great readiness; and, in the search which was made over his house and premises, nothing whatever was found to implicate him in the recent unaccountable transaction.

In due time he was brought to trial at the Old Bailey. The letters addressed to the Duke of Marlborough were produced in court, but they were proved to bear not the slightest resemblance to the handwriting of the accused. It was shown, moreover, that he was a person in affluent circumstances; that he could have no object whatever in extorting money; and that he was a gentleman of unspotted character, and eminent in his profession of a surveyor. The duke's evidence might have been supposed to have proved fatal to him; but, even on this point, evidence was brought forward that he had occasion to be in Hyde Park on the morning on which he was encountered by the duke; and that his being in the abbey, on the occasion of the second singular rencontre, was purely accidental. It was further proved that Barnard had mentioned these interviews with the duke to several persons, as singular incidents for which he could in no manner ac

count.

The whole affair at the time appears to have been generally regarded as a "detestable plot." We are rather inclined, however, to believe that it was a clever practical joke, played by Mr. Barnard and his friends, one of whom seems to have

proved a traitor in the camp, and to have parried back the jest on the principal accomplice, without imagining, perhaps, that it would lead to a serious trial at the Old Bailey.

CHAPTER III.

MAYFAIR, GROSVENOR, PORTMAN, CAVENDISH,

AND HANOVER SQUARES.

Mayfair
Street

South Audley Street - Grosvenor Square - Port

man Square Cavendish Square

Hanover Square ·

Bond

MAYFAIR, the site of which was anciently known as Brook Fields, derives its name, it is almost needless to remark, from the celebrated fair which was held in its green meadows from the reign of Henry the Eighth till the middle of the last century. 66 'Mayfair," says Pennant, "was kept about the spot now covered with Mayfair Chapel, and several fine streets. The fair was attended with such disorders, riots, thefts, and even murders, that, in 1700, it was prevented by the magistrates, but revived again, and I remember the last celebrations. The place was covered with booths, temporary theatres, and every enticement to low pleasure."

Malcolm, in his "Anecdotes of the Manners and Customs of London," quotes an advertisement which appeared in the London journals of

"In

the 27th of April, 1700, which affords us a curious picture of this memorable fair. Brookfield market-place, at the east corner of Hyde Park, is a fair to be kept for the space of sixteen days, beginning with the 1st of May; the first three days for live cattle and leather, with the same entertainments as at Bartholomew Fair, where there are shops to be let ready built for all manner of tradesmen that usually keep fairs, and so to continue yearly at the same place." As mentioned by Pennant, the disgraceful scenes of outrage, riot, and profligacy, which were annually to be witnessed at Mayfair, led, in 1700, to its temporary suppression. In the Tatler of the 24th of May, 1708, we find: "The downfall of Mayfair has sunk the price of this noble creature [the elephant] as well as of many other curiosities of nature. A tiger will sell almost as cheap as an ox; and I am credibly informed a man may purchase a calf with three legs for very nearly the value of one with four. I hear likewise that there is great desolation among the ladies and gentlemen who were the ornaments of the town, and used to shine in plumes and diadems, the heroes being most of them pressed, and the queens beating hemp." Mayfair, however, was again revived. Notwithstanding that a part of the ground was built over as early as 1721, we find a donkey-race attracting great crowds to the fair in 1736, and as late

as 1756 it is still mentioned in Maitland's "Anecdotes" as being annually celebrated.

Not the least remarkable feature connected with old Mayfair was the celebrated chapel, presided over by one Keith, where any two persons might be married at a moment's notice; the law, in the middle of the last century, requiring neither public notice, the consent of guardians, nor, indeed, any other formality than the mutual agreement of the consenting parties. Keith's little chapel stood within a few yards of the present chapel in Curzon Street; indeed, an extract from one of his own remarkable advertisements points out the exact spot: "To prevent mistakes, the little new chapel in Mayfair, near Hyde Park Corner, is in the corner house opposite to the city side of the great chapel, and within ten yards of it. The minister and clerk live in the same corner house where the little chapel is; and the license on a crown stamp, minister and clerk's fees, together with the certificate, amount to one guinea, as heretofore, at any hour till four in the afternoon. And that it may be better known, there is a porch at the door like a country church porch."

When, in consequence of the profligate manner in which he prostituted his sacred vocation, Keith was subsequently excommunicated for "contempt of the Holy and Mother Church," he had the cool impudence to retort on Bishop Gibson, the