hold the Royal Clarence Lodge, No. 394; the

Royal Brunswick Lodge, 1,034; the Lennox Chapter Lodge, No. 338; and the

Royal Sussex Chapter Lodge, No. 1,034, at the Old Ship Hotel, where also

the Lodge of Instruction is held.

The Brighthelmston Dispensary, now known as the Brighton and Hove

Dispensary, from a branch being established in the latter parish, was

founded under the patronage of the Prince of Wales, November 27th, 1809.

The Institution was opened on January 1st, 1810, on premises in Nile

Street, contiguous to the Old Vicarage, or, as it was then called, the

Parsonage House. In July 1811, it was removed to North Street, at the

corner of Salmon Court, opposite Ship Street, where in November, 1812,

was added the Sussex General Infirmary. Early in 1819, the joint

establishments were removed into Middle Street, the premises now occupied

by the Young Men's Christian Association, the purchase of which property

was completed the following year. The present noble building of the

Institution,--which is entirely supported by voluntary contributions,--was

built by Messrs. Cheesman,--Mr. Herbert Williams, architect,--and was

completed and occupied in 1849, a committee of gentlemen, amongst whom

Mr. Gavin E. Pocock, surgeon, was most zealous, having with untiring

energy raised the means of entirely freeing the edifice from any debt.

At a meeting of the Governors and Subscribers of the Dispensary, at the

Old Ship Tavern, on the 10th of February, 1813, it having been announced

that the Right Honourable the Earl of Egremont, the Vice-President, had

offered to contribute 1,000 towards the erection of a County Hospital,

the building of that Institution for the reception of sixty patients was

determined upon, and contributions from other noblemen and gentlemen to

the extent of another 1,000 were at once made. It was not, however,

till the 11th of December, 1824, that the erection of the building was

fully determined upon; and then the subscription of the noble Earl

amounted to 2,000--afterwards increased to 3,000,--and that of Thomas

Read Kemp, Esq., 1,000 and the ground whereon the building stands. The

foundation stone of the main building was laid on the 16th of March,

1826, by the Earl of Egremont, Sir Charles Barry being the architect.

The Adelaide wing, to the east, Mr. Herbert Williams, architect, and the

Victoria wing to the west, Mr. William Hallett, architect, have since

been added. The Institution is supported by legacies, benefactions,

dividends of stocks, and general voluntary contributions.

The Sussex and Brighton Infirmary for Diseases of the Eye was formed at a

public meeting of the inhabitants of Brighton and the vicinity, held at

the Bedford Hotel, August 27th, 1832, Dr. Jenks being the physician, and

Mr. (now Dr.) Pickford and Mr. Seabrook, the surgeons. On the 12th of

January, 1837, a resolution was passed by the Governors of the

Institution that severe cases and those for operation should have

admission into the house, then in Boyce's Street.

The first stone of the present building, in the Queen's Road, was laid on

the 29th of June, 1846, by the Right Reverend Father in God, Ashurst

Turner, Lord Bishop of Chichester, from a design after the temple of

Theseus, from plans and specifications prepared by Mr. Thomas Cooper,

architect, the builders being Messrs. Wisden and Anscombe. The cost of

the site was 480, and of the structure 1,273 7s., and the business of

the Institution was transferred from Boyce's Street to the new building

on the 10th of November, 1846. At the annual meeting of the Governors,

on the 14th of January, 1847, resolutions were passed:--

That the Silver Trowel, with which was laid, 29th June, 1846, by the

Lord Bishop of the Diocese, the first stone of the building, erected

for the purposes of the Charity, be presented to

JAMES H. PICKFORD. Esq., M.D., M.R.I.A.

In acknowledgment of his successful efforts as the original promoter

of the Charity, of his unceasing exertions for the general interests

of the Institution, and in testimony of his talent and ability as a

Medical Officer.

That the foregoing resolution be engraved on the trowel.

Dr. Pickford was, on the resignation of Dr. Jenks, appointed physician,

April 4th, 1853, and Mr. George Lowdell was then elected surgeon. Upon

the resignation of Dr. Pickford and Mr. Seabrook, January 27th, 1859, the

former was elected a Vice-President, and the latter was appointed

Consulting-Surgeon to the Institution, which is supported by voluntary

contributions.

The Blind Asylum at Brighton had its origin in 1839, when Mr. Moon the

eminent teacher and printer for the Blind, becoming deprived of his

sight, devoted his attention to the learning of embossed reading; and

such was his progress that he soon, with the benevolent assistance of a

lady, advanced sufficiently to assist others in learning also, first at

their own homes, and then in a small class at his residence. At length,

the number becoming large, it was considered advisable to establish a

daily public school for the Blind in Brighton; and the use of a portion

of St. James's Sunday School-room was obtained for that purpose. This

School, in which were also a few Deaf and Dumb children, was opened on

the 22nd of October, 1839. In the following Summer, a Committee of

Ladies made an effort to raise the means for opening an Asylum to receive

as many of the Blind and Deaf and Dumb of the number thus brought

together, as were desirous of partaking of the benefits which such an

Institution might afford. In the Summer of 1841, it was deemed expedient

to separate the Blind from the Deaf and Dumb, which latter were retained

in the Institution, but the Blind pupils were re-formed into a daily

school.

In 1842, the scholars were assembled for instruction in a classroom of

the Central National School; and eventually the Rev. H. M. Wagner--the

Vicar,--raised sufficient funds to build premises contiguous, in Jubilee

Street, for the reception of twelve pupils, who were admitted to the

Asylum, as it was then termed, early in January, 1846. Year by year the

number of pupils increased, till at length, the accommodation on the

premises being wholly inadequate to the demand, the Rev. H. V. Elliott,

in the Summer of 1860, kindly gave the present site near the County

Hospital, for the erection of the New Asylum, to the building fund of

which the Rev. G. Oldham generously contributed the munificent donation

of 2,000, while the proceeds of a Bazaar amounted to 1,000 more. The

opening ceremony took place on Tuesday, 22nd October, 1861.

Mr. G. Somers Clarke is the architect of the structure, which is Italian

Gothic, of Venetian character, and is built entirely of brickwork with

stone dressings. The front is very fine. It has an elevation of four

stories, and by a somewhat liberal use of stonework an almost palatial

aspect has been imparted. The entrance is double, and in a finely

sculptured medallion over the door is an Angel of Mercy teaching the

Blind. The apex of the doorway arch is continued into a bracket whereon

is placed a stone group of Charity Relieving the Blind. In the adjacent

carving are introduced the emblems of Faith, Hope, and Charity--the two

latter being personified in the anchor and the pelican feeding its young

from its own body. The different stories are shown by graceful mouldings

on which rest the stonework of the windows. Those belonging to the two

middle stories are very massive, the elegant proportioning of the columns

dividing the four lights being especially noticeable. The harmony of the

whole work is extremely good.

Mr. Moon, who, for his invention of a plan for teaching the blind to

read, has obtained a justly deserved world-wide fame, continues his

indefatigable exertions to ameliorate the condition of his

fellow-sufferers. Not only has he been enabled to emboss the whole of

the Bible in the English language, but portions of it also in fifty more;

and he is daily receiving testimony from various parts of the world of

the high appreciation of his system, and of the rich consolations of many

of the blind who are thus enabled to read the Word of God for themselves.

The Brighton Institution for the Deaf and Dumb,--established in

1840,--first located at 12, Egremont Place, in 1842, and from thence, in

1848, it was removed to the present building, in the Eastern Road,

Messrs. Cheesman and Son being the architects and builders. The new wing

was added in 1854, Messrs. Wisden and Anscombe being the builders.

Like the Blind Asylum, this Institution is supported by voluntary

contributions. It has received several small benefactions, amongst them

300 as a tribute of respect to the memory of the late Mr. George

Gainsford, by his son and daughter, "in dutiful remembrance of their

father." To perpetuate also, the memory of Miss Mohun, who was deeply

attached to the Institution, and unwearily devoted her useful life and

benevolent exertions in its behalf, the "Hester Mohun Fund" has been

commenced expressly to aid in educating or apprenticing a few poor deaf

and dumb children.

The Asylum for Poor Female Orphans, instituted in 1822, and established

in the Western Road, near the corner of Crown Street, for some years

occupied the garden whereon now stands the north side of Glo'ster Street.

It was removed to its present situation in the Eastern Road,--where so

many monuments to Benevolence are reared,--in 1853. The first stone of

the building was laid on the 16th of June. The design of the Asylum is

to save innocent and unprotected Female Orphans from the too frequent

misery attendant on idleness and poverty, to instruct them in such

branches of household employment and needlework as may qualify them to

become useful servants, while care is taken that their instruction and

employment shall be such as it is hoped may render them honest and

industrious members of Society.

The Provident and Self-Supporting Dispensary was established at 32,

Middle Street, in 1837. Its object is to promote a feeling of laudable

independence among the working classes, that they may help themselves,

and so be prevented from seeking charitable assistance from others; to

encourage habits of provident frugality; and to enable those to obtain

immediate relief who are not able to pay for it in the usual way, but are

not in circumstances so indigent as to justify an application to the

gratuitous Dispensary.

The Brighton and Hove Lying-in-Institution and Dispensary established in

High Street, in 1831, has appropriate premises at 76, West Street, and by

the means of subscriptions and donations affords the requisite assistance

and comfort to poor women at a time when the evils of poverty are most

keenly felt.

The Dollar Society, instituted in November, 1813, is so called from every

annual subscription to that amount entitling the subscriber to recommend

one person yearly to become a partaker of the fund, such recipient not to

be a person deriving assistance from parochial resources. The Society

extends its kindness to the chamber of sickness and the abode of

unforeseen calamity, and particularly to deserving persons bending

beneath the pressure of years.

The Maternal Society, formed 28th July, 1813, provides childbed linen and

other suitable articles of clothing, with nourishment for poor lying-in

married women, and such attentions and comforts as their condition may

require.

The Brighton Auxiliary Town Missionary and Scripture Readers' Society

meet weekly at 25, Middle Street, with the view to extend the knowledge

of the Gospel amongst the poor of the town, without regard to

denominational distinctions.

The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge is a district Committee for

the Deanery of Lewes, and was established in 1815, under the sanction of

the Bishop of the Diocese, to promote the diffusion of the Scriptures and

Religious Tracts amongst the lower orders of society. The parent

Society, in London, was formed by members of the Church of England, in

1669.