1829. ] Affairs in General. 64] 
of Smithfield Market about one acre, in order to avoid the cruelty and 
damage to which cattle are now subjected, and the danger and loss sus- 
tained in the market. The major part of the butchers being provided 
with riding horses, they could have no objection whatsoever to Islington ; 
added to which, they would not be subjected, as at present, to ride over 
the stones. The site is, in every respect, similar to that which Smithfield 
originally was, in reference to London ; since, as previously remarked, 
it was once no other than an open field adjacent to the metropolis. To 
this must be added, that land contiguous might be easily attained 
for the erection of Abattoirs for the supply of London. The spot al- 
luded to, in consequence of the present depressed state of building spe- 
culations, might be obtained for a sum comparatively insignificant, when 
contrasted with what would be the increased valuation of the land, in pro- 
portion as the city was nearer to the site. Difficulties and impediments 
must of necessity arise upon the removal of a market to any place where 
a neighbourhood is already established. It, however, appears unreason- 
able, that Smithfield should be established as a mart for the major part) 
of the cattle consumed within a circuit of twenty miles of the outskirts 
of London ; a fact that does not admit of a doubt, as all the leading 
butchers from Windsor, and other places equally removed, are regular 
attendants at Smithfield Market.” 4 
The necessity for the removal is plain enough to any one who has 
been in danger of his life by the irruption of those horned Goths and 
‘Vandals, that three times a week charge down every street, passage, 
and lane, on their march to market. An over-drove ox clearing the 
world before him from St. Paul’s to Temple Bar, is one of the most 
common, and to those who happen to come within his line of march, 
one of the most unamusing phenomena that the streets of London can 
furnish, abundant as they are in obstacles, dangers, and annoyances. 
Carriages thrown over, aldermen hunted for their lives, old women 
trampled down, and prebendaries of St: Paul’s of the utmost portliness, 
transported on the horns of some foaming, bounding, and bellowing 
monster, some Leicestershire mammoth, are incidents occurring with a 
frequency that alone diminishes the grandeur of the scene. And the 
stoppage of the whole civic procession on the Lord Mayor’s-Day, the 
dismay of the city halberdiers, and the utter routing of the men in 
armour, by an irritated mangel-wurzel, oil-cake-fed mountain of this 
kind, will long cover city prowess with disgrace, and long furnish anec- 
dotes for the never-ending line of Lord Mayors. But humanity to the 
bulls, oxen, and sheep themselves, is also in question. The only thing that 
could possibly reconcile them to Smithfield is, the conviction that their 
days are numbered, and that they are speedily to be eaten. It is now a 
sort of ante-purgatory ; where the want of food, water, and rest, are the 
pains and penalties, and where the drivers, salesmen, and dogs, are the 
‘imps and tormentors. We hope that Mr. Pocock, who has shown so 
much good feeling and intelligence on the subject already, will perse- 
vere ; if he does, he will succeed, for the abuse is palpable, the nuisance 
repulsive, and the remedy plain. John Bull is not the most rapid ot 
animals to catch a clever conception, but he is honest in the main; he 
is not irrational, and he ought to be prevailed on to feel a sympathy for 
‘the honest, quiet, and universally sacrificed animals that resemble him, 
alike in fate, in nature, and in name. 
M. M. New Series.—Vou. VIL. No. 42. 4N 
