IX. Long had Sabina's grief scorned friendship's balm- Of weariness and deep despair, that will "Within that arbour," wildly sad, she cried, Then from the sanguine scene, DISCUSSION: ARE FAIRS AND SIMILAR AMUSEMENTS INJURIOUS TO THE MORALS OF THE LOWER ORDERS? THE Opener of the present question, and those members who supported him, maintained that fairs and amusements of a similar description are injurious to the morals of the lower classes of society. The following is the substance of the arguments which were advanced in support of that opinion. It is well known that fairs are places to which few but the lowest and most degraded classes of individuals resort. A great proportion of these consists of thieves and vagabonds, who gain a livelihood by plundering the rest of society; and they can never find Setter opportunities of carrying on their depredations than at such places as fairs, where the objects of their plunder are overwhelmed with intoxication, and thereby rendered incapable of resistance. We seldom, we may say, never hear of a fair being held without numerous robberies having been committed; and not only are men deprived of their property at these resorts of thieves, but murders also, of the most atrocious kind, are frequently perpetrated. Why should we, therefore, consider it desirable to give these robbers such opportunities for carrying on their depredations on society, as they have at fairs and similar places of amusement, if such they can be called? They should rather be termed places of plunder and crime of every description. They afford, indeed, great amusement to those who reap such plentiful harvests from them; but it is such amusement as leads them ultimately to forfeit their lives to the laws of their country. Would it not be better if those laws were such as to prevent crime from being committed, by withholding the opportunity, than to hold out inducements to robbery and murder, and then to inflict the punishment of death in the way of retaliation? Our opponents cannot deny, that fairs hold out such incitements. Let them show us, if they can, where there are greater inducements, and better opportunities for the commission of crime. Such places are infested, not merely by a few pickpockets, but by numerous gangs of the most inveterate and determined banditti, who would sacrifice the lives of their victims rather than fail of stripping them of their property. What is there of pleasure in fairs sufficient to counterbalance these monstrous evils, to which those who frequent such places of amusement are momentarily subjected? Nothing, indeed, beyond the satisfaction which some of the lower orders of society find in revelling in drunkenness, and in indulging their grovelling propensities for every description of vice. Drunkenness itself, which constitutes one of the chief characteristics of fairs, is a vice sufficiently degrading to stamp such places with ignominy. When they are held in the neighbourhood of the metropolis, it is well known that the streets so swarm with drunken men, prostitutes, and pickpockets, that it is not only disgusting, but also dangerous, to pass along them; and that, at such times, it is impossible for respectable females to leave their houses. It will, perhaps, be said, that the lower class of people would find plenty of opportunities for drunkenness, if fairs did not exist. But our opponents must admit, that the same evils are not so likely to ensue when intoxication is indulged in at public-houses, scattered in different parts of the town, as when thousands of individuals collect within a very small space, with no other object in view than that of indulging themselves, not only in drunkenness, but also in every other vice to which it leads. Youth of both sexes are led away by such allurements, and can too often date the commencement of a vicious and criminal career from them. They become associated with those who have already been inured to mischief; and are led on, step by step, until they at last end their lives on the gallows. These are not imaginary evils resulting from fairs. They are evils which occur as often as fairs themselves. There is nothing more calculated to deprave the minds of youth, especially of the lower orders of society, whose moral education has been neglected, than the alluring objects presented to their senses at such places, and the example held out to them by those who have adopted vice as their profession. Reason and judgment are here subdued by the force of passion, and passion itself rendered ungovernable by intoxication; so that the subject of it is drawn on imperceptibly, till he finds himself at last too far advanced in the career of crime to recede. The fear of punishment, as well as the dictates of morality and religion, are forgotten; and the love of idleness and pleasure, strengthened by the examples which are before him, induce him to consider plunder as an easier and more eligible method of obtaining a livelihood than honest industry. Fairs, of all amusements, are the most likely to deprave the minds of youth. They have here every opportunity of becoming allied with others that have already commenced the practice of vice. They are frequently unprotected either by relatives or friends, and they become an easy prey to the temptations and allurements placed before them by their new associates. I We have heard of various instances in which females, who before had borne respectable characters for industry and virtue, have had sufficient reason to deplore having ever frequented such amusements as fairs,-who have been drawn from a life of honest industry to one of vice and infamy; and who have proceeded from vice to crime, till their lives have been sacrificed to the vengeance of the law. It is for our opponents to point out the good, which is connected with fairs, that can preponderate over these. evils. We perceive nothing in them but temptations calculated to destroy every principle of virtue, and to lead those who frequent them to habits of idleness and depravity. The time which is spent at fairs might be employed for purposes far more rational. It would be more beneficial to the poor themselves, as well as to society, if the former chose such amusements as are rational, and calculated to invigorate their health without depraving their morals, in preference to such as are to be found at fairs. What amusements do fairs afford? The chief enjoyments which those who frequent them receive, arise from drunkenness and licentiousness. Another class of amusements consist in picking pockets, in the commission of desperate robberies, and the lowest gambling. These are the amusements which we generally read of in the public prints, after the fairs are over. The results of them are to be found at the different police-offices, in Newgate, and finally on the scaffold. It will, perhaps, be said, that the music, and the different descriptions of shows, afford amusement. With respect to the former, there is nothing very melodious in the trumpet and large drum used at such places; and, if those who go there are drawn by the charms of their melody, they may indulge their ears daily in the streets with music equally enchanting. If they go there to see the animal creation, which is the only sight at fairs worthy of the attention of a rational being, they may indulge their curiosity to a much greater extent by going to Exeter Change, where they may venture without any risk of being plundered of their property, or corrupted in their morals. As for the other species of shows exhibited at fairs, they consist of nothing but buffoonery of the lowest description, or of sleight of hand, which afford excellent instruction to pick-pockets and gamblers. Fairs form the best schools to which this class of the community can go, in order to render themselves perfect in the knowledge of their arts; and as they, like other classes of society, place their hopes of future eminence in the perfection of their knowledge, they very wisely endeavour to carry away as much of it as they can. The question under discussion does not require of us to maintain, that fairs should be put down by magisterial authority. It merely asks whether they are injurious to the morals of those who frequent them; and that they are so, has been already shewn unless our opponents can bring forward some striking proofs of good resulting from such places of amusement, of which we are yet ignorant, so as to counterbalance the numberless evils notoriously connected with them, the society might justly come to the conclusion, not only that they injure morals, and therefore it would be better to avoid frequenting them, but even that they ought to be put down by legislative power. But we will not go so far at present, as it is not required of us, as to suggest the use of legislative authority to do away with these nuisances, especially as other means may answer the purpose of doing so. Our opinion of the lower classes of the people of England is not so bad, as to suppose that they would not be contented with amusements of a more manly and rational nature, than the gratification of their baser propensities, if they were pointed out to them. Let their attention be first drawn to intellectual amusements, such as are calculated to improve their morals, and render them worthy of the name of rational beings. Let this be done, and we shall find that fairs, especially as they exist at present, will soon die a natural death. In order to accomplish this end, let mechanics' institutions be formed in different parts of the country, so as to teach the lower orders of society the principles of truth and knowledge. If this were done, we should find that the mechanic would prefer spending his leisure hours at such places of instruction, to revelling in drunkenness, and in other species of depravity, at fairs. Nothing, perhaps, can injure society so much, as to allow the lower orders of people to remain only half civilized. According to the present state of society in this country, the children of the poor are sent to charity-schools, where they learn to read and write. Until very lately, they had but little opportunity to improve their minds by adding to their original stock of knowledge, because they were destitute of any place where they might apply for intellectual instruction. Nothing can prove more satisfactorily the desire of the lower classes of individuals of obtaining a knowledge of the principles of their trades, than the rapidity with which mechanics' institutions increase all over the country. Engagements of this description, if properly encouraged, would render it unnecessary to use any authority for putting down fairs. Those who used to frequent such places as the latter, when once they have tasted intellectual enjoyment, find it their interest to render themselves masters of their arts, and VOL. IV. PART I. H |