In the works of another witness we find severe anathemas against the tricks of fishmongers. Fielding, the author of "Tom Jones," inveighs bitterly against the monopolizers of fish in reference to the poor, who, he says, can eat sprats and herrings, but no other sort of fish. He observes: "First, I humbly submit the absolute necessity of immediately hanging all the fishmongers within the bills of mortality; and, however it might have been, some time ago, the opinion of mild and temporizing men, that the evil complained of might be removed by gentler methods, I suppose, at this day, there are none who do not see the impossibility of using such with effect.”* The history of the fishmongers of Paris stretches far into antiquity. In 1711, upon some workmen digging under the choir of the Church of Notre Dame, Paris, a number of large stones were found, having various inscriptions upon them. They were of a square form, and sculptured on all the four sides. Among other devices, there were two relative to fishers: one representing a woman carrying fish in a basket; and the other, a woman mending nets on the banks of a river supposed to be the Seine. On the stone where these designs were was found an inscription in Latin to this purport:-"Under Tiberius Cæsar Augustus, the Parisian fishmongers publicly erected this altar to Jupiter Optimus Maximus." It may be remarked, that, from documents of unquestionable authority, the company of fish-dealers of Paris, and the fishermen of the Seine, existed as a corporate body as early, in Paris, as *"Voyage to Lisbon," p. 202. * era. There was the first century of the Christian likewise a very ancient custom, almost co-eval with the first introduction of Christianity into France, among the clergy of Notre Dame in this city, which was called the "Rogations." It consisted in carrying in solemn procession a figure, half-fish and half-dragon, to a certain spot on the Seine, and throwing fruits and cakes into its capacious mouth. This figure was made of wicker-work, and represented an inhabitant of the river that once threatened destruction to the entire city, but was ultimately vanquished by the fishwomen of Paris. This procession lasted till the year 1730, after which the chief of the procession contented himself with merely pronouncing a benediction on the river. The ordinary historical records of Paris fix a renewal of the charter of fish-merchants in the twelfth century to this city. They chiefly dealt in herrings caught on the coast of Normandy; some of which were used fresh, and some salted. The trade became divided into two branches: the women connected with the one were called harengeres; and the other, who dealt exclusively in fresh fish of all kinds, were termed poissonnieres. There were many civic regulations respecting these two classes of fishwomen made in subsequent times. There was often great enmity between them, and on one occasion a public quarrel ensued, which ended in the loss of life.† In France we have many more interesting notices of its poissardes, or fishwomen. Historians attribute to St. Louis three regulations relative to the sale of fish * Gilbert-"Historie de l'Eglise de Notre Dame." brought to the markets of Paris. From these it appears that it was requisite to purchase of the king the right of selling fish, and that there were prud'hommes, or jurés des halles, who inspected the markets, and received the fines incurred by the wholesale or retail dealers. The prud'hommes were appointed by the king's cook. Those who sold fish paid the duty of tonlieu halage, besides the fees of the prud'hommes. The king's cook obliged the prud'hommes, upon their appointment, to swear by the saints that they would select such fish as the king, the queen, and their children might want, and to fix the price of it en conscience. This oath was likewise required of all female dealers having an independent position in the market. In the early period of the French Monarchy, the bishop and clergy of the diocese of Paris were in the habit of appointing a day every year for blessing the fishermen, the fishmongers, and the river Seine. This was a sumptuous and gaudy display by all the members of the fish-market, the boatmen on the river, as well as by those fishermen and their wives and families who lived at Havre, and other localities at the mouth of the Seine. Part of the bishop's oration on the occasion is curious. We select the following sentences:-"Oh, Almighty God! thou hast made the sea, the rivers, and the dry land, and we live daily by thy bounty and goodness, through their instrumentality. We implore thee to give thy best blessing to this hallowed stream; to increase the number of its watery inhabitants; and to preserve, guide, and protect from all danger those who devote their labours to obtain them for the necessary food and purifi cation of our animal bodies. The inhabitants of the deep have been, from the earliest times, the especial objects of thy wondrous power and providential care. By them thou hast done many great and signal miracles and wonders; and as thou hast appointed them, in the scheme of creation, to be the instruments of subduing the carnal and sinful propensities of the human body, and hast made them, in thy Church, the sacred emblems of purity and holiness, vouchsafe unto us the object of our prayers, that they may be increased and sanctified to all our temporal and spiritual wants. We likewise implore thy special protection to all thy servants, male and female, who are selected by thy special providence to deal in our city in all the commodities of our seas and rivers. May they be just in their dealings, circumspect in their deportment, cultivating a meek and quiet spirit, always having thy fear continually before their eyes."* We may infer, from a remark made in "The Pleasant Historie of Thomas of Reading," that three centuries ago the oyster-sellers of London dressed very gay. "I will affirme it, that the London oyster-wives do exceed us in their Sundaie's attire."+ The number of fish-dealers in Paris in 1700, more than one hundred and fifty years ago, was very great, considering the then population of the city. There were 4,000 oyster-women alone, many of whom sold other kinds of fish. We are told by a writer of the times, that these Parisian oyster-wenches were each furnished with a short knife; and such was the celerity and *"Histoire de Paris." + "Early English Romances," London, 1858. C adroitness of their wrists, that a spectator was led to suppose the shells to have been only slightly glued together, so instantaneously were they separated. These women, he goes on to state, were almost sure to practise some deception; sometimes bringing a number of fresh and empty shells in their aprons, and counting them out to the customer, to persuade him he had swallowed the contents; and at other times eating the finest and most relishing before your face, under the pretext of swallowing the suspected ones. With the shells they form such enormous heaps, that an author has observed, "When Paris, in the succession of ages, shall be razed and utterly destroyed, future naturalists, discovering on a little narrow point of land an immense quantity of oyster-shells, will maintain that the sea had once covered the spot. The same writer remarks, that "it is dangerous to eat oysters at Paris before the frost; but the taste of amateurs is extorted, and the desire of forestalling enhances the value of every article."* Once when Louis XV. was very ill, and was obliged, before he could receive the last rites of the church, to discard his two mistresses, Madame de Chateauroux and her sister, who had accompanied him with the French army to Metz, the fishwomen of Paris were moved with a virtuous indignation against him. They were apprehensive lest, as he recovered from his sickness, he should again take these ladies under his royal protection. The "The consumption of fish in the city of Paris in 1845 amounted to the value of 2,825,567 francs' worth of sea-fish; 673,926 of oysters; and 456,578 of river-fish."-Galignani's "Hist. of Paris." |