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diff --git a/old/54775-0.txt b/old/54775-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index f2897ba..0000000 --- a/old/54775-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8218 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's Circus Life and Circus Celebrities, by Thomas Frost - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Circus Life and Circus Celebrities - -Author: Thomas Frost - -Release Date: May 24, 2017 [EBook #54775] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CIRCUS LIFE AND CIRCUS CELEBRITIES *** - - - - -Produced by KD Weeks, deaurider and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - Transcriber’s Note: - -This version of the text cannot represent certain typographical effects. -Italics are delimited with the ‘_’ character as _italic_. - -The few minor errors, attributable to the printer, have been corrected. -Please see the transcriber’s note at the end of this text for details -regarding the handling of any textual issues encountered during its -preparation. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - CIRCUS LIFE AND - CIRCUS CELEBRITIES - - BY - - THOMAS FROST - - AUTHOR OF ‘THE OLD SHOWMEN AND THE OLD LONDON FAIRS,’ ‘LIVES - OF THE CONJURERS,’ ETC. - -[Illustration] - - _A NEW EDITION_ - - =London= - - CHATTO AND WINDUS, PICCADILLY - - 1881 - - - - - PREFACE. - - ------- - - -There are probably few persons who do not number among the most pleasant -recollections of their youth their first visit to a circus, whether -their earliest sniff of the saw-dust was inhaled in the building made -classical by Ducrow, or under the canvas canopy of Samwell or Clarke. In -my boyish days, the cry of ‘This way for the riders!’ bawled from the -stentorian vocal organs of the proprietor or ring-master of a travelling -circus, never failed to attract all the boys, and no small proportion of -the men and women, to the part of the fair from which it proceeded. -Fairs have become things of the past within twelve or fifteen miles of -the metropolis; but ever and anon a tenting circus pitches, for a day or -two, in a meadow, and the performances prove as attractive as ever. The -boys, who protest that they are better than a play,—the young women, who -are delighted with the ‘loves of horses,’—the old gentlemen, who are -never so pleased as when they are amusing their grandchildren,—the -admirers of graceful horsemanship of all ages,—crowd the benches, and -find the old tricks and the old ‘wheezes,’ as the poet found the view -from Grongar Hill, ‘ever charming—ever new.’ - -What boy is there who, though he may have seen it before, does not -follow with sparkling eyes the Pawnee Chief in his rapid career upon a -bare-backed steed,—the lady in the scarlet habit and high hat, who leaps -over hurdles,—the stout farmer who, while his horse bears him round the -ring, divests himself of any number of coats and vests, until he finally -appears in tights and trunks,—the juggler who plays at cup and ball, and -tosses knives in an endless shower, as he is whirled round the arena? -And which of us has not, in the days of our boyhood, fallen in love with -the fascinating young lady in short skirts who leaps through ‘balloons’ -and over banners? Even when we have attained man’s estate, and learned a -wrinkle or two, we take our children to Astley’s or Hengler’s, and enjoy -the time-honoured feats of equitation, the tumbling, the gymnastics, and -the rope-dancing, as much as the boys and girls. - -But of the circus _artistes_—the riders, the clowns, the acrobats, the -gymnasts,—what do we know? How many are there, unconnected with the -saw-dust, who can say that they have known a member of that strange -race? Charles Dickens, who was perhaps as well acquainted with the -physiology of the less known sections of society as any man of his day, -whetted public curiosity by introducing his readers to the humours of -Sleary’s circus; and the world wants to know more about the subject. -When, it is asked, will another saw-dust _artiste_ give us such an -amusing book as Wallett presented the world with, in his autobiography? -When are the reminiscences of the late Nelson Lee to be published? With -the exception of the autobiography of Wallett, and a few passages in -Elliston’s memoirs, the circus has hitherto been without any exponent -whatever. Under the heading of ‘Amphitheatres,’ Watts’s _Bibliotheca -Britannica_, that boon to literary readers at the British Museum in -quest of information upon occult subjects, mentions only a collection of -the bills of Astley’s from 1819 to 1845. - -Circus proprietors are not, as a rule, so garrulous as poor old Sleary; -they are specially reticent concerning their own antecedents, and the -varied fortunes of their respective shows. To this cause must be -ascribed whatever shortcomings may be found in the following pages in -the matter of circus records. Circus men, too, are very apt to meet a -hint that a few reminiscences of their lives and adventures would be -acceptable with the reply of Canning’s needy knife-grinder,—‘Story! God -bless you! I have none to tell, sir.’ There are exceptions, however, and -as a rule the better educated members of the profession are the least -unwilling to impart information concerning its history and mysteries to -those outside of their circle. To the kindness and courtesy of several -of these I am considerably indebted, and beg them to accept this public -expression of my thanks. - - T. FROST. - -LONG DITTON, _Oct. 1st, 1873_. - - - - - CONTENTS. - - ------- - - CHAPTER I. - PAGE - - Beginnings of the Circus in England—Tumblers and Performing 1–37 - Horses of the Middle Ages—Jacob Hall, the - Rope-dancer—Francis Forcer and Sadler’s Wells—Vauxhall - Gardens—Price’s Equestrian Performances at Johnson’s - Gardens—Sampson’s Feats of Horsemanship—Philip Astley—His - Open-air Performances near Halfpenny Hatch—The First - Circus—Erection of the Amphitheatre in Westminster - Road—First Performances there—Rival Establishment in - Blackfriars Road—Hughes and Clementina - - - CHAPTER II. - - Fortunes of the Royal Circus—Destruction of Astley’s 38–57 - Amphitheatre by Fire—Its Reconstruction—Second - Conflagration—Astley in Paris—Burning of the Royal - Circus—Erection of the Olympic Pavilion—Hengler, the - Rope-dancer—Astley’s Horses—Dancing Horses—The Trick - Horse, Billy—Abraham Saunders—John Astley and William - Davis—Death of Philip Astley—Vauxhall Gardens—Andrew - Ducrow—John Clarke—Barrymore’s Season at - Astley’s—Hippo-dramatic Spectacles—The first Circus Camel - - - CHAPTER III. - Ducrow at Covent Garden—Engagement at Astley’s—Double Acts 58–72 - in the circle—Ducrow at Manchester—Rapid Act on Six - Horses—‘Raphael’s Dream’—Miss Woolford—Cross’s performing - Elephant—O’Donnel’s Antipodean Feats—First year of Ducrow - and West—Henry Adams—Ducrow at Hull—The Wild Horse of the - Ukraine—Ducrow at Sheffield—Travelling Circuses—An Entrée - at Holloway’s—Wild’s Show—Constantine, the Posturer—Circus - Horses—Tenting at Fairs—The Mountebanks - - - CHAPTER IV. - - A few words about Menageries—George Wombwell—The Lion 73–87 - Baitings at Warwick—Atkins’s Lion and Tigress at - Astley’s—A Bull-fight and a Zebra Hunt—Ducrow at the - Pavilion—The Stud at Drury Lane—Letter from Wooler to - Elliston—Ducrow and the Drury ‘Supers’—Zebras on the - Stage—The first Arab Troupe—Contention between Ducrow and - Clarkson Stanfield—Deaths of John Ducrow and Madame - Ducrow—Miss Woolford - - - CHAPTER V. - - Lions and Lion-tamers—Manchester Jack—Van Amburgh—Carter’s 88–99 - Feats—What is a Tiger?—Lion-driving and Tiger-fighting—Van - Amburgh and the Duke of Wellington—Vaulting Competition - between Price and North—Burning of the Amphitheatre—Death - of Ducrow—Equestrian Performances at the Surrey - Theatre—Travelling Circuses—Wells and Miller—Thomas - Cooke-Van Amburgh—Edwin Hughes—William Batty—Pablo Fanque - - - CHAPTER VI. - - Conversion of the Lambeth Baths into a Circus—Garlick and 100–122 - the Wild Beasts—Gar-lick Company at the Surrey—White - Conduit Gardens—Re-opening of Astley’s—Batty’s Circus on - its Travels—Batty and the Sussex Justices—Equestrianism at - the Lyceum—Lions and Lion-tamers at Astley’s—Franconi’s - Circus at Cremorne Gardens—An Elephant on the - Tight-rope—The Art of Balancing—Franconi’s Company at - Drury Lane—Van Amburgh at Astley’s—The Black Tiger—Pablo - Fanque—Rivalry of Wallett and Barry—Wallett’s - Circus—Junction with Franconi’s - - - CHAPTER VII. - - Hengler’s Circus—John and George Sanger—Managerial 123–134 - Anachronisms and Incongruities—James Hernandez—Eaton and - Stone—Horses at Drury Lane—James New-some—Howes and - Cushing’s Circus—George Sanger and the Fighting - Lions—Crockett and the Lions at Astley’s—The Lions at - large—Hilton’s Circus—Lion-queens—Miss Chapman—Macomo and - the Fighting Tigers - - - CHAPTER VIII. - - Pablo Fanque—James Cooke—Pablo Fanque and the 135–155 - Celestials—Ludicrous affair in the Glasgow - Police-court—Batty’s Transactions with Pablo Fanque—The - Liverpool Amphitheatre—John Clarke—William - Cooke—Astley’s—Fitzball and the Supers—Batty’s - Hippodrome—Vauxhall Gardens—Garnett’s Circus—The - Alhambra—Gymnastic Performances in Music-halls—Gymnastic - Mishaps - - - CHAPTER IX. - - Cremorne Gardens—The Female Blondie—Fatal Accident at Aston 156–173 - Park—Reproduction of the Eglinton Tournament—Newsome and - Wallett—Pablo Fanque’s Circus—Equestrianism at Drury - Lane—Spence Stokes—Talliott’s Circus—The Gymnasts of the - Music-halls—Fatal Accident at the Canterbury—Gymnastic - Brotherhoods—Sensational Feats—Sergeant Bates and the - Berringtons—The Rope-trick—How to do it - - - CHAPTER X. - - Opening of the Holborn Amphitheatre—Friend’s Season at 174–193 - Astley’s—Adah Isaacs Menken—Sanger’s Company at the - Agricultural Hall—The Carré Troupe at the Holborn - Amphitheatre—Wandering Stars of the Arena—Albert Smith and - the Clown—Guillaume’s Circus—The Circo Price—Hengler’s - Company at the Palais Royal—Re-opening of Astley’s by the - Pal’s—Franconi’s Circus—Newsome’s Circus—Miss Newsome and - the Cheshire Hunt—Rivalry between the Sangers and Howes - and Cushing - - - CHAPTER XI. - - Reminiscences of the Henglers—The Rope-dancing Henglers at 194–213 - Astley’s—Circus of Price and Powell—Its Acquisition by the - Henglers—Clerical Presentation to Frowde, the Clown—Circus - Difficulties at Liverpool—Retirement of Edward - Hengler—Rivalry of Howes and Cushing—Discontinuance of the - Tenting System—Miss Jenny Louise Hengler—Conversion of the - Palais Royal into an Amphitheatre—Felix Rivolti, the - Ring-master - - - CHAPTER XII. - - The Brothers Sanger—First Appearance in London—Vicissitudes 214–222 - of Astley’s—Batty and Cooke—Purchase of the Theatre by the - Brothers Sanger—Their Travelling Circus—The Tenting - System—Barnum and the Sangers - - - CHAPTER XIII. - - American Circuses—American Performers in England, and 223–253 - English Performers in the United States—The Cookes in - America—Barnum’s Great Show—Yankee Parades—Van Amburgh’s - Circus and Menagerie—Robinson’s Combined Shows—Stone and - Murray’s Circus—The Forepaughs—Joel Warner—Side - Shows—Amphitheatres of New York and New Orleans - - CHAPTER XIV. - - Reminiscences of a Gymnast—Training and Practising—A 254–267 - Professional Rendezvous—Circus Agencies—The First - Engagement—Springthorp’s Music-hall—Newsome’s - Circus—Reception in the Dressing-room—The Company and the - Stud—The Newsome Family—Miss Newsome’s wonderful Leap - across a Green Lane—The Handkerchief Trick—An Equine - Veteran from the Crimea—Engagement to Travel - - - CHAPTER XV. - - Continuation of the Gymnast’s Reminiscences—A Circus on the 268–279 - move—Three Months at Carlisle—Performance for the Benefit - of local Charities—Removal to Middlesborough—A Stockton - Man’s Adventure—Journey to York—Circus Ballets—The Paynes - in the Arena—Accidents in the Ring—A Circus - Benefit—Removal to Scarborough—A Gymnastic - Adventure—Twelve Nights at the Pantheon—On the - Tramp—Return to London - - - CHAPTER XVI. - - Continuation of the Gymnast’s Reminiscences—Circus Men in 280–290 - Difficulties—Heavy Security for a Small Debt—The Sheriff’s - Officer and the Elephant—Taking Refuge with the - Lions—Another Provincial Tour—With a Circus in Dublin—A - Joke in the Wrong Place—A Fenian Hoax—A Case of - Pikes—Return to England—At the Kentish Watering-places—Off - to the North - - - CHAPTER XVII. - - Lions and Lion-tamers—Lorenzo and the Lions—Andros and the 291–304 - Lion—The Successor of Macomo—Accident in Bell and Myers’s - Circus—Lion Hunting—Death of McCarthy—True Causes of - Accidents with Lions and Tigers—Performing - Leopards—Anticipating the Millennium—Tame Hyenas—Aggrieves - Menagerie—Performing Lions, Tigers, Leopards, and - Hyenas—Camels and Dromedaries—The Great Elephant - - - CHAPTER XVIII. - - Circus Slang—Its Peculiarities and Derivation—Certain 305–318 - Phrases used by others of the Amusing - Classes—Technicalities of the Circus—The Riders and Clowns - of Dickens—Sleary’s Circus—Circus Men and Women in Fiction - and in Real Life—Domestic Habits of Circus People—Dress - and Manners—The Professional Quarter of the Metropolis - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - CIRCUS LIFE - - AND - - CIRCUS CELEBRITIES. - - ------- - - - - - CHAPTER I. - -Beginnings of the Circus in England—Tumblers and Performing Horses of - the Middle Ages—Jacob Hall, the Rope-dancer—Francis Forcer and - Sadler’s Wells—Vauxhall Gardens—Price’s Equestrian Performances at - Johnson’s Gardens—Sampson’s Feats of Horsemanship—Philip Astley—His - Open-air Performances near Halfpenny Hatch—The First Circus—Erection - of the Amphitheatre in Westminster Road—First Performances - there—Rival Establishment in Blackfriars Road—Hughes and Clementina. - - -Considering the national love of everything in which the horse plays a -part, and the lasting popularity of circus entertainments in modern -times, it seems strange that the equine amphitheatre should have been -unknown in England until the close of the last century. That the Romans, -during their occupation of the southern portion of our island, -introduced the sports of the arena, in which chariot-racing varied the -combats of the gladiators, and the fierce encounters of wild beasts, is -shown by the remains of the Amphitheatre at Dorchester, and by records -of the existence of similar structures near St Alban’s, and at Banbury -and Caerleon. After the departure of the Romans, the amphitheatres which -they had erected fell into disuse and decay; but at a later period they -were appropriated to bull-baiting and bear-baiting, and the arena at -Banbury was known as the bull-ring down to a comparatively recent -period. An illumination of one of the Anglo-Saxon manuscripts in the -Harleian collection shows one of these ancient amphitheatres, outside a -town; there is a single musician in the arena, to whose music a man is -dancing, while another performer exhibits a tame bear, which appears to -be simulating sleep or death; the spectators are sitting or standing -around, and one of them is applauding the performance in the modern -manner, by clapping his hands. - -But from the Anglo-Saxon period to about the middle of the seventeenth -century, the nearest approximation to circus performances was afforded -by the ‘glee-men,’ and the exhibitors of bears that travestied a dance, -and horses that beat a kettle-drum with their fore-feet. Some of the -‘glee-men’ were tumblers and jugglers, and their feats are pourtrayed in -several illuminated manuscripts of the thirteenth and fourteenth -centuries. One of these illuminations, engraved in Strutt’s _Sports_, -shows a boy leaping through a hoop; another, in the Cottonian -collection, represents a juggler throwing three balls and three knives -alternately. What is technically called ‘the shower’ is shown in another -illumination of mediæval juggling; and that there were female acrobats -in those days appears from a drawing in one of the Sloane collection of -manuscripts, in which a girl is shown in the attitude of bending -backward. One of the Arundel manuscripts, in the British Museum, shows a -dancing bear; and other illuminations, of a later date, represent a -horse on the tight-rope, and an ox standing on the back of a horse. - -Strutt quotes from the seventh volume of the _Archæologia_, the -following account of a rope-flying feat performed by a Spaniard in the -reign of Edward VI. ‘There was a great rope, as great as the cable of a -ship, stretched from the battlements of Paul’s steeple, with a great -anchor at one end, fastened a little before the Dean of Paul’s -house-gate; and when his Majesty approached near the same, there came a -man, a stranger, being a native of Arragon, lying on the rope with his -head forward, casting his arms and legs abroad, running on his breast on -the rope from the battlement to the ground, as if it had been an arrow -out of a bow, and stayed on the ground. Then he came to his Majesty, and -kissed his foot; and so, after certain words to his Highness, he -departed from him again, and went upwards upon the rope, till he came -over the midst of the churchyard, where he, having a rope about him, -played certain mysteries on the rope, as tumbling, and casting one leg -from another. Then took he the rope, and tied it to the cable, and tied -himself by the right leg a little space beneath the wrist of the foot, -and hung by one leg a certain space, and after recovered himself again -with the said rope, and unknit the knot, and came down again. Which -stayed his Majesty, with all the train, a good space of time.’ - -Holinshed mentions a similar feat which was performed in the following -reign, and which, unhappily, resulted in the death of the performer. In -the reign of Elizabeth lived the famous Banks, whom Sir Walter Raleigh -thought worthy of mention in his History of the World, saying that ‘if -Banks had lived in older times, he would have shamed all the enchanters -in the world; for whosoever was most famous among them could never -master or instruct any beast as he did.’ The animal associated with the -performer so eulogized was a bay horse named Morocco, which was one of -the marvels of the time. An old print represents the animal standing on -his hind legs, with Banks directing his movements. - -Morocco seems to have been equally famous for his saltatory exercises -and for his arithmetical calculations and his powers of memory. Moth, in -_Love’s Labour Lost_, puzzling Armado with arithmetical questions, says, -‘The dancing horse will tell you,’ an allusion which is explained by a -line of one of Hall’s satires— - - ‘Strange Morocco’s dumb arithmetic.’ - -Sir Kenelm Digby records that the animal ‘would restore a glove to the -due owner after the master had whispered the man’s name in his ear; and -would tell the just number of pence in any piece of silver coin newly -showed him by his master.’ De Melleray, in a note to his translation of -the _Golden Ass_ of Apuleius, says that he witnessed the performance of -this animal in the Rue St Jacques, in Paris, to which city Banks -proceeded in or before 1608; and he states that Morocco could not only -tell the number of francs in a crown, but knew that the crown was -depreciated at that time, and also the exact amount of the depreciation. - -The fame which Banks and his horse acquired in France, brought the -former under the imputation of being a sorcerer, and he probably had a -narrow escape of being burned at a stake in that character. Bishop -Morton tells the story as follows:— - -‘Which bringeth into my remembrance a story which Banks told me at -Frankfort, from his own experience in France among the Capuchins, by -whom he was brought into suspicion of magic, because of the strange -feats which his horse Morocco played (as I take it) at Orleans, where -he, to redeem his credit, promised to manifest to the world, that his -horse was nothing less than a devil. To this end he commanded his horse -to seek out one in the press of the people who had a crucifix on his -hat; which done, he bade him kneel down unto it, and not this only, but -also to rise up again and to kiss it. And now, gentlemen (quoth he), I -think my horse hath acquitted both me and himself; and so his -adversaries rested satisfied; conceiving (as it might seem) that the -devil had no power to come near the cross.’ - -That Banks travelled with his learned horse from Paris to Orleans, and -thence to Frankfort, is shown by this extract; but his further -wanderings are unrecorded. It has been inferred, from the following -lines of a burlesque poem by Jonson, that he suffered at last the fate -he escaped at Orleans; but the grounds which the poet had for supposing -such a dreadful end for the poor horse-charmer are unknown. - - ‘But ’mongst these Tiberts, who do you think there was? - Old Banks, the juggler, our Pythagoras, - Grave tutor to the learned horse; both which, - Being, beyond sea, burned for one witch, - Their spirits transmigrated to a cat.’ - -These itinerant performers seem to have divided their time between town -and country, as many of them do at the present day. Sir William -Davenant, describing the street sights of the metropolis in his curious -poem entitled _The Long Vacation in London_, says— - - ‘Now, vaulter good, and dancing lass - On rope, and man that cries, Hey, pass! - And tumbler young that needs but stoop, - Lay head to heel to creep through hoop; - And man in chimney hid to dress - Puppet that acts our old Queen Bess; - And man, that while the puppets play, - Through nose expoundeth what they say; - And white oat-eater that does dwell - In stable small at sign of Bell, - That lifts up hoof to show the pranks - Taught by magician styled Banks; - And ape led captive still in chain - Till he renounce the Pope and Spain; - All these on hoof now trudge from town - To cheat poor turnip-eating clown.’ - -About the middle of the seventeenth century, some of these wandering -performers began to locate themselves permanently in the metropolis. -Jacob Hall, the rope-dancer, was scarcely less famous as an acrobat, -being clever and alert in somersaults and flip-flaps, performing the -former over naked rapiers and men’s heads, and through hoops. He is -mentioned by contemporary memoir writers as the first lover of Nell -Gwynne, who appears, however, in a short time to have transferred her -favours to Harte, the actor. In 1683, one Sadler opened the music-house -at Islington which, from the circumstance of a mineral spring being -discovered on the spot, became known by the name of Sadler’s Wells, -which it has retained to this day. It was not until after Sadler’s -death, however, that rope-dancing and acrobats’ performances were added -to the musical entertainments which, with the water, were the sole -attraction of the place in its earliest days. The change was made by -Francis Forcer, whose son was for several years the principal performer -there. Forcer sold the establishment to Rosamond, the builder of -Rosamond’s Row, Clerkenwell, who contrived, by judicious management, to -amass a considerable fortune. - -Of the nature of the amusements in Forcer’s time we have a curious -account in a communication made to the _European Magazine_ by a -gentleman who received it from Macklin, the actor, whom he met at -Sadler’s Wells towards the close of his life. ‘Sir,’ said the veteran -comedian, ‘I remember the time when the price of admission here was -threepence, except a few places scuttled off at the sides of the stage -at sixpence, and which were usually reserved for people of fashion, who -occasionally came to see the fun. Here we smoked and drank porter and -rum-and-water as much as we could pay for, and every man had his doxy -that liked; and, although we had a mixture of very odd company,—for I -believe it was a good deal the baiting-place of thieves and -highwaymen,—there was little or no rioting.’ - -During the period between Rosamond’s management and the conversion of -the place into a theatre for dramas of the kind for which the Adelphi -and the Coburg became famous at a later day, the entertainments at -Sadler’s Wells consisted of pantomimes and musical interludes. In -Forcer’s time, according to the account said to have been given by -Macklin, they consisted of ‘hornpipes and ballad singing, with a kind of -pantomime-ballet, and some lofty tumbling; and all done by daylight, -with four or five exhibitions every day. The proprietors had always a -fellow on the outside of the booth to calculate how many people were -collected for a second exhibition; and when he thought there were -enough, he came to the back of the upper seats, and cried out, “Is Hiram -Fisteman here?” That was the cant word agreed upon between the parties -to know the state of the people without: upon which they concluded the -entertainment with a song, dismissed the audience, and prepared for a -second representation.’ - -Joseph Clark, the posturer, was one of the wonders of London during the -reigns of James II. and William III., obtaining mention even in the -Transactions of the Philosophical Society, as having ‘such an absolute -command of all his muscles and joints that he could disjoint almost his -whole body.’ His exhibitions do not seem, however, to have been of a -pleasing character, consisting chiefly in the imitation of every kind of -human deformity. He could produce at will, and in a moment, without -padding, the semblance of a Quasimodo or a Tichborne Claimant, his ‘fair -round belly, with good capon lined,’ shift his temporary hump from one -side to the other, project either hip, and twist his limbs into every -conceivable complication. He could change his form so much as to defy a -tailor to measure him, and imposed so completely on Molins, a famous -surgeon of that time, as to be regarded by him as an incurable cripple. -His portrait in Tempest’s collection shows him shouldering his leg, an -antic which is imitated by a monkey. - -There was a famous vaulter of this time, named William Stokes, who seems -to have been the first to introduce horses in the performance; and in a -book called the _Vaulting Master_, published at Oxford in 1652, boasts -that he had reduced vaulting to a method. The book is illustrated by -plates, representing different examples of his practice, in which he is -shown vaulting over one or more horses, or leaping upon them; in one -alighting in the saddle, and in another upon the bare back of a horse. -It is singular that this last feat should not have been performed after -Stokes’s time, until Alfred Bradbury exhibited it a few years ago at the -Amphitheatre in Holborn. It is improbable that Bradbury had seen the -book, and his performance of the feat is, in that case, one more -instance of the performance of an original act by more than one person -at considerable intervals of time. - -May Fair, which has given its name to a locality now aristocratic, -introduces us, in 1702—the year in which the fearful riot occurred in -which a constable was killed there—to Thomas Simpson, an equestrian -vaulter, described in a bill of Husband’s booth as ‘the famous vaulting -master of England.’ A few years later a bill of the entertainments of -Bartholomew Fair, preserved in Bagford’s collection in the library of -the British Museum, mentions tight-rope dancing and some performing -dogs, which had had the honour of appearing before Queen Anne and ‘most -of the quality.’ The vaulters, and posturers, and tight-rope performers -of this period were not all the vagabonds they were in the eye of the -law. Fawkes, a posturer and juggler of the first half of the eighteenth -century, started, in conjunction with a partner named Pinchbeck, a show -which was for many years one of the chief attractions of the London -fairs, and appears to have realized a considerable fortune. - -The earliest notice of Vauxhall Gardens occurs in the _Spectator_ of May -20th, 1712, in a paper written by Addison, when they had probably just -been opened. They were then a fashionable promenade, the entertainments -for which the place was afterwards famous not being introduced until at -least a century later. In 1732 they were leased to Jonathan Tyers, whose -name is preserved in two neighbouring streets, Tyers Street and Jonathan -Street; and ten years later they were purchased by the same individual, -and became as famous as Ranelagh Gardens for musical entertainments and -masked balls. Admission was by season tickets only, and it is worthy of -note that the inimitable Hogarth, from whose designs of the four parts -of the day Hayman decorated the concert-room, furnished the design for -the tickets, which were of silver. Tyers gave Hogarth a gold ticket of -perpetual admission for six persons, or one coach; and the artist’s -widow bequeathed it to a relative. This unique relic of the departed -glories of Vauxhall was last used in 1836, and is now in the possession -of Mr Frederick Gye, who gave twenty pounds for it. - -Hogarth’s picture of Southwark Fair introduces to us more than one of -that generation of the strange race whose several varieties contribute -so much to the amusement of the public. The slack-rope performer is -Violante, of whom we read in Malcolm’s _Londinium Redivivus_ that, ‘soon -after the completion of the steeple [St Martin’s in the Fields], an -adventurous Italian, named Violante, descended from the arches, head -foremost, on a rope stretched thence across St Martin’s Lane to the -Royal Mews; the princesses being present, and many eminent persons.’ -Hogarth shows another performer of this feat in the background of his -picture, namely, Cadman, who was killed in 1740, in an attempt to -descend from the summit of a church-steeple in Shrewsbury. The -circumstances of this sad catastrophe are set forth in the epitaph on -the unfortunate man’s gravestone, which is as follows:— - - ‘Let this small monument record the name - Of Cadman, and to future times proclaim - Here, by an attempt to fly from this high spire - Across the Sabrine stream, he did acquire - His fatal end. ’Twas not for want of skill - Or courage to perform the task, he fell: - No, no—a faulty cord, being drawn too tight - Hurried his soul on high to take her flight, - Which bid the body here beneath good night.’ - -The earliest advertisement of Sadler’s Wells which I have been able to -find is one of 1739, which states that ‘the usual diversions will begin -this day at five o’clock in the evening, with a variety of rope-dancing, -tumbling, singing, and several new entertainments of dancing, both -serious and comic; concluding with the revived grotesque pantomime -called _Happy Despair_, with additions and alterations.’ An -advertisement of the following year introduces Miss Rayner as a -performer on the tight rope, who in 1748 appeared in conjunction with a -younger sister. The acrobats of the latter period were Williams, Hough, -and Rayner, the latter probably father or brother of the fair performers -on the _corde elastique_. - -The New Wells, at the bottom of Leman Street, Goodman’s Fields, were -opened at this time, and introduced to the public a French rope-dancer -named Dugée, who also tumbled, in conjunction with Williams, who had -left the Islington place of entertainment, and another acrobat named -Janno. Williams is announced in an advertisement of 1748 to vault over -the heads of ten men. The admission here was by payment for a pint of -wine or punch, which was the case also at Sadler’s Wells at this time; -but in an announcement of a benefit the charges for admission are stated -at eighteen-pence and half-a-crown, with the addition that the night -will be moonlight, and that wine may be obtained at two shillings per -bottle. - -Twenty years later, we find announced at Sadler’s Wells, ‘feats of -activity by Signor Nomora and Signora Rossi, and many curious and -uncommon equilibres by Le Chevalier des Linges.’ In 1771 the -rope-dancers here were Ferzi (sometimes spelt Farci) and Garmon, who -was, a few years later, a member of the first company formed by the -celebrated Philip Astley for the Amphitheatre in the Westminster Road. - -The first equestrian performances ever seen in England, other than those -of the itinerant exhibitors of performing horses, were given on the site -of Dobney’s Place, at the back of Penton Street, Islington. It was then -a tea-garden and bowling-green, to which one Johnson, who obtained a -lease of the premises in 1767, added such performances as then attracted -seekers after amusement to Sadler’s Wells. One Price, concerning whose -antecedents the strictest research has failed to discover any -information, gave equestrian performances at this place in 1770, and -soon had a rival in one Sampson, who performed similar feats in a field -behind the Old Hats. - -About the same time, feats of horsemanship were exhibited in Lambeth, in -a field near Halfpenny Hatch, which, it may be necessary to inform your -readers, stood where a broad ditch, which then ran through the fields -and market gardens now covered by the streets between Westminster Road -and Blackfriars Road, was crossed by a swivel bridge. There was a narrow -pathway through the fields and gardens, for the privilege of using which -a halfpenny was paid to the owners at a cottage near the bridge. In one -of these fields Philip Astley—a great name in circus annals—formed his -first ring with a rope and some stakes, going round with his hat after -each performance to collect the loose halfpence of the admiring -spectators. - -This remarkable man was born in 1742, at Newcastle-under-Lyme, where his -father carried on the business of a cabinet-maker. He received little or -no education, and after working a few years with his father, enlisted in -a cavalry regiment. His imposing appearance, being over six feet in -height, with the proportions of a Hercules, and the voice of a Stentor, -attracted attention to him; and his capture of a standard at the battle -of Emsdorff made him one of the celebrities of his regiment. While -serving in the army, he learned some feats of horsemanship from an -itinerant equestrian named Johnson, perhaps the man under whose -management Price introduced equestrian performances at Sadler’s -Wells,—and often exhibited them for the amusement of his comrades. On -his discharge from the army, he was presented by General Elliot with a -horse, and thereupon he bought another in Smithfield, and commenced -those open-air performances in Lambeth which have already been noticed. - -After a time, he built a rude circus upon a piece of ground near -Westminster Bridge which had been used as a timber-yard, being the site -of the theatre which has been known by his name for nearly a century. -Only the seats were roofed over, the ring in which he performed being -open to the air. One of his horses, which he had taught to perform a -variety of tricks, he soon began to exhibit, at an earlier period of -each day, in a large room in Piccadilly, where the entertainment was -eked out with conjuring and _ombres Chinoises_—a kind of shadow -pantomime. - -One of the earliest advertisements of the Surrey side establishment sets -forth that the entertainment consisted of ‘horsemanship by Mr Astley, Mr -Taylor, Signor Markutchy, Miss Vangable, and other transcendent -performers,’—a minuet by two horses, ‘in a most extraordinary manner,’—a -comical musical interlude, called _The Awkward Recruit_, and an ‘amazing -exhibition of dancing dogs from France and Italy, and other genteel -parts of the globe.’ - -One of the advertisements of Astley’s performances for 1772, one of the -very few that can be found of that early date, is as follows:— - -‘Horsemanship and New Feats of Activity. This and every Evening at six, -Mr and Mrs Astley, Mrs Griffiths, Costmethopila, and a young Gentleman, -will exhibit several extraordinary feats on one, two, three, and four -horses, at the foot of Westminster Bridge. - -‘These feats of activity are in number upwards of fifty; to which is -added the new French piece, the different characters by Mr Astley, -Griffiths, Costmethopila, &c. Each will be dressed and mounted on droll -horses. - -‘Between the acts of horsemanship, a young gentleman will exhibit -several pleasing heavy balances, particularly this night, with a young -Lady nine years old, never performed before in Europe; after which Mr -Astley will carry her on his head in a manner quite different from all -others. Mrs Astley will likewise perform with two horses in the same -manner as she did before their Majesties of England and France, being -the only one of her sex that ever had that honour. The doors to be -opened at five, and begin at six o’clock. A commodious gallery, 120 feet -long, is fitted up in an elegant manner. Admittance there as usual. - -‘N.B. Mr Astley will display the broad-sword, also ride on a single -horse, with one foot on the saddle, the other on his head, and every -other feat which can be exhibited by any other. With an addition of -twenty extraordinary feats, such as riding on full speed, with his head -on a common pint pot, at the rate of twelve miles an hour, &c. - -‘☞ To specify the particulars of Mr Astley’s performance would fill this -side of the paper, therefore please to ask for a bill at the door, and -see that the number of fifty feats are performed, Mr Astley having -placed them in acts as the performance is exhibited. The amazing little -Military Horse, which fires a pistol at the word of command, will this -night exhibit upwards of twenty feats in a manner far superior to any -other, and meets with the greatest applause.’ - -An advertisement issued at the close of the season, in 1775, announces -‘the last new feats of horsemanship, four persons on three horses, or a -journey to Paris; also, the _pynamida_ on full speed by Astley, Griffin, -and Master Phillips.’ This curious word is probably a misprint for -‘pyramids.’ - -In this year, Richer, the famous harlequin, revived the ladder-dancing -feat at Sadler’s Wells, where he also joined in the acrobatic -performances of Rayner, Garmon, and Huntley, the last being a new -addition to the _troupe_. Other ‘feats of activity’ were performed by -the Sigols, and Ferzi and others exhibited their evolutions on the -tight-rope. The same names appear in the advertisements of the following -year, when rivals appeared in vaulting and tight-rope dancing at -Marylebone Gardens. - -‘As Mr Astley’s celebrated new performances at Westminster Bridge draws -near to a conclusion,’ says one of the great equestrian’s advertisements -of 1776, ‘it is humbly requested the present opportunity may not escape -the notice of the ladies and gentlemen. Perhaps such another exhibition -is not to be found in Europe. To the several entertainments of the -riding-school is added, the Grand Temple of Minerva, acknowledged by all -ranks of people to be extremely beautiful. The curtain of the Temple to -ascend at five o’clock, and descend at six, at which time the grand -display will be made in a capital manner, consisting of rope-vaulting on -full swing, with many new pleasing additions of horsemanship, both -serious and comic; various feats of activity and comic tumbling, the -learned little horse, the Roman battle, _le force d’Hercule_, or the -Egyptian pyramids, an entertainment never seen in England; with a -variety of other performances extremely entertaining. The doors to be -opened at five, and begin at six precisely. Admittance in the gallery -2_s._, the riding school 1_s._ A price by no means adequate to the -evening’s diversion.’ - -Having saved some money out of the proceeds of these performances, -Astley erected the Amphitheatre, which, in its early years, resembled -the present circus in Holborn more than the building subsequently -identified with the equestrian triumphs of Ducrow. Chinese shadows were -still found attractive, it seems, for they constitute the first item in -one of the programmes of 1780, in which year the Amphitheatre was -opened. Then came feats of horsemanship by Griffin, Jones, and Miller, -the clown to the ring being Burt. Tumbling—‘acrobatics’ had not been -extracted from the Greek dictionary in those days—by Nevit, Porter, -Dawson, and Garmon followed; and it is worthy of remark that none of the -circus performers of the last century seem to have deemed it expedient -to Italianize their names, or to assume fanciful appellations, such as -the Olympian Brothers, or the Marvels of Peru. After the tumbling, the -feat of riding two and three horses at the same time was exhibited, the -performer modestly concealing his name, which was probably Philip -Astley. Next came ‘slack-rope vaulting in full swing, in different -attitudes,’ tricks on chairs and ladders, a burlesque equestrian act by -the clown, and, lastly, ‘the amazing performance of men piled upon men, -or the Egyptian pyramid.’ - -About the same time that the Amphitheatre was opened, the Royal Circus, -which afterwards became the Surrey Theatre, was erected in Blackfriar’s -Road by the elder Dibdin and an equestrian named Hughes, who is -described as a man of fine appearance and immense strength. The place -being unlicensed, the lessees had to close it in the midst of success; -but a license was obtained, and it was re-opened in March, 1783. -Burlettas were here combined with equestrian performances, and for some -time a spirited competition with Astley’s was maintained. The -advertisements of the Circus are as curious for their grammar and -strange sprinkling of capitals as for their personal allusions. A few -specimens culled from the newspapers of the period are subjoined:— - -No. 1.—‘The celebrated Sobieska Clementina and Mr Hughes on Horseback -will end on Monday next, the 4th of October; until then they will -display the whole of their Performances, which are allowed, by those who -know best, to be the completest of the kind in Europe. Hughes humbly -thanks the Nobility, &c., for the honour of their support, and also -acquaints them his Antagonist has catched a bad cold so near to -Westminster bridge, and for his recovery is gone to a warmer Climate, -which is Bath in Somersetshire. He boasts, poor Fellow, no more of -activity, and is now turned Conjuror, in the character of ‘Sieur the -Great.’ Therefore Hughes is unrivalled, and will perform his surprising -feats accordingly at his Horse Academy, until the above Day. The Doors -to be opened at Four o’clock, and Mounts at half-past precisely. H. has -a commodious Room, eighty feet long. N. B. Sobieska rides on one, two, -and three horses, being the only one of her Sex that ever performed on -one, two, and three.’ - -No. 2.—‘Hughes has the honour to inform the Nobility, &c., that he has -no intention of setting out every day to France for three following -Seasons, his Ambition being fully satisfied by the applause he has -received from Foreign Gentlemen who come over the Sea to See him. -Clementina and Miss Huntly ride one, two, and three horses at full -speed, and takes Leaps surprising. A little Lady, only Eight Years old, -rides Two Horses at full gallop by herself, without the assistance of -any one to hold her on. Enough to put any one in fits to see her. H. -will engage to ride in Twenty Attitudes that never were before -attempted; in particular, he will introduce his Horse of Knowledge, -being the only wise animal in the Metropolis. A Sailor in full gallop to -Portsmouth, without a bit of Bridle or Saddle. The Maccaroni Tailor -riding to Paris for new Fashions. This being Mr Pottinger’s night, he -will speak a Prologue adapted to the noble art of Riding, and an -Epilogue also suited to Extraordinary Leaps. Tickets (2_s._) to be had -of Mr Wheble, bookseller, Paternoster-row, and at H.’s Riding School. -Mounts half-past four.’ - -No. 3.—‘Hughes, with the celebrated Sobieska Clementina, the famous Miss -Huntly, and an astonishing Young Gentleman (son of a Person of Quality), -will exhibit at Blackfriars-road more Extraordinary things than ever yet -witnessed, such as leaping over a Horse forty times without stopping -between the springs—Leaps the Bar standing on the Saddle with his Back -to the Horse’s Tail, and, _Vice-Versa_, Rides at full speed with his -right Foot on the Saddle, and his left Toe in his Mouth, two surprising -Feet. Mrs Hughes takes a fly and fires a Pistol—rides at full speed -standing on Pint Pots—mounts pot by pot, higher still, to the terror of -all who see her. H. carries a lady at full speed over his -head—surprising! The young gentleman will recite verses of his own -making, and act Mark Antony, between the leaps. Clementina every night—a -commodious room for the nobility.’ - -The excitement of apparent danger was evidently as much an element of -the popular interest in circus performances a century ago as at the -present day. - -Colonel West, to whom the ground on which the circus was erected -belonged, became a partner in the enterprise, and invested a large -amount in it. On his death the concern became very much embarrassed, and -struggled for several years with a load of debt. Hughes was succeeded as -manager by Grimaldi, a Portuguese, the grandfather of the famous clown -whom some of us remember at Covent Garden; and Grimaldi, in 1780, by -Delpini, an Italian buffo singer, under whose management the novel -spectacle of a stag-hunt was introduced in the arena. - -Sadler’s Wells continued to give the usual entertainment, the -advertisements of 1780 announcing ‘a great variety of singing, dancing, -tumbling, posturing, rope-dancing,’ &c., by the usual very capital -performers, and others, more particularly tumbling by Rayner, Tully, -Huntley, Garmon, and Grainger, ‘pleasing and surprising feats of -strength and agility’ by Richer and Baptiste, and their pupils, and -tight-rope dancing by Richer, Baptiste, and Signora Mariana, varied -during a portion of the season by the last-named _artiste’s_ ‘new and -extraordinary performance on the slack wire, particularly a curious -display of two flags, and a pleasing trick with a hoop and three glasses -of wine.’ - -Astley’s soon became a popular place of amusement for all classes. -Horace Walpole, writing to Lord Stafford, says:— - -‘London, at this time of the year [September], is as nauseous a drug as -any in an apothecary’s shop. I could find nothing at all to do, and so -went to Astley’s, which, indeed, was much beyond my expectation. I do -not wonder any longer that Darius was chosen King by the instructions he -gave to his horse; nor that Caligula made his Consul. Astley can make -his dance minuets and hornpipes. But I shall not have even Astley now: -Her Majesty the Queen of France, who has as much taste as Caligula, has -sent for the whole of the _dramatis personæ_ to Paris.’ - -Among the expedients to which Astley occasionally had recourse for the -purpose of drawing a great concourse of people to the Surrey side of the -Thames was a balloon ascent, an attraction frequently had recourse to in -after times at Vauxhall, the Surrey Gardens, Cremorne, the Crystal -Palace, and other places of popular resort. The balloon was despatched -from St George’s Fields on the 12th of March, 1784, ‘in the presence,’ -says a writer in the _Gentleman’s Magazine_, ‘of a greater number of -spectators than were, perhaps, ever assembled together on any occasion;’ -and he adds that, ‘many of the spectators will have reason to remember -it; for a more ample harvest for the pickpockets never was presented. -Some noblemen and gentlemen lost their watches, and many their purses. -The balloon, launched about half-past one in the afternoon, was found at -Faversham.’ This ascent took place within two months after that of the -Montgolfiere balloon at Lyons, and was, therefore, probably the first -ever attempted in this country; while, by a strange coincidence, the -first aerostatic experiment ever made in Scotland was made on the same -day that Astley’s ascended, but about an hour later, from Heriot’s -Gardens, Edinburgh. - -Horace Walpole writes, in allusion to a subsequent balloon ascent, and -the excitement which it created in the public mind,— - -‘I doubt it has put young Astley’s nose out of joint, who went to Paris -lately under their Queen’s protection, and expected to be Prime -Minister, though he only ventured his neck by dancing a minuet on three -horses at full gallop, and really in that attitude has as much grace as -the Apollo Belvedere.’ The fame of the Astleys receives further -illustration from a remark of Johnson’s, that ‘Whitfield never drew as -much attention as a mountebank does: he did not draw attention by doing -better than others, but by doing what was strange. Were Astley to preach -a sermon standing on his head, or on a horse’s back, he would collect a -multitude to hear him; but no wise man would say he had made a better -sermon for that.’ - -The earliest displayed advertisement of Astley’s which I have been able -to discover, is as follows, which appeared in 1788: - - ASTLEY’S AMPHITHEATRE, WESTMINSTER BRIDGE. - - YOUNG ASTLEY’S - - SURPRISING EQUESTRIAN EXERCISES. - - _In the intervals_ - - A NEW WAR ENTERTAINMENT, - -In which will be introduced a SINGLE COMBAT with the BROADSWORD between -YOUNG ASTLEY, as a British Sailor, and MR J. TAYLOR, as a Savage Chief; -after which a General Engagement between British Sailors and Savages. -The Scenery, Machinery, Songs, Dances, and Dresses, adapted to the -manners of the different Countries. - - TUMBLING - - By a most capital Group. - - A NEW COMIC DANCE, CALLED - - THE GERMAN CHASSEURS, - - With New Music, Dresses, &c. - - A MUSICAL ENTERTAINMENT, CALLED - - THE INVITATION. - - The Songs and Choruses, together with the - - Dresses, entirely new. - - A GRAND ENTRY OF HORSES. - - A MINUET DANCE BY TWO HORSES, - -And other extraordinary performances by the Horses. - - A New Comic Dance, called - - THE ETHIOPIAN FESTIVAL, - -In which will be introduced a New Pas de Trois, never performed in -London, Composed by Mons. Vermigli, _Eleve de l’Opera_, and danced by -him, Mr Marqui, and Mr J. Taylor, representing the whimsical Actions and -Attitudes made use of by the Negroes. After which a Pas de Deux, -composed by Mons. Ferrer, and danced by him and Mad. Fuzzi, in the -character of an Indian Prince and Princess. The Music and Dresses -entirely new. - - A New favourite Song, by MR JOHANNOT, Called - Bow-wow-wow. - - HORSEMANSHIP. - - AND OTHER EXERCISES, - -By Master Crossman, Mr Jenkins, Mr Lonsdale, Mr J. Taylor, and Miss -Vangabel; Clown, Mr Miller. - -The whole to conclude with a New Entertainment of Singing, Dancing, and -Dumb-Shew to Speaking Music, called the - - MAGIC WORLD. - -In which will be introduced, behind a large transparent Painting, -representing the enchanted World, a variety of Magical, Pantomimical, -Farcical, Tragical, Comic Deceptions; together with a grand Procession -of Caricature Figures, displaying a variety of whimsical Devices in a -manner entirely New. - -Doors to be opened at half-past Five, and to begin precisely at -half-past Six. - - BOXES 3_s._—PIT 2_s._—GALL. 1_s._—SIDE - GALL. 6_d._ - -I found this advertisement, and the following one, which was issued in -the same year, but at a later period, in a collection of similar -literary curiosities purchased at the sale of the effects of the late Mr -Lacey, the well-known theatrical bookseller, of the Strand. - - THIS EVENING, will be presented at - - ASTLEY’S, - - An entire new pantomimic Dance, called - - THE HUMOURS OF GIL BLAS - - (A Parody) - -As performed with applause at the Theatres on the Boulevards, Paris. - -Gil Blas, _Mr Jenkins_—His Father, _Mr Henley_—Uncle, _Mr -Lonsdale_—Servant, _Mr Bell_—Flash the Spaniard, _Mr Ferrere_—Mungo, -his Servant, _Master Collet_—Doctor, _Mr Fox_—Maria (fat Cook), _Mr -Connell_—Spanish Lady, _Mrs Stevens_—Gil Blas Mother, _Mrs -Henley_—Post Boy, _Master Crossman_—Captain of the Banditti, _Mr -Johannot_—Lieutenant, _Mr Fox_—Signal Man, _Mr De Castro_—Spy, _Mr -Millard_—Captain of the Cavern, _Mr Wallack_. - -The Rest of the Banditti, by the Remainder of the Company. Dancers, -_Mons. Vermigli_, _Madame Ferrere_, and _Mademoiselle Meziere_. - - To conclude with - - A SPANISH FAIR, - -In which will be introduced a multiplicity of Drolls, Shews, &c., with a -surprising Real Gigantic Spanish Pig, measuring from head to tail 12 -feet, and 12 hands high, weighing 12 cwt., which will be rode by a -Monkey. - - HORSEMANSHIP - - By YOUNG ASTLEY, and other Capital - - Performers. - - - A Musical Piece, called - - THE DIAMOND RING: - - Or, THE JEW OUTWITTED. - -Israel, _Mr De Castro_—Harry, _Mr Millard_—Feignlove, _Mr Fox_—Maid, -_Mrs Wallack_—Lucy Feignlove, _Mrs Henley_. - - TUMBLING - -By Mr Lonsdale, Mr Jenkins, Mr Bell, Master Crossman, Master Jenkinson, -Master Collet, and others. - -A favourite Dance, composed by Mons. Vermigli, (_Eleve de l’Opera_) -called - - THE SPORTS OF THE VILLAGE. - - A Musical Piece, called - - THE BLACK AND WHITE MILLINERS. - -Tiffany, _Mr Connell_—Myrtle, _Mr Wallack_—Timewell, _Mr Miller_—Doctor -Spruce, _Mr Fox_—Sprightly, _Mr Johannot_—Nancy, _Mrs Wallack_—Fanny, -_Mrs Wigley_—Mrs Tiffany, _Mrs Henley_. - -The whole to conclude with a Pantomime, called - - THE MAGIC WORLD, - -In which will be introduced behind a large transparent Painting, -representing the enchanted World, a variety of magical, pantomimical, -farcical, tragical, comic Deceptions, together with a Grand Procession -of Caricature Figures, displaying a variety of whimsical Devices, with -the Emblems of the Inhabitants of the Four Quarters of the Globe, in a -Manner entirely New. - - To finish with - - THE GIBRALTAR CHARGER: - - Surrounded by a Chain of Fire. - -Equestrianism does not make a very important figure in the announcements -of the Royal Circus at this period, which simply inform the public that -‘the performances will commence with horsemanship by Mr Hughes and his -unrivaled pupils.’ The programme was chiefly musical, and concluded with -a pantomime, in which Rayner, the acrobat, from Sadler’s Wells, -sustained the part of Harlequin. At the latter place of amusement, -charges ranging from a shilling to three shillings and sixpence were now -made for admission, and the performances, other than music and dancing, -consisted of posturing by a boy called the Infant Hercules, and -tight-rope dancing by Madame Romaine, another female _artiste_ known as -_La Belle Espagnole_, and two lads, one of whom was a son of Richer, the -other known as the Little Devil. Grimaldi the Second, son of the manager -of the Royal Circus, and father of the famous Joey Grimaldi, was clown -at this establishment for many years, commencing, it is said, at the -munificent salary of three shillings per week, which was gradually -raised until, in 1794, we find him receiving four pounds per week. - -I cannot better conclude this chapter than with the following strictures -upon the places of amusement to which it chiefly relates, culled from a -newspaper of 1788:— - -‘If the objections which are made to permitting the present existing -theatres or places of public amusement to continue arises from a -principle of morality, which indeed is the only plea of opposition which -can be alleged, it is somewhat strange that the only exception should be -made in favour of Sadler’s Wells, at which _alone_, it is worthy of -remark, a man may if he chooses get drunk. A pint of liquor is included -in the price of admittance, but as much more may be had as any person -chooses to call for. The heat of the place is a great inducement, and we -believe many _females_ have from that cause drank more than has let them -depart in their sober senses, the consequences of which are obvious. -This is not permitted at Astley’s, the Circus, or the Royalty.’ - -The last-mentioned place of amusement was a Variety Theatre, in Wells -Street, Goodman’s Fields, which had risen out of the New Wells, and gave -entertainments similar to those of Sadler’s Wells and the Royal Circus. - - - - - CHAPTER II. - -Fortunes of the Royal Circus—Destruction of Astley’s Amphitheatre by - Fire—Its Reconstruction—Second Conflagration—Astley in Paris—Burning - of the Royal Circus—Erection of the Olympic Pavilion—Hengler, the - Rope-dancer—Astley’s Horses—Dancing Horses—The Trick Horse, - Billy—Abraham Saunders—John Astley and William Davis—Death of Philip - Astley—Vauxhall Gardens—Andrew Ducrow—John Clarke—Barrymore’s Season - at Astley’s—Hippo-dramatic Spectacles—The first Circus Camel. - - -For nearly forty years after the opening of Astley’s Amphitheatre, the -performances did not differ, in any respect, from the usual -entertainment of the smallest tenting company now travelling. The -earliest bill of the collection in the library of the British Museum was -issued in 1791, when the great attraction of the place appears to have -been the somersault over twelve horses, called _le grand saut du -Trampolin_, of James Lawrence, whose vaulting feats gained him the name -(in the bills) of the Great Devil. - -In 1792, the entertainments comprised a considerable musical element, -and concluded with a pantomime. One of the advertisements of this year -announces the performances in the arena as follows:— - -‘Horsemanship, and exercises for the Light Dragoons—Ground and lofty -tumbling—A grand entry of horses—Equestrian exercises, particularly the -metamorphose of the sack—Wonderful equilibres on a single -horse—Whimsical piece of horsemanship, called _The Taylor riding to -Brentford_.’ - -Sadler’s Wells continued to vary its programme with tumbling and -rope-dancing, and in 1792 gave ‘a pleasing exhibition of strength and -posture-work, entirely new, called _Le Tableau Chinois_, by Signor -Bologna and his children, in which will be displayed a variety of -curious and striking manœuvres. Tight-rope dancing by the Little -Devil and Master Bologna, with the comic accompaniment of Signor Pietro -Bologna.’ - -From the Royal Circus announcements of the following year, I select the -following two, as good illustrations of the kind of performances then -given, and curious examples of circus bills eighty years ago:— - - ROYAL CIRCUS. - -The Company at the CIRCUS beg leave to acquaint the Nobility, Gentry, -and Public, that young CROSSMAN will appear this present Evening, August -7, on HORSEBACK, and challenge all the Horsemen in Europe. - - FRICAPEE DANCING, VAULTING, TIGHT-ROPE - - DANCING, PYRAMIDS, GROUND AND - - LOFTY TUMBLING, &c. &c. &c. - -The performance will commence with a Grand Entry of Horses, mounted by -the Troop. Young CROSSMAN’S unparalleled Peasant Hornpipe, and Hag -Dance, not to be equalled by any Horseman in this Kingdom. - -LE GRAND SAUT DE TRAMPOLINE by Mr PORTER, (Clown) who will jump over a -garter 15 feet from the ground, and fire off two Pistols. - -THE MUSICAL CHILD, (only nine years of age) will go through his -wonderful Performance. Mr SMITH will go through a variety of -Performances on a Single Horse. - - THE HUMOURS OF THE SACK, - - OR, THE CLOWN DECEIVED BY A WOMAN. - - FRICASSEE DANCE, - - By Mr CROSSMAN and Mr PORTER. - -Mr INGHAM (from Dublin) will throw an innumerable Row of Flipflaps. - -Mr CROSSMAN will vault over the Horse backwards and forwards, with his -Legs Tied, in a manner not to be equalled by any Performer in this -Kingdom. - - GROUND AND LOFTY TUMBLING, - - by the whole Troop. - -The AFRICAN will go through his astonishing Stage and Equestrian -Performances. - - LA FORCE DE HERCULES: - - Or, THE RUINS OF TROY. - -Mr PORTER will perform on a single Horse, in a ludicrous manner. - -Young CROSSMAN will leap from a single Horse over Two Garters, 12 feet -high, and alight again on the Saddle, and Play the Violin in various -Attitudes. - - THE TAYLOR’S DISASTER, - - Or, his Wonderful Journey to Brentford, - - By MR PORTER. - -To conclude with a REAL FOX and STAG CHASE, by twelve couple of Hounds, -and two real FOXES, and a real STAG HUNT, as performed before their -Majesties. - -Crossman, it will be seen, had transferred his services from Astley’s to -the rival establishment, where he must have been an acquisition of some -importance. The Ducrow mentioned in the second bill, must have been the -father of the celebrated equestrian of that name. - - CHANGE OF PERFORMANCES. - - THE WINDSOR HUNT. - - This and every Evening, until further Notice, - - at the - - ROYAL CIRCUS, - - In which will be introduced a Representation of - - THE DEER CARRIAGE AND STAG, - -With Horsemen and Women coming out of Holyport Mead to see the Stag -turned out; the Hunt will be then joined by Ten Male and Three Female -Equestrians. The Stag will be Twice, and the Horsemen and Horsewomen -Five Times, in FULL VIEW. - - AN ENTIRE NEW DANCE, CALLED - - THE CROATIAN MERCHANTS, - -Composed by MONS. FERRERE. Principal Dancers, _Mons. Ferrere_, _Madame -Ferrere_, _Mons. D’Egville_, and _Signora Fuzi_, with Six Couple of -Figurants. The Dresses and Decorations entirely New, by Mr RISLEBEN. - - YOUNG CROSSMAN - -Will appear this and every Evening on HORSEBACK, and challenge all the -Horsemen in Europe. - - TIGHT-ROPE DANCING, - - By the celebrated SAXONI, from Rome. - - PYRAMIDS, GROUND and LOFTY TUMBLING, &c. - - The Grand Leaps over SEVEN HORSES. - -Also, through the HOOP on FIRE, fourteen feet high, by MR PORTER and MR -DUCROW. The former will leap over more Horses than any Man in Europe. - - MR FRANKLIN’S inimitable Performances with - - THE CHILD OF PROMISE, - -In various attitudes. Playing on the violin, &c., MR SMITH, MR INGHAM, -MR PORTER, MR DUCROW, MR MEREDITH, MR ALLERS, MR JONES, MR BENGE, MR -QUIN, MR FRANCIS, and - - THE FAMOUS AFRICAN, - -(Who is not to be equalled) will go through the TILTS and TOURNAMENTS, -and MILITARY EXERCISES, as performed on HORSEBACK, in the FIELD and -MANAGE. - - To which will be added, - - THE TAYLOR’S DISASTER! - - - AND FOX HUNT. - - By the above Male and Female Equestrians. - -The performances at Sadler’s Wells this year included ‘a series of -varied equilibres and posture-work, called _Le Tableau Chinois_, by -Signor Bologna and his children,’ and ‘a capital display of agility on -the tight-rope by the inimitable Mr Richer, from Petersburgh; also the -pleasing exertions of _La Belle Espagnole_.’ There does not appear to -have been many changes in the programme of this establishment, which in -the following year presented ‘a new and picturesque exhibition, called -the Pastimes of Pekin, or Kien Quang’s Family Tree; in which will be -displayed, by a group of ten capital performers, under the direction of -the Great Kien Quang, a variety of entertainments and active -manœuvres, _a la Chinois_, with banners, garlands, and umbrellas;’ -and ‘the pleasing and varied exertions of Messrs Bologna and _La Belle -Espagnole_.’ - -Astley’s Amphitheatre was destroyed by fire in 1794, to the serious loss -of the proprietor, who was not insured; but such was his indomitable -energy and enterprise that it was rebuilt in time to be opened on Easter -Monday, in the following year. In the mean while, in order to keep his -company and stud employed, he had converted the Lyceum into a circus, in -conjunction with a partner named Handy. - -The Royal Circus was far from prosperous. The load of debt upon it kept -the lessees in a position of constant difficulty and embarrassment, and -in 1795 Mrs West levied an execution on the premises. It was then opened -by Jones and Cross, the latter a writer of spectacles and pantomimes for -Covent Garden; and in their hands it remained until it was destroyed by -fire in 1805. - -Handy was still Astley’s partner in 1796, when the advertisements -announce ‘thirty-five new acts by Astley’s and Handy’s riders, and two -surprising females,’ in addition to pony races, the performances of a -clever little pony, only thirty inches in height, a performance on two -ropes, and a novel act by a performer named Carr, who stood on his head -in the centre of a globe, and ascended thirty feet ‘turning round in a -most surprising manner, like a boy’s top.’ Later advertisements of this -year describe the Amphitheatre as ‘under the patronage of the Duke of -York,’ and announce the special engagement of two Catawba Indians—both -chiefs, of course, as American Indians and Arabs who appear in the arena -always are represented to be. These copper-coloured gentlemen gave their -war dance and tomahawk exercise, and performed feats of dexterity with -bows and arrows. The only mention of equestrianism at this time is, that -‘various equestrian and other exercises’ will be given ‘by pupils of -both the Astleys.’ - -Sadler’s Wells gave this year ‘various elegant and admired exercises on -the tight-rope, by the inimitable Mr Richer and _La Belle Espagnole_, -particularly Richer’s astonishing leap over the two garters, with -various feats of agility and comic accompaniment by Dubois.’ This -establishment and the Royalty gradually abandoned entertainments of this -kind, and were at length converted into theatres; and the like change -was effected at the Royal Circus, or rather at the building which rose -upon the ruins made by the conflagration of 1805. - -Astley’s was burned again in 1803, when Mrs Woodhams, the mother of Mrs -Astley, perished in the flames. Astley was again a heavy sufferer, the -insurance not covering more than a fourth of the damage; but once more -the building rose from its ruins, and it was again re-opened in 1804. -Astley being occupied at the time with the construction of a circus in -Paris, since known as Franconi’s, the new Amphitheatre was leased by him -to his son, John Astley, with whom William Davis soon became associated -as a partner. - -In 1805, the Royal Circus having been destroyed by fire, Philip Astley -leased the site of the Olympic Theatre from Lord Craven for a term of -sixty-one years, at a yearly rental of one hundred pounds, with the -stipulation that two thousand five hundred pounds should be expended in -the erection of a theatre. It was an odd-shaped piece of ground, and -required some contrivance to adapt it to the purpose; but Astley, who -was his own architect and surveyor, and indeed his own builder, for he -is said to have employed the workmen he required without the -intervention of a master, overcame all difficulties with his usual -energy and fertility of resource. - -He bought the timbers of an old man-of-war, captured from the French, -and with these built the framework of the theatre, a portion of which -could, it was said, be seen at the rear of the boxes of the old Olympic -Theatre before it was destroyed by fire. There was very little -brickwork, the frame being covered externally with sheet iron, and -internally with canvas. The arrangements of the auditorium were very -similar to those of the provincial circuses of the present day; there -was a single tier of boxes, a pit running round the circle, and a -gallery behind, separated from the pit by a grating, which caused the -‘gods’ to be likened to the wild beasts in Cross’s menagerie, Exeter -Change. There was no orchestra, but a few musicians sat in a stage box -on each side. The chandelier was a present from the king. The building -was licensed for music, dancing, and equestrian performances, and called -the Olympic Pavilion. It passed in 1812 into the possession of Elliston, -who purchased it, with the remaining term of the lease, for two thousand -eight hundred pounds and an annuity of twenty pounds contingent on the -continuance of the license. The annuity soon ceased to be payable, for -Elliston opened the theatre for burlettas and musical farces in 1813, -and it was closed a few weeks afterwards by order of the Lord -Chamberlain, on the ground that the license had been granted on the -supposition that the theatre was to be used for the same kind of -entertainment as had been given by Astley, and only during the same -portion of the year. - -The Amphitheatre continued to be conducted in the same manner as it had -been when in the hands of the proprietor, and brought before the public -a succession of clever equestrians, tumblers, and rope-dancers. In a -bill of 1807 we first meet with the name of Hengler, its then owner -being a performer of some celebrity on the tight-rope. The travelling -circuses which were springing into existence at this time, both in -England and on the continent, furnished the lessees with a constant -succession of _artistes_; and the admirably trained horses fairly -divided the attention of the public with the biped performers. - -Philip Astley was the best breaker and trainer of horses then living. He -bought his horses in Smithfield, seldom giving more than five pounds for -one, and selecting them for their docility, without regard to symmetry -or colour. He seems to have been the first equestrian who taught horses -to dance, the animals going through the figure, and stepping in time to -the music. One of his horses, called Billy, would lift a kettle off a -fire, and arrange the tea equipage for company, in a manner which -elicited rounds of applause. He was a very playful animal, and would -play with Astley and the grooms like a kitten. His owner was once -induced to lend him for a week or two to Abraham Saunders, who had been -brought up by Astley, and was at that time, as well as at many other -times, involved in pecuniary difficulties. While Billy was in the -possession of Saunders, he was seized for debt, with the borrower’s own -stud, and sold before his owner could be communicated with. Two of -Astley’s company, happening shortly afterwards to be perambulating the -streets of the metropolis, were surprised to see Billy harnessed to a -cart. They could scarcely believe their eyes, but could doubt no longer -when the animal, on receiving a signal to which he was accustomed, -pricked up his ears, and began to caper and curvet in a manner seldom -seen out of the circle. His new owner was found in a public-house, and -was not unwilling to part with him, as Billy, ‘though a main -good-tempered creature,’ as he told the equestrians, ‘is so full o’ all -manner of tricks that we calls him the Mountebank.’ - -Saunders, at this time a prisoner for debt in the now demolished Fleet -Prison, was well known as a showman and equestrian for three quarters of -a century. Many who remember him as the proprietor of a travelling -circus, visiting the fairs throughout the south of England, are not -aware that he once had a lease of the old Royalty Theatre, and that in -1808 he opened, as a circus, the concert-rooms afterwards known as the -Queen’s Theatre, now the Prince of Wales’s. After experiencing many -vicissitudes, he fell in his old age into poverty, owing to two heavy -losses, namely, by the burning of the Royalty Theatre, and by the -drowning of fifteen horses at sea, the vessel in which they were being -transported being wrecked in a storm. In his latter years, he was the -proprietor of a penny ‘gaff’ at Haggerstone, and, being prosecuted for -keeping it, drove to Worship Street police-court in a box on wheels, -drawn by a Shetland pony, and presented himself before the magistrate in -a garment made of a bearskin. He was then in his ninetieth year, and -died two years afterwards, in a miserable lodging in Mill Street, -Lambeth Walk. - -There is a story told of Astley, by way of illustration of his ignorance -of music, which, if true, would show that the Amphitheatre boasted an -orchestra even in these early years of its existence. The nature of the -story requires us to suppose that the orchestral performers were then -engaged for the first time; and, as we are told by Fitzball that the -occasion was the rehearsal of a hippo-dramatic spectacle, it seems -probable that there is some mistake, and that the anecdote should be -associated with Ducrow, instead of with his precursor, no performances -of that kind having been given at the Amphitheatre in Astley’s time. But -Fitzball may have been in error as to the occasion. As the story goes, -Astley, on some of the musicians suspending their performances, demanded -the reason. - -‘It is a rest,’ returned the leader. - -‘Let them go on, then,’ said the equestrian. ‘I pay them to play, not to -rest.’ - -Presently a chromatic passage occurred. - -‘What do you call that?’ demanded Astley. ‘Have you all got the -stomach-ache?’ - -‘It is a chromatic passage,’ rejoined the leader, with a smile. - -‘Rheumatic passage?’ said Astley, not comprehending the term. ‘It is in -your arm, I suppose; but I hope you’ll get rid of it before you play -with the people in front.’ - -‘You misunderstand me, Mr Astley,’ returned the leader. ‘It is a -chromatic passage; all the instruments have to run up the passage.’ - -‘The devil they do!’ exclaimed Astley. ‘Then I hope they’ll soon run -back again, or the audience will think they are running away.’ - -Hitherto the quadrupeds whose docility and intelligence rendered them -available for the entertainment of the public had been limited to the -circle; but in 1811 the example was set at Covent Garden of introducing -horses, elephants, and camels on the stage. This was done in the grand -cavalcade in _Bluebeard_, the first representation of which was attended -with a singular accident. A trap gave way under the camel ridden by an -actor named Gallot, who saved his own neck or limbs from dislocation or -fracture, by throwing himself off as the animal sank down. He was -unhurt, but the camel was so much injured by the fall that it died -before it could be extricated. The elephant, though docile enough, could -not be induced to go upon the stage until one of the ladies of the -ballet, who had become familiar with the animal during the rehearsals, -led it on by one of its ears. This went so well with the audience, that -the young lady repeated the performance at every representation of the -spectacle. - -Philip Astley died in Paris, at the ripe age of seventy-two, in -1814,—the year in which the celebrated Ducrow made his first appearance -on the stage as Eloi, the dumb boy, in the _The Forest of Bondy_. The -Amphitheatre was conducted, after the death of its founder, by his son, -John Astley, in conjunction with Davis; but not without opposition. The -Surrey had ceased to present equestrian performances under the -management of Elliston; but in 1815, on his lease expiring, it was taken -by Dunn, Heywood, and Branscomb, who were encouraged by the success of -Astley to convert it into a circus. The experiment was not, however, a -successful one. - -In the following year, Vauxhall Gardens assumed the form and character -by which they were known to the present generation; and the celebrated -Madame Saqui was engaged for a tight-rope performance, in which she had -long been famous in Paris. She was then in her thirty-second year, and -even then far from prepossessing, her masculine cast of countenance and -development of muscle giving her the appearance of a little man, rather -than of the attractive young women we are accustomed to see on the -_corde elastique_ in this country. Her performance created a great -sensation, however, and she was re-engaged for the two following -seasons. She mounted the rope at midnight, in a dress glistening with -tinsel and spangles, and wearing a nodding plume of ostrich feathers on -her head; and became the centre of attraction for the thousands who -congregated to behold her ascent from the gallery, under the brilliant -illumination of the fireworks that rained their myriads of sparks around -her. - -Andrew Ducrow, who now came into notice, was born in Southwark, in 1793, -in which year his father, Peter Ducrow, who was a native of Bruges, -appeared at Astley’s as the Flemish Hercules, in a performance of feats -of strength. Andrew was as famous in his youthful days as a pantomimist -as he subsequently became as an equestrian, and was the originator of -the _poses plastiques_, the performance in which he first attracted -attention, and which was at that time a novel feature of circus -entertainments, being a series of studies of classical statuary on the -back of a horse. He appeared at the Amphitheatre during only one season, -however, leaving England shortly afterwards, accompanied by several -members of his family, to fulfil engagements on the continent. The first -of these was with Blondin’s Cirque Olympique, then in Holland. He had at -this time only one horse; but, as his gains increased with his fame, he -was soon enabled to procure others, until he had as many as six. After -performing at several of the principal towns in Belgium and France, he -was engaged, with his family and stud, for Franconi’s Cirque, where he -was the first to introduce the equestrian pageant termed an _entrée_. -There he exhibited his double acts of Cupid and Zephyr, Red Riding Hood, -&c., in which he was accompanied by his sister, a child of three or four -years old, whose performances were at that time unequalled. - -Simultaneously with the rise of Ducrow, the well-known names of Clarke -and Bradbury appear in circus records. When Barrymore, the lessee of the -Coburg Theatre (now the Victoria), opened Astley’s in the autumn of 1819 -for a limited winter season, his company was joined by John Clarke, -fresh from saw-dust triumphs at Liverpool, and Bradbury, who was the -first representative on the equestrian stage of Dick Turpin, the -renowned highwayman, whose famous ride to York had not then been related -by Ainsworth, but was preserved in the sixpenny books, with folding -coloured plates, which constituted the favourite reading of boys fifty -years ago. Clarke’s little daughter, only five years of age, made her -appearance on the tight-rope in the following year, when Madame Saqui -re-appeared at Vauxhall, and was one of the principal attractions of -that season. - -John Astley survived his father only a few years, dying in 1821, on the -same day of the year, in the same house, and in the same room, as his -more famous progenitor. After his death the Amphitheatre was conducted -for a few years by Davis alone; and by him hippo-dramatic spectacles, -the production of which afterwards made Ducrow so famous, and which -greatly extended the popularity of Astley’s, were first introduced -there. Davis also signalized his management by the introduction of a -camel on the stage for the first time in a circus, the occasion being -the production of the romantic spectacle of _Alexander the Great and -Thalestris the Amazon_. - -In the circle a constant variety of attractive, and often novel, feats -of horsemanship and gymnastics continued to be presented. All through -the season of 1821 the great attraction in the circle was the graceful -riding of a young lady named Bannister—probably the daughter of the -circus proprietor of that name, whose name we shall presently meet with, -and who had, shortly before that time, fallen into difficulties. During -the following season the public were attracted by the novel and -sensational performance of Jean Bellinck on the flying rope, stretched -across the pit at an altitude of nearly a hundred feet, according to the -bills, in which a little exaggeration was probably indulged. The great -attraction of 1823 was Longuemare’s ascent of a rope from the stage to -the gallery, amidst fireworks, which had been the sensation of the -preceding season at Vauxhall Gardens, where, at the same time, Ramo -Samee, the renowned Indian juggler, made his first appearance in this -country. - - - - - CHAPTER III. - -Ducrow at Covent Garden—Engagement at Astley’s—Double Acts in the - circle—Ducrow at Manchester—Rapid Act on Six Horses—‘Raphael’s - Dream’—Miss Woolford—Cross’s performing Elephant—O’Donnel’s - Antipodean Feats—First year of Ducrow and West—Henry Adams—Ducrow at - Hull—The Wild Horse of the Ukraine—Ducrow at Sheffield—Travelling - Circuses—An Entrée at Holloway’s—Wild’s Show—Constantine, the - Posturer—Circus Horses—Tenting at Fairs—The Mountebanks. - - -When Elliston produced the spectacle of the _Cataract of the Ganges_ at -Drury Lane Theatre, in 1823, Bunn, who was then lessee of Covent Garden -Theatre, was induced by its success to engage Ducrow, who made his first -appearance at that theatre on Easter Monday, 1824, in the lyrical and -spectacular drama of _Cortez_. Davis, fearing a rival in the famous -equestrian, offered him an engagement at Astley’s, where he soon became -the chief attraction. - -The double act of Cupid and Zephyr, now represented by himself and his -wife, was received with as much applause as it had elicited at -Franconi’s; and a perfect _furore_ was created when he appeared on two -bare-back horses, as an Indian hunter. Cline’s rope-walking feats varied -the programme of the circle in 1826, and in the following year Ducrow, -having first given the performance with immense success at Manchester, -introduced his great feat, then unparalleled, of riding six horses at -the same time, in his rapid act as a Russian courier. - -Fresh novelties were produced in 1828, the most attractive being the -equestrian act called ‘Raphael’s Dream,’ in which Ducrow reproduced, on -horseback, the finest conceptions of the sculptors of ancient Greece, -receiving immense applause at every exhibition. Miss Woolford and George -Cooke made their first appearance at Astley’s in this year, in a double -performance on the tight-rope, in which the former _artiste_ was for a -long time without a rival. Aptitude for this exhibition seems, as in -other branches of circus business, to be hereditary; and a Miss Woolford -may have been found as a tight-rope performer in some circus or other -any time within the last half-century. I remember seeing a tight-rope -performer of this name in a little show which attended the July fair at -Croydon about thirty years ago. - -Ducrow’s stud was engaged this year for Vauxhall Gardens, where the -hippo-dramatic spectacle of _The Battle of Waterloo_ was revived, and -proved as attractive as it had been some years previously at Astley’s. -The year 1828 is also memorable for the first introduction of an -elephant into the arena, a colossal performing animal of that genus -being brought, with its keeper, from Cross’s menagerie, which many -readers, even old residents in the metropolis, may require to be -informed had its location on the site of what afterwards became Exeter -Arcade, in the rear of the houses on the north side of the Strand, -between Exeter Street and Catherine Street. The elephant was also led in -the bridal procession which constituted one of the displays of the -quadrupedal resources of the establishment in the spectacular drama of -_Bluebeard_. - -In travelling over the records of saw-dust performances, we are -frequently reminded of the saying of the wise monarch of Israel, that -there is no new thing under the sun. The bills of Astley’s, the -advertisements of the Royal Circus and the Olympic Pavilion, the -traditions of travelling circuses, present us with the originals of -almost every feat that the acrobats and posturers of the present day -have ever attempted. Ducrow, it has been seen, was the originator of the -_poses plastiques_, revived and made famous a quarter of a century ago -by Madame Wharton and troupe, at the Walhalla, in Leicester Square, and -subsequently by Harry Boleno, the clown, at the Alhambra. Another -instance comes under notice in 1829, when a performer named O’Donnel -exhibited at Astley’s the antipodean feats performed a few years ago at -the London Pavilion, and other music-halls, by Jean Bond. O’Donnel -mounted a ladder, stood on his head on the top of one of the uprights, -kicked away the other, with all its rungs, and in that position drank a -glass of wine, and performed several tricks. The kicking away of the -unfixed portion of the ladder invariably creates a sensation among the -spectators, but adds nothing to the difficulty or danger of the -performance. - -On the lease of the Amphitheatre expiring in 1830, the owner of the -premises raised the rent so much that Davis relinquished the -undertaking. Ducrow, who possessed much of the energy and enterprise by -which Philip Astley had been distinguished, saw his opportunity at once, -and, obtaining a partner in William West, took the lease on the terms -which his less enterprising predecessor had shrunk from. He produced a -gorgeous Eastern spectacle, and engaged Stickney and young Bridges for -the circle. Stickney was an admirable equestrian, the first of the many -famous riders who have learned their art on the other side of the -Atlantic, where he had already achieved a considerable reputation. -Bridges was a rope-dancer, and gained great applause by turning a -somersault on the rope, a feat which he appears to have been the first -to perform. Later in the season, Henry Adams (the father of Charles -Adams) made his appearance as a performer of rapid acts of equitation, -the travelling circus which he had lately owned having passed into the -possession of his late groom, John Milton. - -During the portion of this year when Astley’s was closed, Ducrow and his -company, bipeds and quadrupeds, performed for a short time at Hull. -Returning to the metropolis, he opened the Amphitheatre for the season -of 1831 with the spectacular drama of _Mazeppa_, the only enduring -performance of the kind with which Astley’s was for so many years -associated. Most of them, elaborately as they were got up,—for Ducrow -never spared expense,—and attractive as they proved at the time of their -production, owed their popularity to recent military events; but the -fortunes of the daring youth immortalized by the genius of Byron, and -the headlong flight of the wild horse of the Ukraine, have proved an -unfailing source of attraction, and made _Mazeppa_ the trump-card of -every hippo-dramatic manager who possesses or can borrow a white horse -qualified to enact the part of the ‘fiery, untamed steed’ upon whose -bare back the hero is borne into the steppes of the Don Cossack country. - -Adams and Stickney continued to attract in the circle, but Ducrow -engaged in addition an acrobatic performer named Williams, who turned -tourbillions at the height of twelve feet from the ground, and repeated -them through hoops at the same height, over a tilted waggon, over eight -horses, and, finally, over a troop of mounted cavalry. The famous -performing elephant, Mdlle Jeck, also made its appearance during this -season. When the Amphitheatre closed, Ducrow took his company and stud -to Sheffield, where he had had an immense structure of a temporary -character erected for their performances. He ruined the prospect of a -successful provincial season, however, by indulgence of his overbearing -disposition, which manifested itself on all occasions, in and out of the -arena. The Master Cutler and Town Council determined to patronize the -circus officially, and appeared at the head of a cortege of between -forty and fifty carriages, containing the principal manufacturers and -their families. But, on the Master Cutler sending his card to Ducrow, in -the anticipation of being personally received, Ducrow replied, through -one of his subordinates, that he only waited upon crowned heads, and not -upon a set of dirty knife-grinders. The astounded and indignant chief -magistrate immediately ordered his coachman to turn about, and the -entire cavalcade returned to the Town Hall, where a ball was improvised, -instead of the intended visit to the circus. Thus Ducrow’s prospects in -the hardware borough were ruined by his own hasty temper and overbearing -disposition. - -It is now time to say a few words about the travelling circuses that had -been springing into existence during the preceding fifteen or sixteen -years, and some of which have already been mentioned. The northern and -midland counties were travelled at this time by Holloway’s, Milton’s, -Wild’s, and Bannister’s; the eastern, southern, and western by -Saunders’s, Cooke’s, Samwell’s, and Clarke’s. We find Holloway in -possession of the circus at Sheffield after its vacation by Ducrow. -Wallett, who first comes into observation about this time, was one of -Holloway’s clowns, and also did posturing, and played Simkin in saw-dust -ballets. He states, in his autobiography, that they opened with a -powerful company and a numerous stud; but it seems that there were not a -dozen of the troupe, including grooms, who could ride. The first item in -the programme for the opening night was an _entrée_ of twelve, five of -whom were thrown off their horses before the round of the circle had -been made, one of them having three of his fingers broken. The horses do -not appear to have been in fault, for they continued their progress as -steadily as if nothing had happened. Wallett accounts for this untoward -incident by stating that the dismounted cavaliers were clowns and -acrobats, and that few members of those sections of the profession can -ride; but, considering that grooms could have been made available, a -‘powerful company’ should have been able to mount twelve horses for an -_entrée_ without putting into the saddle men who could not ride. - -James Wild’s show was a small concern, combining a drama, _à la -Richardson_, with the performances of a tight-rope dancer and a -fortune-telling pony. Wallett, who had made his first appearance before -the public as a ‘super’ at the theatre of his native town, Hull, when -Ducrow was there, and had afterwards clowned on the outside of Charles -Yeoman’s Royal Pavilion at Gainsborough fair, joined Wild’s show at -Leeds, but soon transferred his talent to a rival establishment. Both -shows were soon afterwards at Keighley fair, for which occasion Wild had -engaged four acrobats from London, named Constantine, Heng, Morris, and -Whitton. The popularity of Ducrow’s representations of Grecian statuary -had induced Constantine to study them, and having provided himself with -the requisite properties, he exhibited them very successfully in Wild’s -show. - -The proprietor of the rival establishment was in agony, for his loudest -braying through a speaking-trumpet, and the wildest beating of his gong, -did not avail to stop the rush to Wild’s which left the front of his own -show deserted. Wallett ruminated over the situation, and at night sought -Constantine, and made overtures to him for the purchase of his tights -and ‘props.’ The acrobat entertained them,—perhaps the bargain was very -liberally wetted,—and Wallett became the triumphant possessor of the -means of personating Ajax and Achilles, and all the gods and heroes of -Homer’s classic pages. Next day, the show in which he was engaged was -crowded to see him ‘do the Grecian statues,’ while Wild’s was deserted, -Constantine dejected, and his employer despairing. - -Bannister’s circus travelled Scotland and the northern counties of -England, and it is a noteworthy point in his history that David Roberts -was engaged by its proprietor as scene painter when he added a stage and -a company of pantomimists to the attractions of the ring. This was in -1817, when the circus was located in Edinburgh, and the future R.A. had -just completed his apprenticeship to a house-painter. Roberts says, in -his diary, that he could never forget the tremor he felt, the faintness -that came over him, when he ascended to the second floor of the house in -Nicholson Street in which Bannister lodged, and, after much hesitation, -mustered courage to ring the bell. Bannister received him very kindly, -looked at his drawings, and engaged him to paint a set of wings for a -palace. The canvas was brought, and laid down on the floor, and Roberts -began to work there and then. At the close of the circus season, he was -engaged at a salary of twenty-five shillings a week to travel with the -company into England, paint all the scenery and properties that might be -required, and make himself generally useful. Roberts says that he found -that the last clause of the contract involved the necessity of taking -small parts in pantomimes, which, he says, he rather over-did than -under-did. His circus experiences were brief, however, for Bannister -became bankrupt before long, and Roberts betook himself to -house-painting again until he was engaged by Corri to paint scenery for -the Pantheon, at Edinburgh. It may be remarked that he received no -higher salary from Corri than from Bannister, and did not reach thirty -shillings a week until he was engaged as scene-painter to the theatre at -Glasgow. - -The tenting circuses of those days were on a more limited scale than -those of the present time, and were met with chiefly at fairs. They had -seldom more than three or four horses, of which perhaps only two -appeared in the circle. Their proprietors were not so regardless of -colour as Philip Astley was, and favoured cream-coloured, pied, and -spotted horses. While the acrobats performed ‘flips’ and hand springs, -and the clown cracked his ‘wheezes,’ on the outside, while the -proprietor beat his gong, or bawled through a speaking-trumpet his -invitations to the spectators to ‘walk up,’ the horses stood in a row on -the platform; and when the proprietor shouted ‘all in, to begin!’ the -animals were led or ridden down the steps in front, and taken round to -the entrance at the side, whence they emerged on the conclusion of the -performance, to ascend the steps, and resume their position on the -platform. The performances were short, consisting of two or three acts -of horsemanship, some tumbling, and a tight-rope performance; but they -were repeated from noon till near midnight as often as the seats could -be filled. - -Even in the palmy days of fairs, the vicissitudes of showmen were a -marked feature of their lives, owing, in part at least, to their -dependence upon the weather for success, and the variability of the -English climate. A wet fair was a serious matter for them, and the -October fair at Croydon, one of the best in the south, seldom passed -over without rain, which sometimes reduced the field to such a state of -quagmire that hurdles had to be laid down upon the mud for the -pleasure-seekers to walk upon. Saunders, as we have seen, was seldom out -of difficulties; and Clarke had not always even a tent, but pitched his -ring in a field, or on a common, in the open air, after the manner of -Philip Astley and his predecessors, Price and Sampson, in the early days -of equestrian performances. He did not, however, make a -collection—called in the slang of the profession, ‘doing a nob,’—but -made his gains by the sale, at a shilling each, of tickets for a kind of -‘lucky-bag’ speculation among the spectators whom the performances -attracted to the spot. Sometimes additional _éclat_ would be given to -the event by the announcement that a greasy pole would be climbed by -competitors for the leg of mutton affixed to the top, or a piece of -printed cotton would be offered as a prize for the winner in a race, for -which only girls were allowed to enter. Then, while the equestrian of -the company enacted the Drunken Hussar, or the Sailor’s Return, or Billy -Button’s ride to Brentford, the acrobats would walk round with the -tickets; or the equestrian would condescend to do so, while the Polish -Brothers tied themselves up in knots, or wriggled between the rungs of a -ladder, or Miss Clarke delighted the spectators by her graceful -movements upon the tight-rope. The business concluded with the drawing -for prizes, which were few in proportion to the blanks, and consisted of -plated tea-pots and milk jugs, work-boxes, japanned tea-trays, silk -handkerchiefs, &c. This kind of entertainment was given within the last -forty years; but Clarke was then an old man, and with his death the race -of the mountebanks, as they were popularly called, became extinct. - -The last section of a mock Act of Parliament published about this time -gives a good idea of the clown’s business five-and-thirty years ago, and -affords the means of comparing the circus wit and humour of that period -with the laughter-provocatives of the Merrymans of the present day. It -runs as follows:— - -‘_And be it further enacted_, that when the scenes in the circus -commence, the Merriman, Grotesque, or Clown shall not, after the first -equestrian feat, exclaim, “Now I’ll have a turn to myself,” previous to -his toppling like a coach-wheel round the ring; nor shall he fall flat -on his face, and then collecting some saw-dust in his hands drop it down -from the level of his head, and say his nose bleeds; nor shall he -attempt to make the rope-dancer’s balance-pole stand on its end by -propping it up with the said saw-dust; nor shall he, after chalking the -performer’s shoes, conclude by chalking his own nose, to prevent his -foot from slipping when he treads on it; nor shall he take long pieces -of striped cloth for Mr Stickney to jump over, while his horse goes -under; previous to which he shall not pull the groom off the stool, who -holds the other end of the same cloth, neither shall he find any -difficulty in holding it at the proper level; nor, after having held it -higher and lower, shall he ask, “Will that do?” and, on being answered -in the affirmative, he shall not jump down, and put his hands in his -pockets, saying, “I’m glad of it;” nor shall he pick up a small piece of -straw, for fear he should fall over it, and afterwards balance the said -straw on his chin as he runs about. Neither shall the Master of the Ring -say to the Merriman, Grotesque, or Clown, when they are leaving the -circus, “I never follow the fool, sir;” nor shall the fool reply, “Then -I do,” and walk out after him; nor, moreover, shall the Clown say that -“the horses are as clever as the barber who shaved bald magpies at -twopence a dozen;” nor tell the groom in the red jacket and top boots, -when he takes the said horses away, to “rub them well down with -cabbage-puddings, for fear they should get the collywobbleums in their -pandenoodles;” such speeches being manifestly very absurd and -incomprehensible. - -‘_Saving always_, that the divers ladies and gentlemen, young ladies and -young gentlemen, maid-servants, apprentices, and little boys, who -patronise the theatre, should see no reason why the above alterations -should be made; under which circumstances, they had better remain as -they are.’ - - - - - CHAPTER IV. - -A few words about Menageries—George Wombwell—The Lion Baitings at - Warwick—Atkins’s Lion and Tigress at Astley’s—A Bull-fight and a - Zebra Hunt—Ducrow at the Pavilion—The Stud at Drury Lane—Letter from - Wooler to Elliston—Ducrow and the Drury ‘Supers’—Zebras on the - Stage—The first Arab Troupe—Contention between Ducrow and Clarkson - Stanfield—Deaths of John Ducrow and Madame Ducrow—Miss Woolford. - - -Circuses and menageries are now so frequently associated, and the -inmates of the latter have at all times been so frequently brought into -connection with the former, that it becomes desirable, at this stage of -the record, to say a few words about the zoological collections of -former times. Without going back to the formation of the royal menagerie -in the Tower of London in the thirteenth century, it may be stated that, -when that appendage of regal state was abolished, most of the animals -were purchased by an enterprising speculator named Cross, who located -them at Exeter Change. The want of sufficient space there subsequently -induced Cross to remove the collection to the site afterwards known as -the Surrey Gardens, where, under the more favourable conditions as to -space, light, and air afforded by that locality, it long rivalled that -of the Royal Zoological Society, which had, in the mean time, grown up -on the north side of Regent’s Park. - -The travelling menageries probably grew, on a small scale, side by side, -as it were, with the royal collection at the Tower, until they developed -into such exhibitions as, half a century ago, travelled from fair to -fair, in company with Richardson’s and Gyngell’s theatres, Cooke’s and -Samwell’s circuses, Algar’s dancing booth, and the pig-faced lady. -Wombwell’s menagerie was formed about 1805, and Atkins’s must have begun -travelling soon afterwards. These two shows were for many years among -the chief attractions of the great fairs, in the days when fairs were -annual red-letter days in the calendar of the young, and even the upper -classes of society did not deem it beneath their dignity to patronize -the itinerant menagerie and the tenting circus. - -‘Wombwell’s,’ said the reporter of a London morning journal, about three -years ago, by way of introducing a report of the sale of Fairgrieves’s -menagerie, ‘had its great show traditions; for its founder was a showman -of no ordinary enterprise and skill. He built up the menagerie, so to -speak, and he made it by far the finest travelling collection of wild -animals in the country. His heart was in his work, and he spared nothing -that could help it forward. Tales of his enterprise are many. He never -missed Bartlemy fair as long as it was held; once, however, he was very -near doing so. His show was at Newcastle within a fortnight of -Bartlemy’s, and there were no railways. He had given up all intention of -going to the fair; but, being in London buying specimens, he found that -his rival—a man named Atkins—was advertising that his would be the only -wild beast show at the fair. - -‘Forthwith Wombwell posted down to Newcastle, struck his tent, and began -to move southward. By dint of extraordinary exertions he reached London -on the morning of the fair. But a terrible loss was his. The one -elephant in the collection—a fine brute—had so over-exerted itself on -the journey that it died just as it arrived at the fair. Atkins thought -to make capital of this, and placarded at once that he had “the only -live elephant in the fair.” Wombwell saw his chance, and had a huge -canvas painted, bearing the words that within his show was to be seen -“the only dead elephant in the fair.” There never was a greater success; -a live elephant was not a great rarity, but the chance of seeing a dead -elephant came only once now and then. Atkins’s was deserted; Wombwell’s -was crowded.’ - -It is not easy to reconcile the keen rivalry between the two shows which -this story is intended to illustrate with the fact that they never -visited Croydon fair together, but always agreed to take that popular -resort in their tours in alternate years. The story may be true, or it -may be as apocryphal as that of the lion and dog fights with which the -readers of another London morning journal were entertained three months -previously, when the tragical incident of the death of the lion-tamer, -Macarthy, had invested leonine matters with more than ordinary interest. - -‘Did you ever hear of old Wallace’s fight with the dogs?’ an -ex-lion-tamer was reported as having said to the gentleman by whom the -conversation was communicated to the journal. - -‘George Wombwell was at very low water, and not knowing how to get his -head up again, he thought of a fight between an old lion he had -sometimes called Wallace, sometimes Nero, and a dozen of mastiff dogs. -Wallace was tame as a sheep—I knew him well—I wish all lions were like -him. The prices of admission ranged from a guinea up to five guineas, -and had the menagerie been three times as large it would have been full. -It was a queer go, and no mistake! Sometimes the old lion would scratch -a lump out of a dog, and sometimes the dogs would make as if they were -going to worry the old lion, but neither side showed any serious fight; -and at length the patience of the audience got exhausted and they went -away in disgust. George’s excuse was, “We can’t make ’em fight, can we, -if they won’t?” There was no getting over this; and George cleared over -two thousand pounds by the night’s work.’ - -In this account two different animals are confounded; the old lion, -whose name was Nero, and a younger, but full-grown one, named Wallace. -The blunder is strange and unaccountable in one who professes to have -known the animals and their keeper, and renders it probable that he is -altogether in error about the fight he describes. The newspapers and -sporting magazines of the period—about fifty years ago—describe two -lion-baitings, which took place in Wombwell’s menagerie in the Old -Factory Yard, at Warwick; and some vague report or dim recollection of -them seems to have been in the mind of the ‘ex-lion-king,’ when he -dictated the graphic narrative for the morning journal. The fights were -said to have originated in a bet between two sporting gentlemen, and the -dogs were not mastiffs, but bull-dogs. The first fight, the incidents of -which were similar in character to those described by the -‘ex-lion-king,’ was between Nero and the dogs; and, this not being -considered satisfactory, a second encounter was arranged, in which -Wallace was substituted for the old lion, with very different results. -Every dog that faced the lion was killed or disabled, the last that did -so being carried about in the lion’s mouth as a rat is by a terrier or a -cat. - -I may add, that I have a perfect recollection of both the lions, having -made their acquaintance at Croydon fair when a very small boy. I -remember the excitement which was once created amongst the visitors to -that fair by Wombwell’s announcement that he had on exhibition that most -wonderful animal, the ‘bonassus,’ being the first specimen which had -ever been brought to Europe. As no one had ever seen, heard, or read of -such an animal before, the curious flocked in crowds to see the beast, -which proved to be a very fine male specimen of the bison, or American -buffalo. Under the name given to it by Wombwell, it found its way into -the epilogue of the Westminster play as one of the wonders of the day. -It was afterwards purchased by the Zoological Society; but it had been -enfeebled by confinement and disease, and died soon after its removal to -the Society’s gardens in the Regent’s Park. The Hudson’s Bay Company -supplied its place by presenting a young cow, which lived there for many -years. - -Atkins had a very fine collection of the feline genus, and was famous -for the production of hybrids between the lion and the tigress. The cubs -so produced united some of the external characteristics of both parents, -their colour being tawny, marked while they were young with dark -stripes, such as may be observed in the fur of black kittens, the -progeny of a tabby cat. These markings disappeared, however, as they do -in the cat, as the lion-tigers attained maturity, at which time the -males had the mane entirely deficient, or very little developed. I -remember seeing a male puma and a leopardess in the same cage in this -menagerie, but am unable to state whether the union was fruitful. - -Atkins’s lion and tigress, with their playful cubs, were engaged by -Ducrow and West as one of the attractions of the season of 1832, and -were introduced to the frequenters of Astley’s by their keeper, Winney. -A zebra hunt was also exhibited in the circle, in which four zebras -appeared; and with this novel spectacle was combined, on the occasion of -Ducrow’s benefit, a mimic representation of a Spanish bull-fight, in -which the great equestrian enacted the part of the matador. When a -similar exhibition was got up, many years afterwards, at the Alhambra, -during the time when it was temporarily converted into a circus, a horse -was trained to wear the horns and hide of an ox, and do duty for Toro; -and, though I have not been able to verify the fact, this was probably -the case at Astley’s. - -It was during this season that Ducrow had the honour of performing -before William IV., who ordered a temporary amphitheatre to be erected -within the grounds of the Pavilion at Brighton, in order that he might -witness the performances of this celebrated equestrian, which included -several of his most admired feats of horsemanship. - -In the following year the bull-fight was repeated, and the zebras -re-appeared in the spectacle of _Aladdin_. After the Amphitheatre was -closed the stud appeared at Drury Lane, instead of going into the -provinces; and this arrangement between Elliston and the lessees of -Astley’s was repeated in more than one season. Elliston’s biographer -relates that when the stud was engaged for Croly’s _Enchanted Courser_, -the horses and their grooms were at the stage door of Drury Lane -Theatre, at the time fixed for the first rehearsal, but there was no one -to direct the important share which they were to take in the -performance. A note was sent to Ducrow, who replied that his agreement -with Elliston only related to the horses. This was found to be correct, -though undoubtedly an oversight on the part of Elliston, the Drury Lane -manager, who had to make a second agreement with Ducrow for his personal -services in superintending the training of the horses, and the general -arrangement of the scenes in which they were to be introduced. - -The introduction of horses on the stage of Drury Lane was the subject of -a letter to Elliston from Thomas Wooler, of _Yellow Dwarf_ fame, from -which the following passages, are extracted, as bearing upon the long -subsequent production of _Richard III._ at Astley’s, while under the -management of William Cooke. - -‘What think you of mounting Shakespeare’s heroes, as the bard himself -would rejoice they should be? Why not allow the wand of Ducrow to aid -the representation of his dramas, as well as the pencil of Stanfield? -“Saddle White Surrey” in good earnest, and, as from The Surrey you once -banished these animals, and have taken them up at Drury Lane, think of -doing them justice. I fancy your giving up the circle in St George’s -Fields, and bringing your stable into a Theatre Royal, a little -inconsistent; but no matter, it is done, and reminds me of a friend of -mine, who swept away his poultry-yard from his suitable villa at Fulham, -and yet kept cocks and hens in Fleet Street. - -‘But to return; instead of niggardly furnishing Richard and Richmond -with armies that do not muster the force of a serjeant’s guard, give -them an efficient force of horse and foot. Your two-legged actors would -be in arms against this project, but disregard their jealousy, and -remember that four to two are two to one in your favour. Richard should -march to the field in the full panoply of all your cavalry, and not -trudge like a poor pedlar, whom no one would dream of “interrupting in -his expedition,” He might impressively dismount in compliment to the -ladies; and when in the field he cries, “My kingdom for a horse!” the -audience might fairly deem such a price only a fair offer for the -recovery of so noble an animal. The audience would wish Hotspur to -manage his roan as well as his lady, and though amongst your spectators -there might be perhaps a grey mare, yet she would be content that -Hotspur should be the “better horse” for her night’s amusement.’ - -What Wallett says of the absence of a good seat on horseback from the -list of the qualifications of clowns and acrobats is true of actors, and -in a greater degree, in the sense, I mean, that is attached to riding by -professional entertainers of the public. The number of actors who can -ride at all is comparatively small; and among those who can, and who -make a decent figure in Rotten Row, there are probably not two who would -venture to gallop across a stage, and much less to take part in an -equestrian combat or joust. Hence it is only in the arena of a circus -that Richmond wins his crown as he did at Bosworth; and, though horses -were again introduced on the stage of Drury Lane in the drama of -_Rebecca_, they were not ridden by the actors whose names appeared in -the bills. The horses belonged to a circus company, and were ridden by -the practised equestrians accustomed to bestride them—‘doubles’ of the -Knight of Ivanhoe and Sir Brian Bois-Guilbert. - -When Bernard’s hippo-dramatic spectacle of _St George and the Dragon_ -was produced at Drury Lane, under the superintendence of Ducrow, who had -acquired great experience in the arrangement of equestrian cavalcades, -pageants, and tableaux, there was a great deal of trouble with the -supernumeraries, who were not accustomed to doing their business in the -manner expected from them by so accomplished a pantomimist as the lessee -of Astley’s. While the scene was being rehearsed in which the people -appear excitedly before the Egyptian king, with the news of the -devastation and dismay caused by the dragon, the ‘supers’ exhausted -Ducrow’s not very large stock of patience, and, after making them go -through their business two or three times, without any improvement, his -temper burst out, in his characteristic manner. - -‘Look here, you damned fools!’ he exclaimed. ‘You should rush up to the -King,—that chap there—and say, “Old fellow, the dragon has come, and we -are in a mess, and you must get us out of it.” The King says, “Go to -Brougham,” and you all go off to Brougham; and he says, “What the devil -do I know about the dragon? Go to your gods,” and your gods is that lump -of tow burning on that block of timber.’ - -This strange address was accompanied by an exhibition of the pantomimic -skill of which Ducrow possessed a greater degree than any man of his -day, and which was intended to impress the subordinate actors and -supernumeraries of the theatre with a correct idea of the manner in -which their business should be performed. - -This was Ducrow’s manner on all occasions. One morning, during the -season of 1833, he was on the stage, in his dressing-gown and slippers, -to witness the first rehearsal of a new feat by the German rope-walker, -Cline. The rope was stretched from the stage to the gallery, and the -performer was to ascend it, and return. Cline was a little nervous; -perhaps the rope had been arranged more in accordance with Ducrow’s -ideas than with his own. Whatever the cause, he hesitated to ascend the -rope, when Ducrow snatched the balancing-pole from his hands, and walked -up the rope in his slippers, his dressing-gown flapping about his legs -in the draught from the stage in a manner that caused his ascent to be -watched with no small amount of anxiety, though he did not appear to -feel the slightest trepidation himself. - -The special attractions in the circle during the season of 1834 were the -Vintner family, who presented a novel performance on two and three -ropes, with double and single ascensions, which had been much applauded -the year before at Franconi’s; and a troupe of Arab vaulters and -acrobats, who seem to have been the first of their race who had visited -Europe in that capacity. On the conclusion of the season at Astley’s, -the stud went again to Drury Lane, where Pocock’s spectacle of _King -Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table_ was produced. The production -of this piece was the occasion of an unfortunate contention between -Ducrow and Clarkson Stanfield, who was then scene-painter to Drury Lane. -The scenic artist had painted a beautiful view of Carlisle, which he -wished to be seen by the spectators before their attention was diverted -from it by the entry of Arthur and his knights. Ducrow crowded the stage -with men and horses, and wished, the curtain to rise upon this animated -spectacle—knights caracoling, banners waving, trumpets blaring, people -shouting their welcome. Bunn sided with Ducrow, and Stanfield retired -from his post, mortified and offended. - -Queen Adelaide witnessed the performance of this spectacle, as she had -that of the preceding season, and was so much gratified that she ordered -a hundred pounds to be distributed among the company. Count D’Orsay was -so pleased with it, that he presented Ducrow with a gold and -ivory-mounted dirk, and a pair of pistols inlaid with gold, which had -been worn by Lord Byron, and presented by him to the Count. - -Henry Adams was again a prominent member of Ducrow’s company in 1835, -when he appeared in the circle as the Mexican lasso-thrower, a part -which he performed with great dexterity. In the following year, the -Vintners and the Arabs were found a source of undiminished attraction, -but were joined with Price, called the Bounding Ball, who exhibited the -then unparalleled feat of throwing thirty somersaults. - -John Ducrow, brother of the renowned equestrian, who had been the -principal clown of the Amphitheatre during the preceding ten years, died -in 1834; and Andrew Ducrow’s first wife, the companion of his early -triumphs, died about two years afterwards. Widdicomb, who had been -ring-master of the establishment for many years, died the same year, at -the age of sixty-seven. Ducrow subsequently married Miss Woolford, who -had for several years been one of the leading attractions of his -establishment, and various members of whose family helped to supply the -travelling circuses with equestrians and tight-rope performers for a -long period. - - - - - CHAPTER V. - -Lions and Lion-tamers—Manchester Jack—Van Amburgh—Carter’s Feats—What is - a Tiger?—Lion-driving and Tiger-fighting—Van Amburgh and the Duke of - Wellington—Vaulting Competition between Price and North—Burning of - the Amphitheatre—Death of Ducrow—Equestrian Performances at the - Surrey Theatre—Travelling Circuses—Wells and Miller—Thomas Cooke—Van - Amburgh—Edwin Hughes—William Batty—Pablo Fanque. - - -He must have been a bold man who first undertook to tame and train a -lion. It has been jocosely remarked that he must have been a courageous -man who first ventured to eat an oyster; but a very different degree of -courage must have been possessed by the man who first ventured upon -familiarities with the tawny monarch of the African forests. The -distinction is attributed to Hanno, the Carthaginian general; but the -first public exhibition of trained lions was given in the Amphitheatre -at Rome, where Mark Antony, seated in a car, with a lady by his side, -drove a pair of lions round the arena. But we must come down to modern -times for the first exhibition of tamed and trained lions and tigers in -this country. Van Amburgh is generally credited with the distinction of -having been the first lion-tamer of modern times; but I remember seeing, -when a very small boy, the keeper of the lions in Wombwell’s menagerie -enter the cage of a fine old lion, Nero; and sit on the animal’s back, -open his mouth, &c. As this was more than forty years ago, the performer -must have been ‘Manchester Jack,’ who was enacting the part of ‘lion -king’ in Wombwell’s menagerie when Van Amburgh, an American of Dutch -descent, arrived in England with his trained lions, tigers, and -leopards. - -It has been said that arrangements were made for a trial of skill and -daring between the American and Manchester Jack, and that it was to have -taken place at Southampton, but fell through in consequence of Van -Amburgh showing the white feather. The story seems improbable, for Van -Amburgh’s daring in his performances has never been exceeded. - -‘Were you ever afraid?’ the Duke of Wellington once asked him. - -‘The first time I am afraid, your Grace,’ replied the lion-tamer, ‘or -that I fancy my pupils are no longer afraid of me, I shall retire from -the wild beast line.’ - -After having been killed in the newspapers half a dozen times, his back -broken twice, and his head once bitten off by a tiger, Van did retire, -undevoured, and died quietly in his bed about five years ago. Manchester -Jack also retired from the profession, and kept an inn at Taunton for -many years afterwards, dying in 1865. - -Van Amburgh and his trained animals were engaged by Ducrow and West -during the season of 1838 at Astley’s, and proved a great attraction. -Then came Carter, another lion-tamer, who appeared with his animals, in -a drama specially written for them, as Afghar, a lion-tamer, in which -part he drove a lion in harness and maintained a mimic fight with an -animal called in the bills a tiger. I have not been able to ascertain -whether this animal was really a tiger, a point upon which doubt arises -from the fact of Carter’s collection being announced as containing a -fine ‘Brazilian tiger,’ and from the application of the name by -travellers and colonists imperfectly acquainted with zoology to every -feline animal which is larger than a cat, and does not possess a mane. -The beautiful striped animal properly called a tiger has very -circumscribed range, being found only in the hot regions of Asia, south -of the Himalayan mountains and east of the Indus. But the South African -colonists call the leopard a tiger, and many travellers in the tropical -regions of America speak of the jaguar by that name. Carter’s ‘Brazilian -tiger’ was, of course, a jaguar; but his collection _may_ have contained -a veritable tiger, and it _may_ have been the latter animal that he -engaged in mimic conflict with on the stage. Tigers are not usually -sufficiently docile to be trusted in such performances; but the -possibility of their being so trained is proved by the fact that I saw a -struggle between a man and a tiger, about five and thirty years ago, in -a small show pitched on a piece of waste ground at Norwood. It was a -rather tame affair, however, and, coupled with the fact that the tiger -was the sole representative of the ‘group of trained animals’ announced -in the bills, caused my boyish disappointment to vent itself, as I -passed out of the show, in a remark on the discrepancy between the -promise and the performance. ‘What can you expect for a penny?’ was the -rejoinder of the shabby woman who acted as money-taker; and, though I -felt that I ought to have seen at least another animal, I passed on, -silently wondering how a tiger and several human beings could be fed -upon the scanty receipts of a little penny show; for there was a drama -produced, the hero of which was an English traveller, who underwent -harrowing adventures among savages and wild beasts in Central Africa. - -The ex-lion king, whose reminiscences and experiences were recorded -three years ago in a London morning journal, computes the number of -lions in this country at about fifty; but this seems erroneous, as there -were ten in Fairgrieve’s menagerie, and probably as many in each of the -other two shows into which Wombwell’s collection was divided at his -death, five in Manders’s, and five attached to Sanger’s circus, besides -those in Hilton’s, Day’s, and other menageries, Bell and Myers’s circus, -and the Zoological Gardens of London, Bristol, and Manchester. The -greater number of them have been bred in cages. These are cheaper than -the imported lions, but seldom attain so large a size as the latter. -Jamrach, of Ratcliffe Highway, is the agent through whom most of the -imported lions are procured. He has agents abroad, and also buys from -captains and stewards of ships, who sometimes bring home wild animals as -a commercial speculation. As I lay claim to no practical knowledge of -the business of lion-taming and lion-training, I quote here what the -‘ex-lion king’ said on the subject two years ago, in preference to -writing at random about it. - -‘The lion-tamer,’ we are told, ‘likes to get his beasts as young as he -can, because then they are more easily brought into order, although, no -doubt, there are many instances where a full-grown forest lion has been -trained to high perfection. The lion-tamer begins by taking the feeding -of them into his own hands, and so gets them to know him. He commences -feeding them from the outside of the den, then ventures inside to one at -a time, always carefully keeping his face to the animal, and avoiding -any violence, which is a mistake whenever it can be avoided, as it -rouses the dormant devil in the beasts. Getting to handle the lion, the -tamer begins by stroking him down the back, gradually working up to the -head, which he begins to scratch, and the lion, which, like a cat, likes -friction, begins to rub his head against the hand. When this familiarity -is well established, a board is handed in to the trainer, which he -places across the den, and teaches the lion to jump over it, using a -whip with a thong, but not for the purpose of punishment. Gradually this -board is heightened, the lion jumping over it at every stage; and then -come the hoops, &c., held on the top of the board to quicken the beast’s -understanding. To teach the animal to jump over the trainer, the latter -stoops alongside the board, so that when the lion clears one he clears -the other, and half a dozen lessons are ordinarily about sufficient to -teach this. To get a lion to lie down, and allow the tamer to stand on -him, is more difficult. It is done by flicking the beast over the back -with a small tickling whip, and at the same time pressing him down with -one hand. By raising his head, and taking hold of the nostril with the -right hand, and the under lip and lower jaw with the left, the lion, by -this pressure on the nostril and lip, loses greatly the power of his -jaws, so that a man can pull them open, and put his head inside the -beast’s mouth, the feat with which Van Amburgh’s name was so much -associated. The only danger is, lest the animal should raise one of its -fore-paws, and stick his talons in; and if he does, the tamer must stand -fast for his life till he has shifted the paw.’ - -This is a fool-hardy feat, in which a considerable amount of risk is -incurred, without exhibiting any intelligence, grace, or docility on the -part of the lion. But the concluding bit of advice is noteworthy, as -lions and tigers, like cats, sometimes extend their claws without -intending any mischief, and many injuries from them might be prevented -by presence of mind on the part of the exhibitor. - -Stickney re-appeared at Astley’s during the season of Van Amburgh and -Carter, and the vaulting performances of Price were supplemented by the -engagement of an American vaulter named North. Between these two famous -vaulters a competition took place in the circle, when the unprecedented -number of one hundred and twenty somersaults were turned by each man. - -Ducrow’s stud appeared, for a short season, in the summer of 1841, at -Vauxhall Gardens, returning to the Amphitheatre for the winter. His last -production was the _Dumb Man of Manchester_, and the performance of the -principal character in that drama was one of the most successful efforts -as a pantomimist which he ever exhibited. The conflagration by which the -Amphitheatre was destroyed for the third time gave such a shock to his -system that mental aberration and physical paralysis resulted, and he -died on the 27th of January 1842. His remains were interred in Kensal -Green cemetery, where the monument erected to his memory is one of the -most remarkable objects which arrest the eye of the visitor. - -The performers at Astley’s, biped and quadruped, found a temporary -refuge, after the conflagration, at the Surrey theatre, which, having -been originally an amphitheatre, admitted of ready adaptation to circus -requirements. The dramatic company being retained, a melo-drama was -first presented, and then the orchestra and a portion of the benches of -the pit were removed, and a ring formed in its place. During the -performance of the scenes in the circle the orchestra and the displaced -spectators occupied seats amphitheatrically arranged on the stage. The -original status was then restored and the performances concluded with -the popular hippodramatic spectacle of _Mazeppa_. - -As the taste for equestrian and acrobatic performances became more -widely diffused, amphitheatres were erected at Liverpool by Copeland, -and at Bristol, Birmingham, and Sheffield by James Ryan; while the -travelling circuses increased yearly in number and repute. Samwell’s was -still travelling, but the rapid increase of wealth and population in the -northern towns, consequent upon the development of manufactures, had -induced its proprietor to leave the southern circuit, and pitch his show -near the great industrial hives of Yorkshire and Lancashire. - -New names are presented to us in Wells and Miller, in whose circus, then -located at Wakefield, Wallett first assumed the distinctive designation -of ‘the Shakspearian Jester.’ Tom Barry, afterwards so well known in -connection with Astley’s, was then clowning in Samwell’s circus. Wells -and Miller soon dissolved their partnership, and the former started a -separate concern, opening a very fine circus at Dewsbury. - -Thomas Cooke, after a professional tour in the United States, returned -to England and opened at Hull, afterwards visiting the principal towns -in the northern and midland counties. Van Amburgh also, obtaining a -partner with capital, started a circus with his performing lions, -tigers, and leopards as an adjunct of no inconsiderable attractiveness. -One of John Clarke’s daughters was his principal _equestrienne_, and he -engaged Wallett as clown. - -Edwin Hughes brought out one of the largest establishments of the kind -which, at that time, had ever been seen; but he could not make headway -against William Batty, who now came into notice, and to ample means -joined the indomitable energy and enterprise of Astley and Ducrow. We -find Batty in 1836 at Nottingham, with a company which included Pablo -Fanque, a negro rope-dancer, whose real name was William Darby; Powell -and Polaski, for principal equestrians; Mulligan, as head vaulter; and -Dewhurst, as chief clown, with capacities for every branch of the -profession, being an admirable vaulter and acrobat, and a good rider. -The stud was as good as the company, and included a pair of zebras, a -wild ass, and an elephant, all of which, with a contempt of local -colouring worthy of Ducrow, Batty introduced on the stage in _Mazeppa_! - -Batty did not limit his movements to any part of the United Kingdom. In -1838 we find him at Newcastle and Edinburgh, and in 1840 at Portsmouth -and Southampton. Some changes had been made in the company, of which -James Newsome, now proprietor of one of the best of the provincial -circuses, Lavater Lee, the vaulter, and Plége, the French rope-dancer, -were prominent members. At the time when Astley’s was burnt for the -third time, Batty’s circus was in Dublin, where a good stroke of -business had been done. On hearing of the conflagration, Batty started -for London by the next steamer, made arrangements for the immediate -rebuilding of the Amphitheatre, and returned to Dublin. The receipts -were beginning to decline there, and, pending the completion of the new -Amphitheatre in Westminster Road, Batty resolved to construct a -temporary circus at Oxford. To that city he accordingly proceeded, -leaving the circus under the management of Wallett, who, after -travelling for several years with Cooke, and two years with Van Amburgh, -had joined Batty in Dublin. On the termination of the season in the -Irish capital, Wallett took the company and the stud to Liverpool, and, -as the circus at Oxford was not yet ready for opening, arranged with -Copeland for twelve nights at the Amphitheatre. This engagement, being -made without the knowledge and sanction of Batty, caused a warm dispute -between the latter and Wallett, which did not, however, have the -immediate effect of terminating the clown’s engagement. - -Wallett tells a humorous story of Pablo Fanque, with whom he became -intimately acquainted, and who used to fish in the Isis. The black was a -very successful angler, and would pull the golden chub, the silvery -roach, and the bearded barbel out of the river by the dozen when Oxonian -disciples of Walton could not get a nibble. One intelligent -undergraduate came to the conclusion that the circus man’s success must -be due to his dusky complexion, and astonished his brothers of the rod -by appearing one morning on the bank of the stream with a face -suggestive of the surmise that he must have been playing Othello or -Zanga at some private theatricals the preceding night, and have gone to -bed, as Thornton—well known in the annals of provincial theatres at the -beginning of the present century—once did, without wiping the black off. -The Oxonian caught no more fish, however, than he had done before. - -While Batty’s circus was still at Oxford, Pablo Fanque terminated his -engagement, and started a circus on his own account. Wallett, always a -rolling stone, joined him, and they proceeded to the north together, -opening at Wakefield, where, for the present, we must leave them. - - - - - CHAPTER VI. - -Conversion of the Lambeth Baths into a Circus—Garlick and the - Wild Beasts—Batty’s Company at the Surrey—White Conduit - Gardens—Re-opening of Astley’s—Batty’s Circus on its Travels—Batty - and the Sussex Justices—Equestrianism at the Lyceum—Lions and - Lion-tamers at Astley’s—Franconi’s Circus at Cremorne Gardens—An - Elephant on the Tight-rope—The Art of Balancing—Franconi’s Company - at Drury Lane—Van Amburgh at Astley’s—The Black Tiger—Pablo - Fanque—Rivalry of Wallett and Barry—Wallett’s Circus—Junction with - Franconi’s. - - -While waiting for the reconstruction of Astley’s, Batty obtained -possession of the Lambeth Baths, a spacious building in the immediate -vicinity of the Amphitheatre, and converted them, without loss of time, -into a circus, which he was enabled to open at the close of November, -1841. Though the process of conversion had been hastily carried out, the -accommodation and decorations left little to be desired; and, as -Dewhurst, the clown, observed on the opening night, ‘it, like a -punch-bowl, looked all the better for being full.’ - -‘The performances last night,’ said a critic, ‘were multifarious. First, -there was the phenomenon rider, the volant Mr T. Lee, who, while riding -one or more fiery steeds, made “extraordinary and wonderful leaps,” as -the play-bill says, round the arena, and whose sinewy and symmetrical -form, and untiring activity, drew forth the admiration of the audience. -The clown, however, thought proper to pass a criticism upon his leg, -declaring it was like a bad candle, having more cotton than fat. Next -came Herr Ludovic’s “celebrated extravaganza of Jim Crow and his -granny,” in which the old trick of carrying two faces under one hat is -ludicrously exemplified. Mr Walker followed, with his wonderful feats on -the flying rope and his celebrated _tourbillions_, in which he proved -himself to be anything but a walker. He was speedily displaced by M. -Leonard, the great French rider, on two fleet steeds, who was -miraculously adventurous,—“hazarding contusion of neck and spine.” A -group of ponies was then introduced, and delighted the spectators with a -variety of amusing and sagacious tricks; they fought, they leaped over -poles, and through hoops, they sat down and stood up at command, they -wore cocked hats and cloaks, lace caps and mantles, and supped with the -clowns on oaten pies, sitting at the table with all proper decorum; they -fetched and carried, they played at leap-frog, they marched, they -danced, they walked on their hind legs, they bowed, and they went down -on their knees, for here that was an accomplishment, and not a -detriment, to any nag. - -‘A company of vaulters next performed some daring leaps and threw -somersaults _ad infinitum_, backwards or forwards, in rapid succession. -After this Miss O’Donnell performed some pretty evolutions on horseback. -Wonderful feats of “ponderosity” were next displayed by M. Lavater Lee, -who balanced a feather and a plank forty feet long with equal dexterity, -and by various jugglings frequently placed his physiognomy in jeopardy. -These performances being over there came, “for the first time, a novel -introduction, replete with new and splendid dresses, properties, and -state carriage drawn by four diminutive steeds,” in which the whole -juvenile company appeared, entitled _The Little Glass Slipper_. The -foundation of this pantomime is old; but it was produced with new faces -last night, and elicited loud and universal approbation. Some of the -performers were scarcely able to toddle, but the acting of the whole was -unique, and deserving of all the praise it received. The dresses and -arrangements were superlative in their style and effect. A series of -gymnastics and equestrian exhibitions, with a new piece, called _The -Wanderers of Hohonor and the Sifans_, wound up the entertainments of the -evening, which were interspersed with the witticisms and waggeries of -two very clever clowns, one of whom is a good punster, and the other a -supple posture-master and a capital performer on—the penny trumpet.‘ - -Early in 1842, the programme was varied by a romantic spectacle called -_The Council of Clermont_, devised for the introduction of a group of -trained lions, tigers, and leopards, brought from Batty’s menagerie, -accompanied by their performer, Garlick. The spectacle comprised a -triumphal cavalcade of Frankish warriors, mediæval sports in rejoicing -for victory, the tricks of a Greek captive’s horse, and the adventures -of the Greek among the wild beasts to whom he is thrown to be devoured. -It had a very brief run, however, and was succeeded by the elephant, and -subsequently by a tournament, to which was given the anachronical title -of _The Eglinton Tournament, or The Lists of Ashby!_ Shakspeare, it may -be said, has given, as the locality of the scene of an incident in one -of his plays, ‘a sea-port in Bohemia;’ but the making the Eglinton -tournament take place at Ashby-de-la-Zouch is an anachronism as glaring -as the incongruity of elephants and zebras in a Cossack camp. - -The Olympic Arena, as Batty’s new circus was called, was the scene of -some feats too remarkable to be omitted from this record. Walker, on one -occasion, sustained the weight of six men, and held six cart-wheels -suspended, while hanging by the feet from slings; but it must be -remarked that he held only two of the wheels with his hands, the others -being attached in pairs to his feet, which were secured in the slings, -so that the weight fell chiefly upon the rope to which the slings were -attached. More remarkable feats were performed by Lavater Lee on his -benefit night, when he vaulted over fourteen horses, threw a dozen -half-hundred weights over his head, bent backward over a chair, and in -that position lifted a bar of iron weighing a hundred pounds, threw a -back somersault on a horse going at full speed, and turned twenty-one -forward somersaults, without the aid of a spring-board. - -Dewhurst, the clown, must be allowed to speak for himself in the bill -which he issued for his benefit, and which, as regards his own -performances, was as follows:— - -‘This is the night to see DEWHURST’S long and LOFTY JUMPS, without the -assistance of a spring-board:—1. Over a garter 14 feet high. 2. Over a -man standing on a horse lengthways. 3. Through a hoop of fire two feet -in diameter. 4. Through a circle of pointed daggers. 5. Over 10 horses. -6. Through six balloons. 7. Over three horses, one standing on the backs -of the other two. And finally, to crown his extraordinary efforts, he -will leap through a MILITARY DRUM, and over a REAL POST-CHAISE AND PAIR -OF HORSES. - -‘During the evening will be introduced several NEW ACTS OF HORSEMANSHIP, -during the intervals of which Mr DEWHURST will perform many surprising -Feats; amongst the number, he will _tie his body in a complete knot_. -After which he will _walk on his hands_, and carry in his mouth _two -fifty-six pound weights_; in finis, it will be a GRAND BANQUET NIGHT!! -More entertainments than all the Aldermen in London can swallow. Dishes -to please Old and Young, Father and Son—Daughter and Mother, Sister and -Brother—Fat and Lean, Dirty and Clean—Short and Small, Big and Tall—Wise -and Witty, Ugly and Pretty—Good and Bad, Simple or Sad—All may enjoy, -and plenty to pick and choose among—Curious Speeches, Mild Observations, -Strange Questions, and Ugly Answers—Shakspeare reversed, and Milton with -a glass eye—Conundrums, Riddles, Charades, Enigmas, and Problems—With a -variety of real Nonsensical Nonsense, too innumerable to mention—hem! - -‘Mr DEWHURST will on this night dance an ORIGINAL MOCK CACHOUCA, in a -style nothing like MADAME TAGLIONI. Mr D. will likewise dance the -CRACOVIENNE, as originally danced by Mademoiselle FANNY ELSLER, at her -Majesty’s Theatre, Italian Opera House. He will also _burlesque a -favourite dance of_ MADAME CELESTE; and conclude with a New Comic -Lancashire HORNPIPE IN CLOGS.’ - -Batty removed his company and stud at Whitsuntide to the Surrey, for a -short season, Dewhurst taking another benefit, on which occasion he -issued the following characteristic appeal:— - -‘On this particular occasion Mr Dewhurst’s tongue will be placed on a -swivel in the centre, and black-leaded at both ends, to bring laughing -into fashion. - - ‘I wonder how the people can - Call me Mr Merryman! - Worn are my clothes almost out - By being whipped and knocked about; - Torn is my face in twenty places - By stretching wide to make grimaces. - My worthy cits, - Now is it fit - That you should sit, - Gallanting it, - The whole kit, - In box and pit, - To see me hit, - Boxed, cuffed, and smit, - Sham dead as a nit, - And laugh at it, - Till your sides split? - There you sit, - Though requisite - To rack my wit - These rhymes to knit, - Which I have writ - To bring the folks to a house well lit, - To fill the house before we quit, - For a great attraction all admit - Will be on Dewhurst’s benefit.’ - -From the Surrey, Batty and his company removed to White Conduit Gardens, -where a temporary circus was erected for the summer season, and in early -autumn to the theatre at Brighton. Astley’s was re-opened shortly -afterwards with a powerful company and a numerous stud of beautiful and -well-trained horses. Batty was himself a capital rider; Newsome, his -articled pupil, was already a very promising equestrian; and the company -was now joined by the celebrated Stickney, who was a great attraction -during several seasons. A bull-fight was one of the special features of -the programme of 1842–3, a horse being, as on other occasions when the -conflicts of the _Corrida de los Toros_ have been represented in the -arena, trained to play the part of the bull. - -While performing at Brighton, Batty was convicted of having performed a -pantomime in a place unlicensed for theatrical performances, whereby he -had incurred a penalty of £50 under an Act of the reign of George II., -which has been exercised on several occasions to the vexation and loss -of the circus proprietors against whom it has been enforced. Batty -appealed against the conviction, and engaged counsel, by whom it was -elicited from the witnesses that the dialogue did not exceed fourteen -lines, and was merely an introduction to an equestrian and acrobatic -entertainment without scenery. It was argued for the appellant that the -spectacle which had been represented was neither a pantomime nor a stage -play; and that if an entertainment without a stage or scenery was a -‘stage play,’ the well-known tailor’s ride to Brentford was a stage -play, and, if dialogue alone made an entertainment a stage play, the -clown must not crack jokes with the ring-master, nor Punch appeal to the -drummer outside his temple. Counsel reminded the bench that the Lord -Chamberlain’s jurisdiction did not extend to the Surrey side of the -Thames, and that magistrates had power to grant licenses only at a -distance of twenty miles from the metropolis; so that Astley’s, the -Surrey, the Victoria, and the Bower infringed with impunity the Act -under which Batty had been convicted. The conviction was quashed, but -the result of the appeal has not prevented other circus proprietors from -being similarly molested in other parts of the country. - -During the summer of 1843, Batty’s company performed in the Victoria -Gardens, at Norwich, where the feats of Masotta, ‘the dare-devil rider,’ -from Franconi’s, formed a striking feature of the programme. He was -famous for leaping on and off the horse, from side to side, and backward -and forward, while the animal was in full career. Plége, the -rope-dancer, and Kemp, the pole performer, were also in the company. - -On the company and stud returning to Astley’s in the autumn, the -stirring events of the war in Afghanistan were embodied in one of those -patriotic and military spectacles for which the establishment was -famous. The national pulse did not beat so ardently at beat of drum and -call of trumpet as it had done a quarter of a century before, however, -and the run of the piece was proportionately short. It was followed by a -spectacular play founded upon incidents connected with the battle of -Worcester; a romantic equestrian drama, illustrative of the final -struggle between the Spaniards and the Moors; and, towards the close of -the season, by the ever-attractive _Mazeppa_. - -Young Newsome, who displayed considerable ability as an equestrian -pantomimist, was a great attraction in the circle, which now began to be -enlivened by the humour of Tom Barry, who continued to be principal -clown at this establishment for several years. Among the more remarkable -of the ring performances during this season, other than equestrian, were -the feats of one of the Henglers on the _corde volante_, and Kemp’s -tricks on the ‘magic pole.’ - -Equestrian entertainments were given in 1844, for a short season, at the -Lyceum Theatre; and, in the absence of rivalry, attracted good houses. -At Astley’s, new aspirants to fame and popular favour appeared in Plége, -the French rope-dancer, and Germani, a clever equestrian juggler, whose -performance seems to have somewhat resembled that given a few years ago -at the Holborn Amphitheatre by Agouste, with the difference that Germani -performed his feats on the back of a horse. He juggled with balls, -oranges, and knives alternately, and then with a marble, which he caught -in the neck of a bottle while the horse was in full career. - -Carter, the lion-tamer, was also engaged towards the close of the -season; and, his re-appearance having shown that the exhibition of -trained lions and tigers was still attractive, another of the -profession, named White, was engaged by Batty in 1845, with a group of -performing lions, tigers, and leopards. White, however, never produced -the sensation created by the performances of Van Amburgh and Carter. The -equestrianism was a very strong feature of the programme this season, -those accomplished riders, John Bridges and Alfred Cooke, being engaged, -while Batty and Newsome were pillars of strength in themselves. Cooke’s -company appeared this year at the Standard, and was succeeded in the two -following years by Tournaire’s and Columbia’s, but equestrian -performances did not attract there. - -In 1846, Simpson, host of the Albion Tavern, opposite Drury Lane -Theatre, opened Cremorne Gardens, for which he engaged the company and -stud of the famous Parisian circus of Franconi. - -At Astley’s, in this year, Newsome revived Ducrow’s feat of riding six -horses at once, in an act called the Post-boy of Antwerp; and a German -equestrian named Hinné, with his daughter Pauline, were engaged. Young -Newsome and Mdlle Hinné sometimes rode together in double acts, and in -this manner an acquaintance sprang up between them which, becoming -tenderer as it progressed, eventually ripened into marriage. - -It was during the season of 1846 that the extraordinary spectacle was -witnessed at Astley’s of an elephant on the tight-rope. It is not more -difficult, however, for an elephant, or any other beast, to balance -itself upon a stretched rope than for a man to do so; the real -difficulty is in inducing the animal to mount the rope. The art of -balancing consists in the maintenance of the centre of gravity, which, -it may be explained, is that point in any body, animate or inanimate, -upon or about which it balances itself, or remains in a state of -equilibrium in any position. In any regular-shaped body, whether round -or angular, provided its density is uniform through all its parts, the -centre of gravity is the centre of the body; but in an irregular-shaped -body, or a combination of two or more bodies, the centre of gravity is -the point at which they balance each other. If we place any -regular-shaped body on a table, it will remain stationary, or in a state -of rest, provided an imaginary line drawn from its centre of gravity, -and passing downward in a direction perpendicular to the table, falls -within its base. But, if the centre of gravity is in a part of the body -above any part of the table that is outside the base, the object will -topple over, and assume some position in which the centre of gravity -will be within the base. Take, for example, a five-sided block of wood, -and place it upon the table. If the five sides are each of the same -superficies, it will stand upon either of them; but if they are unequal, -and it is so placed that the centre of gravity is above a part of the -table that is outside the face upon which you attempt to make it stand, -it will fall down. - -There is a little toy which I remember having seen when a child, and -which, as it illustrates the natural law upon which the art of balancing -depends, I will here describe. It was made of elder pith, fashioned and -coloured into a rough resemblance to the human figure, and weighted with -a piece of lead, like the half of a small bullet, which was attached to -its feet with glue. The centre of gravity was, consequently, so low -that, in whatever position the figure might be placed, it immediately -assumed the perpendicular, and could be kept in any other only by -holding it. Now, if the feet of a human being were as much heavier than -the head and trunk, as the lead in this toy was heavier than the pith, -we should never be in any danger of losing our balance; and an infant -might be allowed to make its first essay in walking as soon as its legs -were strong enough to support it, without being in any danger of a fall. -But the head is, in proportion to its bulk, much heavier than the trunk; -and the breadth of the trunk considerably exceeds that of the feet, -which constitute the base. The balance is, therefore, easily lost; -because a stumble throws the centre of gravity beyond the base. - -Though the maintenance of the centre of gravity is rendered more -difficult in proportion to the height to which it is raised above the -base, as my younger readers may have found when constructing a house of -cards, this is not the case when any disturbance of the equilibrium can -be counteracted immediately, as in the case of a stick balanced on the -tip of the finger. A stick three or four feet long is more easily -balanced on the finger than one much shorter, because the tendency to -topple over can be counteracted by the movement of the finger in the -direction in which it leans, so as to maintain the centre of gravity. -Those who make an experiment of this kind for the first time will be apt -to find that the balancing of a stick or a broom upon the finger is -difficult, owing to the smallness of the base in proportion to the -height of the centre of gravity, unless the eyes are directed towards -the top. The stick is at rest at the base, and any deviation from the -perpendicular must commence at the upper extremity. Keep your eye on the -top, and you can balance a scaffold-pole or a ladder, if you can sustain -the weight. Whatever difficulty there was in the feat of balancing a -ladder, to the top of which a small donkey was attached, as exhibited in -my juvenile days by an itinerating performer,—whence the saying, -‘Twopence more, and up goes the donkey!’—was due entirely to the weight -of the animal; because, if it was properly attached to the ladder, the -centre of gravity would be in precisely the same situation as if the -ladder alone had to be balanced. - -In the animal world, the centre of gravity is invariably so placed as to -produce an exact equilibrium and harmony of parts. Every animal -furnished with legs is balanced upon them; so that in man the centre of -gravity is the crown of the head. The reader may test this by leaning -forward or laterally, with the arms by the side, and the legs straight, -when a tendency to fall will be experienced, which can be counteracted -only by extending an arm or a leg in the opposite direction. The art of -balancing the body in extraordinary situations, as exemplified in the -feats of rope-walkers and gymnasts, depends, therefore, on the same -natural law as that which enables us to balance a stick upon the finger. -The centre of gravity must be kept perpendicular to the rope or bar, any -tendency to sway to the right or left being corrected by the arms, or by -the balancing-pole, if preferred, by performers on the rope. - -I have dwelt upon this subject a little after the manner of a lecturer, -because so many of the feats performed in the arena of a circus depend -upon the natural law which I have endeavoured to explain, and many of my -readers, who have witnessed them, without being able to account for -them, may like to know something of the _rationale_. It may be asked, -and the question is a very pertinent one, why do not equestrians fall in -performing feats of horsemanship in a standing position, in which, as -the horse careers round the ring, they lean inward? This phenomenon is -due to the counterpoise which, in the case of bodies in a state of rapid -motion, the centrifugal force presents to the weight of the body. - -Centrifugal force, it must be explained, is the tendency which bodies -have to fly off in a straight line from motion round a centre; and the -power which prevents bodies from flying off, and draws them towards a -centre, is called centripetal force. All bodies moving in a circle are -constantly acted upon by these opposing forces, as may be seen by -attaching one end of a piece of string to a ball, and the other to a -stick driven into the ground. If the ball is thrown horizontally, with -the string in a state of tension, it will fly round the stick; but, if -it becomes disengaged from the string, the centrifugal force, or its -tendency to fly off, will cause it to proceed in a straight line from -the point at which the separation is effected. - -Let us now see how these forces operate in the case of the riders in a -circus. The equestrian leans inward so much that, if he were to stand -still in that position, he would inevitably fall off the horse; but the -centrifugal force, which has a tendency to impel him outward from the -circle, or in a straight line of motion, sustains him, and he careers -onward safely and gracefully. The tendency of the centrifugal force to -impel him outward is counteracted by the inward leaning, while it forms -an invisible support to the overhanging body. It will be observed also -that the horse assumes the same counteracting posture; and a horse -quickly turning a corner does the same. - -Resuming our record of circus performances, we find Pablo Fanque at -Astley’s in 1847, with a wonderful trained horse, Plége again appearing -on the tight-rope, and Le Fort, ‘the sprite of the pole,’ in a novel and -clever gymnastic performance. The political events of which Paris was -the scene in the following year caused the managers of Franconi’s Cirque -to transfer their company and stud to Drury Lane Theatre, so that London -had two circuses open at the same time for the first time since the days -of Astley and Hughes. - -John Powell appeared during this season at Astley’s, and an additional -attraction was provided in Van Amburgh’s trained animals, to which there -was now added a black tiger, a rare variety, and one which had never -been exhibited in a state of docility before. It was introduced in the -drama of the _Wandering Jew_, a story which was then creating a great -sensation all over Europe; and Van Amburgh personated the beast-tamer, -Morok, through whose instrumentality the Jesuits endeavour to delay the -old soldier, Dagobert, on his journey to Paris, by exposing his horse to -the fangs of a ferocious black panther. - -It was in this year, it may here be remarked, that Sir Edwin Landseer’s -great picture of Van Amburgh in the midst of his beasts was exhibited at -the Royal Academy, where it attracted as much attention as the originals -had done at Astley’s. - -Pablo Fanque’s circus had, in the mean time, moved from Wakefield to -Leeds, where a catastrophe occurred which has, unfortunately, had too -many parallels in the annals of travelling circuses. On a benefit night -in March, 1848, the circus was so crowded that the gallery fell, and -Pablo’s wife was killed, and Wallett’s wife and several other persons -were more or less injured. Wallett then joined Ryan’s circus, which, -however, was on its last legs; bailiffs were in possession, and its -declining fortunes were brought to a climax by a ‘strike’ of the band. -At this crisis Wallett had the good fortune to be engaged for Astley’s, -where a keen rivalry soon ensued between him and Barry, who claimed the -choice of acts in the ring, in his exercise of which Wallett was not -disposed to acquiesce. Thompson, the manager, took the same view as the -latter of the equality of position of the two clowns; and Barry, in -consequence, refused to perform, unless the choice of acts was conceded -to him. A very attractive act was in rehearsal at this time, in which -John Dale was to appear as an Arab, with a highly-trained horse, and -Barry as a rollicking Irishman. As Wallett had attended all the -rehearsals he was as capable of taking this part as the other clown was, -and, on Barry failing to appear, he was requested by Thompson to take -the part which had been assigned to his rival. Wallett complied, and -enacted the part of Barney Brallaghan with complete success. Barry -thereupon retired, and for many years afterwards kept a public-house in -the immediate vicinity of the theatre. - -Thompson was succeeded in the management by William Broadfoot, the -brother-in-law of Ducrow, whom he resembled very much in disposition and -temper. One day, during the rehearsal of a military spectacle, a cannon -ball, which was among the stage properties, was thrown at him, which so -enraged him that he offered a reward of £2 for information as to the -person by whom it had been thrown, the hand which had impelled the -missile being unknown at least to himself. There was a fine of ten -shillings for practical joking during rehearsals, but the reward left a -wide margin for its payment, and tempted Wallett to acknowledge that he -was the offender. Broadfoot paid the reward, and Wallett paid the fine, -afterwards expending the balance of thirty shillings in a supper, shared -with Ben Crowther, Tom Lee, and Harvey, the dancer. - -There was another supper at Astley’s which the parties did not find -quite so pleasant. Batty produced an equestrian drama called the -_Devil’s Horse_, in which Wallett had to play a subordinate part, one -agreeable incident of which was the eating of a plate of soup. One -night, James Harwood, the equestrian actor, intercepted the soup in -transit, and refreshed himself with a portion of it, which so enraged -Wallett that he broke the plate on the offender’s head. By this assault -he incurred the penalty of being mulcted of a week’s salary, the means -of evading which exercised his mind in an unusual degree. The expedient -which he hit upon was the borrowing of ten pounds from the treasurer, -George Francis, having obtained which he went his way rejoicing. He did -not present himself at the treasury on the following Saturday; and -Batty, meeting him on Monday morning, inquired the reason of his -absence. - -‘I had no salary to receive,’ replied Wallett. ‘I had borrowed ten -pounds of Mr Francis in the week.’ - -‘Then your fine will be a set off against next week’s salary,’ observed -Batty. - -‘Aren’t you aware, sir,’ rejoined Wallett, ‘that the time I was engaged -for expired on Saturday night?’ - -By this stratagem he escaped the payment of the fine; but his engagement -was not renewed, and, having saved some money, he started a circus, and -opened with it at Yarmouth. Business was very bad there, and he -proceeded to Colchester, where part of the circus was blown down by a -high wind, and this accident created an impression of insecurity which -damaged his prospects in that town beyond repair. At Bury St Edmunds and -Leicester he was equally unsuccessful, and determined to proceed -northward. Nottingham afforded good houses, but Leeds was a failure, and -at Huddersfield the gallery gave way, and the alarm created by the -accident deterred persons from venturing into the circus afterwards. -Franconi’s company were doing good business at Manchester, in the Free -Trade Hall, at this time; and Wallett, after two more experiments, at -Burnley and Wigan, with continued ill fortune, effected an amalgamation -with the French troupe. James Hernandez, one of the most accomplished -equestrians who have ever entered the arena, made his _début_ at -Manchester while the combined companies and studs were performing there, -and proved so sterling an attraction that he was engaged for the -following season at Astley’s. - -Crowther, who has been incidentally mentioned in connection with -Wallett, married Miss Vincent, ‘the acknowledged heroine of the domestic -drama,’ as she was styled in the Victoria bills. The union was not a -happy one, though the cause of its infelicity never transpired. It was -whispered about, however, that a prior attachment on Crowther’s part to -another lady had something to do with it; and there were many -significant nods and winks, and grave shakings of the head, at the bar -of the Victoria Tavern, and at the Rodney and the Pheasant, over the -circumstance of his strange behaviour in the church at which he and the -fair Eliza were married. The talk was, that the bride’s position and -worldly possessions had tempted him to break the word of promise he had -plighted to another, and that compunction for his faithlessness was the -cause of his strangeness of demeanour on the wedding-day, and of the -domestic infelicity which it preluded. But nothing ever transpired to -show that these rumours had any foundation in fact. - - - - - CHAPTER VII. - -Hengler’s Circus—John and George Sanger—Managerial Anachronisms and - Incongruities—James Hernandez—Eaton and Stone—Horses at Drury - Lane—James Newsome—Howes and Cushing’s Circus—George Sanger and the - Fighting Lions—Crockett and the Lions at Astley’s—The Lions at - large—Hilton’s Circus—Lion-queens—Miss Chapman—Macomo and the - Fighting Tigers. - - -The haze which envelopes the movements of travelling circuses prior to -the time when they began to be recorded weekly in the _Era_ cannot -always be penetrated, even after the most diligent research. Circus -proprietors are, as a rule, disposed to reticence upon the subject; and -the bills of tenting establishments are seldom preserved, and would -afford no information if they were, being printed without the names of -the towns and the dates of the performances. I have been unable, -therefore, to trace Hengler’s and Sanger’s circuses to their beginnings; -but, having seen the former pitched many years ago in the fair-field, -Croydon, I know that it was tenting long before its proprietor adopted -the system of locating his establishment for some months together in a -permanent building. Both Hengler’s and Sanger’s must have been -travelling nearly a quarter of a century, and the career of both has -been prosperous. - -Indeed, the most successful men in the profession have been those who -have lived from their infancy in the odour of the stables and the -sawdust. Such a man was Ducrow, and such also are the Cookes, the -Powells, the Newsomes, the Henglers, the Sangers, and, I believe, almost -every man of note in the profession. They are not, as a rule, possessed -of much education, which may account for the incongruities so frequently -exhibited in the ‘getting up’ of equestrian spectacles, and the -perplexities which so often meet the eye when the proprietor of a -tenting circus parades in type the quadrupedal resources of his -establishment. - -I remember seeing a zebra in the Cossack camp in _Mazeppa_, and that, -too, at Astley’s; for neither Ducrow nor Batty cared much for -correctness of local colouring, if they could produce an effect by -disregarding it. Lewis, when reminded of the incongruity of the -introduction of a negro in a Northumbrian castle, in the supposed era of -the _Castle Spectre_, replied that he did it for effect; and if an -effect could have been produced by making his heroine blue, blue she -should have been. The effect, however, is sometimes perplexity, rather -than excitement, so far at least as the educated portion of the -community is concerned. - -I saw at Kingston, some years ago, immense placards announcing the -coming of Sanger’s circus, and informing the public that the stud -included some Brazilian zebras, and the only specimen ever brought to -Europe of the ‘vedo, or Peruvian god-horse.’ Every one who has read any -work on natural history knows that the zebra is confined to Africa, and -that the equine genus was unknown in America until the horses were -introduced there by the Spaniards. Not having seen the animal, I am not -in a position to say what the ‘vedo’ really is or was; but it is certain -that the only beasts of burden possessed by the Peruvians before horses -were introduced by their Spanish conquerors were the llama and the -alpaca, which are more nearly allied to the sheep than to any animal of -the pachydermatous class, to which the horse belongs. - -Leaving these wandering circuses for a time, we must turn our attention -for a little while to the permanent temples of equestrianism in the -metropolis. James Hernandez made his appearance at Astley’s during the -season of 1849, in company with John Powell, John Bridges, and Hengler, -the rope-dancer. Bridges exhibited a wonderful leaping act, and Powell’s -acts were also much admired; but the palm was awarded by public -acclamation to Hernandez, whose backward jumps and feats on one leg -elicited a _furore_ of applause at every appearance. His success, and -consequent gains, enabled him, on leaving Astley’s, and in conjunction -with two partners, Eaton and Stone, to form a stud, with which they -opened on the classic boards of Drury Lane. - -Among the company was an equestrian who appeared as Mdlle Ella, and -whose graceful acts of equitation elicited almost as much applause as -those of Hernandez, while the young artiste’s charms of face and form -were a never-ending theme of conversation and meditation for the -thousands of admirers who nightly followed them round the ring with -enraptured eyes. It was the same wherever Ella appeared, and great was -the surprise and mortification of the young equestrian’s admirers when -it became known, several years afterwards, that the beautiful, the -graceful, the accomplished Ella was not a woman, but a man! Ella is now -a husband and a father. - -James Newsome was also a member of the very talented company which -Hernandez and his partners had brought together under the roof of Drury -Lane. After completing his engagement with Batty, and entering into -matrimonial obligations with Pauline Hinné, he had proceeded to Paris, -where he applied himself earnestly to the art of which he soon became a -leading master, namely, the breaking of horses in what is termed the -_haute école_, then almost unknown in this country. The fame which he -acquired in Paris procured him an engagement in Brussels, where he -taught riding to the Guides, by whose officers he was presented, on -leaving the Belgian capital, with a service of plate. From Brussels he -proceeded to Berlin, of which city Madame Newsome is a native. There the -famous English riding master added to his laurels by breaking a vicious -horse named Mirza, belonging to Prince Frederick William (now heir to -the imperial crown of Germany), who presented him with the animal, in -recognition of his skill. It may here be added, that he had the honour, -some years afterwards, of exhibiting his system of horse-breaking before -the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Cambridge, by whom it was highly -commended. - -On the termination of their season at Drury Lane, Hernandez and his -partners associated Newsome with themselves in the firm, and made a -successful tour of the provinces. In the following season, however, -Newsome separated from his partners, and started a well-appointed circus -of his own. The distinctive features of his establishment are, that he -breaks his horses himself—other circus proprietors, not having the -advantage of himself, Batty, and Ducrow, of being trained in the -profession, being compelled to hire horse-breakers; and that the -performances are not given under a tent, set up for a couple of days -only, and then removed to the next town, as in the case of most other -circuses, but in buildings erected for the purpose in most of the large -towns of the north of England, and permanently maintained. - -The great Anglo-American circus of Howes and Cushing was added to the -number of the circuses travelling in England and Scotland about this -time. The strength of the company and stud, and the resources of the -proprietors, threatening to render it a formidable rival to the English -circuses, the Sangers were prompted by the spirit of competition to take -a leaf from Batty’s book, and introduce performing lions. The lions were -obtained, and the appointment of ‘lion king’ was offered to a musician -in the band, named Crockett, chiefly on account of his imposing -appearance, he being a tall, handsome man, with a full beard. He had had -no previous experience with wild beasts, but he was suffering from a -pulmonary disease, which performing on a wind instrument aggravated, and -the salary was tempting. So he accepted the appointment, and followed -the profession literally till the day of his death. It is worthy of -remark, as bearing on the causes of accidents with lions and tigers, -that Crockett was a strictly sober man; and so also was the equally -celebrated African lion-tamer, Macomo, who never drank any beverage -stronger than coffee. Many anecdotes are current in circuses and -menageries of the rare courage and coolness of both men. - -One of Sanger’s lions was so tame that it used to be taken from the cage -to personate the British lion, lying at the feet of Mrs George Sanger, -in the character of Britannia, in the cavalcades customary with tenting -circuses when they enter a town, and which are professionally termed -parades. One morning, when the circus had been pitched near Weymouth, -the keepers, on going to the cage to take out this docile specimen of -the leonine tribe, found the five lions fighting furiously with each -other, their manes up, their talons out, their eyes flashing, and their -shoulders and flanks bloody. Crockett and the keepers were afraid to -enter. But George Sanger, taking a whip, entered the cage, beat the -lions on one side, and the lioness, who was the object of their -contention, on the other, and made a barrier between them of the boards -which were quickly passed in to him for the purpose. This exciting -affair did not prevent the lions from being taken into the ring on the -conclusion of the equestrian performance, and put through their regular -feats. - -If Crockett temporarily lost his nerve on this occasion, it must be -acknowledged that he exhibited it in a wonderful degree at the time when -the lions got loose at Astley’s. The beasts had arrived the night before -from Edmonton, where Sanger’s circus was at that time located. How they -got loose is unknown, but it has been whispered, as a conjecture which -was supposed not to be devoid of foundation, that one of the grooms -liberated them in resentment of the fines by which he and his fellows -were mulcted by Batty, and in the malicious hope that they would destroy -the horses. Loose they were, however, and before Crockett, to whose -lodging a messenger was sent in hot haste, could reach the theatre, one -of the grooms was killed, and the lions were roaming about the -auditorium. Crockett went amongst them alone, with only a switch in his -hand, and in a few minutes he had safely caged the animals, without -receiving a scratch. - -These lions were afterwards sold by the Sangers to Howes and Cushing, -when the latter were about to return to America, and Crockett -accompanied them at a salary of £20 a week. He had been two years in the -United States, when one day, while the circus was at Chicago, he fell -down while passing from the dressing-room to the ring, and died on the -spot. The Sangers possess lions at the present day, and one of them is -so tame that, as I am informed, it is allowed to roam at large in their -house, like a domestic tabby. This is probably the animal which, on the -occasion of the Queen’s thanksgiving visit to St Paul’s, reclined at the -feet of Mrs George Sanger, on a triumphal car, in the ‘parade’ with -which the day was celebrated by the Sangers and their troupe. - -While Crockett was still travelling with the Sangers, and to -counterbalance the attractiveness of his exhibitions, it was suggested -to Joseph Hilton by James Lee, brother of the late Nelson Lee, that the -former’s daughter should be ‘brought out’ in his circus as a ‘lion -queen.’ The young lady was familiar with lions, another of the family -being the proprietor of a menagerie, and she did not shrink from the -distinction. She made her first public appearance with the lions at the -fair, since suppressed, which used to be held annually on Stepney Green. -The attractiveness of the spectacle was tempting to the proprietors of -circuses and menageries, and the example was contagious. Edmunds, the -proprietor of one of the three menageries into which Wombwell’s famous -collection was divided on the death of the original proprietor in 1850, -formed a fine group of lions, tigers, and leopards, and Miss Chapman—now -Mrs George Sanger—volunteered to perform with them as a rival to Miss -Hilton. - -Miss Chapman, who had the honour of appearing before the royal family at -Windsor, had not long been before the public when a third ‘lion-queen’ -appeared at another of the three menageries just referred to in the -person of Helen Blight, the daughter of a musician in the band. The -career of this young lady was a brief one, and its termination most -shocking. She was performing with the animals at Greenwich fair one day, -when a tiger exhibited some sullenness or waywardness, for which she -very imprudently struck it with a riding whip which she carried. The -infuriated beast immediately sprang upon her, with a hoarse roar, seized -her by the throat and killed her before she could be rescued. This -melancholy affair led to the prohibition of such performances by women; -but the leading menageries have continued to have ‘lion-kings’ attached -to them to this day. - -Twenty years ago the lion-tamer of George Hilton’s menagerie was -Newsome, brother of the circus proprietor of that name; and on this -performer throwing up his engagement at an hour’s notice, owing to some -dispute with the proprietor, a man named Strand, who travelled about to -fairs with a gingerbread stall, volunteered to take his place. His -qualifications for the profession were not equal to his own estimate of -them, however, and James Lee, who was Hilton’s manager, looked about him -for his successor. One day, when the menagerie was at Greenwich fair, a -powerful-looking negro accosted one of the musicians, saying that he was -a sailor, just returned from a voyage, and would like to get employment -about the beasts. The musician informed Manders, into whose hands the -menagerie had just passed, and the negro was invited into the show. -Manders liked the man’s appearance, and at once agreed to give him an -opportunity of displaying his qualifications for the leonine regality to -which he aspired. The negro entered the lions’ cage, and displayed so -much courage and address in putting the animals through their -performances that he was engaged forthwith; and the ‘gingerbread king,’ -as Strand was called by the showmen, lost his crown, receiving a week’s -notice of dismissal on the spot. - -This black sailor was the performer who afterwards became famous far and -wide by the name of Macomo. The daring displayed by him, and which has -often caused the spectators to tremble for his safety, was without a -parallel. ‘Macomo,’ says the ex-lion king, in the account before quoted, -‘was the most daring man among lions and tigers I ever saw.’ Many -stories of his exploits are told by showmen. One of the finest tigers -ever imported into this country, and said to be the identical beast that -escaped from Jamrach’s possession, and killed a boy before it was -recaptured, was purchased by Manders, and placed in a cage with another -tiger. The two beasts soon began to fight, and were engaged in a furious -conflict, when Macomo entered the cage, armed only with a whip, and -attempted to separate them. Both the tigers immediately turned their -fury upon him, and severely lacerated him with their sharp claws; but, -covered with blood as he was, he continued to belabour them with the -whip until they cowered before him, and knew him for their master. Then, -with the assistance of the keepers, he succeeded in getting one of the -tigers into another cage, and proceeded to bind up his wounds. This was -not the only occasion on which Macomo received injuries, the scars of -which he bore to his grave. Every one who witnessed his performances -predicted for him a violent death. But, like Van Amburgh, like Crockett, -he seemed to bear a charmed life; and he died a natural death towards -the close of 1870. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII. - -Pablo Fanque—James Cooke—Pablo Fanque and the Celestials—Ludicrous - affair in the Glasgow Police-court—Batty’s transactions with Pablo - Fanque—The Liverpool Amphitheatre—John Clarke—William - Cooke—Astley’s—Fitzball and the Supers—Batty’s Hippodrome—Vauxhall - Gardens—Ginnett’s Circus—The Alhambra—Gymnastic Performances in - Music-Halls—Gymnastic Mishaps. - - -When Wallett, the clown, returned from his American tour, he had -arranged to meet Pablo Fanque at Liverpool, with a view to performances -in the amphitheatre there; but when the Shakspearian humourist arrived -in the Mersey, his dusky friend was giving circus performances in the -theatre at Glasgow, with James Cooke’s large circus on the Green, in -opposition to him. London was not, at that time, thought capable of -supporting more than one circus, and it was not to be expected that -Glasgow could support two, even for a limited period. Pablo Fanque -retired from the contest, therefore, and removed his company and stud to -Paisley. Doing a good business in that town, he returned to Glasgow with -a larger circus, a stronger company, and a more numerous stud, and Cooke -retired in his turn. - -Wallett, who had been clowning in Franconi’s circus, then located in -Dublin, joined Pablo Fanque in Glasgow, and between them they devised an -entertainment which was found attractive, but which produced most -ludicrous consequences. There was a posturer in the company, whose -Hibernian origin was concealed under the _nom d’arena_ of Vilderini; and -it was proposed that this man should be transformed, in semblance at -least, into a Chinese. The Irishman did not object, though the process -involved the shaving of his head, and the staining of his skin with a -wash to the dusky yellow tint characteristic of the veritable -compatriots of Confucius. The metamorphosis was completed by arraying -him in a Chinese costume, and conferring upon him the name of -Ki-hi-chin-fan-foo, which appeared upon the bills in Chinese characters, -as well as in the English equivalents. Whether his sponsors had recourse -to a professor of the peculiar language of the Flowery Land, or took the -characters from the more convenient source presented by a tea-chest or a -cake of Indian ink, I am unable to say; but the strange scrawl served -its purpose, which was to attract attention and excite curiosity, and -the few Celestials in Glasgow were either more unsophisticated than the -‘heathen Chinee’ immortalized by Bret Harte, and suspected no deception, -or they were too illiterate to detect it. - -It happened that an enterprising tea-dealer in the city had, some time -previously, conceived the idea of engaging a native of China to stand at -the shop-door, in Chinese costume, and give handbills to the -Glasgowegians as they passed. A Chinese was soon obtained, and posted at -the door, where, in a few weeks, he found himself confronted with a -fellow-countryman, who was similarly engaged at a rival tea-shop on the -other side of the street. The two Chineses—Milton is my authority for -that word—could not behold the circus bills, with their graphic design -of a Chinese festival and the large characters forming the name of the -great posturer who had performed before the brother of the sun and the -moon, without being moved. They went to the circus, and, in a posturing -act, to which a Chinese character was imparted by a profuse display of -Chinese lanterns and a discordant beating of gongs, thumping of -tom-toms, and clashing of cymbals, by supernumeraries in Chinese -costumes, they beheld the great Ki-hi-chin-fan-foo. - -On the conclusion of the performance, they went round to what in a -theatre would be termed the stage-door, asked for their countryman, and -evinced undisguised disappointment on being informed that he could not -be seen. They repeated their application several times, but always with -the same result; and, the idea growing up in their minds that their -countryman was held in durance, and only liberated to appear in the -ring, they went to the police-court, and made an affidavit that such was -their belief. Pablo Fanque was, in consequence, called upon for an -explanation, and found himself obliged to produce the posturer in court, -and put him in the witness box to depose that he was not a countryman of -the troublesome Chineses, but a native of the Emerald Isle, who could -not speak a word of Chinese, and had never been in China in his life. - -Pablo Fanque moved southward on leaving Glasgow, but he fell into -difficulties, and borrowed money of Batty, giving him a bill of sale -upon the circus and stud. Going into the midland districts, and finding -Newsome’s circus at Birmingham, he went on to Kidderminster, where, -failing to carry out his engagements with Batty, the latter took -possession of the concern, and announced it for sale. Becoming the -purchaser himself, he constituted Fanque manager, thus displacing -Wallett, who had been acting in that capacity for the late proprietor. - -Wallett endeavoured to make an arrangement for the company and stud to -appear in the amphitheatre at Liverpool, but could not obtain Batty’s -acquiescence. Having engaged with Copeland to provide a circus company -and horses, Batty’s refusal to allow the Fanque troupe to go to -Liverpool put him to his shifts. Having to form a company in some way, -he engaged two equestrians, Hemming and Dale, who happened to be in -Liverpool without engagements; and hearing that John Clarke, then a very -old man, was in the neighbourhood, with three horses and as many clever -lads, he arranged with him for the whole. He then started for London by -the night train, roused William Cooke early in the morning, and hired of -him eight ring horses and a menage horse, at the same time engaging -Thomas Cooke for ring-master, with his pony, Prince, and his son, James -Cooke, the younger, as an equestrian. These were got down to Liverpool -with as little delay as possible, and the amphitheatre was opened for a -season that proved highly prosperous. - -In 1851, the expectation of great gains from the concourse of foreigners -and provincials to the Great International Exhibition in Hyde Park -induced Batty to erect a spacious wooden structure, capable of -accommodating fourteen thousand persons, upon a piece of ground at -Kensington, opposite the gates terminating the broad walk of the -Gardens. It was opened in May as the Hippodrome, with amusements similar -to those presented in the Parisian establishment of the same name, from -which the company and stud were brought, under the direction of M. -Soullièr. Besides slack-rope feats and the clever globe performance of -Debach, there was a race in which monkeys represented the jockeys, a -steeple chase by ladies, an ostrich race, a chariot race, with horses -four abreast, after the manner of the ancients, and the feat of riding -two horses, and driving two others at the same time, the performances -concluding with one of those grand equestrian pageants, the production -of which subsequently made the name of the Sangers famous, in connection -with the Agricultural Hall. - -Fitzball wrote some half-dozen spectacular dramas for Batty during the -latter’s management of Astley’s, one of the earliest of which was _The -White Maiden of California_, in which an effect was introduced which -elicited immense applause at every representation. The hero falls asleep -in a mountain cavern, and dreams that the spirits of the Indians who -have been buried there rise up from their graves around him. The -departed braves, each bestriding a cream-coloured horse, rose slowly -through traps, to appropriate music; and the sensation produced among -the audience by their unexpected appearance was enhanced by the -statue-like bearing of the men and horses, the latter being so well -trained that they stood, while rising to the stage, and afterwards, as -motionless as if they had been sculptured in marble. - -Fitzball adapted to the hippo-dramatic stage the spectacle of _Azael_, -produced in 1851 at Drury Lane. At the first rehearsal, there was as -much difficulty in drilling the gentlemen of the chorus into unison, to -say nothing of decorum, as Ducrow had experienced at Drury Lane in -instructing the small fry of the profession in the graces of elocution. -There was an invocation to be chanted to the sacred bull by the priests -of Isis, and the choristers, who seem to have been drawn from the -stables, entered in an abrupt and disorderly manner, some booted and -spurred, and carrying whips, others holding a currycomb or a wisp of hay -or straw. Kneeling before the shrine, they shouted the invocation in -stentorian tones, and with a total disregard of unison; and during a -pause they disgusted the author still more by indulging in horse-play -and vulgar ‘chaff.’ - -Fitzball made them repeat the chorus, but without obtaining any -improvement. They would play, and they would not sing in unison. -Fitzball glanced at his watch; it indicated ten minutes to the dinner -hour of the fellows. He thereupon desired the call-boy to give his -compliments to Mr Batty, and request that the dinner-bell might not be -rung until he gave the word for the tintinnabulic summons. The -choristers heard the message, and, as they wanted their dinners, and -knew that Batty was a strict disciplinarian, it had the desired effect. -There was no more ‘chaffing,’ no more practical jokes; they repeated the -invocation in a chastened and subdued manner, and before the ten minutes -had expired their practice was as good as that of the chorus at Covent -Garden. - -_Mazeppa_ was revived at Astley’s during the season of 1851–2, and the -acts in the arena comprised the fox-hunting scene of Anthony Bridges -with a real fox; the great leaping act of John Bridges; the _cachuca_ -and the _Cracovienne_ on the back of a horse, danced by Amelia Bridges; -the graceful equestrian exercises of Mademoiselles Soullier and Masotta; -the gymnastic feats of the Italian Brothers; and the humours and -witticisms of Barry and Wheal, the clowns. - -The Hippodrome re-opened in the summer of 1852, under the management of -Henri Franconi, the most striking features of the entertainment being Mr -Barr’s exhibition of the sport of hawking, with living hawks and -falcons; the acrobatic and rope-dancing feats of the clever Brothers -Elliot; and Mademoiselle Elsler’s ascent of a rope over the roof of the -circus. - -Batty, who was reputed to have died worth half a million sterling, was -succeeded in the lesseeship of Astley’s by William Cooke, who, with his -talented family, for several years well maintained the traditional -renown of that popular place of amusement. Like the Ducrows, the -Henglers, the Powells, and others, the Cookes are a family of -equestrians; and not the least elements of the success achieved by the -new lessee of Astley’s were the wonderful feats of equestrianism -performed by John Henry Cooke, Henry Welby Cooke, and Emily Cooke (now -Mrs George Belmore). Welby Cooke’s juggling acts on horseback were -greatly admired, and John H. Cooke’s feat of springing from the back of -a horse at full speed to a platform, under which the horse passed, and -alighting on its back again, was quite unique. - -Vauxhall Gardens re-opened in 1854 with the additional attraction of a -circus, in rivalry with Cremorne, now become one of the most popular -places of amusement in the metropolis. The sensation of the season was -the gymnastic performance of a couple of youths known as the Italian -Brothers on a trapeze suspended beneath the car of a balloon, while the -aërial machine was ascending. The perilous nature of the performance -caused it to be prohibited by the Commissioners of Police, by direction -of the Home Secretary; a course which was also adopted in the case of -Madame Poitevin’s similar ascent from Cremorne, seated on the back of a -bull, in the character of Europa, though in that instance on the ground -of the cruelty of slinging the bovine representative of Jupiter beneath -the car. - -Some years afterwards, the gymnasts who bore the professional -designation of the Brothers Francisco advertised their willingness to -engage for a trapeze performance beneath the car of a balloon; but they -received no response, probably owing to the official prohibition in the -case of the Italian Brothers. - -‘Would not such a performance be rather hazardous?’ I said to one of -them. - -‘Oh, we should only do a few easy tricks,’ he replied. ‘We should soon -be too high for anybody to see what we were doing, and need only make -believe. Once out of sight, we should pull up into the car.’ - -‘Of course,’ I observed, ‘the risk of falling would be no greater than -if you were only thirty or forty feet from the ground; but, if you did -fall, there would be a difference, you would come down like poor -Cocking.’ - -‘Squash!’ said the gymnast. ‘As the nigger said, it wouldn’t be the -falling, but the stopping, that would hurt us. But the risk would have -to be considered in the screw; and then there is something in the offer -to do the thing that ought to induce managers to offer us an -engagement.’ - -In 1858, Astley’s had a rival in the Alhambra, which, having failed to -realize the anticipations of its founders as a Leicester Square -Polytechnic, under the name of the Panopticon, was converted by Mr E. T. -Smith into an amphitheatre. Charles Keith, known all over Europe as ‘the -roving English clown,’ and Harry Croueste were the clowns; and Wallett -was also engaged in the same capacity during a portion of the season. -One of the special attractions of the Alhambra circle was the vaulting -and tumbling of an Arab troupe from Algeria. Vaulting is usually -performed by European artistes with the aid of a spring-board, and over -the backs of the horses, placed side by side. The head vaulter leads, -and the rest of the company—clowns, riders, acrobats, and -gymnasts—follow, repeating the bound until the difficulty of the feat, -increasing as one horse after another is added to the group, causes the -less skilful performers to drop, one by one, out of the line. The Arab -vaulters at the Alhambra dispensed with the spring-board, and threw -somersaults over bayonets fixed on the shouldered muskets of a line of -soldiers. This feat has since been performed by an Arab named Hassan, -who, with his wife, a French rope-dancer, has performed in several -circuses in this country. - -Vauxhall Gardens, which had been closed for several years, opened on the -25th of July, in this year, for a farewell performance, in which a -circus troupe played an important part, with Harry Croueste as clown. -Then the once famous Gardens were given over to darkness and decay, -until the fences were levelled, the trees grubbed up, and the site -covered with streets, some of which, as Gye Street and Italian Street, -still recall the former glories of Vauxhall by their names. - -Some reminiscences of the provincial circus entertainments of this -period have been furnished by Mr C. W. Montague, formerly with Sanger’s, -Bell’s, F. Ginnett’s, Myers’s, and William and George Ginnett’s -circuses, and now manager of Newsome’s establishment. ‘Early in the -spring of 1859,’ says this gentleman, ‘some business took me into the -neighbourhood of Whitechapel, and while passing the London Apprentice -public-house, I heard my name shouted, and looking round espied Harry -Graham, whom I had known in the elder Ginnett’s circus. He was doing a -conjuring trick outside a miserable booth, at the same time inviting the -public to walk in, the charge being only one halfpenny. On the -completion of the trick, he jumped off the platform, and insisted on our -adjourning to the public-house, where he explained the difficulty he was -in, having been laid up all the winter with rheumatic gout. On his -partial recovery, he was compelled to accept the first thing that -offered, which was an engagement with the owner of the booth, a man -known in the profession as the Dudley Devil. - -‘Poor Harry begged me to give him a start; so I came to an arrangement -to take him through the provinces as M. Phillipi, the Wizard. This was -on a Friday; on the following Wednesday he appeared at Ramsgate to an -eighteen pound morning performance and a fourteen pound one at night, -our prices being three shillings, two shillings, and one shilling, -although in Whitechapel he would not have earned five shillings per day. -Among other places I visited was Dartford, where I took the Bull Hotel -assembly-room, which had been recently rebuilt, but not yet opened. Mrs -Satherwaite, a lady of considerable distinction, kindly gave me her -patronage, and I arranged for a band at Gravesend. On the day of the -performance, towards the afternoon, the band not having arrived, I sent -my assistant to Gravesend, with instructions to bring a band with him. -Half-past seven arrived, the time announced for opening the doors, when -a large crowd had assembled, as much out of curiosity to see the new -room as the conjurer, and in a short time every seat was occupied. - -‘Just before the clock struck eight, the time for commencement, in came -my assistant, saying the band had gone to Dover, to a permanent -engagement. I ran round to the stage-door, and told Graham. He said it -was impossible to give the entertainment without music. In my despair, I -rushed into the street, with the intention of asking Reeves, the -music-seller, if he could let me have a pianoforte. I had not got many -yards when I heard a squeaking noise, and found it proceeded from -_three_ very dirty German boys, one playing a cornopean, another a -trombone, and the third a flageolet. On accosting them, I found they -could not speak a word of English; so I took two of them by the collar, -and the other followed. On reaching the stage-door, I could hear the -impatient audience making a noise for a commencement. - -‘Harry Graham, on seeing my musicians, said it would queer everything to -let them be seen by the audience. “I can manage that,” I said; “we will -just put them under the stage, and I will motion them when to go on and -when to leave off.” In another moment M. Phillipi was on the stage, and -received with shouts of applause from the impatient audience. On the -conclusion of the performance, I went to the front, and thanked Mrs -Satherwaite for her kindness, when she said, “He is very clever; but, -oh! that horrid unearthly music!”’ - -‘On finishing the watering towns, I took the Cabinet Theatre, King’s -Cross, where M. Phillipi appeared with success. One evening, to vary the -performance, we arranged to do the bottle trick, and specially engaged a -confederate, who was to change the bottles from the top of the ladder, -through one of the stage-traps. By some error, the man took his position -directly the bell rang for the curtain to go up, instead of doing so, as -he should have done, at the commencement of the second part of the -entertainment. M. Phillipi commenced his usual address, explaining to -the audience that he did not use machinery or employ confederates, as -other conjurers are wont to do; and to convince them, he pulled up the -cloth of the table, at the same time saying, “you see there is nothing -here but a common deal table.” To his surprise, the audience exclaimed, -“There’s a man there!” But he was equal to the occasion, and went on -with his address, taking the first opportunity to give the confederate a -kick, when down the ladder he went. - -‘At this establishment, while under my management, the earthly career of -poor Harry Graham was brought to a close. For many years it had been his -boast that his Richard III. was second only to Edmund Kean’s, and that -he only lacked the opportunity to astound all London with his -impersonation of the character. Now the opportunity had arrived, and he -determined to play it for his benefit; but, unfortunately, the -excitement of this dream of years was too much for him, and he died a -few days afterwards. Those who are curious about the last resting-place -of this world-renowned showman may find his grave in the Tower Hamlets -cemetery. - -‘In the following winter, I joined Ginnett’s circus at Greenwich, and -found the business in a wretched condition. The principal reason for -this state of things was, that the circus had only a tin roof and wooden -boarding around, and the weather being very severe, the place could not -be kept warm. I was at my wits’ ends to improve the receipts when, being -one day in a barber’s shop, getting shaved, the barber remarked, “There -goes poor Townsend.” On inquiring I found that the gentleman referred to -had been M. P. for Greenwich, but in consequence of great pecuniary -difficulties had had to resign. My informant told me that he was a most -excellent actor, he having seen him, on more than one occasion, perform -Richard III. with great success; and what was more, he was an immense -favourite in Greenwich and Deptford, he having been the means, when in -the House of Commons, of getting the dockyard labourers’ wages -considerably advanced. - -‘It immediately struck me that, if I could get the ex-M. P. to perform -in our circus, it would be a great draw. With this object in my mind, I -waited on Mr Townsend the next morning, and explained to him my views. -“Heaven knows,” he said in reply, “I want money bad enough; but to do -this in Greenwich would be impossible.” I did not give it up, however, -but pressed him on several occasions, until at last he consented to -appear as Richard III. for a fortnight, on sharing terms. The next -difficulty was as to who should sustain the other characters in the -play, there being no one in the company, except Mr Ginnett and myself, -capable of taking a part. We got over the difficulty by cutting the -piece down, and Mr Ginnett and myself doubling for Richmond, Catesby, -Norfolk, Ratcliffe, Stanley, and the Ghosts. The business, -notwithstanding these drawbacks, turned out a great success; so much so, -that Mr Townsend insisted on treating the whole of the company to a -supper. Shortly afterwards, he went to America. - -‘In the following year, while at Cardiff, we got up an equestrian -spectacle entitled _The Tournament; or, Kenilworth Castle in the Days of -Good Queen Bess_, for which we required many supernumeraries to take -part in the procession, the most important being a handsome-looking -female to impersonate the maiden Queen. Walking down Bute Street one -day, I espied, serving in a fruiterer’s shop, a female whom I thought -would answer our purpose admirably. So I walked in, and made a small -purchase, which led to conversation; and by dint of a little persuasion, -and explaining the magnificent costume to be worn, the lady consented to -attend a rehearsal on the following day. She came to the circus, -received the necessary instructions, and seemed highly gratified when -seated on the throne, surrounded by her attendants. - -‘On the first night of the piece, everything went off well until its -close, when Mr Ginnett rushed into my dressing-room, in great -excitement, exclaiming, “There is that infernal woman sitting on her -throne!” I immediately proceeded to the ring-doors, and there, to my -dismay, saw the Queen on the throne by herself, and the boys in the -gallery pelting her with orange peel. I beckoned to her, but she seemed -to have lost all presence of mind. I sent one of the grooms to fetch her -off, and amidst roars of laughter her royal highness gathered up her -robes, and made a bolt. It appeared that the Earl of Leicester, who -should have led her off, had, for a joke, told her to stay until she was -sent for.’ - -Gymnastics continued in the ascendant at the Alhambra long after its -conversion into a music-hall, and crowds flocked there nightly to -witness the wondrous, and then novel, feats of Leotard, Victor Julien, -Verrecke, and Bonnaire on the flying trapeze. Somersaults over horses in -the ring, being performed by the aid of a spring-board, are far -surpassed by the similar feats of gymnasts between the bars of the -flying trapeze. The single somersaults of Leotard and Victor Julien were -regarded with wonder, but they have been excelled by the double -somersault executed by Niblo, which, in its turn, has been surpassed by -the triple turn achieved by the young lady known to fame as ‘Lulu.’ I am -not aware that a quadruple somersault has ever been accomplished, if -indeed it has ever been attempted. It was stated, about three years ago, -that a gymnast who had attempted the feat in Dublin paid the penalty of -his hardihood in loss of life; but experience has rendered me somewhat -incredulous as to the rumours of fatal accidents to gymnasts and -acrobats which are not confirmed by the report of a coroner’s inquest. - -Besznak, the cornet-player of the London Pavilion orchestra, said to me -one evening, several years ago, ‘You know Willio, the bender? Well, he -is dead; went into the country to perform at a gala, and caught a cold, -poor fellow!’ Willio is, however, still living. I will give another -instance. About two years ago, one of the Brothers Ridgway met with an -accident at the Canterbury Hall, while practising. Some weeks -afterwards, it was currently reported that his injuries had proved -fatal. Subsequently, however, a gentleman engaged in the ballet at the -Alhambra, and who, at the time of the accident, had been similarly -engaged at the Canterbury, was accosted one evening, while returning -home, in the well-known voice of the young gymnast who had been reported -dead. Turning round in surprise, he saw that it was indeed Ridgway who -had spoken, looking somewhat paler than he did before the accident, but -far more lively than a corpse. - -Great as the risks attending gymnastic feats really are, they are not -greater than those which are braved every day by sailors, miners, and -many other classes, as well as in hunting, shooting, rowing, and other -sports, not excluding even cricket. While there are few gymnasts who -have not met with casualties in the course of their career, the -proportion of fatal accidents to the number of professional gymnasts -performing is certainly not greater than among the classes just -mentioned, and I believe it to be even less. During the period between -the advent of Leotard at the Alhambra and the present time, only two -gymnasts, so far as I have been able to ascertain, have been killed -while performing; and the prophecy attributed to that renowned gymnast, -that all his emulators would break their necks, has, happily, not been -fulfilled. - - - - - CHAPTER IX. - -Cremorne Gardens—The Female Blondin—Fatal Accident at Aston - Park—Reproduction of the Eglinton Tournament—Newsome and - Wallett—Pablo Fanque’s Circus—Equestrianism at Drury Lane—Spence - Stokes—Talliott’s Circus—The Gymnasts of the Music-halls—Fatal - Accident at the Canterbury—Gymnastic Brotherhoods—Sensational - Feats—Sergeant Bates and the Berringtons—The Rope-trick—How to do - it. - - -Though the history of circus performances would be scarcely complete -without an occasional passing glance at the music-halls, it would be -impracticable to give a consecutive record of the performances at places -now so numerous without producing a work that would rival in -voluminousness, and, I may add, in tedium, the dramatic history of -Geneste. I shall, therefore, give only a general view of them, including -in the survey places which, during the summer, divide with them the -patronage of the pleasure-seeking public. - -While the graceful performance of Leotard was attracting nightly crowds -to the Alhambra, the public were invited by the lessee of Cremorne -Gardens to witness the crossing of the Thames on a rope by a lady who -assumed the name of the Female Blondin, and whose performance was -probably suggested by the more adventurous feat of her masculine -prototype over the cataract of Niagara. The performance was decidedly -sensational, and attracted a great crowd; besides having the advantage -of being attended with much less risk to the performer than any -exhibition ever given by the cool-headed and intrepid Frenchman whose -name she borrowed. Had Blondin fell at Niagara, he would have been -carried over the cataract, and been dashed to pieces; if he should fall -from his lofty elevation at the Crystal Palace, he would be killed -instantaneously. - -Miss Young incurred no such risk; if she had fallen into the river, she -would have found it soft, and so many boats were on its surface that the -risk of drowning could not enter into the calculation. Leotard practised -his aerial somersault over water before he performed in public; and it -would have been well for Miss Young if she had confined her rope-walking -feats to localities in which she had the water beneath her. The -experiment at Cremorne served its purpose in recommending her to the -attention of managers as a rival of Blondin on the high rope; but it was -not long before she met with an accident which rendered, her a cripple -for life, while another young woman, whom her success led to emulate her -lofty feats, fell from a rope at Aston Park, in the environs of -Birmingham, and was killed on the spot. - -The great attraction of the Cremorne season of 1863 was a tournament, -got up on the model of the one which attracted so large a proportion of -the upper ten thousand to Eglinton Castle in the summer of 1844. There -was a grand procession to the lists, and an imposing display of banners, -and all the pomp and pageantry of bygone times; and then the encounters -of the armoured knights, for which the lists at Cremorne afforded much -more scope than the stage at Astley’s, or even at Drury Lane. Doubtless -there were some dummies, as I have seen in the tournament scene in -_Mazeppa_; but the living knights acquitted themselves very creditably, -and the spectacle proved a powerful source of attraction. - -The Queen of Beauty was a lady whose ordinary business was to ride in -_entrées_, and who was known professionally as Madame Caroline. If she -did not, like Thackeray’s Miss Montmorency, live in the New Cut, she had -her abode in the vicinage of that thoroughfare, in the somewhat more -westerly region which receives, after midnight, so large a proportion of -those who, in various ways, contribute to the amusement of the public. -Yet there may have been some of the critical spectators of the Cremorne -tournament who, looking upon Madame Caroline, may have felt the force of -the remark made by Willis as to the comparative suitability of Lady -Seymour and Fanny Kemble to have occupied the throne of the Queen of -Beauty at Eglinton Castle. - -‘The eyes,’ said Willis, ‘to flash over a crowd at a tournament, to be -admired from a distance, to beam down upon a knight kneeling for a -public award of honour, should be full of command; dark, lustrous, and -fiery. Hers are of the sweetest and most tranquil blue that ever -reflected the serene heaven of a happy hearth—eyes to love, not wonder -at—to adore and rely upon, not admire and tremble for. At the distance -at which most of the spectators of the tournament saw Lady Seymour, -Fanny Kemble’s stormy orbs would have shown much finer; and the forced -and imperative action of a stage-taught head and figure would have been -more applauded than the quiet, nameless, and indescribable grace, lost -to all but those immediately around her.’ - -Wallett, the clown, on his return from his second American tour, having -acquired some money, was taken into partnership by Newsome, whose circus -was, in the words of the former, ‘one of the most complete concerns ever -seen,’ They opened at Birmingham, where good business was done for a few -months, after which they started on a tenting tour, with a stud of forty -horses. They returned to Birmingham for the winter, and showed their -thousands of patrons one of the finest amphitheatres ever opened in this -country. The ring, instead of having saw-dust or tan laid down, was -covered with pile matting of cocoa-nut fibre for the horses to run on, -while the central portion, where the ring-master cracks his whip and the -clown his ‘wheeze,’ boasted a circular carpet. The decorations of the -interior were rich and tasteful, and it was illuminated by a chandelier -by Defries, which had cost a thousand guineas. - -The association of Wallett with Newsome continued for two years, after -which the circus was conducted by the latter single-handed, and the -former joined Pablo Fanque’s circus as clown. He is next found engaging -the talented Delavanti family for a tour, and afterwards coming with -them to London, where they were all engaged at Drury Lane Theatre, then -temporarily open for circus performances, under the management of Spence -Stokes, an American. - -In 1865, Hengler’s company and stud came to London, and gave a series of -performances at the Stereorama, temporarily converted into a circus for -the purpose. - -On the termination of these performances, and of William Cooke’s -lesseeship of Astley’s, London was without an amphitheatre for several -years, with the exception of a few months, when a small temporary circus -was opened in the back-slums of Lambeth Walk, by James Talliott, -formerly well known as a trapeze performer. The company and stud, which -were on a very limited scale, were supplied from Fossett’s circus, which -tented at fairs during the summer, and Talliott erected a temporary -circus for them on the yards at the back of a row of houses belonging to -him. - -During the time that Astley’s ceased to exist as a circus, the -music-halls of the metropolis, which were now springing up in every -quarter, supplied the seekers after amusement with a constant succession -of performers of those portions of a circus entertainment which can be -exhibited upon a platform. The fatal accident which befell a gymnast -named Majilton at the Canterbury caused the proprietors of those places -of amusement to discountenance the flying trapeze for a time, and the -rising school of young gymnasts who intended to transcend the feats of -Leotard began to practise on the fixed trapeze, single or double, the -horizontal bar, and the flying rings. The gymnast known professionally -as Airec made balancing the distinctive feature of his performances, and -exhibited it on the trapeze in every position. Others gave to their -feats on the trapeze the sensational character which was so striking an -element in the performances of Leotard and Victor Julien by exhibiting -what is called ‘the drop,’ in which one of the performers falls headlong -from the bar, as if by accident, and is caught by the foot by his -companion, who himself hangs from the bar by his feet, which are locked -in the angles formed by the bar and its supporting ropes. - -The gymnasts known as the Brothers Ellis, and sometimes as the Brothers -Ellistria, were two of the best performers on the horizontal bar that I -ever witnessed. The slow pull-up of James Ellis was inimitable; but in -feats in which ease and grace were displayed more than strength he was -excelled, I think, by his partner, who, after their separation, assumed -the name of Castelli. I must here remark that gymnastic and acrobatic -‘brothers’ seldom bear the relationship to each other which the -designation conveys. Though it exists in some instances, as in the case -of the Brothers Ridley (both, I believe, now dead), they are the -exceptions; the Brothers Francisco, who performed in numerous circuses -and provincial music-halls several years ago, but have since retired -from the profession, were cousins. The Brothers Ellis, the Brothers -Price, and many other professional fraternities that could be named were -not even partners, one of them making engagements and receiving the -salary, taking the lion’s share for himself, and paying a stipulated sum -to his companion, in or out of an engagement. - -The partnership of the Brothers Price, who performed on the double -trapeze, was of brief duration. Price, for only one of them bore that -patronymic in private life, had the good fortune to receive a legacy of -considerable amount, and thereupon retired from the profession; and his -partner, whose real name was Welsh, assumed the name of Jean Price, and, -knowing that single trapeze performances did not ‘go’ like the double, -he began to practise the ‘long flight,’ and made it his specialty. -Suspending his trapeze above the platform, as usual, he erected a perch, -as for the flying trapeze, at the opposite end of the hall, and at the -same altitude as the trapeze. Midway between the perch and the trapeze a -pair of ropes were suspended from the ceiling, and provided with rings -or stirrups, as for the flying rings performance, but long enough to -reach the perch. Taking his stand on the perch, and grasping the rings -firmly with his hands, the gymnast sprang off into the air, and swung to -the trapeze, which he caught with his legs, at the same moment loosing -his hold of the rings. He then performed some ordinary feats on the -trapeze, and catching the climbing rope swung to him by an attendant, -descended by it to the platform, from which he bowed his acknowledgments -of the warm applause with which such sensational feats as the long -flight are invariably received. - -Remarks are often made by gymnasts as to the ease with which they -perform on the trapeze and the horizontal bar many of the feats which -elicit the most applause, as compared with those which often excite no -demonstration whatever. Every one who has witnessed the tight-rope -performances of the inimitable Blondin must have observed how much more -he is applauded when he appears on a rope stretched at a great elevation -than when he performs his feats on a low rope. There is, however, no -more difficulty, and no greater risk of falling, whether the rope is -stretched at an elevation of four feet only, or of forty feet, while the -feats performed are the same. But the greater elevation conveys to most -minds the idea of a greater amount of skill and courage being required -for their performance, and hence the louder and more general applause -which they elicit when they are performed on the high rope. People -admire daring, and the more sensational a gymnastic performance of any -kind is the more it is sure to be applauded. - -Antipodean balancing feats have been exhibited by several music-hall -_artistes_, in various modes, and with a considerable variety of -accessories. James King, known as the bottle equilibrist, places a stool -on a table, four wine glasses on the stool, a tray upon the glasses, and -a decanter upon the tray; and then, grasping the upper part of the -decanter with both hands, raises himself to a head-balance. Another -_artiste_ of this class, Jean Bond, balances himself upon his head upon -the summit of one of the uprights of a ladder, which is surmounted by a -revolving cap, and by turning the cap with his hands, he spins round in -that position. A more interesting performance, to my mind, than either -of these was shown three or four years ago by an acrobat named Carl, who -walked upon his hands along a wire stretched from the gallery to a -temporary platform on the stage. In performing this feat, the whole -weight of the body rests on the right and left hands alternately, and -the equilibrium is maintained by following each movement of the hands -along the wire with a corresponding motion of the body, so that, whether -the weight is resting on the right hand or the left, the centre of -gravity is directly above the wire. - -The flying rings, being a less sensational performance than the trapeze, -has not been much favoured by gymnasts, though they frequently practise -with the rings while training, as a preparation for the flying trapeze. -Some very good tricks can be shown with them, however, and several years -ago the performance was made a specialty by a brace of gymnasts known as -Parelli and Costello. Parelli is not an Italian, as his professional -name would lead the _incognoscenti_ in such matters to infer, but a -native of Westminster, and his real name is Francis Berrington. Having -practised gymnastics with a view to a public appearance, he found a -partner in a young acrobat named Costello, also a native of Westminster, -whose performances had hitherto been exhibited in quiet streets, and -been followed by a ‘nob.’ He is not, however, the only performer whom -the multiplication of music-halls, and the consequent demand for -gymnasts and acrobats in such establishments, has elevated from the -streets to the platform; and it is certain that the change, while it has -raised the status of the vocation, has produced a great improvement in -the quality of the performance, by furnishing the performer with a -constant incentive thereto. It is a curious illustration of the system -of adopting professional names differing from their real patronymics, -and which obtains equally among all classes that contribute to the -amusement of the public in theatres, circuses, and music-halls, that -Parelli is the brother of Luke Berrington, who performs under the name -of Majilton. Luke Berrington is a very creditable artist in -water-colours, and his views of the various portions of the exterior and -interior of Westminster Abbey have been greatly admired by competent -judges for their artistic finish and the fidelity with which every -portion of the venerable edifice has been reproduced. To the general -public, however, he is better known as a clever performer of the tricks -with a hat of soft felt which were first exhibited in this country by -the French clowns, Arthur and Bertrand. - -Mr Berrington, senior, the father of Luke and Frank, is not a little -proud of his clever sons and daughter. When Serjeant Bates, to win a -wager and make a book, carried the flag of the American Union from -Glasgow to London, the elder Berrington welcomed him to the metropolis -in an epistle signed ‘Majilton,’ without the prefix of his baptismal -name, as if the writer was a peer of the realm, and used his title. He -refers, with pardonable parental pride, to his olive-branches, then -making a professional tour in the United States, Luke and Frank being -accompanied by their sister and Costello; and the serjeant, who had -probably never heard of them before, speaks of them as a talented family -of actors! Their entertainment was really a ballet of _diablerie_, like -those of Fred Evans and the Lauri family, with a good deal of tumbling -and hat-spinning. - -Seven or eight years ago, the great ‘sensation’ of the London -music-halls was a balancing feat of a novel character, which was -exhibited by an acrobat named professionally Sextillian, but whose real -name is James Lee. He arranged about a score of glass tumblers in the -form of an inverted pyramid, and balanced the fragile structure on his -forehead, the base being formed by a single tumbler. But this was not -all. He changed his position several times, constantly assuming -attitudes which would have won the admiration of the world, if they -could have been perpetuated in marble, and even passed in various -positions through a hoop, all the time maintaining the equilibrium of -the glittering pile that rested upon such a narrow base upon his -forehead. If any of my readers should be disposed to attempt the -performance of this feat as a private drawing-room entertainment, they -must be prepared with a good supply of tumblers, for I am able to assure -them, on the excellent authority of Sextillian himself, that the -wondrous dexterity with which he performs it was not attained without an -extensive destruction of glass. - -Another performance which excited a large amount of public attention, -partly through the mystery in which the _modus operandi_ was enveloped, -and partly by reason of the excitement previously produced by the -Brothers Davenport’s exhibition of alleged spirit-manifestations, was -the ‘rope-trick,’ shown first by an expert performer named Redmond at -Astley’s, and afterwards at most of the music-halls. The performer was -enclosed in a cabinet about three feet square, and five or six feet -high, with a door facing the spectators, and provided with a small -aperture near the top. In a few minutes an attendant opened the door, -when Redmond was seen within, securely bound in a chair. The spectators -were allowed to satisfy themselves that he was bound as securely as if a -second person had bound him, and then the door was closed. In a few -moments he rang a bell, then he showed one hand at the aperture; in a -few seconds more he began to beat a tambourine, and in a minute and a -half from the time he was shut in the door was opened again, and he -walked out, with the rope in his hands. This performance proved so -attractive that it soon had many imitators, but none of them did it in -so genuine and puzzling a manner, or displayed equal dexterity in its -exhibition. - -The trick was not original, but it was new to the public, or at least to -the present generation. I have heard it called both the American -rope-trick and the Indian rope-trick, but the former name may have been -derived from the similar performance of the Brothers Davenport, who -pretended to be passive agents in the business, and to be tied and -untied by spirits. Long before the pretended spiritual phenomena were -ever heard of, the rope-trick was in the _repertoire_ of the famous -Hindoo juggler, Ramo Samee, who performed at the Adelphi and the -Victoria some forty years ago. The manner of its performance is said to -have been communicated by him to one of the Brothers Nemo, who thought -so little of it that he never exhibited it until the public mind had -become excited by the tricks of the Davenports and the antagonistic -performance of Redmond. Next to the latter, Nemo was the best exhibitor -of the trick that I ever saw; but that is not saying much, for most of -them were so incompetent to perform it that the effect produced by its -exhibition by them was simply ludicrous. I remember one of them—I will -not mention his name—complaining when he found that he could not release -himself, that he had not been treated as a gentleman by the person—one -of the spectators—by whom he had been bound; and another, that he had -been tied so tightly that the rope hurt his wrists, and stipulating, on -another occasion, that he should not be tied tight! - -The peculiarity which distinguished Redmond’s feats in a remarkable -manner from those of his imitators was, that he not only released -himself from the rope in less time than was occupied in binding him, -whoever the operator might be, but bound himself in a manner that -baffled the skill and exhausted the patience of every one who attempted -to unbind him. I was present one evening at the decision of a wager -which had been made by a West-end butcher, that he would unbind Redmond -in a given time, the tying up being done by Redmond himself. The -performer entered the cabinet, carrying the rope, and was shut in; in -less than two minutes the door was opened, and he was seen bound, hand -and foot, to the chair on which he was sitting. The butcher immediately -set to work, several gentlemen standing around, with their watches in -their hands, surveying the operation with the keenest interest. It was -very soon seen that the butcher was at fault; he could not find either -end of the rope. He sought in Redmond’s boots, up his sleeves, inside -his vest, but the rope seemed endless. He fumed, he perspired, as the -seconds grew into minutes, and the minutes swiftly chased each other -down the stream of time; but no end could he discover. Time was called, -and the butcher’s wager was lost. Redmond was then enclosed in the -cabinet again, and in less than two minutes he was free. - -The secret of this trick is unknown to me, but I was not long in -discovering that the mere untying by a person of a rope which has been -bound about him by another is, however securely the rope may be tied, a -very simple matter. It does not follow, however, that the feat can be -performed by every one. The operator must possess good muscles, sound -lungs, small hands, and strong fingers. If he clenches his hands, raises -the muscles of his arms, and keeps his chest inflated during the -operation of tying, he will find that his work is half done by the -simple process of opening his hands, relaxing the muscles of the arms, -and restoring the natural respiration. If the wrists are bound together -without being separately secured, the releasing of one hand frees the -other by the slackening of the rope; but the operator is thought to be -more securely tied when the rope is tied with a knot about the right -wrist, and then passed round the other, both drawn close together, and a -second knot tied. In this case, the right hand must be drawn through the -hempen bracelet by arching it lengthwise, and bringing the thumb within -the palm, so that the breadth of the hand shall very little exceed that -of the wrist; and this operation is greatly facilitated by a smooth, -hard skin. With the right hand at liberty, there is little more to be -done; for a skilful and experienced manipulator finds it easier to slip -out of his bonds than to untie the knots which are supposed to increase -his difficulty. Any man possessing the physical qualifications which I -have mentioned ought to be able to liberate himself, however securely he -is tied, in a minute and a half. - -I have performed this feat on several occasions for the satisfaction of -friends, and have always released myself in Redmond’s time, except on -one occasion, when I failed entirely, and had to be released by the -gentleman who had bound me. He had, unknown to me, made a noose at one -end of the rope, and this he passed over my head, after binding my arms -and knotting the rope behind me in such a manner that I could not move -either hand without producing a lively sense of strangulation. - -‘I learned that trick in Australia,’ observed the author of my -discomfiture. ‘I tied up a black fellow like that in the bush; _and he -is there now_.’ - - - - - CHAPTER X. - -Opening of the Holborn Amphitheatre—Friend’s season at Astley’s—Adah - Isaacs Menken—Sanger’s Company at the Agricultural Hall—The Carré - troupe at the Holborn Amphitheatre—Wandering Stars of the - Arena—Albert Smith and the Clown—Guillaume’s Circus—The Circo - Price—Hengler’s Company at the Palais Royal—Re-opening of Astley’s - by the Sangers—Franconi’s Circus—Newsome’s Circus—Miss Newsome and - the Cheshire Hunt—Rivalry between the Sangers and Howes and Cushing. - - -After the lapse of several years, during which no equestrian -performances were given in the metropolis, though gymnastic and -acrobatic feats were exhibited nightly at a score of music-halls, a new -amphitheatre was, in 1868, erected on the north side of Holborn. There, -under the excellent management of Messrs Charman and Maccollum, have -been exhibited some of the finest acts of horsemanship, and the most -striking gymnastic feats, ever witnessed by this or any other -generation. Alfred Bradbury’s wonderful jockey act; James Robinson’s -great feat of hurdle-leaping on the bare back of a horse with a boy -standing upon his shoulders; the marvellous leap through a series of -hoops of George Delavanti; the astounding gymnastic performances of the -Hanlons and the Rizarelis; the extraordinary somersaulting and -rocket-like bound of the young lady known as Lulu; and the graceful -riding of Beatrice Chiarini, without saddle or bridle, will not soon be -forgotten by those who had the gratification of witnessing them. - -In the same year that the Holborn Amphitheatre was opened, Astley’s was -re-opened as a circus by Mr Friend. The chief attraction upon which Mr -Friend relied was the impersonation of Mazeppa by Adah Isaacs Menken, a -young lady of Jewish extraction, who came from America with the -reputation of a female Crichton of the nineteenth century. According to -a biographical sketch prefixed to a Paris version of the drama, _The -Pirate of the Savannah_, in which she appeared in that city, she had -written verses and essays at an age at which other girls are occupied -with dolls, and translated the _Iliad_ in her thirteenth year. In Latin -and Hebrew, Spanish and German, she was as proficient as in Greek; -French, her enthusiastic Gallic biographer does not seem to consider it -necessary to mention. Her mother being left in reduced circumstances at -her second widowhood, Adah resolved to devote her natural talents and -acquired accomplishments to the stage, and made her appearance as a -dancer at the opera-house at New Orleans, of which city she was a -native. - -After achieving the greatest artistic triumphs there and at Havanna, she -abandoned the boards for the literary profession, publishing a volume of -poems, and contributing for some time to two New Orleans journals. In -1858, being then seventeen years of age, she made her _début_ as an -actress in her native city, and subsequently performed in the chief -towns of the West. In 1863 she went to San Francisco, and afterwards -made a professional tour of the Eastern States, raising her reputation, -according to her biographer, to the highest pitch. - -Unfortunately for the maintenance of the exalted fame which she brought -from the United States, this versatile lady appeared, not at the Italian -Opera as a dancer, nor at Drury Lane or Covent Garden as an actress, -which such fame should have entitled her to do, but at Astley’s in the -character of Mazeppa; and it was still more unfortunate that the -management pinned their faith in her powers of attraction, not upon her -talent as an actress, but upon her beauty and grace, and her ability to -play the part without recourse to a double for the fencing and riding. -Enormous posters everywhere met the eye, representing the lady, -apparently in a nude state, stretched on the back of a wild horse, and -inviting the public to go to Astley’s, and see ‘the beautiful Menken.’ -Young men thronged the theatre to witness this combination of _poses -plastiques_ with dramatic spectacle, and ‘girls of the period’ dressed -their hair _à la Menken_, that is, like the frizzled crop of a negress; -but the theatrical critics looked coldly and sadly upon the performance, -and accused the management of ministering to a vitiated taste. - -Adah Menken was at this time in her twenty-seventh year, and had a few -years previously become the wife of Heenan, the pugilist, whose fine -figure had won her regards when the wealthiest men in California were -competing for her favours. The union was not a happy one, for which -result both the parties have been blamed; and the cause of difference -was probably one in respect of which neither could reproach the other -without provoking recrimination. Heenan, who was then in London, might -often have been seen at Astley’s during his wife’s engagement, and it -was said that both desired a reconciliation, and that Adah had come to -England with that view; but nothing came of it. ‘The beautiful Menken’ -went to Paris, and was said to be on terms of tender intimacy with the -elder Dumas. She died in Paris shortly afterwards, and her remains rest -in the cemetery of Père La Chaise. - -Adah Isaacs Menken was undoubtedly a woman of rare natural talents and -great accomplishments. While in London, she published a volume of poems, -with the general title of _Infelicia_, which correctly describes their -tone and character. Some of them are as wild as anything which has -emanated from Walt Whitman, and more are replete with the weird fancies -and wayward genius of Poe; but all are pervaded by a deep and touching -melancholy, which seems to shadow forth the spectre that haunted the -author’s gay and brilliant life, like the garlanded skeleton at the -festive board of the ancient Egyptians. From the suggestive title to the -last of the little head-and-tail pieces, designed probably by Adah -herself, everything in the book impresses a lesson which may be read in -Ecclesiastes. In the first of these tiny engravings we seem to read the -moral of the author’s life-story. It represents a woman stretched on the -shore of a stormy sea, with her face to the earth, and her dark hair -flowing over her recumbent form, which is faintly illuminated by the -fitful light of a moon half-obscured by drifting masses of black clouds. -The book was dedicated to Dickens, and contains a photographic -reproduction of a letter from the great novelist, thanking ‘Dear Miss -Menken’ for her portrait, and giving the desired permission to the -dedication. - -On the legal principle, it would seem, that two lawyers will live where -one would starve, the Sangers brought their company and stud to the -Agricultural Hall, where, for several successive winters, their -performances attracted thousands of spectators. This establishment -continues to travel during the summer, however, only resorting to a -permanent building in the metropolis when the approach of winter renders -‘tenting’ as unpleasant as it is unprofitable. The Agricultural Hall, -not having been constructed for equestrian entertainments, is not so -well adapted for them as for the purpose for which it was especially -designed, and the locality is far inferior, as a site for a circus, to -that of the Holborn Amphitheatre, of the circus subsequently erected by -Charles Hengler, or even Astley’s. - -It was at the Holborn Amphitheatre that the first female trapezist -appeared, in the person of a beautiful young woman rejoicing in the _nom -d’arena_ of Azella, the attractiveness of whose performances, as in the -case of female lion-tamers, soon produced many imitators. Azella was -announced to appear on the flying trapeze, and to turn a somersault; but -this feat, which created such a sensation when performed by Leotard and -Victor Julien, was exhibited by the fair aspirant to the highest -gymnastic honours in a manner which caused some disappointment to those -who had witnessed the performances of those renowned gymnasts at the -Alhambra. Instead of throwing off from one bar, turning the somersault, -and catching the next bar, Azella threw off, and somersaulted in her -descent from the bar to the bed placed for her to alight upon. The grace -with which all her evolutions were performed combined, however, with the -beauty of her person and the novelty of seeing such feats performed by a -woman, to secure her an enthusiastic reception whenever she appeared. - -Azella was succeeded at the Amphitheatre by Mdlle Pereira, who performed -similar feats, which she had exhibited in 1868 at Cremorne. Imitators -soon appeared at all the music-halls in the metropolis. At some of these -the long flight of Jean Price was emulated by a lady named Haynes, who -transformed herself, for professional purposes, into Madame Senyah by -the device of spelling her real name backward. A variation from Price’s -mode of performing the feat was presented by this lady, whose husband -appeared with her in a double trapeze act, and hanging from the bar by -his feet, caught her with his arms as she swung towards him on loosing -her hold of the stirrups. - -The company with which the Amphitheatre was opened was succeeded, after -a long and successful career, by the Carré troupe, which introduced to -the metropolis Alfred Burgess, who unites the qualifications of a clown -with those of an accomplished equestrian and clever revolving globe -performer. Clowns would seem to be precluded, by the nature of their -business, from the cosmopolitan wanderings of other circus performers; -but the name of Burgess is almost as famous on the continent as that of -Charles Keith, who has performed in nearly every European capital, -though Albert Smith has given a picture of clowning under difficulties -which might well deter those who cannot crack a ‘wheeze’ in half a dozen -languages from venturing into lands where English is not spoken. - -‘One evening,’ says the humourist, ‘I went to the Grand Circo -Olympico—an equestrian entertainment in a vast circular tent, on a piece -of open ground up in Pera; and it was as curious a sight as one could -well witness. The play-bill was in three languages—Turkish, Armenian, -and Italian; and the audience was composed almost entirely of -Levantines, nothing but fezzes being seen round the benches. There were -few females present, and of Turkish women none; but the house was well -filled, both with spectators and the smoke from the pipes which nearly -all of them carried. There was no buzz of talk, no distant hailings, no -whistlings, no sounds of impatience. They all sat as grave as judges, -and would, I believe, have done so for any period of time, whether the -performance had been given or not. - -‘I have said the sight was a curious one, but my surprise was excited -beyond bounds when a real clown—a perfect Mr Merriman of the -arena—jumped into the ring, and cried out, in perfect English: “Here we -are again—all of a lump! How are you?” There was no response to his -salutation, for it was evidently incomprehensible; and so it fell flat, -and the poor clown looked as if he would have given his salary for a boy -to have called out “Hot codlins!” I looked at the bill, and found him -described as the “Grottesco Inglese,” Whittayne. I did not recognize the -name in connection with the annals of Astley’s, but he was a clever -fellow, notwithstanding; and, when he addressed the master of the ring, -and observed, “If you please, Mr Guillaume, he says, that you said, that -I said, that they said, that nobody had said, nothing to anybody,” it -was with a drollery of manner that at last agitated the fezzes, like -poppies in the wind, although the meaning of the speech was still like a -sealed book to them. - -‘I don’t know whether great writers of Eastern travel would have gone to -this circus; but yet it was a strange sight. For aught that one could -tell we were about to see all the mishaps of Billy Button’s journey to -Brentford represented in their vivid discomfort upon the shores of the -Bosphorus, and within range of the sunset shadows from the minarets of -St Sophia! The company was a very fair one, and they went through the -usual programme of the amphitheatre. One clever fellow threw a bullet in -the air, and caught it in a bottle during a “rapid act;” and another -twisted himself amongst the rounds and legs of a chair, keeping a glass -full of wine in his mouth. They leaped over lengths of stair-carpet, and -through hoops, and did painful things as Olympic youths and Lion -Vaulters of Arabia. - -‘The attraction of the evening, however, was a very handsome -girl—Maddalena Guillaume—with a fine Gitana face and exquisite figure. -Her performance consisted in clinging to a horse, with merely a strap -hung to its side. In this she put one foot, and flew round the ring in -the most reckless manner, leaping with the horse over poles and gates, -and hanging on, apparently, by nothing, until the fezzes were in a -quiver of delight, for her costume was not precisely that of the -Stamboul ladies—in fact, very little was left to the imagination.’ - -I quote this passage for the purpose of showing that the wanderings of -the men and women whose vocation it is to entertain the public as -equestrians, clowns, acrobats, and jugglers are not confined to the -limits within which actors and singers obtain foreign engagements. There -are very few men or women of eminence in the profession who have not -visited nearly every European capital, and many of them have made the -tour of the world. Price’s circus was for many years one of the most -popular institutions of Madrid, and the Circo Price was to English -circus _artistes_ what Cape Horn is to American seamen. Tell an -equestrian or an acrobat that you think you have seen him before, and he -will ask, ‘Was it at the Circo Price?’ just as a Yankee sailor will -snuffle, ‘I guess it was round the Horn.’ To have appeared at the -Hippodrome or the _Cirque Imperiale_ is a very small distinction indeed, -when so many have performed in Madrid and Naples, Berlin and St -Petersburg, and not a few have traversed the United States from New York -to San Francisco, and then crossed the ocean, and performed in Sydney -and Melbourne, or Yokohama, Hong Kong, and Calcutta. - -Circus performers wander about the world more generally, and to a -greater extent, than the acrobats and jugglers who perform in -music-halls, from whom they are separated into a distinct class by the -requirements of circus engagements. All aspirants to saw-dust honours -being engaged for ‘general utility,’ it is necessary for them to -understand the whole routine of circus business, whether their specialty -is riding, vaulting, clowning, or any other branch. They are required to -take part in vaulting acts, to hold hoops, balloons, banners, &c., which -requires some practice before it can be done properly, and to line the -entrance to the ring when a lady of the company flutters into it, or -bows herself out of it. For this last duty, the proprietors of the best -appointed circuses provide uniform dresses, which are worn by all the -male members of the company, when not engaged in their performances, -from the time the circus opens until they retire to the dressing-room -for the last time. I am speaking, of course, of those who form the -permanent company of a circus, and not of those engaged, as ‘stars,’ for -six or twelve nights. - -The ‘bright particular star’ of the Amphitheatre, during the season of -1870, was the young lady known as Lulu, and who was recognized by -frequenters of that popular place of entertainment as the agile and -graceful child who had appeared, a few years previously, with her -father, at the Alhambra and Cremorne, as ‘the flying Farinis,’ in a -performance somewhat resembling that of the Brothers Hanlon and the -child called ‘Little Bob.’ She was then supposed to be a boy, and much -amusement was created after her appearance at the Amphitheatre as an -avowed woman, by the recollection of her having, after descending from -the lofty arrangement of trapezes and ladders on which she performed at -the Alhambra, advanced to the footlights, and sang a song, each verse of -which ended with the words, ‘Wait till I’m a man.’ The secret of her sex -was at that time unknown even to the performers at the Alhambra, at -least to the masculine portion, among whom the circumstance of her being -accompanied by her mother, and performing the operations of the toilet -in the ladies’ dressing-room, was a frequent subject of wonder and -speculation. - -There was a doubt also about the sex of the child who for a long time -did a gymnastic performance at the London Pavilion, very similar to that -given by Olmar at the Alhambra. The child was announced as ‘Little -Corelli,’ and was generally supposed to be a boy; but I have since heard -that it was a girl. - -The performances of Azella and Pereira had not satiated the public -appetite for the feats of female gymnasts, and the manager of the -Amphitheatre secured in Lulu a star of the first magnitude. Her triple -somersault is a feat in which she is still unrivalled; and though George -Conquest has since achieved her wonderful vertical spring of twenty-five -feet from the ring-fence, the means by which it is accomplished is still -a mystery. Lulu was succeeded by the Brothers Rizar, as they now chose -to be called, though they had gained immense applause a few years -previously at the Alhambra as the Brothers Rizareli. The double trapeze -of these clever gymnasts is perfectly unique, and must be seen to be -believed. - -The Amphitheatre did not continue without a competitor for the patronage -of that portion of the public which delights in witnessing feats of -equestrianism and gymnastics. Hengler’s circus, after being located for -some time in Bristol, and afterwards in Dublin, settled down at the -Palais Royal, in Argyle Street, and introduced to the metropolis all the -Henglers and Powells, male and female, whose praises had been sounded by -the provincial press all over the kingdom. The most noteworthy members -of the company were Louise Hengler, an admirable horse-woman, who, like -Adele Newsome, rides and leaps in a ‘cross country’ fashion, over -hurdles and six-barred gates; James Lloyd, most experienced in his art, -and one of the neatest, as well as of the boldest, of riders; John -Milton Hengler, who danced on a tight-rope with a grace and skill which -fully justified the warmth of the applause with which the performance -was received; and Franks, the clown, who, before joining the Hengler -troupe, had been the chief exponent of fun and humour attached to -Newsome’s circus. - -The circumstance of John M. Hengler dispensing with the balancing-pole -in his performance was mentioned by some of the newspaper critics as if -it was unique; but every frequenter of the London music-halls must have -observed the same feature in the similar performance of a member of the -clever Elliott family. - -Scarcely had the lovers of circus entertainments had time to solve the -problem of the possibilities of success for two amphitheatres in London -when Astley’s was re-opened as a circus by the Sangers. Circus -performances are necessarily so much alike that it is only by the -production of a constant succession of novelties, as was done at the -Holborn establishment, or by combining hippo-dramatic spectacles with -the ring performances, as Ducrow and Batty did, that any distinctive -character can be established. The Sangers followed the example of their -predecessors, and preceded the acts in the arena by an equestrian drama -of the kind which had been found attractive in the palmy days of -Astley’s. The ring performances were good, but presented no novelty. -Lavinia Sanger deserved her tribute of applause as a skilful rider, who -gracefully leaped over banners and boldly dashed through ‘balloons;’ and -her brother’s, or cousin’s, feat of riding, or rather driving, a number -of horses at once, in emulation of Ducrow, was very creditably -performed, but who has not seen similar feats as well performed in every -circus he has entered? We should be sorry to miss them; but they should -be the ‘padding’ of the programme, and not its staple. - -I have often heard the question asked, ‘What can be done upon a horse -which has not been done before?’ The question has been answered again -and again by the equestrian feats of such masters or the art of -equitation as Andrew Ducrow, Henry Adams, John Henry Cooke, Henry Welby -Cooke, George Delavanti, James Robinson, and Alfred Bradbury. It is only -by doing something which has never been done before, or by performing -some feat in a very superior style to that of previous exhibitors, that -a circus _artiste_ can emerge from the ruck, whether he is a rider, a -tumbler, a juggler, or a gymnast. - -‘If you want to get your name up,’ I said, several years ago, to a young -gymnast, ‘you must do something that has not been done before, and not -be content with performing such feats as may be seen every night, in -every music-hall in London.’ - -‘What can we do?’ he inquired. - -‘Ay, “there’s the rub!” Only a gymnastic genius can answer the question. -You may be sure that question was asked of themselves by Leotard, and -Olmar, and Farini, and all the other fellows who have made their names -famous, as the first performers of a skilful and daring feat. You know -how they answered it, and what salaries they got. As in the story of -Columbus and the egg, when a trick has once been done, there are many -who can repeat it, but it is the first performer that gets the greatest -fame and the highest salary.’ - -I must conclude this chapter with a brief notice of the changes and -movements of the principal travelling circuses during the last ten -years. In 1864, Franconi’s was at Nottingham for a time, with Charlie -Keith as clown and the Madlles Monfroid holding a conspicuous place -among the equestrian members of the company. Newsome’s circus was, later -in the year, at Chester, as I find by the following passage in a local -journal descriptive of a foxhunt:—‘The pace was terrific, and the -country the stiffest in Cheshire. This description would be incomplete -if I omitted to mention Miss Newsome, of the Chester Circus. This young -lady astonished the whole field by the plucky way in which she rode. She -unquestionably led the whole way, and never came to grief once. -_Straight_ was her motto, and straight she went; brook, hedge, and cop -were cleared by her in a style never seen in Cheshire before, and when -Reynard was deprived of his brush, it was most deservedly presented to -her amidst the cheers of all present.’ - -The movements of this circus during the following year are related, in -another chapter, by a gentleman who was at that time a member of the -company. In the spring of 1870, Messrs Sanger, whose circus is the -largest and most complete tenting establishment travelling in this -country, were threatened with a formidable rivalry by the appearance in -the field of the great American circus of Howes and Cushing. How they -met it is thus told by Mr Montague, who was then their agent in -advance:— - -‘It is well known that two large tenting concerns will not pay in -England. Under these circumstances, Messrs Sanger determined to drive -the Yankees off the road, which we ultimately succeeded in doing. Our -mode of fighting them was to bill all the towns taken by them as though -we were coming the following day, it being known to us that English -people will always wait for the last circus, when two or more companies -are advertised at the same time. Our next move was to take all the best -towns in the North first. We succeeded so well with this mode of -operation that we ultimately performed in the same town with them, -namely, Preston, in Lancashire. On this memorable occasion, showmen came -from all parts of England, two such concerns never having been seen in -one town on the same day. Messrs Howes and Cushing acknowledged -themselves beaten, and shortly afterwards returned to America.’ - -William Darby, better known as Pablo Fanque, died in the following year, -at the ripe age of seventy-five. Charles Hengler had adopted the plan so -successfully followed by Newsome, of locating his circus in permanent -buildings, maintaining several for the purpose, and remaining several -months at each place. The principal members of his company in 1873, were -Miss Jenny Louise Hengler, Miss Cottrell, John Henry Cooke, Hubert -Cooke, William Powell, Herr Oscar, the Hogini family, the Brothers -Alexander, and the clowns, Bibb and ‘Little Sandy.’ Newsome’s company -comprised, at the same time, in addition to the clever ladies of his -family, Charles and Andrew Ducrow (descendants of the great equestrian -of that name), Hubert Mears, Fredericks, and the gymnast known as Avolo. - -Sanger’s is the only great circus which follows the tenting system, -which can be successfully pursued only by those who possess a numerous -stud of showy horses. A less powerful company than Hengler or Newsome -finds necessary will do, because, the performances being given only two -nights in a town, the programme does not require to be changed so -frequently as when the company perform every night for a period of three -months in the same place; and the horses may be ridden in parades by the -grooms and their wives or daughters. But the public do not believe in a -tenting circus, unless its resources are put forth in a parade, for -which purpose a large number of horses are required, with a handsome -band-carriage, an elephant, and a couple of camels. The cost of -maintaining such an establishment is so great that the system cannot be -successfully pursued without a large capital, and the most complete and -efficient organization. Without both these requisites a bad season will -ruin the proprietor, as many have found by sad experience. - - - - - CHAPTER XI. - -Reminiscences of the Henglers—The Rope-dancing Henglers at - Astley’s—Circus of Price and Powell—Its Acquisition by the - Henglers—Clerical Presentation to Frowde, the Clown—Circus - Difficulties at Liverpool—Retirement of Edward Hengler—Rivalry of - Howes and Cushing—Discontinuance of the Tenting System—Miss Jenny - Louise Hengler—Conversion of the Palais Royal into an - Amphitheatre—Felix Rivolti, the Ring-master. - - -Conscious as I am of the imperfections of the foregoing record of circus -performances in this country, it is a relief to my mind to be enabled to -supplement the history with some further particulars concerning the -establishments so long, and with such well-deserved success, conducted -by the gentlemen who bear the renowned names of Hengler and Sanger. I am -indebted for the following memoir of the Henglers to a gentleman well -known in the equestrian profession, and who has for many years held the -important position of acting-manager in one of the best-appointed and -most admirably-conducted circuses in this country. - -Mr Charles Hengler, the proprietor of the cirque in Argyle Street, may -be said to have been born to the equestrian profession, his father -having been a celebrated tight-rope dancer with Ducrow, in whose service -he remained for several years; and thus had an opportunity of teaching -his sons his own profession. - -Edward Henry Hengler, the eldest, became famous in England and on the -Continent under the title of Herr Hengler, and was the most celebrated -professor of that art in his day. He died a few years since. John Milton -Hengler, a younger son, inherited the family talent, and also became -famous in America, and on the Continent. He came to England on the -retirement of his elder brother, and was considered a worthy successor. -A few years ago he retired from active service, and opened a riding -school in Liverpool, where he is still residing, highly respected and -esteemed by all who know him. Charles Hengler was, fortunately for him, -too tall to follow in the footsteps of his brothers, so his father -determined to make him the business man of the family, and his present -position is ample proof of his father’s success in so doing. - -After leaving Ducrow, Hengler, with his sons, joined the circus of Price -and Powell—Powell having married one of his daughters. Here they -remained some time, Charles attending to the business department, and -his father and brothers performing in the ring. As the showman’s life -is, at the best, a very precarious one, Price and Powell got into -difficulties while performing at Greenwich, and were consequently -obliged to dispose of their concern, which was purchased by Charles and -Edward Hengler. Price went abroad, and Powell, who was an excellent -equestrian, accepted an engagement with the new proprietors, who carried -on the business for several years with varied success, sometimes making -money, and as frequently losing what they had worked so hard to obtain. -It must be remarked that in those days equestrianism was not so popular -as it has since become, and there were two men in the business who -carried all before them, namely, Ducrow and Batty; so young and -struggling beginners had a hard battle to fight, the best towns in -England being in the possession of the former. But, as usual in all such -cases, courage and perseverance, combined with honesty of purpose and -strict attention to business, ultimately met its reward; for Henglers’ -circus at last made a name for itself, being the most respectably -conducted establishment of that class travelling the provinces. - -During the summer months they ‘tented,’ and in the winter erected -temporary wooden buildings in populous towns, in which the second visit -was invariably more remunerative than the previous one—a sufficient -proof of the high estimation in which the company were held. This is not -to be wondered at, when it is stated that several performers, who were -then with Mr Hengler, are yet on his establishment; notably, Mr James -Franks, one of the best clowns in his line of business of this or any -other day. Also Mr Bridges, Mr Powell, and a few others. Of course, with -the exception of Mr Powell, they were very young men when they first -joined him. There was also another very clever clown on the -establishment, of whom I must say a few words. This was James Frowde, a -nephew of the proprietors. This gentleman, who several years since -retired from the equestrian profession, was an immense favourite with -all classes. His appearance in the ring was invariably greeted with -acclamations, and in private life his company was sought by many of the -most respectable members of the community. To give some idea of the -popularity of this gentleman, I may state that while the company were -located in Chester in 1856, several clergymen presented him with a very -valuable Bible. This was made the subject of an eulogistic paragraph in -_Punch_, in which the recipient and the donors were equally -complimented—the one for deserving such a testimonial, the others for -their liberal appreciation of his conduct as clown, Christian, and -gentleman. It would be well if more of our divines followed so excellent -an example; not necessarily by presenting Bibles, for the poor player -not only possesses the book, but in most instances acts up to its -teachings. - -It was while residing in Chester that Mr Hengler obtained the patronage -of the Marquis of Westminster; of course on previous occasions he had -been patronized by many distinguished personages, and this particular -instance is mentioned only because it was the source of Mr Hengler’s -gaining a footing in Liverpool. I may here be allowed to quote a short -paragraph which appeared in the _Chester Observer_:— - -‘HENGLER’S CIRQUE.—The patronage and presence of the Mayor at this -admirably-conducted place of entertainment on Tuesday last filled the -building to overflowing.... Last night the performances were under the -patronage of Earl Grosvenor, M. P. In the morning the Marquis of -Westminster honoured the establishment with his patronage and presence, -the noble lord kindly and duly appreciating the just claim that Mr -Hengler has on the public as regards talent, attraction, and propriety, -and so, with his usual discretion and sound judgment, took this -opportunity to signify to Mr Henry, the manager, his conscientious -approval of Mr Hengler’s admirably-conducted establishment.’ Mr Hengler -also received a letter from the Marquis conveying a similar opinion. - -For several years it had been the desire of Mr Hengler and other -equestrian managers to obtain permission from the authorities of -Liverpool to erect a temporary circus in that town. Applications were -frequently made, and as frequently refused. The invariable answer was, -‘If you wish to perform in this town, you must make an arrangement with -Mr Copeland; he has the Amphitheatre, and we cannot allow any one to -oppose him.’ Now although the Amphitheatre, as its name imports, had -been originally built for equestrian performances, they had with one or -two exceptions, and these in its earliest days, proved failures. Of -course no manager possessing the knowledge of Mr Hengler would risk -going there, especially as the best arrangement it was possible to make -with the then proprietor was something like ‘Heads I win, tails you -lose.’ I think I am not far wrong in stating that Mr Hengler had made -seven or eight applications; and invariably received a similar reply, -‘You can’t be allowed to build here. The Amphitheatre is open to you; go -there, or go away.’ Armed with the Marquis of Westminster’s letter, and -several other valuable testimonials, Mr Hengler determined to make one -more trial; with what success I shall presently show. - -A piece of ground, the property of the corporation, was vacant in Dale -Street, and was a capital site for the erection of a temporary circus. - -Mr Hengler, and his architect, Mr O’Hara, went to Liverpool, and -obtained an interview with the then Mayor, a celebrated builder and a -liberal-minded gentleman. - -The testimonials were shown and a promise was made, that, at the next -meeting of the Council, Mr Hengler’s request should be brought forward, -and that the Mayor would assist him by using his influence. With this Mr -Hengler was compelled to be satisfied. - -From Chester, Mr Hengler went to Bradford, on which occasion the -following paragraph appeared in the _Leeds Mercury_, of January 10, -1857— - -‘Mr Hengler’s Establishment receives, as it deserves, the patronage of -immense audiences. The performances are so unique and varied, that they -cannot fail to please; while it is gratifying to perceive the strict -care that is taken to prevent anything that could offend the most -fastidious. The generality of such entertainments are more or less loose -in their morality; but the able and correct manner in which these -performances are conducted is testified by the fact, that they have met -with the approbation of the local clergy. The Rev. Vicar patronizes the -performance on Monday next. And on that occasion Mr Hengler affords free -admission to the day-schools connected with the Church of England.’ -This, of course, was of great value to Mr Hengler; and the authorities -at Liverpool were duly apprised of it; and, in a few days, the welcome -intelligence was conveyed to Mr Hengler that his request had been -complied with, and Mr O’Hara was started off to make arrangements for -the erection of the circus. This he soon succeeded in doing, Messrs -Holmes and Nicol, the eminent builders, undertaking its erection. - -This circus was opened by Mr Hengler on March the 15th, 1857. To give -some idea of its style and appointments, I cannot do better than quote -the following description from the _Liverpool Daily Mail_ of March 20th, -1857. - -‘HENGLER’S CIRQUE VARIETIES.—During the present week Mr Charles Hengler -has opened, in Dale Street, a handsome, commodious, and spacious -theatre, devoted to equestrian performances, which has been constructed -by Messrs Holmes and Nicol of this town, on the model of Franconi’s -famous Cirque, in the Champs Elysees, Paris. The building, though of a -temporary character, is most admirably suited for the purpose for which -it is designed; and while accommodating an immense number of spectators, -who can all easily witness the performances, the ventilation is perfect, -and with an entire absence of draughts. There is nothing to offend the -senses of smell or sight. The audience is placed in compartments round -the circle; the frequenters of the boxes being seated on cushioned -chairs, with a carpeted flooring under their feet. The compartments -entitled pit and gallery are also very comfortable, while round the -whole building runs a spacious promenade. The ceiling is covered with -coloured folds of chintz, which give a brilliant and cleanly appearance; -and the pillars supporting the roof are neatly papered, and ornamented -with flags and shields. The whole aspect is, in fact, what has long been -a desideratum in this country, and we regret it will have to be pulled -down again in a few months. - -‘With respect to the performances, we can only speak most highly; they -are decidedly the best we have witnessed here since the appearance of -the French Company. - -‘The horses are beautiful and well trained, the grooms smart and natty, -and the dresses of all connected with the establishment new and -tasteful. We have not space to mention a tithe of the performances, -which present many novelties, and display the varied talent of the -company to great advantage; the gentlemen being all daring and skilful, -and the ladies, equally clever, yet modest and charming. In fact, we can -strongly recommend our readers to pay a visit to Mr Hengler’s circus; -for, as we were surprised and delighted ourselves, we feel assured that -no one can regret patronizing an entertainment so harmless, pleasing, -and exciting.’ - -In one respect, the writer of the above paragraph made a mistake, for, -although the circus was originally intended to be a temporary building, -the success was so great that it remained standing for five years, Mr -Hengler visiting Liverpool for four months each winter. At this time the -company comprised William Powell, Anthony and John Bridges, the Brothers -Francisco, the clowns Frowde, Hogini, and Bibb, Ferdinand and Eugene, -Madame Bridges, Miss Adrian, etc. The performing horses were introduced -by Mr Hengler. Previous to Mr Hengler visiting Liverpool, the -partnership terminated between him and his brother Edward, the latter -having realized sufficient to retire from the profession. - -The ground in Dale Street being wanted by the corporation for building -purposes, Mr Hengler obtained a site for the erection of a building in -Newington, and a lease of the ground for seven years. He here built a -very fine and capacious cirque, the builders who erected the one in Dale -Street undertaking the contract. It was to be a brick building; and they -were under heavy penalties to get it completed by a certain time. -Unfortunately for them, they had no sooner commenced, than a strike took -place amongst the brick-makers; and the builders had to appeal to Mr -Hengler, who allowed them to erect a wooden structure, they agreeing to -erect, at the expiration of the strike, brick walls around it, which was -done. - -Here Mr Hengler remained for seven years, the term of his lease. The -ground was then required for a new railway, and he had to leave -Liverpool, not being able to find a site adapted to his purpose. While -Mr Hengler remained here, several other circuses attempted to oppose -him, the authorities, who had remained inflexible for so many years, -granting indiscriminate permission to whoever applied to them. All of -them failed, and soon left the town. A notable example occurred in one -especial case. - -Howes and Cushing, the American equestrian managers, chartered a vessel, -and landed at Liverpool with the largest company and stud that had ever -visited these shores. They obtained the best position in Liverpool for -the erection of their tent: and this, only after Mr Hengler had been -open in Dale Street about one month. They inundated the town with their -large pictorial posters, paid fabulous sums for fronts and sides of -houses on which to have them affixed. Liverpool really went Howes and -Cushing mad. The American colours were flying from every house in which -any of the company lodged. Columns of advertisements were in all the -Liverpool newspapers; and the day upon which they advertised to parade -the town every house in the line of procession was closed. The streets -were crowded; all Liverpool seemed to have congregated on the line of -route. Special trains came from the surrounding districts. - -The procession was certainly a noble one. A huge car, in which the band -was seated, was drawn by forty horses, driven in hand. The whole of the -company, a very extensive one, was placed in the other cars, which were -elaborately carved and gilt. The pageant terminated with a procession of -Indians, and a huge musical instrument which was played by steam power. -And what was the result? The morning after their first performance the -papers were unanimous in saying Mr Hengler’s entertainment was far -superior. One of them stated that ‘the greatest circus in America has -met more than its match in Liverpool.’ They remained but two weeks; the -business falling off very considerably, while Mr Hengler’s increased -nightly. - -After a few very successful seasons in Liverpool Mr Hengler discontinued -the tenting business in the summer months,—never to him a very congenial -occupation, and erected large buildings in several important towns, -notably, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dublin, and Hull. Those in Glasgow and Hull -are still in existence; and, when not occupied by the proprietor, are -let for concerts, and entertainments of a similar character. - -In 1865 Mr Hengler was offered an engagement at Cremorne Gardens, where -there was a very fine building, originally erected for equestrian -purposes, but used latterly for exhibiting a Stereorama, which proved a -great failure, although the paintings were by those eminent artists, -Grieve and Telbin. For several years Mr Hengler had been desirous of -performing before a London audience, and thought this a good opportunity -of feeling the pulse of the metropolitan public. He therefore came to -terms with the then proprietor, Mr E. T. Smith; but, even in those days, -Cremorne was in its decadence, and the engagement was neither pleasant -to Mr Hengler nor his company. With the exception of one or two -miserable attempts, circus performers bade a final adieu to a place -which has lately gained such unenviable notoriety. After leaving -Cremorne Mr Hengler went to Hull, where he had a most successful season. - -It may be a matter of surprise to many people that Mr Hengler never -brought any of his family (a very numerous one) up to the equestrian -business, with the exception of his daughter, Miss Jenny Louise. He was -always desirous that they should receive a good education. Now it would -be almost an impossibility to combine the two things, for, at the very -time children should be studying their lessons in school, they would be -compelled to be practising in the ring, and performing at night, as -Infant Prodigies, Lightning Lilliputians, or Bounding Brothers. Then how -about Miss Jenny Louise? it maybe asked. That young lady did not -commence riding before the public until she was eighteen years of age; -but she had such an intense desire to become an _equestrienne_, that she -learned, under her father’s tuition, more in one year, than many others -would have learned in a lifetime. She was naturally graceful, very -feminine, and she possessed the necessary nerve and firmness. She was -always most deservedly an immense favourite with the public, her skilful -horsemanship and charmingly graceful appearance never failing to secure -her hosts of admirers of both sexes. - -I now come to Mr Hengler’s second appearance in London, which had such a -different result to the previous one, as will be shown in the sequel. In -1871, a gutta percha merchant, who had made several ventures in the -equestrian business, obtained possession of the Palais Royal in Argyle -Street, the site of the present cirque, and wished Mr Hengler to join -him. Mr Hengler took time to consider the proposal, which after due -consideration he declined, the previous experiments of the gutta percha -merchant in the equestrian business having invariably proved so -unsuccessful that his shows became known amongst equestrians as the -Gutta Percha Circus, an appropriate title, they having in most instances -so suddenly collapsed. - -After some difficulty, Mr Hengler succeeded in obtaining possession of -the Palais Royal, as it was then called, and speedily converted it into -the elegant theatre, so admirably adapted for its present purposes, -which was opened in the autumn of 1871. His first season was not a -profitable one, in a pecuniary sense; and this, in a great measure, is -to be accounted for by the fact, that circus entertainments in London -had become very unpopular. In the first place, the circus in Holborn had -been badly managed, the proprietors not understanding the business. In -this year it was again opened by one of the former proprietors, and the -season not having proved profitable, the place was soon closed. - -In 1872 it was opened under the auspices of the gutta percha merchant, -though his name did not appear publicly in the matter. Astley’s also -opened under the management of the Brothers Sanger, gentlemen of great -experience in the profession, and who, as a matter of course, were -formidable rivals. There were now ‘three Richmonds in the field,’ and, -as Mr Hengler, although popular in the provinces, was not known to any -great extent in London, he had to bide his time, until the superiority -of his entertainments became known and appreciated. At any rate he had -sown the seed; the harvest was to be gathered hereafter. All who visited -the place were delighted with the high character of the entertainments. -Everything was neat and elegant; the horses were considered, by good -judges, to be far superior to those usually exhibited in places of this -description. Miss Jenny Louise Hengler had already become a great -favourite with lovers of high-class riding. - -At Christmas, _Cinderella_, with a host of juveniles, was for the first -time produced in a London Cirque. Everybody who witnessed it left the -place delighted; and it became the talk of London. The mid-day -performances were invariably well attended, and by the best families in -London and its suburbs; but Mr Hengler’s expenses were very great, and -the receipts, though good, were not commensurate with his outlay and -risk. He remained in London until the beginning of May, and then went -into the provinces, where he met with his usual success. - -In November, 1872, he again opened the Cirque in Argyle Street, to which -he brought a very clever company, the principal features being Miss -Jenny Louise Hengler, ‘Little Sandy,’ who made his first appearance in -London, and the performing horses. This season, the Prince and Princess -of Wales and family honoured the Cirque with a visit, and expressed -themselves highly delighted with the entertainment. Mr Joe Bibb, another -very clever grotesque and clown, appeared during this season, and soon -became popular. Mr H. B. Williams, a lyrical jester, was also a -favourite. Mr Charles Fish, an American rider, made his first appearance -in England, and created a sensation. - -At Christmas, _Jack the Giant Killer_ was produced, with an army of -forty juveniles, whose evolutions were highly commended. This season was -a very profitable one, although the circus in Holborn and Astley’s were -open at the same time. Mr Hengler remained until the beginning of March, -when he left for Dublin. - -After visiting several towns, he returned to London in November, 1873. -This was a very successful season—several new engagements having been -effected, notably Mr William Bell, one of the best, if not the very -best, equestrians in the profession, and Mr Lloyd, another extraordinary -rider. Little Sandy now became, if possible, more popular than before; -and the portrait of Miss Jenny Louise Hengler was in all the -photographers’ windows, and in everybody’s album. - -Mr Felix Rivolti, the genial ring-master who had been with Mr Hengler, -with the exception of a few months, about eighteen years, was still in -great force. This gentleman had the happy knack of pleasing all -audiences, as one half invariably laughed with him, the other half as -certainly laughed at him. Very good judges considered him the best -ring-master since the celebrated Widdicomb delighted his audiences at -Astley’s. - -Observe with what a self-sufficient smirk Rivolti enters the arena, -gracefully handing in the young lady; see how he places her on her -horse, and then looks round the house, as much as to say, ‘In one minute -you will be delighted to see what I can make her do.’ He cracks his -whip, the horse starts into a canter, the young lady leaps from his -back, over garlands, through hoops, etc., etc., when the horse stops, -and while the audience are applauding, how happy Rivolti appears! He -looks around as much as to say to the audience, ‘I told you I could do -it. But wait a minute. You see this clown; now I am going to make him do -all manner of funny things.’ Then ‘Little Sandy’ performs some of his -quaint tricks as only ‘Little Sandy’ can, and while the audience are -laughing and applauding, with what complacency Rivolti looks at them, -every feature in his face beaming with gratification. His many admirers -will be sorry to hear that he has for the present left the profession, -to which, however, he will probably soon return. - -Mr John Henry Cooke returned from America this year, and again joined Mr -Hengler’s Company. _Cinderella_ was reproduced for the Christmas -holidays, and with greater splendour than on the previous occasion. -Large audiences visited the circus, and the season proved a very -profitable one. The Prince and Princess of Wales and family again -visited the cirque. From London Mr Hengler and his company went to -Dublin, and from thence to Hull and Glasgow, returning to London to open -for the fourth season in December 1874. The company was of the usual -excellence, including a new importation from America, Mr Wooda Cook, a -very clever equestrian; ‘Little Sandy,’ and Mr Barry, a very pleasing -lyrical jester, a great favourite in America, where he has been located -several years. The other performers are all excellent. The great feature -for the Christmas holidays was a new pantomime, entitled _Little Red -Riding Hood_, performed (with the exception of ‘Little Sandy,’ who -enacts the Wicked Wolf) entirely by children, original music being -composed by Messieurs Rivière and Stanislaus. The idea of this piece is -entirely original, nothing of a similar description having been produced -in the arena. The cirque is crowded at every representation, and the -present promises to be a greater success than either of Mr Hengler’s -previous seasons in Argyle Street. - - - - - CHAPTER XII. - -The Brothers Sanger—First Appearance in London—Vicissitudes of - Astley’s—Batty and Cooke—Purchase of the Theatre by the Brothers - Sanger—Their Travelling Circus—The Tenting System—Barnum and the - Sangers. - - -An impenetrable mist hangs over the early history of the industrious and -enterprising gentlemen who now own the ‘home of the equestrian drama’ in -the Westminster Road. The names of Hengler, and Cooke, and Adams have -been, to our fathers and grandfathers, as well as to the present -generation, ‘familiar in their mouths as household words;’ but circus -records, and even circus traditions, are silent concerning the -progenitors of John and George Sanger. There is a whisper floating about -circus dressing-rooms that the latter gentleman might have been seen, -many years ago, doing a conjuring trick on the narrow ‘parade’ of a -little show at fairs; but the Brothers Sanger are most reticent -concerning their antecedents, and all that can be said of them with -certainty is that they were travelling with a well-appointed circus, and -a numerous company and stud, many years before they became known as -public entertainers in the metropolis. - -They first became known to a London audience by their successful series -of performances at the Agricultural Hall, which place of amusement they -occupied for several seasons. - -During their tenancy they produced several equestrian spectacles, all -mounted in a costly and elaborate manner. The first was entitled ‘The -Congress of Monarchs,’ and, nothing of a similar character having been -previously produced in London, it attracted an immense concourse of -persons to the Hall. To give some idea of the vast number who attended, -I am enabled to state, on authority, that on several occasions upwards -of 37,000 persons witnessed the performances in one day. - -Their last season in this place was in 1872, in which year they also -acquired possession of Astley’s, which had, since the earlier days of -Batty, gradually sunk to the lowest grade in the estimation of the -pleasure-seeking portion of the public, all Batty’s successors, with the -exception of William Cooke, having signally failed. Upon the termination -of Cooke’s lease, Batty wished to raise the rental, or sell the -property, and as Cooke declined paying more than he had hitherto done, -he retired from Astley’s and the profession, and Batty, not finding a -purchaser or a suitable tenant, after keeping the place closed for some -time, opened it himself, having Hughes, a once celebrated equestrian -proprietor, as acting manager, and William West as stage director. The -military spectacle with which the theatre was re-opened, entitled _The -Story of a Flag_, was a failure; and after lingering for a few months -the theatre was closed. - -Mr E. T. Smith then obtained possession on very advantageous terms, and -in a short time was fortunate enough to find a tenant in Mr Nation, who -paid £5000 for the unexpired term of the lease. This not proving a -profitable investment, the theatre was again in the market, when Mr -Boucicault, with the same view of ‘regenerating the National Drama,’ -which he subsequently essayed at Covent Garden with _Babil and Bijou_, -obtained a lease, made great alterations, and renamed the building the -Royal Westminster Theatre, advertising it as ‘the nearest theatre to the -West End, through the parks, which extend to the foot of Westminster -Bridge, close to which the theatre is situate.’ The inhabitants of -Lambeth laughed, and the dwellers in Belgravia wondered; but the Royal -Westminster was not frequented by the play-goers of either quarter, and -after an unsuccessful season the theatre was again closed. - -Mr Batty again trying to dispose of the property, but without effect, it -remained closed for a considerable period, until the present proprietors -obtained possession of it, and opened it for the Christmas holidays. The -experiment of keeping both Astley’s and the Agricultural Hall open at -the same time did not, however, answer their expectations, and they -ultimately concentrated their forces at Astley’s, having purchased the -property upon extremely advantageous terms. - -They expended a large sum of money in having the interior almost -entirely remodelled, the well-known theatrical architect, Mr Robinson, -being employed for the purpose. Under the present arrangement the -building is adapted for the accommodation of nearly 4000 persons. During -the winter season the Brothers Sanger remain in London; the other -portion of the year is passed in visiting the principal provincial -towns, where the extent and splendour of their parade invariably -attracts large audiences. The performances are given, sometimes in a -huge tent, and sometimes in the open air, in a large field near the -town. Their stay in one place is usually from one to four days, -according to the population. Their expenses are necessarily very heavy, -and their takings, as a rule, enormous. - -It may be interesting to some persons to know how an affair of this -description is managed. The proprietors themselves are most industrious -and indefatigable, and they have in their service, as acting manager, a -very clever and experienced gentleman named Twigg, late lieutenant in -one of Her Majesty’s regiments. Mr Twigg engages several persons, whose -duty it is to make arrangements in advance for the numerous company and -stud. They hire ground suitable for the purpose, and engage -bill-posters, who placard the town with large and brilliantly-coloured -pictorial representations of the performances, and distribute printed -bills, containing the names of the performers, also giving a description -of the procession, and the route it will take in parading the town. -These are distributed in all the villages within a radius of fifteen -miles. Lengthened advertisements are also inserted in all the local -newspapers, and thus the public curiosity is excited, and it is no -uncommon thing for a general holiday to be held upon the day of their -grand procession through the town. - -Previous to the company arriving, the tent-men, with the -baggage-waggons, proceed to the field, erect the tent, make the ring, -and prepare for the various performances,—fixing the hurdles, gates, -etc. When the company arrives everything is prepared. The horses are -stabled, groomed, and fed; the ‘Tableaux Carriages’ (as they are termed) -are washed, and everything made ready for the grand parade, which -usually starts from the tent about an hour and a half previous to the -first performance. After the parade the show commences—the first one -occupying about two hours. After this is over the performers dine and -rest until the evening—the second performance commencing about seven, -and terminating about ten o’clock. - -Immediately after the last act, the whole of the company are advised at -what hour they will be required to start in the morning for the next -place; this, of course, depends in a great measure upon the length of -the journey and the state of the roads; the usual time for starting is -about five o’clock, and they travel at the rate of five or six miles an -hour. The tent and baggage men leave earlier. Many of the principal -members of the company have their own ‘living carriages,’ which are -fitted up with every convenience, and a very jolly and healthy life the -occupants lead. Two performances are invariably given each day, -consisting of the usual equestrian and gymnastic feats, horse and pony -racing, hurdle-leaping, and Roman chariot races. - -The stud of the Brothers Sanger comprises upwards of 200 horses, the -greater number of which are used for drawing their show-cars, conveying -the performers and paraphernalia, etc. The trained animals used in their -entertainments are very numerous, however, and they have also no fewer -than 11 elephants. The company is, necessarily, a very numerous one, -consisting of male and female performers, band, grooms, stable-helpers, -tent-men, etc.; seldom less than 200 persons altogether. It would -surprise most people to see how easily all the arrangements are carried -out; when once started on its tour the whole affair moves on like -clock-work. The advent of the circus in each town at the time announced -may be regarded as an absolute certainty, so complete is the -organization in every respect. - -This immense establishment has grown to its present gigantic dimensions -from very small beginnings, the Brothers Sanger being proud to -acknowledge that they commenced their career at the lowest rung of the -ladder. - -In addition to his share in Astley’s Amphitheatre, Mr John Sanger is -also proprietor of the ‘Hall by the Sea’ at Margate, which is managed by -his son-in-law, Mr Reeves, and is highly popular as a place of -recreation with the thousands of persons who visit that salubrious -watering-place during the summer. - -The fame of the Brothers Sanger having reached the United States, Mr P. -T. Barnum, the world-renowned American showman, came to England in 1873 -expressly to purchase from them the whole of the dresses and material -used in the grand spectacle of ‘The Congress of Monarchs’ (produced by -them, as before stated, at the Agricultural Hall), at a cost (as -advertised) of £30,000. This has been an immense attraction in New York, -and has added considerably to the fortunes of the ‘prince of showmen,’ -as Barnum calls himself. - -The Christmas entertainment of the present season has been, as everybody -knows, a pantomime entitled—_Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp, and the -Forty Thieves, and the Flying Horses of Lambeth_—a strange and rather -peculiar conglomeration of titles. It has been produced and placed on -the stage regardless of cost, the scenic effects being very beautiful, -the costumes magnificent and elaborate, and one scene, in which all the -company appear, forming a brilliant combination of colour, certainly -deserving of the highest praise, and reflecting the greatest credit upon -all concerned. - -The eleven elephants are here introduced, the ‘white’ one especially -attracting much attention, and Mr George Sanger’s address previous to -its introduction being not the least amusing part of the performance. -These elephants play a very conspicuous part in the tableaux, and the -general effect far surpasses anything of a similar description ever -produced by the Brothers Sanger, who certainly deserve the fame and -fortune which their industry and enterprise have acquired for them. - -Until within the last few years it was supposed that the circus-loving -portion of the metropolitan population was not numerous enough to -support more than one equestrian establishment; but the contrary may now -be regarded as proven, and, though it may still be doubted whether -London would support as many circuses as the much less populous city of -Paris, we trust to see the company and stud of Mr Hengler at his most -comfortable _cirque_ in Argyle Street, and those of the Brothers Sanger -at Astley’s, for many years to come, and to be assured that with each -recurring season the proprietors of both establishments are augmenting -the fame and fortune which they have so deservedly won. - - - - - CHAPTER XIII. - -American Circuses—American Performers in England, and English Performers - in the United States—The Cookes in America—Barnum’s great - Show—Yankee Parades—Van Amburgh’s Circus and Menagerie—Robinson’s - combined Shows—Stone and Murray’s Circus—The Forepaughs—Joel - Warner—Side Shows—Amphitheatres of New York and New Orleans. - - -The circus in America is a highly popular entertainment, and is -organized upon a very extensive scale, as everything is there, like the -country itself, with its illimitable prairies, rivers thousands of miles -long, and lakes like inland seas. Americans have a boundless admiration -of everything big; they seem to revel even in ‘big’ bankruptcies and -‘big’ fires, such as that which desolated Chicago a few years ago. -Circus proprietors bring their establishments before the public, not by -vaunting the talent of the company, or the beauty and sagacity of the -horses, but by announcing the thousands of square feet which the circus -covers, the thousands of dollars to which their daily or weekly expenses -amount, and the number of miles to which their parades extend. ‘This is -a big concern,’ say those who read the announcement, and their patronage -is proportionate to its extent and cost. - -The American circuses are all conducted on the tenting system, and, as -there are few towns in the Union which could support one only of the -many colossal establishments which travel during the summer, most of -them are idle during the winter; many of them are combined with a -menagerie, in which cases one charge admits to both. Except in the -matter of size, they do not differ materially from tenting circuses in -this country; but the tents are larger, the parades longer, and the -rifle-targets, the Aunt Sallies, and the acrobats in dirty tights who -follow Sanger, and the Ginnetts, and Quaglieni, and other tenting -circuses in England, are replaced by small shows, such as attend fairs -in this country, and in which giants, dwarfs, albinoes, and -monstrosities of various kinds are exhibited. - -The interchange of circus performers between England and the United -States, which has existed almost as long as circuses, has made us better -acquainted in this country with the kind and quality of the performances -to be witnessed in American circuses than with the manner in which they -are conducted. Stickney and North were known and appreciated at Astley’s -by the last generation, and the present has seen and admired, at the -Holborn Amphitheatre, those inimitable gymnasts, the Brothers Hanlon, -the incomparable vaulter, Kelly, and some others. Wallett, the Cookes, -and many others, besides French, German, and Italian performers who have -appeared in English circuses and music-halls, have found their way to -America, and proved as attractive there as here. Four years ago, the -Cooke family was represented in the United States by Emily Henrietta -Cooke, John Henry Cooke, and George Cooke, prominent members of Stone -and Murray’s company, and James E. Cooke with French’s circus. - -The largest circus now travelling is Barnum’s, forming a portion of the -great combination advertised as the ‘Great Travelling World’s Fair.’ -Barnum has long been famous in both hemispheres as the greatest showman -in the world. He is certainly a man of remarkable enterprise and energy. -He is quick in arriving at conclusions, and when he has resolved upon -any undertaking, he exercises all his energy, and brings into force all -the results of his long and varied experience, in carrying it into -execution. - -Coup, a gentleman well known among public entertainers across the -Atlantic, said to Barnum one day, ‘What do you say to putting a big show -on the road?’ - -‘How much will it cost?’ inquired Barnum, after a moment’s reflection. - -‘Two hundred thousand dollars,’ was the reply. - -‘I’ll let you know to-morrow,’ said Barnum. - -On the following day, he told Coup that ‘Barnum’s great show’ was a -fact, and that he (Coup) was to be its manager, as he is to this day. -The establishment then formed was, however, far from being the mammoth -concern with which the great showman took the field in 1873. -Notwithstanding the great loss which he sustained by the burning of the -museum which so long attracted attention in the Broadway, New York, at -the close of the preceding year, he came before the public a few months -afterwards with a circus, a menagerie, a museum, a gallery of pictures -and statuary, and a show of mechanical wonders and curiosities, all -combined in one, and to which the public were admitted for a single -payment of half-a-dollar. - -The address to the public with which this colossal combination of -entertainments was inaugurated is so unique and characteristic that I -need make no apology for inserting it entire. - -‘LADIES, GENTLEMEN, FAMILIES, CHILDREN, FRIENDS: - -‘My career for forty years as a public Manager of amusements, blended -with instruction, is well known. You have all heard of my three New York -Museums; my great triumphal tour with Jenny Lind, the Swedish -Nightingale, and my immense travelling exhibitions. Everybody concedes -that I give ten times the money’s worth, and always delight my patrons. -I now come before you with the LAST GRAND CROWNING TRIUMPH OF MY -MANAGERIAL LIFE. - -‘Notwithstanding the burning of my last Museum, in December (which, -however, did not destroy any of my great travelling chariots, vans, -cages, or horses, nor duplicates of most of my living wild animals, -which were then on exhibition in New Orleans), I have been enabled, -through the aid of cable dispatches, electricity and steam, and the -expenditure of nearly a million of dollars, to place upon the road by -far the largest and most interesting combination of MUSEUM, MENAGERIE, -and HIPPODROME ever known before—a veritable WORLD’S FAIR. - -‘No description will convey an adequate idea of its vastness, its -beauty, and its marvellous collection of wonders. It travels by rail, -and requires more than one hundred cars, besides FIFTY OF MY OWN, made -expressly for this purpose, and five or six locomotives to transport it. -My daily expenses exceed $5,000. We can only stop in large towns, and -leave it to those residing elsewhere to reach us by cheap excursion -trains, which they can easily get up. - -‘Among some of my novelties is a FREE FULL MENAGERIE OF WILD ANIMALS, -including all, and more than are usually seen in a travelling menagerie, -which I now open to be seen by everybody, WITHOUT ANY CHARGE WHATEVER. -Although I have consolidated more than twenty shows in one, containing -nearly one hundred gorgeously magnificent gold and enamelled cages, dens -and vans, requiring the services of nearly 1,000 men and over 500 -horses, the price of admission to the entire combination of exhibition -is only the same as is charged to a common show, viz. 50 cents; children -half price. My great Hippodrome Tent comfortably seats 14,000 persons at -one time, while my numerous other tents cover several acres of ground. - -‘The Museum Department contains 100,000 curiosities, including Professor -Faber’s wonderful TALKING MACHINE, costing me $20,000 for its use six -months. Also, a National Portrait Gallery of 100 life-size Oil -Paintings, including all the Presidents of the United States, our -Statesmen and Military Heroes, as well as foreign Potentates and -Celebrities, and the entire Collection of the celebrated John Rogers’ -groups of Historical and Classic Statuary. Also, an almost endless -variety of Curiosities, including numberless Automaton Musicians and -Mechanicians, and Moving Scenes, Transformation Landscapes, Sailing -Ships, Running Water-mills, Railroad Trains, etc., made in Paris and -Geneva, more beautiful and marvellous than can be imagined, and all kept -in motion by a Steam Engine. Here, also, are Giants, Dwarfs, Fiji -Cannibals, Modoc and Digger Indians, Circassian Girls, the No-armed Boy, -etc. - -‘Among the rare wild animals are MONSTER SEA LIONS, transported in great -water-tanks; the largest RHINOCEROS ever captured alive, and 1,500 Wild -Beasts and Rare Birds, Lions, Elephants, Elands, Gnus, Tigers, Polar -Bears, Ostriches, and every description of wild animal hitherto -exhibited, besides many never before seen on this Continent. - -‘In the Hippodrome Department are THREE DISTINCT RINGS, wherein three -sets of rival performances are taking place at the same time, in full -view of all the audience. Here will be seen Performing Elephants, -Horse-riding Goats, Educated Horses, Elk and Deer in Harness, Ponies, -Trick Mules, and Bears, and three distinct Equestrian Companies (with -six clowns), including by far the best Male and Female Bare-back Riders -in the World, with numerous Athletes and Gymnasts who have no equal. -Everything is perfectly chaste and unobjectionable. Its like will never -be known. - -‘THE GREAT STREET-PROCESSION, three miles long, takes place every -morning at half-past eight o’clock. It is worth going 100 miles to see. -It consists of trains of Elephants, Camels, Dromedaries, Zebras, and -Elks in harness; nearly 100 Gold Enamelled and Cerulean Chariots, Vans, -Dens, and Cages; Arabian Horses, Trick Ponies, three Bands of Music, and -a most marvellous display of Gymnastic, Automatic, and Musical -performances in the public streets. - -‘THREE FULL EXHIBITIONS will be given each day at ten, one, and seven -o’clock. No one should miss the early Procession. - -‘The Public’s Obedient Servant, - - ‘P. T. BARNUM.’ - -The circus department of this unrivalled combination show is managed by -Dan Castello, who is described in the bills as ‘a gentleman of rare -accomplishments as a jester and conversationalist, whose varied and ripe -experience in Continental Europe, and North and South America, render -his services of great value.’ The company comprised Celeste Pauliere, -the dashing bare-back rider of the Cirque Français; D’Atalie, ‘the man -with the iron jaw,’ who appeared a year or two ago at some of the London -music-halls; the Sisters Marion, who then appeared in America for the -first time; Frank Barry, Vinnie Cook, Montenard and Aymar, Madame Aymar, -Marie Girardeau, and Carlotta Davioli: and among performers less known -on this side of the Atlantic, Lucille Watson, Angela (‘the female -Samson’), Sebastian and Romeo, the Mathews family, Lazelle and Millison, -the Bliss family, Bushnell, Nathan, Nichols, Lee, and Hopper. - -The grand parade is a thing to be seen once in a life, and talked of -ever afterwards. Here I must let the Prince of Showmen, as Barnum has -been called, speak for himself; no other’s pen could do justice to the -theme. ‘The grand street pageant,’ says one of his bills, ‘which heralds -the advent into each town of the longest and grandest spectacular -demonstration ever witnessed, is nearly three miles in length. Prominent -among the grand and attractive features of the innumerable caravan, are -the twelve golden chariots, eight statuary and four tableau, including -the gorgeous moving Temple of Juno, 30 feet high, built in London at a -cost of $20,000, the musical Chariot of Mnemosyne, the revolving Temple -of the Muses, the great steam Calliope, three bands of music, and one -hundred resplendent cages and vans. - -‘These magnificently gilded Palaces and Dens, plated and elaborated by -the most cunning artisans, after vivid designs and gorgeous -impersonations from the Dreams of Hesiod, are drawn in the Great -Procession by trained Elephants, Camels, Dromedaries, Arabian -Thoroughbreds, Liliputian Ponies, herds of Elk and Reindeer in harness, -and a gorgeously caparisoned retinue of dapple Steeds and Shetland -Palfreys. They are of such rich and varied attractions as to excite the -envy of a CRŒSUS or BELLEROPHONTES. - -‘The Great Procession will be interspersed with grotesque figures, such -as automaton gymnasts,rich mechanical trapezists, globe and ball -jugglers, comic clowns, and athletic sports, performing on the tops of -the cages and chariots, in open streets, all the difficult feats of the -celebrated living gymnasts. The different brass bands, musical chariots, -Polyhymnian organs, steam pianos, and Calliopes, &c., are equivalent to -one hundred skilful musicians. Persons anxious to see the procession -should come early, as three performances a day are given to accommodate -the multitudes, viz., at 10 a.m., also at one and seven o’clock in the -afternoon and evening. Prof. Fritz Hartman’s silver cornet band, Herr -Hessler’s celebrated brass and string bands, Mons. Joseph Mesmer’s -French cornet band, and the great orchestra Polyhymnia, will enliven the -community with their choicest rhapsodies, in alternate succession, while -passing through the streets.’ - -The bill concludes with the following announcement, eminently -characteristic of the people, and of Barnum in particular:—‘Tickets will -be carefully but rapidly dispensed, not only by BEN LUSBIE, Esq., the -“Lightning Ticket Seller,” whose achievement of disposing of tickets at -the rate of 6,000 per hour is one of the sensational features of the -great free show, but from several ticket waggons, and also from the -elegant carriage of Mr Barnum’s Book Agent, who furnishes Tickets FREE -to all buyers of the Life of P. T. Barnum, written by himself, reduced -from $3.50 to $1.50.’ - -Circuses on such a scale as this, and many similar concerns now -travelling in the United States, can only be conducted successfully by -those who combine a large amount of reserve capital with the requisite -judgment, experience, and energy for undertakings so great and onerous. -There are in that country, though its population is much less and -scattered over an area far more extensive than that of Great Britain, -many more circuses than exist in this country, and most of them -organized on a scale which can be matched in England only by Sanger’s. -Conducted as such enterprises are in America, under conditions unknown -in this country, a bad season is ruin to circus proprietors whose -reserve capital is insufficient to enable them to hold their own against -a year’s losses, maintain their stud during the winter in idleness, and -take the field with undiminished strength and untarnished splendour in -the following spring. - -American circus proprietors, managers, performers, and all connected -with them, will not soon forget the season of 1869, which ruined several -concerns, sapped the strength of more, and disappointed all. ‘During the -winter of 1868–9,’ writes an American gentleman, fully acquainted with -the subject, ‘the most extensive preparations were made by them. New -canvases were bought, new wagons built, the entire paraphernalia -refitted, and considerable expense gone to for what they all anticipated -would be a prosperous season. The rainy term struck a good many of the -shows in the western country as soon as they got fairly on the road, and -some of them did not see the sun any day for three weeks. This proved -disastrous, as it put them back several weeks. The rainy weather made -the roads in a horrible condition and almost impassable, while in some -parts of the far west one concern came to a dead stand for a week, not -being able to get along with the heavy wagons through a country that had -to be forded. In this manner several concerns lost many of their stands. -Then, when they did strike a clear country, business did not come up to -expectations. It is very doubtful if, out of the twenty-eight circuses -and menageries that started out in April and May, more than six concerns -came home with the right side of a balance-sheet. Of this number were -the European, Bailey’s, Stone and Murray’s, and two or three of the -menageries. Some of the other shows managed by close figuring to worry -through the season and come home with their horses pretty well jaded -out, their wagons worn, and their canvas in a dilapidated condition. -There were other shows that collapsed before the season was half over. - -‘Profiting by experience, and having not much better hopes for next -season, scarcely a manager went heavily into preparations during the -winter for the summer’s campaign. The general impression with all the -old and experienced managers was that it was going to be another hard -one for them to pull through, and could they have made any satisfactory -disposal of their live stock, they would willingly have done so sooner -than go through such another summer as the last one. Some of the old -managers believe in “Never say die,” and launched out a little more -boldly than the rest, believing that “Nothing venture, nothing win.” The -big concerns that have wealthy managers, who can stand a few weeks of -bad luck, hold out; but there are several new managers getting into the -business—as well as several old ones—who have just money enough to get -their shows on the road. These are the concerns that go by the board -first, should times be bad, for, having no money to fall back on, the -“jig’s up.” There are many shows that go on the road without a dollar in -the treasury, comparatively speaking. They manage to crawl along by -paying no salaries, their daily receipts just about meeting their hotel -bill for keep of men and horses. Finally, they reach a town, the weather -is very stormy, and the receipts do not come up to the daily expense. -The consequence is the landlord of the hotel has to accompany the show -to the next stand to get his money, and in some instances keep along for -two or three days. - -‘I know of a circus that once travelled through Vermont and did a good -business, but on their return home through New York State met with five -weeks of horrible business, the weather being rainy nearly every day. -There were from two to three landlords accompanying the show all the -time to collect back bills, and as fast as one was dropped another would -be taken on. In one town one landlord, who had been along for nearly a -week, grew out of patience, and, becoming desperate, had the canvas -attached, and as soon as the company got ready to start for the next -town it was hauled down to a stable under charge of the sheriff. Of -course there was no use of the show going to the next town without a -canvas, so at last the sheriff kindly consented to take two of the -baggage horses for the debt, and they were left behind. This caused a -delay, and the canvas did not arrive in the next town until it was too -late to give the afternoon show. This is only one of the hundreds of -little events that transpire during the tenting season. - -‘But the greatest trouble experienced by circus managers is the attempt -on the part of crowds of roughs to gain free admittance to the circus. -In a body they go to the door and attempt to pass; upon being stopped, -they show fight. If they are worsted, they soon re-appear on the scene, -considerably strengthened in numbers, and they either cut the guy ropes -and let down the canvas, or they get into a fight with the circus boys. -Generally speaking, serious results follow, and if one of the citizens -of the town is hurt the concern is followed to the next town and hunted -like dogs, and probably the same scenes occur there. There are several -towns where trouble is generally looked for. West Troy, N. Y., is one of -these, and we could mention half a dozen others. In scarcely one of -these towns are the police strong enough to break up these regular -circus riots. A circus manager is compelled to pay to the corporation a -heavy license fee for the privilege of showing in the town, a goodly tax -for ground rent for pitching his canvas, he is charged exorbitantly for -everything he wants during his stay there, and he has a United States -licence also to pay, and it is but justice that the corporation should -be prepared beforehand, and see that said manager’s property is -protected.’ - -Next to Barnum’s, the best organized and appointed circuses now -travelling are Van Amburgh’s, Robinson’s, and Stone and Murray’s. Van -Amburgh and Co. own two menageries, one of which accompanies the circus. -It will surprise persons acquainted only with English circuses to learn -that the staff of the combined shows comprises a manager and an -assistant manager, advertiser, treasurer, equestrian director, -riding-master, band leader, lion performer, elephant man, doorkeeper, -and head ostler, besides grooms, tent-men, &c., to the number, all told, -of nearly a hundred. The number of horses, including those used for -draught, is about a hundred and forty. - -In 1870, the management adopted the plan of camping the horses and -providing lodgings and board for the entire company, so as to be -independent of hotel and stable keepers, whose demands upon circus -companies are said to have often been extortionate. To this end, they -had constructed a canvas stable, and two large carriages, eighteen feet -long, to be set eighteen feet apart, with swinging sides, was to form a -house eighteen feet by thirty. This is their hotel, and the cooking is -done in a portable kitchen, drawn by four horses. Fifty men are lodged -and boarded in this construction, which is called, after the manager, -Hyatt Frost, the Hotel Frost. Among the cooking utensils provided for -the travelling kitchen is a frying-pan thirty inches in diameter, which -will cook a gross of eggs at once. - -Robinson, the manager of the concern known as the Yankee Robinson -Consolidated Shows, combines a menagerie and a ballet _troupe_ with a -circus, the former containing a group of performing bears. The parades -of this circus are organized on a great scale, and usually present some -feature of novelty, or more than ordinary splendour. A new Polyhymnia, -used as an advertising car, and which produces a volume of sound equal -to that of a brass band, was added to its attractions in 1870. The -Hayneses or Senyahs, who performed at several of the London music-halls -a few years ago, and whose performance has been described in a previous -chapter, were at that time in the company, and had been during the -previous winter at the Olympic Theatre, Brooklyn. There also another -female gymnast known to the frequenters of metropolitan music-halls, -namely, Madlle Geraldine, appeared that season. Robinson is said to be -the only man that so far has been successful as a circus manager, -performer, and Yankee comedian, having appeared with considerable -success as a representative of Yankee characters at Wood’s Museum and -the Olympic Theatre, New York, as well as in other cities. - -Stone and Murray’s circus enjoyed, until Barnum took the field, a -reputation second to none in the Union. ‘Wherever they have been,’ says -the writer already quoted, ‘they have left a good name behind them, and -they give a really good circus entertainment. Everything about the show -presents a neat appearance, and the company are noted for behaving -themselves wherever they appear.’ This is the circus in which two or -three of the numerous and talented Cooke family performed during the -season of 1870, together with Jeannette Elsler, who in 1852 performed at -Batty’s Hippodrome, being then a member of Franconi’s company. Charles -Bliss, now in Barnum’s company, and William Ducrow, were also members of -Stone and Murray’s company four years ago. For the parade, this circus -has a band chariot, drawn by forty horses; and in 1870, as an additional -outside attraction, Madlle Elsler made an ascent on a wire from the -ground to the top of the pavilion, a feat which she had performed -eighteen years previously at Batty’s Hippodrome. - -Forepaugh’s ‘zoological and equestrian aggregation,’ as the show is -called, combines a circus with a menagerie, and possesses no fewer than -three elephants and as many camels. Adam Forepaugh is the proprietor of -this show, which must not be confounded with Gardner and Forepaugh’s -circus and menagerie, which was organized in 1870 by the amalgamation of -Gardner and Kenyon’s menagerie with James Robinson’s circus. Kenyon -retired from the former in 1869, and John Forepaugh, brother of Adam, -took his place. The two elephants and other animals forming the -zoological collection belong, however, to Adam Forepaugh, from whom they -are hired on a per centage arrangement. Madlle Virginie, who appeared at -the Holborn Amphitheatre a few years ago, has since been travelling with -Adam Forepaugh; while Gardner and Forepaugh’s circus has included in its -company J. M. Kelly, brother of George Kelly, the champion vaulter, -whose double somersaults over a dozen horses will long linger in the -memory of those who witnessed the feat in the same arena. - -Joel Warner, who was formerly Adam Forepaugh’s advertiser, started a -circus and menagerie on his own account in 1871. ‘He said,’ writes the -gentleman who relates the story of the origin of Barnum’s show, ‘that he -was “bound to have some money, or die;” and he added that he would -“fifty per cent. rather have the money than die.” Well, he started out, -and met with but poor encouragement; still his indomitable energy kept -him above-water until he got into Indiana, when he found, to his utter -consternation, that he was to meet with strong opposition. “Well,” he -said, “there’s just one way to get out of this,” and Warner quietly -disappeared. Two or three days after a travel-worn stranger stepped into -the counting-room of Russell, Morgan, & Co.’s great printing house, in -Cincinnati, and, sitting himself down in a chair, exclaimed:—“Well, here -I am, and here I’ll stay.” It was Warner, and the way that man disturbed -the placid bosom of quart-bottles of ink was a warning to writists. For -two weeks he sat at a desk running off “proof” from his pen, while the -printers ran it off from the press, and when he got through, J. E. -Warner & Co.’s Menagerie and Circus was among the best advertised shows -in America. He courted the muses too, and fair poetry shed her light -upon Warner’s wearied brain, while she tipped his fingers with:— - - “One summer’s eve, amid the bowers - Of Grand river’s peaceful stream, - Sleeping ’mong the breathing flowers, - Joel Warner had a dream: - Argosies came richly freighted, - Birds and beasts, from every land, - At his calling came and waited, - Till he raised his magic hand.” - -The “magic hand,” was raised, and Hoosiers and Michiganders filled it -with “rocks.” I met him in the summer at Fort Wayne. “Well, Warner, what -success?” I asked. “Red hot!” was the answer, and off he started to hire -every bill-board and bill-poster and newspaper in the town. As an -advertiser he stands “ever so high,” and as a gentleman he is, as -Captain Cuttle remarked of his watch, “equalled by few and excelled by -none.” - -‘One day Charley Castle—of course, everybody knows Charley Castle, and -has heard him mention Syracuse—one day Charley Castle lost a beautiful -topaz from a ring, and after a thorough search he gave it up as gone; -“still,” said he, “I’ll give two dollars to the finder if he returns -it.” Warner quietly walked across the street to the dollar-store and -bought a glass stone which bore a remarkable resemblance to the one -lost. Laying it in a corner, he sat down, and in a few moments delighted -Castle by pointing out his lost gem. It fitted the setting exactly, and -Charley was happy. “Well,” said Warner, “I won’t ask you for the two -dollars, Charley, but you must set ’em up.” “All right.” They were set -up accordingly, and it cost three dollars exactly. A short time after, -Castle made a startling discovery—his beautiful topaz was beautiful -glass. There was war in that camp, and in order to move Charley Castle -it is only necessary to go and whisper “topaz” in his ear. - -‘But Castle is full of tricks too. Out in Ohio, when he was agent of -O’Brien’s big show—“Great Monster Menagerie, National Natural Kingdom -and Aviary of Exotic Birds”—that’s what he calls it—a landlord gave him -a cross word. “Hitch up them horses,” he shouted to his groom, and -leaving the landlord a left-handed blessing, he drove three miles away, -and showed in an open farm, to a crowded house. Landlords and showmen -often have little passages, and generally the showmen come out winners. -I remember a landlord in a southern town, who once contracted to keep -fifty men, and when the show arrived he had just ten beds in the house. -This was rough on the showmen, but the way the landlord suffered was -enough to “point a moral and adorn a tale.”’ - -Bailey’s circus also combines a menagerie with the attractions of the -arena, and the former, which includes two large elephants and no fewer -than ten camels, is exhibited during the winter at Wood’s Museum, New -York. Though called Bailey’s, George Bailey is only the junior partner -and general director, the senior partners being Avery Smith and John -Nathans, who are also the proprietors, in partnership with George -Burnell, of the European Circus. Sebastian and Romeo, now travelling -with Barnum’s show, were performing in this circus a few years ago, -together with George Derious, a gymnast who, in 1869, performed some -sensational feats at the Bowery theatre, New York. - -The European circus of Smith, Nathans, and Burnell travels with a -company of a hundred and twenty-five persons, and a stud of a hundred -and thirty-four horses. The famous Frank Pastor was lately the principal -equestrian, and the Conrads were among the gymnastic artistes. - -French’s circus was the first in America in which the system of lodging -and boarding the company and stabling the horses, independently of -hotels, was introduced. The cooking and dining carriage is eighteen feet -long, eight feet wide, and ten feet high; and there are several large -carriages for sleeping purposes. French employs a hundred and twenty -persons, all told, and his stud numbers as many horses, besides two -elephants, fifteen camels, and two cages of performing lions. - -Campbell’s show, which comprises a circus and a menagerie, is a good one -of the second, or rather third, class. The circus company lately -included Madame Brown (better known as Marie Tournaire), Madlle -Josephine, and Sam Stickney—a name still famous in the arena. The -zoological collection includes an elephant and a group of performing -lions, tigers, and leopards, who are exercised by Signor Balize. - -There remains to be noticed several tenting circuses of minor extent and -repute, but which make a figure that would be more highly esteemed in -this country. Wheeler and Cushing have a band of silver cornet players, -and their company lately included Madame Tournaire, Annie Warner, and -Pardon Dean, the oldest English equestrian in America. Wilson’s circus -included the world-famed Brothers Risareli in the company just before -their appearance at the Holborn Amphitheatre. Johnson’s circus was -strengthened a few years ago by amalgamation with Levi North’s show, -which included a group of performing animals, and is now able to give a -parade extending to the length of a mile. Older’s circus and menagerie -is a fourth-rate concern, but yet possesses two camels. - -Thayer’s circus was broken up by the bad business of 1869, and the stud -and effects sold by auction. A new concern was organized in the same -name in the following year by James Anderson, with fifty people and as -many horses, Thayer being manager, Samuel Stickney equestrian director, -and Charlie Abbott—the vanishing clown of a few years ago at the Holborn -Amphitheatre—as clown. Ward’s circus started in 1869, and broke up the -same year, when Bunnell and Jones bought the stud and effects at auction -for little more than one-seventh of the money they had cost, and started -it again in Ward’s name, in 1870. Lake’s circus was sold by auction -about the same time, when the ring horses were bought by Van Amburgh, -and the draught stock by Noyes. There are three other circuses—Watson’s, -De Haven’s, and Alexander Robinson’s—which though they bear the -high-sounding names of the Metropolitan, the Sensation, and the -International Hippo-comique and World Circus, are of comparative small -importance. - -Besides these, there are some circuses which travel the Southern States, -where the climate enables them to tent all the year round. Foremost -among these is Noyes’ circus, a great feature in the parade of which is -the globe band chariot, drawn by eight cream-coloured horses. Hemmings, -Cooper, and Whitby’s show combines with the circus a small menagerie, -and includes an elephant and a cage of performing lions. Grady’s circus -lately numbered in its company Madame Macarte, who formerly travelled -with Batty, and whose real name is, I believe, Macarthy. John Robinson’s -circus and menagerie also possesses an elephant, and the zoological -collection has been greatly enlarged of late years. Stowe’s circus -appears to be a very small concern. - -Most of the American circuses, including all the most considerable, are -accompanied, as before stated, by what are termed ‘side shows,’ of which -the following account is given by the gentleman to whom I am indebted -for the statement of the troubles of American circuses in the beginning -of this chapter. ‘The side show,’ he says, ‘is an institution of -itself—one in which considerable money is invested with some concerns, -while with others not so much capital is required. What is known as a -side show is an entertainment given in a small canvas in close proximity -to the big show. To secure the sole privilege of conducting this -entertainment on the same ground as used by the big concern, and for -being permitted to accompany it on its summer tour, a considerable bonus -has to be paid. There is a great rivalry among side showmen to secure -the privilege with the larger concerns, as a great deal of money is made -during a tenting season. Some of these entertainments consist of a -regular minstrel performance or the exhibition of some monstrosity, such -as a five-legged cow, a double-headed calf, collection of anacondas, -sword-swallowers, stone-eaters, dwarf, giant, fat woman, and anything -else, no matter what, so long as it is a curiosity. - -‘The _modus operandi_ of running a side show is as follows:—The manager -has a two-horse waggon, into which he packs his canvas and traps. He -starts off early in the morning, so as to reach the town in which the -circus is to exhibit about an hour before the procession is made. He -drives to the lot, and in less than an hour every preparation has been -completed and the side show commences, with the “blower” taking his -position at the door of the entrance, and in a stentorian voice -expatiating at large upon what is to be seen within for the small sum of -ten cents; sometimes the admission is twenty-five cents. The term -“blower” is given to this individual because he talks so much and tells -a great deal more than what proves to be true. A crowd always gathers -about a circus lot early in the morning, and many a nimble tenpence is -picked up before the procession is made in town. When that is over and -has reached the lot, an immense crowd gathers around to see the pitching -of the big canvas, and from them many drop in to see the side show. As -soon as the big show opens for the afternoon performance the “kid” show, -as the side show is called, shuts up and does not open again until about -five minutes before the big show is out. Then the “blower” mounts a box -or anything that is handy, and goes at it with a will, “blowing” and -taking in the stamps at the same time. This is kept up for about half an -hour, by which time all have gone in that can, while the rest have -departed. The side show entertainment lasts about half an hour, when the -doors are closed and remain so until the evening performance of the big -show is over. And then, with a huge torch-ball blazing each side of him, -the “blower” commences. This torch ball consists of balls of cotton -wicking, such as was used in olden times for oil lamps; having been -soaked well in alcohol and lighted, it is fixed upon an iron rod, about -six feet long, which is placed upright in the ground and the ball will -burn for half an hour or more; two balls will make the whole -neighbourhood nearly as light as day. - -‘The receipts from some side shows reach over $150 a day, and with the -larger concerns a still greater amount than this is taken. I know of a -side show that travelled with a circus company through Vermont and the -Canadas, about ten years ago, that actually came home in the fall with -more money than the circus had; not that it took more money, but it did -a big business, and had little or no expense. The side show belonged to -the manager of the big show, and consisted of a couple of snakes, a cage -of monkeys, and a deformed negro wench, who was represented as a wild -woman, caught by a party of slaves in the swamps of Florida. While the -big show did a poor business the “kid” show made money. Some of the -circus managers do not dispose of the side show privilege, but run it -themselves. Then, again, the manager of the big show rents out what is -called the “concert privilege;” that is, the right of giving a minstrel -entertainment within the canvas of the big show as soon as the regular -afternoon and evening performances are over. This consists of a regular -first part and variety minstrel entertainment, given by the circus -performers, who can either play some musical instrument or dance; -occasionally some of the ladies of the company dance. The show lasts -about three quarters of an hour, and the charge is twenty-five cents. -The clown announces to the audience, just before the big show is over, -that the entertainment will be given immediately after, and those who -wish to witness it can keep their seats. Several parties then skirmish -among the assembled multitude and cry “tickets for the concert, -twenty-five cents,” and just before the entertainment commences the -tickets are collected.’ - -New York and New Orleans are provided with permanent buildings in which -circus performances are given during the winter by companies which -travel in the tenting season. At the New York Amphitheatre the company -comprises some of the best equestrians and gymnasts, American and -European, whose services can be secured, such as Robert Stickney, -William Conrad (who, with his brother, will be remembered by many as -gymnasts at the Alhambra), and Joe Pentland, one of the oldest and best -clowns in the Union. The stud comprises between forty and fifty horses, -all used in turn in the ring, as the summer campaign is made by rail, -and only the principal towns are visited. Mr Lent is lessee and manager -in New York. - -The New Orleans Amphitheatre combines a menagerie with its circus -attractions, and is owned by C. T. Ames. There are twelve camels -attached to it, and a ‘mio,’ whatever that may be, the animal being as -unknown to naturalists, by that name at least, as the ‘vedo’ of Sanger’s -circus. Lucille Watson, now with Barnum’s company, was previously a -member of the New Orleans troupe. - - - - - CHAPTER XIV. - -Reminiscences of a Gymnast—Training and Practising—A Professional - Rendezvous—Circus Agencies—The First Engagement—Springthorp’s - Music-hall—Newsome’s Circus—Reception in the Dressing-room—The - Company and the Stud—The Newsome Family—Miss Newsome’s Wonderful - Leap across a green lane—The Handkerchief Trick—An Equine Veteran - from the Crimea—Engagement to travel. - - -The picture of circus life and manners which I have endeavoured to -portray would not be complete without a narrative of the professional -experiences of the performers engaged in circuses. I shall next, -therefore, present the reminiscences of a gymnast, as I heard them -related a few years ago by one who has since retired from the avocation; -and I shall endeavour to do so, as nearly as may be possible, in his own -words. - -‘I was not born and bred a circus man, as most of them are—Alf Burgess, -for instance, who was born, as I may say, in the saw-dust, and brought -up on the back of a horse. Neither was my partner. He was a clerk in the -advertising department of a London evening newspaper, and I was an -apprentice in a London printing-office, and not quite out of my time, -when we went in for gymnastics at the Alhambra gymnasium. My partner was -practising the flying trapeze, and was just beginning to do his flights -with confidence, when that poor fellow fell, and broke his back, at the -Canterbury, and the proprietors of the London music-halls set their -faces against the flying trapeze, and would not engage gymnasts for it. -In consequence of that, he had to drop the flying trapeze, and practise -for the fixed trapeze; and, as the single trapeze doesn’t draw, he began -to look out for a partner, to do it double. Price was looking out for a -partner at the same time, but, as he was more advanced in his training -than Fred was, and was not disposed to wait till he was proficient, he -took Joe Welsh,—Alhambra Joe, as he used to be called,—and Fred had to -look out for somebody else. - -‘The partnership of the Brothers Price, as they called themselves, did -not last long; for Price dropped in for a slice of luck, in the shape of -a thumping legacy,—twenty thousand pounds, I have heard,—and then he -turned up the profession, and Joe Welsh went in for the long flight. In -the mean time, I had made up my mind to follow Fred’s example, and to be -his partner; and, besides fixing up the ropes for the flying rings in my -grandmother’s orchard at Norwood, for practice on Sundays, we took our -fakements nearly every evening to the “ruins,” as they were called, in -Victoria Street. Do you know where I mean?’ - -I did know the place, and remembered that it conveyed the idea that a -Metropolitan Improvement Commission’s notions of street improvements -consisted in demolishing some three or four hundred houses, and creating -a wilderness of unfinished houses, yawning chasms, and heaps of rubbish. -The place remained in that condition for several years, and was the -rendezvous and free gymnasium of most of the gymnasts, acrobats, -rope-dancers, and other professors of muscular sensationalism in the -metropolis. - -‘Well, we fixed our fakements up in the “ruins,” and when the evenings -began to get dark we had candles. A lot of us used to be there—Frank -Berrington, and Costello, and Jemmy Lee, and Joe Welsh, and Bill George, -and ever so many more. There used to be all kinds of gymnastic exercises -going on there; and there my partner and I went, night after night, -until we could do a tidy slang on the trapeze, the rings, or the bar. -Then we went to Roberts; he used to live in Compton Street then, and he -and Maynard, in York Road, Lambeth, were agents for all the circuses and -music-halls in the three kingdoms, and often had commissions from -foreign establishments to engage _artistes_ for them. They get -engagements for you, and you pay them a commission of fifteen per cent. -on the salary they get for you; so it is their interest to get you as -good a screw as they can, and it is your interest to keep the commission -paid regularly, because if you don’t, you will have to look out for -yourselves when you want another engagement. If you don’t act -honourable, and you try to get another engagement without the -intervention of an agent, the circus or music-hall proprietor or manager -says, “I engage my people through Roberts,” or Maynard, as the case may -be; and there you are—flummoxed! - -‘Well, we went to Roberts, and had to wait our turn, while he did -business with other fellows who were before us. We looked at the framed -collections of photographs of gymnasts, acrobats, clowns, riders, -jugglers, singers, and dancers which hung against the wall, and then we -looked about us. There was Hassan, the Arab, a wiry-looking tawny man, -black bearded and moustached, and wearing a scarlet fez, a blue zouave -jacket, and baggy crimson breeches; and old Zamezou, with a -broad-brimmed felt hat overshadowing his face, and his portly figure -enveloped in the folds of a large blue cloak; and George Christoff, the -rope-dancer, buttoned up in his over-coat, and looking rather blue, as -if he had just stepped up from the chilly fog in the street; and Luke -Berrington, looking quite the swell, as he always does; and one or two -more that I didn’t know, or can’t remember. One by one, they dropped -out, and others came in, till at last our turn came. - -‘“Well,” says Roberts, who is a nice sort of fellow—a smart -dark-complexioned man, with gold rings in his ears, “I want a couple of -good gymnasts for Springthorp’s, at Hull; but, you see, I don’t know -you: where have you been?” - -‘That was a floorer; but, before my partner could answer, a young fellow -who had just come in, and who had seen us practising at the “ruins,” and -knew what we could do, says, “I know them; they have just come from the -Cirque Imperiale.” - -‘“Oh!” says Roberts, “if you have been at the Cirque Imperiale, you will -do for Springthorp’s. The engagement will be for six nights, commencing -on Saturday next; and you will have five pounds.” - -‘That was gorgeous, we thought. There was I, getting, as an apprentice, -a pound a week, with three-and-thirty shillings, or six-and-thirty at -the most, in perspective; and my partner, out of collar for months, and -receiving the munificent salary of twelve bob a week when in: and we had -jumped into fifty shillings a week each, for a nightly performance of -ten minutes or a quarter of an hour! It is no wonder that we fell to -work, building castles in the air, as soon as we got into the street. We -should go to the Cirque Imperiale some day, though we had not been there -yet, and then to Madrid or St Petersburg, and come back to England, and -be engaged for the Alhambra at fifty pounds a week. From the lofty -height to which we had soared before we reached the Haymarket we were -brought to the ground by considerations of finance. We were both at -low-water mark, and the denarlies had to be found for our tights and -trunks, and our expenses down to Hull. We got over that little -difficulty, however, and started for Hull with hearts as light as our -purses. - -‘Do you know Springthorp’s? You were never in Hull, perhaps; but, if you -should ever happen to be there, and should lose yourself, as you are -very likely to do, in the neighbourhood of the docks, and should wander -into the dullest part of the town, towards Sculcoates, you will come -upon a dreary-looking building, which was once a chapel, and afterwards -a wax-work exhibition. That is Springthorp’s; and there, in the -dreariest, dingiest hall that was ever mocked with the name of a place -of amusement, we gave our first performance. The Vokes family were -performing there at the same time, and very agreeable people we found -them. The six nights came to an end too soon,—before we had got used to -seeing our name in the bills, in the largest type and the reddest ink. -Then we came back to London, and presented ourselves again before our -agent. We had given entire satisfaction at Springthorp’s, he told us; -but he couldn’t offer us another engagement just then. He should put our -name on his list, and, if anything should turn up, he would let us know. - -‘The first offer came from a music-hall at Plymouth, but the screw was -too low for the distance, unless we had had other engagements in the -western towns to follow, and we didn’t take it. The next chance was at -the Hippodrome, in Paris, and we should have gone there, but another -brace of gymnasts, whose terms were lower than ours, cut us out of it. -As if to confirm the vulgar superstition about times, the third time was -lucky. Newsome wanted a couple of good gymnasts for his circus, and -offered the same terms we had had at Springthorp’s, and for twelve -nights. The distance was a drawback, for the circus was then at -Greenock; but we both desired a circus engagement, and hoped that -Newsome might be disposed to engage us to travel with him. So we -accepted the offer, and, reaching Edinburgh by steamer to Granton, went -on by rail to Greenock. - -‘We had never seen any other circus than Hengler’s, except Astley’s, -and, as we did not expect to see a theatre, we expected to find a tent. -To our surprise, we found a large wooden building, well and -substantially built, though without any pretensions to elegance or -beauty of architecture; and we were still more surprised when we went -into the ring to fix up our trapeze. The boxes and balcony were as -prettily painted and gilded as in any theatre, and the ring-fence was -covered with red cloth, and a handsome chandelier hung from a canopy -such as Charman had at the Amphi. in Holborn. - -‘“This is better than Hengler’s by a lump,” says my partner, as we -looked about us. “Why, it must look like Astley’s, when the chandelier -and those gas jets all round the balcony are lighted.” - -‘We did not see many of the company till we presented ourselves in the -dressing-room on the first night of our engagement. As we walked in an -old clown was applying the last touch of vermilion to his whitened face, -and a younger one was balancing a feather on the tip of his nose. There -were seven or eight fellows in tights and trunks, ready for the vaulting -act, and two or three in the gilt-buttoned blue tunic and gold-striped -trousers which constituted the uniform in which the male members of the -company stood at the ring-doors when not engaged in their several -performances in the ring. They all stared at us as we went in, and I -heard one of them say, “Here are the star gymnasts from London!” One or -two said “good evening,” and one gave us a glance of inquiry as he -pronounced our professional name. - -‘“That’s us,” returned my partner. - -‘“Haven’t I seen your face before?” said another, looking hard at him. - -‘“Very likely,” said Fred. “Were you ever at the Circo Price, in -Madrid?” - -‘“No,” answered the other fellow, still looking hard at him. - -‘“Then it couldn’t have been there,” said my partner, without a muscle -of his face moving, though I had to bite my lips to keep from laughing. - -‘We found all of them very good fellows to pal with when we knew them. -There was Webster Vernon, the ring-master; Alf Burgess, the head vaulter -and revolving globe performer, who had been all over the continent, and -was supposed to have accumulated some coin; Coleman, the bare-back -rider, a brother, I believe, of the theatrical manager of that name, -well known in the north; Charlie Ducrow, a direct descendant of the -great successor of Astley, and emulating him in his rapid act on six -horses; old Zamezou and his boys; the Brothers Ridley, also acrobats, -and very good in their chair act and at hand-balancing—Joe Ridley’s -one-arm balance was the best I ever saw; Franks, the first clown, with a -fund of dry, quiet humour that earned his salary, which was higher than -any other man’s in the company, except Burgess’s; Joe Hogini, singing -clown, and better at comic singing than at clowning, though he could do -some clever balancing tricks; and old Adams, clown and property-man, -whose wife was money-taker at the gallery entrance, and whose daughter -took small parts in the ballets when required. - -‘If I mention the gentlemen before the ladies, which isn’t manners, it -is because I saw them first, and saw them oftenest. The ladies, as is -often the case in a circus, were all members of the proprietor’s family. -Madame Newsome only appeared in the ring when her clever manege horse, -Brunette, was introduced. Miss Adele was great in leaping acts, and has -been repeatedly acknowledged by the leading gentlemen of the north -country hunts to be the finest horsewoman across country in England. One -of the wonderful stories related of her is, that a splendid black hunter -which she was riding leaped, in the excitement of the chase, over two -hedges, with a narrow lane between them, landing safely in the field -beyond. Miss Emma did double acts with Burgess, who is as good a rider -as he is a vaulter and a juggler on the globe. Miss Marie only appeared -in ballets at that time, but she is famous now for her daring acts of -horsemanship, without saddle or bridle, like Beatrice Chiarini, whom you -may have seen at the Amphitheatre. But there was Lizzie Keys, a bold and -graceful rider, who used to take her hoops and balloons beautifully; -they called her the Little Wonder, and she was said to be only fourteen -years of age, but she looked more like a diminutive girl of eighteen. - -‘There was a capital stud. Newsome selected his horses as they say -Astley did, without caring much for the colour of them; they were not -chosen for show, like the cream-coloured, and spotted, and piebald -horses you see in circuses that do a parade, but every horse was a good -one in the ring, and had been selected for docility and intelligence. -There was Emperor, the handsome black horse which the governor, and -sometimes Miss Adele, used to ride; he was worth a hundred guineas, at -the very least, as a hunter, and was a clever trick horse besides. It -was a treat to see that horse find, with his eyes bandaged, a -handkerchief which was buried in the saw-dust; you might bury it as deep -as you could, and be as careful as you liked to make the saw-dust look -as if it had not been disturbed, but he would be sure to find it. He -would step slowly round the ring till he came to the place, and then he -would scrape the saw-dust away with his hoof, pick up the handkerchief -with his teeth, and carry it to Newsome. One night Franks took the -handkerchief out of the saw-dust, ran over to the other side of the -ring, and buried it in another place, chuckling and gesticulating in -assumed anticipation of the horse’s discomfiture. The horse found it as -easily as usual. In fact, I never knew him miss it but once; he then -passed the place, but Newsome said, “_En arrière_,”—circus horses are -always spoken to in the ring in French,—and he stepped back directly, -and found it. Then there was Brunette, a brown mare, the most docile and -intelligent creature that ever went on hoofs; and Balaklava, a -scar-covered veteran that had served in the Scots Greys, and had -received his name from having been wounded in the charge of the heavy -cavalry at the battle of Balaklava. Lizzie Keys used to ride him. - -‘From the company and the stud, I must return to ourselves. The twelve -nights we were engaged for, like the six at Hull, came to an end too -soon; and my partner spoke to Henry, the manager, about our travelling -with the circus, as we had set on minds upon doing. Henry, who was a -very gentlemanly fellow, said he would mention it to the governor; and -Newsome called us to him. - -“I am afraid,” said he, “you wouldn’t be of much use to me. You have not -been used to circus business, and you know nothing about it. The general -routine of a circus is very different to a starring engagement, or a -turn at a music-hall. You can’t vault, or hold a banner or a balloon.” - -‘“We should soon learn,” said Fred. - -‘“Well, look here,” said the governor, “it’s as I said just now, you are -not of much use to me at present; but you are good on the trapeze, and, -on the understanding that you are to make yourselves useful in the -general business as soon as you can, I will put you on the -establishment, the engagement to be terminable at any time by a week’s -notice on either side.” - -‘“I should like travelling with a circus, of all things,” said Fred. - -‘“Of course, I couldn’t give you the salary you have been having as -stars,” said the governor. “The best man in the company doesn’t get much -more than I have been giving each of you. But if two pounds a week for -you and your partner will satisfy you, you may consider yourself -engaged.” - -‘Of course, we thanked him, and we accepted the offer, thinking that we -should be worth more some day, and that it would be better to have two -pounds a week regular than to have five pounds for a week or a fortnight -only, and then be for several weeks without an engagement.’ - - - - - CHAPTER XV. - -Continuation of the Gymnast’s Reminiscences—A Circus on the move—Three - Months at Carlisle—Performance for the Benefit of local - Charities—Removal to Middlesborough—A Stockton Man’s - Adventure—Journey to York—Circus Ballets—The Paynes in the - Arena—Accidents in the Ring—A Circus Benefit—Removal to - Scarborough—A Gymnastic Adventure—Twelve Nights at the Pantheon—On - the Tramp—Return to London. - - -‘The circus was near the end of its stay at Greenock when we engaged for -“general utility,” and we were not sorry to leave the banks of the Clyde -for a more genial climate. It rained more or less, generally more, all -the time we were there, and I can quite believe the boy who assured an -English tourist that it didn’t always rain in Scotland, adding, “whiles -it snaws.” There was a frigate lying in the Clyde at the time, and -whenever the crew practised gunnery down came the rain in torrents. I -don’t know how that phenomenon is to be accounted for; but it is a fact -that there was a change from a drizzle to a down-pour whenever the big -guns were fired. And then the Sundays—not a drop of beer! But what do -you think the thirsty folks do? There are a great many people thirsty on -Sundays in Scotland, and especially in Greenock and Glasgow; for they -try to drink enough on Saturday night to last them till Monday, and that -plan doesn’t work satisfactorily. They go to a place called Gourock, -where they can get as much ale or whiskey as they can pay for. That is -how something like the Permissive Bill works in Scotland. - -‘On the last night of our stay in Greenock, as soon as we had doffed the -circus uniform, and the audience had departed, we took down our trapeze, -and proceeded to the railway station. A special train had been engaged -for the removal to Carlisle of all the company, the band, the stud, and -the properties, Newsome paying for all. Having to make the journey by -night, we did not see much of the scenery we passed through; but we had -a good time, as the Yankees say, talking, joking, laughing, and singing -all the way. We found at Carlisle as good a building as we had left at -Greenock, and, having fixed up our trapeze, and taken a lodging, we -walked round the city to see the lions, which are rather tame ones. - -‘While we were at Carlisle, Hubert Mears was starring with us for a -short time, doing the flying trapeze, and doing it, too, as well as ever -I have seen it done. After him, we had Sadi Jalma, “the serpent of the -desert,” for a time, and very serpent-like his contortions are; he can -wriggle in and out the rounds of a ladder or a chair like an eel. He is -like the acrobats that I once heard a couple of small boys holding a -discussion about, one maintaining that they had no bones, and the other -that their bones were made of gutta percha. He calls himself a Persian -prince, but I don’t believe he is any relation to the Shah. He may be a -Persian, for there are Arab, Hindoo, Chinese, and Japanese acrobats and -jugglers knocking about over England, as well as Frenchmen, Germans, and -Italians; but nationalities are as often assumed as names, and he may be -no more a Persian than I am a Spaniard. - -‘It is a praiseworthy custom of Newsome, to devote one night’s receipts -to the charities of every town which he visits. It would require more -time than he has to spare to make the inquiries and calculations that -would be necessary before a stranger could distribute the money among -the several institutions, so as to effect the greatest amount of good; -and it is placed for that purpose at the disposal of the Mayor. The -amount of money which he has thus given for the relief of the sick, the -infirm, and the indigent during the time his circus has been travelling -would have been a fortune in itself, if he had put it into his own -pocket. He divides the year between four towns, and in one year he gave -two hundred pounds to the charities of Preston, and forty pounds to the -Seamen’s Orphans’ Asylum at Liverpool, besides what he gave to the -similar institutions of the other towns which he visited that year. - -‘Our next move was to Middlesborough, where a very laughable incident -occurred. A party of us ferried over to Stockton one day, and went into -a public-house there for refreshment. Circus men are always courted and -sought after, as soldiers are in a place where they are only -occasionally seen; and, as soon as we were recognised by the Stockton -men in the room as belonging to the circus, there was a great -disposition shown to treat us, and to get into conversation with us. -Well, a short time afterwards, one of those men came over to -Middlesborough, to see the circus again, and, after the performance, he -went into a public-house where he recognized Sam Sault, a gymnast from -Manchester, who had lately joined us, and insisted upon treating him. -Sam had no objection to be treated, and the Stockton man was elated with -the opportunity of showing that he was acquainted with a circus man. So -one glass followed another until the Stockton man became, all at once, -helplessly drunk. Sam, who retained the use of his limbs, and some -glimmering of reason, good-naturedly took his drunken friend to his -lodging to save him from being turned out of the public-house, and then -locked up by the police. He had no sooner reached his lodgings, and -helped the drunken man up the stairs, however, than he felt a doubt as -to the safety of his purse; and, on immediately thrusting his hand into -his pocket, he found that it was gone. He reflected as well as he was -able, and came to the conclusion that he must have left it on the -parlour table at the public-house. Depositing his helpless companion -upon the sofa, he ran down-stairs, and rushed off to the tavern, where, -by great good fortune, he found his purse on the chair on which he had -been sitting, where he had placed it, it seems, when he thought he had -returned it to his pocket. - -‘While he was at the public-house Joe Ridley and I, and my partner, who -lodged in the same house with Sam Sault, returned to our lodging, and -found the drunken man asleep on the sofa, smelling horribly of gin and -tobacco smoke, and snoring like a fat hog. We looked at the fellow in -surprise, wondering who he was, and how he came to be there. Neither of -us recognized him as any one we had seen before. Then the question was -raised,—What should we do with him. “Throw him out of the window,” says -Joe Ridley. “Take him down into the yard and pump on him,” says Fred. -“No, let us paint his face,” says I. So I got some carmine, and Fred got -some burnt cork, and we each painted him to our own fancy till he looked -like an Ojibbeway in his war-paint. By that time Sam Sault got back from -the public-house, and found us laughing heartily at the queer figure cut -by the recumbent Stocktonian. - -‘“Oh, if he is a friend of yours, we’ll wipe it off,” says I, when Sam -had explained how the man came to be there. - -‘“Oh, let it be,” says Sam,“ and let him be where he is; we’ll turn him -out in the morning, without his knowing what a beauty you have made him, -and that will serve him right for giving me so much trouble.” - -‘So the fellow was left snoring on the sofa till morning, when, it -appears, he woke before we were about, and, finding himself in a strange -place, walked down-stairs, and quitted the house. We never saw him -again, but we often laughed as we thought of the figure the man must -have cut as he stalked into Stockton, and how he must have been laughed -at by his mates and the people he met on his way. - -‘From Middlesborough we went to York, where the circus stood on St -George’s Field, an open space between the castle and the Ouse. About -that time, Webster Vernon left the company, and was succeeded as -ring-master by a gentleman named Vivian, who was quite new to the -profession, and whose adoption of it added another to the changes which -he had already known, though he was still quite a young man. He had been -a lawyer’s clerk, then a photographic colourist, and afterwards an -actor; and was a quiet, gentlemanly fellow, unlike the majority of -circus men, who are generally a fast, slangy set. He had married early, -and his wife, who was an actress, had an engagement in London—a frequent -cause of temporary separation among those whose business it is to amuse -the public, whether their lines lie in circuses, theatres, or -music-halls. Joe Ridley’s wife was in London, and Sam Sault had left his -better half in Manchester. Franks, and Adams, and old Zamezou, and Jem -Ridley, and the head groom had their wives with them; but two of the -five were connected with the circus, Adams’s wife taking money at the -gallery entrance, and the groom’s riding in _entrées_. - -‘How did we do ballets? Well, they were _ballets d‘ action_, such as -used to be done at the music-halls by the Lauri family, and more lately -by Fred Evans and troupe. The Paynes starred in them at one time, but -generally they were done by the regular members of the company, usually -by Alf Burgess, and Funny Franks, and Joe Hogini, with Adele Newsome in -the leading lady’s part, the subordinate characters being taken by Marie -Newsome and Jane Adams, and my partner and I, and Charley Ducrow. - -‘Who starred with us at this time, besides the Paynes? Well, there was -Hassan, the Arab, who did vaulting and balancing feats, and his wife, -who danced on the tight rope. He vaulted one night over a line of -mounted dragoons from Fulwood barracks, turning a somersault over their -heads and drawn sabres. Didn’t we have accidents in the ring sometimes? -Well, none of a very serious character, and nearly all that happened in -twelve months might be counted on the fingers of one hand. Coleman -slipped off the bare back of a horse one night, and cut his hand with a -sword. Burgess had a finger cut one night in catching the knives for his -juggling act, which used to be thrown to him from the ring-doors while -he was on the globe, and keeping it in motion with his feet. Adele -Newsome was thrown one night, and pitched amongst the spectators, but -received no injuries beyond a bruise or two. Lizzie Keys slipped off the -pad one night, but came down comfortably on the sawdust, and wasn’t hurt -at all. Fred fell from the trapeze once, and that was very near being -the most serious accident of all. He fell head foremost, and was taken -up insensible by the fellows at the ring-doors, and carried into the -dressing-room. We thought his neck was broken, but Sam Sault, who had -seen such accidents before, pulled his head right, and, when his senses -came back to him, it did not appear that he was much the worse for the -fall after all. Then my turn came. One night, when the performances were -to commence with a vaulting act, I went to the circus so much more than -half tight that I was advised on all sides to stand out of it, and -Henry, the manager, very kindly said that I should be excused; but, with -the obstinacy of men in that condition, and their usual belief that they -are sober enough for anything, I persisted in going into the ring with -the rest. What happened was just what might have been expected, and -everybody but myself feared. Instead of clearing the horses I touched -one of them, and, in consequence, instead of dropping on my feet, I was -thrown upon my back; and that accident, with a violent attack of -inflammation of the lungs, laid me up for two or three weeks, during -which I was treated with great liberality by Newsome, and received many -kindnesses from more than one of the good people of York. - -‘My partner and I had a benefit while we were in York, but we didn’t -make more than £3 by it. The way benefits are given in circuses is by -admitting the tickets sold by the party whose benefit it is, and of -course the number of tickets a circus man can sell among the inhabitants -of a town where he was a stranger till the circus appeared, and where he -has lived only two or three months, can’t be very great. We were -thankful for what we got, however, and had new trunks made on the -strength of it—black velvet, spangled. Soon after this we removed to -Scarborough, where I had a rather perilous adventure. I attempted to -ascend the cliff, and found myself, when half way up, in an awkward -position. I had reached a narrow ledge, above which the cliff rose -almost perpendicularly, without any projection within reach that I could -grasp with one hand, or plant so much as one toe upon. Descent was -almost as impracticable as the completion of the ascent, for, besides -the difficulty of having to feel for a footing with my feet while -descending backward, a portion of the cliff, which I had been standing -upon a few minutes before, had given way and plunged down to the beach. -It seemed probable that the ledge I was standing upon might give way if -I stood still much longer, and in that case I should go down after it. -So I shouted “help!” as loud as I could, and in a few minutes I saw the -shako-covered head of a volunteer projected over the edge of the -precipice, and heard him call out, “A man over the cliff!” His corps was -encamped on the cliff, and in a few minutes I was an object of interest -to a large number of spectators, whom his alarm had attracted to the -edge of the cliff. Presently a rope was lowered to me, and held fast by -men above, while I went up it, hand over hand, as I did every night in -the circus, when we ascended to the trapeze. - -‘When we had been in Scarborough about a month, my partner and I had a -disagreement, and I left the circus, and procured an engagement for -twelve nights at the Pantheon music-hall. That completed, “the world was -all before me, where to choose!” I thought there might be a chance of -obtaining an engagement at one or other of the music-halls at Leeds and -Bradford, and I visited both towns; but without meeting with success. By -the time I arrived at the conclusion that I must return to London I was -pretty nigh hard up. I counted my coin the morning I left Leeds, and -found that I had little more than enough to enable me to reach Hull, -where I expected to receive a remittance from “the old house at home!” I -had a long and weary walk to Selby, where I sat down beside the river, -to await the arrival of the steamer that runs between Hull and York. -Once more I counted my money, and had the satisfaction of ascertaining -that I had just one penny above the fare from Selby to Hull. I shoved my -fingers into each corner of every pocket, but the search did not result -in the discovery of a single copper more. It was something to have that -penny, though, for besides being thirsty, I was so fatigued that I -needed some sort of stimulant. - -‘“I must have half a pint,” I thought, and I went into the nearest -public-house, and had it. Then I sat down again, and looked up the brown -Ouse, where at last I saw the black hull and smoking funnel of the -steamer. As soon as she came alongside the landing-place, I went aboard, -and descended into the fore-cabin, where I lay down, and smoked my last -bit of tobacco, after which I dozed till the steamer bumped against the -pier at Hull. There I was all right, as far as my immediate wants were -concerned. I dined, replenished my tobacco pouch, and strolled up to -Springthorp’s, to see if there was any chance there. There was no -immediate opening, however, and on the following day I took a passage -for London in one of the steamers running between the Humber and the -Thames.’ - - - - - CHAPTER XVI. - -Continuation of the Gymnast’s Reminiscences—Circus Men in - Difficulties—Heavy Security for a small Debt—The Sheriff’s Officer - and the Elephant—Taking Refuge with the Lions—Another Provincial - Tour—With a Circus in Dublin—A Joke in the wrong place—A Fenian - Hoax—A Case of Pikes—Return to England—At the Kentish - Watering-places—Off to the North. - - -‘Several weeks elapsed before I got another engagement. Two gymnasts can -do so much more showy and sensational a performance than one can, that a -single slang doesn’t go near so well as a double one, and it is, in -consequence, only those who produce something novel, such as Jean -Price’s long flight and Avolo’s performance on two bars, who can procure -single-handed engagements. Knowing this to be the case, I looked about -for a new partner, and found that the Brothers Athos had separated, and -that one of them was in just the same fix as myself. When we met, and -talked the matter over, however, a difficulty arose in the fact that we -had both worked as bearers,—that is, we had supported our respective -partners in the double tricks, that require one man to bear the entire -weight of the other, as in the drop, or when one, hanging by the hocks, -holds a single trapeze for the other to do a trick or two upon beneath -him. Our respective necessities might have urged us to overcome this -difficulty if Christmas had not been approaching, at which season -unemployed gymnasts and acrobats often obtain engagements at the -theatres, as demons and sprites. Athos got an engagement to sprite at -the East London, and I was left out in the cold. - -‘Newsome’s circus had moved, in the mean time, from Scarborough to -Middlesborough, where some changes were made in the company. Burgess and -two or three more left, and my late partner was among them. I heard -afterwards one of the many stories that are current in circuses of the -devices resorted to by circus men in difficulties to evade arrest. A -friend of one of the parties who had ceased to belong to Newsome’s -company called at the house where he had lodged, and found that he had -left, and that his landlady didn’t know where he had gone to. - -‘“But I am sure to see him again,” said she, “for he has left a large -box, so heavy that I can’t move it.” - -‘“Then you can have good security for what he owes you,” observed the -friend. “I suppose he owes you something?” - -‘“Well, yes,” rejoined the woman, “he does owe me something for board -and lodging.” - -‘Her lodger never returned, however, and his friend meeting him some -time afterwards in York, alluded to the manner in which he had -“mysteriously dried up,” as his friend called it. - -‘“Ah, I was under a heavy cloud!” observed the defaulter. “What did the -old lady say about me?” - -‘“That she was sure to see you again, because you had left a heavy box -in the room you occupied,” replied his friend. - -‘“I should think it was heavy,” said the other. “Couldn’t move it, could -she?” - -‘His friend replied in the negative, and he laughed so heartily that he -spilled some of the ale he was drinking. - -‘“What is the joke?” inquired his friend. - -‘“Why, you see, the box was once full of togs,” replied the mysterious -lodger, “but when I left Middlesborough such of them as were not -adorning the person of this swell were hypothecated.” - -‘“What is the meaning of that hard word?” inquired a third circus man -who was present. - -‘“In the vulgar tongue, up the spout,” replied the defaulter. - -‘“Then what made the box so heavy?” inquired his friend. - -‘“A score of bricks,” suggested the third party. - -‘“Wrong, cully,” said the Artful Dodger. “I couldn’t have smuggled -bricks into the room without being observed; but a big screw went -through the bottom of the box, and held it fast to the floor.” - -‘Another of the stories I have alluded to relates to a man that used to -look after an elephant in a circus, and put him through his performance. -He got pretty deeply in debt—the man I mean—in a midland town where the -circus had been staying some time, and his creditor, not being able to -obtain payment, and finding that the company were about to remove to -another town, determined to arrest him. - -‘The cavalcade of horses, performing mules, camels, and other quadrupeds -was just ready to start from the circus when the sheriff’s officer -appeared on the scene, and tapped his man on the shoulder. He was -recognized at a glance, and the man ran into the stables, with the -sheriff’s officer after him. Running to the elephant, the debtor dived -under its belly, and took up a safe position on the other side of the -beast. The officer attempted a passage in the rear, but was cut off by a -sudden movement of the elephant’s hind quarters. Then he screwed up his -courage for a dive under the animal’s belly, but the beast turned its -head, and fetched him a slap with its trunk. - -‘“I’ll have you, if I wait here all day,” said he, as he drew back -hastily. - -‘“You had better not wait till I unfasten this chain,” says the elephant -keeper, pretending to do what he threatened. - -‘The officer growled, and went off to find the proprietor; but he didn’t -succeed, and when he returned to the stables, his man was gone. That was -as good a dodge as the lion-tamer’s, who, when the officers went to the -circus to arrest him, took refuge in the cage containing the lions. They -looked through the grating, and saw him in the midst of a group of lions -and lionesses. They were philosophic enough to console themselves with -the reflection that their man would come out when he wanted his dinner; -but they had not waited long when the lions began to roar. - -‘“The lions are getting hungry,” says the keeper. “If he lets them out -of the cage, you will have to run.” - -‘The officers exchanged frightened glances, and were out of the show in -two minutes. - -‘To return to my story; my late partner found himself in much the same -fix as myself, and this discovery paved the way for a mutual friend to -bridge over the gulf that had kept us apart. As soon as we had agreed to -work together again, we got a twelve nights’ engagement at the Prince of -Wales concert-hall at Wolverhampton. We found the other professionals -engaged there very good people to pal with, and spent Christmas Day with -the comic singer and his wife, two niggers also being of the party, and -bringing their banjo and bones to promote its hilarity. While we were in -Wolverhampton, we arranged for twelve nights, to follow, at the London -Museum music-hall at Birmingham, which has received its name from the -cases of stuffed birds and small animals of all kinds, which cover all -the wall space of the front of the bar and the passage leading to the -hall. After our twelve nights there, we were engaged for six nights -longer; and then we went down to Oldham, for a twelve nights’ engagement -at the Co-operative Hall. For all these engagements, and for all we made -afterwards, the terms we obtained were four pounds ten a week. - -‘Our next engagement was with a circus in Dublin, to which city we -crossed from Liverpool. The company and stud of this concern were very -different in strength and quality to Newsome’s, and they were doing very -poor business. It is very seldom that a circus proprietor ventures upon -the experiment of an Irish tour, which more rarely pays, both because of -the poverty of the people, and the difficulty which all caterers for -their amusement find in avoiding grounds for manifestations of national -antipathies between English and Irish. Of this we had an instance on the -first night of our engagement. I dare say you have heard Sam Collins or -Harry Baker, or some other Irish _comique_, interlard a song with a -spoken flourish about the Irish, something after this fashion:—“Who was -it made the French run at Waterloo? The Irish! Who won all the battles -in the Crimea? The Irish! Who put down the rebellion in India? The -Irish! Who mans your men of war and recruits your army? The Irish! Who -builds all your houses and churches? The Irish! Who builds your prisons -and your workhouses? The Irish! And who fills them? The Irish!” In -England this is laughed at, even by the Irish themselves; but in Ireland -nothing of the kind is tolerated. One of the clowns delivered himself of -this stuff in the ring, and was warmly applauded until the anticlimax -was reached, when such a howl burst forth as I shouldn’t have thought -the human voice could utter. The fellows in the gallery jumped up, and -raved, stamped, gesticulated, as if they were Ojibbeways performing a -war-dance; and everybody expected that the seats would be pulled up, and -flung into the ring, as had been done in another circus, under something -similar circumstances, some time before. But the storm was hushed as -suddenly as it arose. It happened fortunately that our performance was -next in the programme, and that, knowing how popular everything American -was in Ireland, we had provided for its musical accompaniment a fantasia -on American national airs, such as “Yankee Doodle,” “Hail, Columbia!” -and “The star-spangled banner.” The band struck up this music as the -offending clown ran out of the ring, expecting to have a bottle flung at -his head, and the howlers in the gallery hearing it, and seeing pink -stars on our white trunks, thought we were Yankees. The effect of our -appearance, and of the music, was like pouring oil on the waves. The -howling ceased, and harmony was restored as suddenly as it had been -interrupted. - -‘This was the time, you must know, when the Fenian plot was in -everybody’s mouth, and when the wildest rumours were in circulation of -an intended rising in Ireland, and the coming of Americans, or rather -Americanized Irishmen, to support it. One day, while we were in Dublin, -a superintendent of constabulary received an anonymous letter, informing -him that a case of pikes had been buried at a spot near the Liffey, -which was so particularly described that the men who were sent to search -for it had no difficulty in finding it. When they had dug a pretty deep -hole, they found a deal box, which was raised to the surface, and carted -off to a police-station, with an escort of constabulary. It was opened -in the presence of the superintendent, and there were the pikes!—not -such as Slievenamon bristled with in ’48, but a couple of stale fishes. - -‘Before leaving Dublin, we arranged for a twelve nights’ engagement at -the Alexandra music-hall, at Ramsgate, which, as you perhaps know, is -under the same management as the Raglan, in London. The Sisters Bullen, -and Miss Lucette, and the Brothers Keeling were at the Alexandra at the -same time; and, as music-hall professionals are, as a rule, disposed to -fraternize with each other, we had a very pleasant time. From Ramsgate -we went to Dover, for twelve nights at the Clarence music-hall, and then -back to Ramsgate for another twelve nights at the Alexandra. - -‘Among the professionals engaged for the following week at the Clarence -was a versatile lady bearing the name of Cora Woski, and the town, -during the second week of our engagement, was placarded with the -inquiry, “Have you seen Cora?” This soon became a common question in the -streets, and at all places of public resort; and one of the company, -entering the Clarence on the day the bills appeared, without having seen -one of them, was equally surprised and confused at being greeted with -the inquiry, “Have you seen Cora?” He was only slightly acquainted with -the querist, and it happened that he was engaged to marry the only lady -of that rather uncommon name whom he knew. - -‘“What do you know of Cora?” he demanded, his face reddening as he -frowned upon the questioner. - -‘“Why, she is coming here,” returned the amused querist, who saw at once -the cause of the young fellow’s confusion. - -‘“How do you know?” was the next question of the bewildered _artiste_. - -‘“How do I know? Why, it’s all over the town,” was the reply. - -‘A nudge from a friend drew the other’s attention from his tormentor for -a moment, and, following the direction of his friend’s glance, he saw -upon the wall one of the placards bearing the question with which he had -been greeted on entering the bar. - -‘Engagements now followed each other pretty close. Returning to London -after our second engagement at Ramsgate, we were soon afterwards engaged -for twelve nights at Macfarlane’s music-hall, Dundee, and six nights, to -follow, at a similar place of amusement at Arbroath, under the same -management. We found the Gregories there, with their performing dogs; -and there was a ballet, in which the pretty illusion of Parkes’s silver -rain was introduced. No other engagement awaited us in the north when we -left Arbroath, and we returned to Dundee, and from thence to London.’ - - - - - CHAPTER XVII. - -Lions and Lion-tamers—Lorenzo and the Lions—Androcles and the Lion—The - Successor of Macomo—Accident in Bell and Myers’s Circus—Lion - Hunting—Death of Macarthy—True Causes of Accidents with Lions and - Tigers—Performing Leopards—Anticipating the Millennium—Tame - Hyenas—Fairgrieve’s Menagerie—Performing Lions, Tigers, Leopards, - and Hyenas—Camels and Dromedaries—The Great Elephant - - -Since the death of the negro, Macomo, the most successful performer with -lions and other large members of the feline genus has been Lorenzo, who -travelled with Fairgrieve’s menagerie for several years preceding its -dispersion in the summer of 1872. On the death of George Wombwell, in -1850, his collection, which had grown to an almost unmanageable extent -during nearly half a century, was divided, according to his testamentary -directions, into three parts. With one of these his widow continued to -travel until 1866, when she retired from the business, and the menagerie -was transferred to Fairgrieve, who had married her niece. Another third -was bequeathed to Wombwell’s niece, Mrs Edmonds, who travelled with it -until the close of 1872, when it was announced for sale. Who had the -remaining third I am unable to say; it was travelling for several years -in the original name, as the menageries of Fairgrieve and Edmonds did -long after Wombwell’s decease, and is now owned by Mrs Day. - -Fairgrieve’s group of performing animals consisted of several lions and -lionesses, a tigress, two or three leopards, and a hyena. Tigers are -not, as a rule, liked so well by lion-tamers as lions; but Fairgrieve’s -tigress exhibited as much docility and intelligence as her performing -companions. There was a famous lion, named Wallace, with which Lorenzo -represented the story of Androcles, the slave, who, flying from the -cruel tyranny of his Roman master, met in the forest in which he sought -refuge a lion that had been lamed by a thorn. Observing the suffering of -the beast, which made no hostile demonstrations, he ventured to approach -it, and was allowed to extract the thorn from the elastic pad of its -foot, the lion testifying its gratitude for the relief by rubbing its -head against him. Some time afterwards, the fugitive was captured, and -was doomed by his master to be exposed in the arena of the amphitheatre -to a recently trapped lion. But, to the amazement of the spectators, the -lion, instead of falling upon Androcles, and tearing him to pieces, -seemed to recognize him, and, after rubbing its head against him, lay -down at his feet. It was the lion from whose foot Androcles had -extracted the thorn in the forest. The slave told the story and received -his pardon and his liberty on the spot. - -The successor of Macomo was an Irishman named Macarthy, who had -previously travelled, in the same capacity, with Bell and Myers’s -circus; and in 1862, while performing with the lions belonging to that -establishment, had his left arm so severely mangled by one of the beasts -that he had to undergo amputation. This circumstance seems to have added -to the _eclat_ of the unfortunate man’s performances, but he had neither -the nerve of Crockett and Macomo, nor their resolution to abstain from -stimulants. Whether from carelessness or nervousness, he often turned -his back upon the animals, though he had been repeatedly cautioned that -it was dangerous to do so; and to this circumstance, and his intemperate -habits, the lion-taming fraternity attribute his terrible end. - -It is to be observed that Macarthy lost his life, not in the course of -the ordinary performances of lion-tamers, but while giving a sensational -exhibition termed ‘lion-hunting,’ which had been introduced by Macomo, -and consists in chasing the animals about the cage, the performer being -armed with a sword and pistols, and throwing into the mimic sport as -much semblance of reality as may be possible. It will be obvious that -this is a dangerous exhibition, and it should never be attempted with -any but young animals. For ordinary performances, most lion-tamers -prefer full-grown animals, as being better trained; but when lions -become full-grown, they are not disposed to be driven and hustled about -in this manner, and they are so excited by it that it cannot be -repeatedly performed with the same animals. - -Macarthy had been bitten on three occasions previously to the -catastrophe at Bolton. The first time was in 1862, when he lost his left -arm, as already related; the second while performing at Edinburgh in -1871, when one of the lions made a snap at his arm, but only slightly -grazed it. The third occasion was only a few days before the accident -which terminated his career and his life, when one of the lions bit him -slightly on the wrist. The fatal struggle at Bolton was preceded by a -trifling accident, which may perhaps have done something to lessen the -never remarkable steadiness of the man’s nerves. In driving the animals -from one end of the cage to the other, one of them ran against his legs, -and threw him down. He regained his feet, however, and drove the animals -into a corner. He then walked to the centre of the cage, and was -stamping his feet upon the floor, to make the beasts run past him, when -one of the lions crept stealthily out from the group and sprang upon -him, seizing him by the right hip, and throwing him upon his side. For a -moment the spectators imagined that this attack was part of the -performance; but the agonized features of Macarthy soon convinced them -of their mistake. A scene of wild and terrible confusion ensued. Three -other lions sprang upon Macarthy, who was vainly endeavouring to regain -his feet, and making desperate lunges amongst the excited animals with -his sword. Presently one of the lions seized his arm, and the sword -dropped from his hand. Several men were by this time endeavouring to -beat the animals off, and to slide a partition between the bars of the -cage, with the view of driving them behind it. This was a task of -considerable difficulty, however, for as soon as one lion was compelled -to relinquish his hold, another took his place. Fire-arms and heated -bars of iron were then procured, and, by applying the irons to the paws -and jaws of the lions, and firing upon them with blank cartridges, four -of them were driven behind the partition. - -Macarthy was then lying in the centre of the cage, with the lion which -had first attacked him still biting and tearing him. Discharges of blank -cartridge being found ineffectual to make it loose its hold of the -unfortunate man, the heated iron was applied to his nose, and then it -released him, and ran behind the partition, which had been drawn out a -little to admit him. Even then the terrible scene was not concluded. -Before the opening could be closed again, the lion which had been -foremost in the onslaught ran out again, seized Macarthy by the foot, -and dragged him into the corner, where all the lions again fell upon him -with redoubled fury. A quarter of an hour elapsed from the commencement -of the attack before he could be rescued; and, as the lions were then -all caged at the end where the entrance was, the opposite end of the -cage had to be opened before his mangled body could be lifted out. - -This lamentable affair caused an outcry to be raised against the -exhibition of performing lions such as had been heard a few years -previously against such feats as those of Blondin and Leotard. ‘The -display of wild animals in a menagerie,’ said a London morning -journalist, ‘may be tolerated, and even encouraged for the sake of -science, and for the rational amusement of the public; but there is no -analogy between the case of beasts secured in strong dens, and -approached only with the greatest caution by wary and experienced -keepers, and that of a caravan open on all sides, illuminated by flaring -gas, and surrounded by a noisy audience.’ The distinction is one without -a difference, even if we suppose that the writer mentally restricted the -term ‘menagerie’ to the Zoological Gardens; for the proprietor of a -travelling menagerie, or a circus, consults his own interests, as well -as the safety of the public, in providing strong cages, and engaging -wary and experienced keepers. It is childish to talk of prohibiting -every performance or exhibition from which an accident has resulted. -Some years ago, one of the keepers of the Zoological Gardens in the -Regent’s Park, being somewhat intoxicated, chose to irritate a hooded -snake, which thereupon seized him by the nose. He died within an hour. -Would the journalist who proposed to exclude lion-tamers from menageries -and circuses close the Zoological Gardens on that account? - -‘The caravans,’ continues the author of the article just quoted, ‘are -tenanted by wild beasts weary with previous performances, irritated by -the heat and the clamour around them, and teased by being obliged to -perform tricks at the bidding of a man whom they hate, since his -mandates are generally seconded by the blows of a whip or the searing of -a branding-iron. Now and again, in a well-ordered zoological collection, -some lazy, drowsy old lion, who passes the major part of his time in a -corner of his den, blinking at the sunshine, and who is cloyed with -abundant meals, and surfeited with cakes and sweetmeats, may exhibit -passable good-nature, and allow his keeper to take liberties; but such -placability can rarely be expected from animals moved continually from -place to place, and ceaselessly pestered into going through movements -which they detest. Lions or tigers may have the cunning of that feline -race to which they pertain; yet they are assuredly destitute of the -docility, the intelligence, or the fidelity of the dog or the horse; and -such cunning as they possess will prompt them rather to elude -performance of the tasks assigned them, or to fall upon their instructor -unawares and rend him, than to go through their feats with the cheerful -obedience manifested by creatures friendly to man. It is no secret that -the customary method of taming wild beasts for purposes of exhibition -is, to thrash them with gutta percha whips and iron bars, and when it is -considered necessary, to scarify them with red-hot pokers.’ - -I quote this for the sake of refuting it by the evidence of one who, -unlike the journalist, understood what he was writing about. The ex-lion -king, whose experiences and reminiscences were recorded about the same -time in another journal, and who must be admitted to be a competent -authority, says, ‘Violence is a mistake;’ and he adds, that he has never -known heated irons to be held in readiness, except when lions and -lionesses are together at times such as led to the terrific struggle in -Sanger’s circus, which has been related in the seventh chapter. The true -causes of accidents with lions and tigers are intemperance and violence. -‘It’s the drink,’ says the ex-lion king, ‘that plays the mischief with -us fellows. There are plenty of people always ready to treat the daring -fellow that plays with the lions as if they were kittens; and so he gets -reckless, lets the dangerous animal—on which, if he were sober, he would -know he must always keep his eye—get dodging round behind him; he _hits_ -a beast in which he ought to know that a blow rouses the sleeping devil; -or makes a stagger and goes down, and then they set upon him.’ He -expected, he says, to hear of Macarthy’s death from the time when he -heard that he had given way to intemperance; and we have seen how a -hasty cut with a whip brought the tiger upon Helen Blight. - -To this evidence of the ex-lion king I may add what I witnessed about -thirty years ago in one of the smaller class of travelling menageries, -exhibiting at the time at Mitcham fair. There were no lions or tigers, -but four performing leopards, a hyena, a wolf which anticipated the -Millennium by lying down with a lamb, and several smaller animals. The -showman entered the leopards’ cage, with a light whip in one hand, and a -hoop in the other. The animals leaped over the whip, through the hoop, -and over the man’s back, exhibiting as much docility throughout the -performance as cats or dogs. The whip was used merely as part of the -properties. Indeed, since cats can be taught to leap in the same way, -without the use of whips or iron bars, why not leopards, which are -merely a larger species of the same genus? The showman also entered the -cage of the hyena, which fawned upon him after the manner of a dog, and -allowed him to open its mouth. The hyena has the reputation of being -untameable; but, in addition to this instance to the contrary, and -another in Fairgrieve’s menagerie, Bishop Heber had a hyena at Calcutta, -which followed him about like a dog. - -When Fairgrieve’s collection was sold by auction at Edinburgh in 1872, -the lions and tigers excited much attention, and good prices were -realized, though in some instances they were not so great as had been -expected. Rice, a dealer in animals, whose repository, like Jamrach’s, -is in Ratcliff Highway, bought, for £185, the famous lion, Wallace, aged -seven years and a half, with which Lorenzo used to represent the story -of Androcles. The auctioneer assured those present that the animal was -as tame as a lamb, and that he was inclined to enter the cage himself, -and perform Androcles ‘for that time only,’ but was afraid of the lion’s -gratitude. There were six other lions and three lionesses, five of which -were also bought by Rice, at prices varying, according to the age and -sex of the animals, from £80 for a full grown lioness, and £90 each for -lions a year and a half old, to £140 for full-grown lions, from three to -seven years old. A six-year old lion named Hannibal, said to be the -largest and handsomest lion in this country, was bought by the -proprietors of the Zoological Gardens at Bristol for £270; and his mate, -four years old, was bought by Jennison, of the Belle Vue Gardens, -Manchester, for 100 guineas. The third lioness realized £80, and the -remaining lion, bought by Jamrach, £200. - -The magnificent tigress, Tippoo, which used to perform with Lorenzo, was -also purchased by Jamrach for £155; and the same enterprising dealer -became the possessor of three of the four leopards for £60. As these -leopards, two of which were females, were trained performing animals, -the sum they realized must be considered extremely low. Another -leopardess, advanced in years, realized only 6 guineas. Ferguson, the -agent of Van Amburgh, the great American menagerist, secured the spotted -hyena for £15; while a performing hyena of the striped variety was -knocked down at only three guineas. A polar bear, ‘young, healthy, and -lively as a trout,’ as the auctioneer said, was sold for £40, a -Thibetian bear for 5 guineas, and a pair of wolves for 2 guineas. - -Rice, who was the largest purchaser, became the possessor of the zebra -for £50. The Bactrian camels, bought principally for travelling -menageries, brought from £14 to £30. The largest male camel, twelve -years old, was sold for £19; and another, six months younger, but a foot -less in stature, for £14. Of the three females, one, six feet and a half -high, and ten years old, brought £30; and another, of the same height, -and only half the age of the former, £23. The third, only a year and a -half old, and not yet full grown, brought £14. All three were in young. -A baby camel, nine weeks old, realized 9 guineas. The male ‘dromedary,’ -as it was described in the catalogue, but called by naturalists the -Syrian camel, was sold for £30, and the female for 20 guineas. -Menagerists restrict the term ‘camel’ to the Bactrian or two-humped -variety, and call the one-humped animals dromedaries; but the dromedary, -according to naturalists, is a small variety of the Syrian camel, -bearing the same relation to the latter as a pony does to a horse. The -animals described as dromedaries in the catalogue of Fairgrieve’s -collection were, on the contrary, taller than the Bactrian camels. - -There was a spirited competition for the two elephants, ending in the -female, a musical phenomenon, playing the organ and the harmonium, being -bought by Rice for £145; and the noble full-tusked male, rising eight -years old, and seven feet six inches in height, being purchased by -Jennison for £680. This enormous beast was described as the largest and -cleverest performing elephant ever exhibited. In point of fact, he is -surpassed in stature, I believe, by the Czar’s elephant, kept at his -country residence at Tzarski-Seloe; but that beast’s performances have -never gone beyond occasionally killing his keeper, whilst the elephant -now in the Belle Vue Gardens, at Manchester, is one of the most docile -and intelligent beasts ever exhibited. He will go in harness, and was -accustomed to draw the band carriage when a parade was made. He will -either drag or push a waggon up a hill, and during the last eighteen -months that the menagerie was travelling, he placed all the vans in -position, with the assistance only of a couple of men to guide the -wheels. - -The entire proceeds of the sale were a little under £3,000. The daily -cost of the food of the animals in a menagerie is, I may add, far from a -trifle. The quantity of hay, cabbages, bread, and boiled rice, sweetened -with sugar, which an elephant will consume, in addition to the fruit, -buns, and biscuits given to him by visitors, is enormous. The amount of -animal food for the carnivora in Fairgrieve’s menagerie was about four -hundred-weight a day, consisting chiefly of the shins, hearts, and heads -of bullocks. Each lion is said to have consumed twelve pounds of meat -every day; but this is more, I believe, than is allowed in the Gardens -of the Zoological Society. The appetite of the tiger is almost equal to -that of his leonine relative; and all these beasts seem to insist upon -having beef for dinner. We hear nothing of hippophagy among lions and -tigers in a state of confinement; though, in their native jungles, they -eat horse, pig, deer, antelope, sheep, or goat indiscriminately. The -bears get meat only in very cold weather; at other seasons, their diet -consists of bread, sopped biscuits, and boiled rice. - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII. - -Circus Slang—Its Peculiarities and Derivation—Certain Phrases used by - others of the Amusing Classes—Technicalities of the Circus—The - Riders and Clowns of Dickens—Sleary’s Circus—Circus Men and Women in - Fiction and in Real Life—Domestic Habits of Circus People—Dress and - Manners—The Professional Quarter of the Metropolis. - - -Circus men are much addicted to the use of slang, and much of their -slang is peculiar to themselves. To those who are uninitiated in the -mysteries of life among what may be termed the amusing classes, the -greater part of their vocabulary would seem an unknown tongue; but a -distinction must be made between slang words and phrases and the -technical terms used in the profession, and also between the forms of -expression peculiar to circus men and those which they use in common -with members of the theatrical and musical professions. These -distinctions being duly observed, the words and phrases which are -peculiar to the ring will be found to be less numerous than might be -expected from the abundance of slang with which the conversation of -circus _artistes_ seems to be garnished; though it is probable that no -man, not even a circus man, could give a complete vocabulary of circus -slang, which, like that of other slang-speaking classes, is constantly -receiving additions, while words and phrases which have been long in use -often become obsolete, and fall into disuse. - -There is an impression among circus men that much of the slang peculiar -to themselves is derived from the languages of Italy and Spain, and the -affirmative, _si_, has been cited to me as an instance; but I have never -heard this word used by them, and its use has probably been observed -only in the case of men or women who have recently been in Italy. The -few words in common use among the class which can be traced to an -Italian or Spanish origin may be counted on the fingers of one hand. -_Bono_ (good) is used both as an adjective, and as an exclamation of -approval or admiration. _Dona_ (lady) is so constantly used that I have -seldom heard a circus man mention a woman by any other term. The other -words referred to are used in monetary transactions, which are the -constant subject of slang among all classes of the community. _Saulty_ -(penny) may be derived from the Italian _soldi_, and _duey_ (twopence) -and _tray saulty_ (threepence) are also of foreign origin, like the -deuce and tray of card-players. _Dollar_ is in constant use as the -equivalent of five shillings, and money generally is spoken of as -_denarlies_, which may be a corruption of the Latin _denarii_. - -_Rot_ is a term of contempt, used in strong and emphatic -contradistinction to _bono_; and of late years it has been adopted by -other sections of the amusing classes, and by young men of the ‘fast’ -sort, who seem to think the use of slang a commendable distinction. _Toe -rags_ is another expression of contempt, less frequently used, and -chiefly by the lower grades of circus men, and the acrobats who stroll -about the country, performing at fairs and races, in the open air. These -wanderers, and those who are still seen occasionally in the back streets -of the metropolis, are said to ‘go a-pitching;’ the spot they select for -their performance is their ‘pitch,’ and any interruption of their feats, -such as an accident, or the interference of a policeman, is said to -‘queer the pitch,’—in other words, to spoil it. Going round the -assemblage with a hat, to collect the largesses of the on-lookers, is -‘doing a nob,’ and to do this at the windows of a street, sometimes done -by one performer standing on the shoulders of another, is ‘nobbing the -glazes.’ The sum collected is the ‘nob.’ - -The verb ‘to fake,’ means, in the thieves’ vocabulary, to steal; but -circus men use it in a different sense, ‘faked up’ meaning ‘fixed,’ -while ‘fakements’ is applied particularly to circus apparatus and -properties, and generally to moveables of any kind. ‘Letty’ is used both -as a noun and a verb, signifying ‘lodging’ and ‘to lodge.’ To abscond -from a place, to evade payment of debts, or from apprenticeship, is -sometimes called ‘doing a bunk,’ but this phrase is used by other -classes also, circus men more frequently using the phrase, ‘doing a -Johnny Scaparey,’ the last word being accented on the second syllable. -The circus is always called the ‘show;’ I have never heard it termed the -‘booth,’ which is the word which Dickens puts into the mouth of Cissy -Jupe, the little daughter of the clown of Sleary’s circus, in _Hard -Times_. Gymnasts call their performance a ‘slang,’ but I am not aware -that the term is used by other circus _artistes_. The joke or anecdote -of a clown is called ‘a wheeze,’ and he is said when engaged in that -part of his business, to be ‘cracking a wheeze.’ - -Balloons, banners, and garters are merely special applications to circus -uses of ordinary English terms. A balloon is a large hoop, covered with -tissue paper, held up for an equestrian _artiste_ to jump through; a -banner is a bordered cloth held horizontally, to be jumped over,—what -Albert Smith calls a length of stair carpet; and garters are narrow -bands held in the same manner, and for the same purpose. When an -equestrian fails to clear these, he is said to ‘miss his tip,’ which is -the gravest article of Childers’s impeachment of Jupe, in Dickens’s -interesting story of the fortunes and misfortunes of the Gradgrinds and -the Bounderbys. Dickens put two or three other words into the mouth of -the same member of Sleary’s company which I have never heard, and which -do not appear to be now in use. Jupe is said to have become ‘loose in -his ponging,’ though still a good ‘cackler;’ and Bounderby is reminded -sarcastically that he is on the ‘tight jeff.’ Childers explains that -‘ponging’ means tumbling, ‘cackling’ talking, and ‘jeff’ a rope. - -‘Cully’ is the circus man’s equivalent for the mechanic’s ‘mate’ and the -soldier’s ‘comrade.’ ‘Prossing’ is a delicate mode of indicating a -desire for anything, as when old Ben, the drummer, in _Life in a -Circus_, says, in response to the acrobat’s exhortation to his fair -companion, to make the best of things,—‘That’s the philosophy to pitch -with! Not but what a drop of beer helps it, you know; and I declare my -throat’s that dry that it’s as much as I can do to blow the pipes.’ -‘Pro’ is simply an abbreviation of ‘professional,’ and is used by all -the amusing classes to designate actors, singers, dancers, clowns, -acrobats, &c., to whom the term seems to be restricted among them. -Amongst all the amusing classes, the salary received is the ‘screw,’ the -‘ghost walks’ when it is paid, and an _artiste_ is ‘goosed,’ or ‘gets -the goose,’ when the spectators or auditors testify by sibillant sounds -disapproval or dissatisfaction. As in every other avocation, there are a -great many technical terms used, which are not to be confounded with -slang. Such is ‘the Plymouth,’ a term applied to one of the movements by -which gymnasts return to a sitting position on the horizontal bar, after -hanging from it by the hands in an inverted position. ‘Slobber swing’ is -applied to a single circle upon the bar, after which a beginner, from -not having given himself sufficient impetus, hangs by the hands. The -‘Hindoo punishment’ is what is more often called the ‘muscle grind,’ a -rather painful exercise upon the bar, in which the arms are turned -backward to embrace the bar, and then brought forward upon the chest, in -which position the performer revolves. - -Having mentioned that Dickens has put some slang words into the mouths -of his circus characters, which I have not found in use among circus men -of the present day, I cannot refrain from quoting a passage in _Hard -Times_, and giving a circus man’s brief, but emphatic, commentary upon -it. Speaking of Sleary’s company, the great novelist says:—‘All the -fathers could dance upon rolling casks, stand upon bottles, catch knives -and balls, twirl hand basins, ride upon anything, jump over everything, -and stick at nothing. All the mothers could (and did) dance upon the -slack wire and the tight rope, and perform rapid acts on bare-backed -steeds.’ The circus man’s criticism of this statement, and of all the -circus business introduced into the story, was summed up in the one -word—‘Rot!’ Sleary’s people must certainly have been exceptionally -clever, so much versatility being very rarely found. There are few -clowns and acrobats who can ride, even in the ordinary, and not in the -circus acceptation of the word; and of a score of _equestriennes_ who -can ride a pad-horse, and fly through hoops and balloons, and over -banners and garters, there will not be found more than one or two who -can perform rapid acts on the bare back of a horse. - -So far, also, from ‘all the mothers’ doing all the performances -mentioned by Dickens, there are more often none who do them. I call to -mind at this moment a circus in which seven of the male members of the -company were married, not one of whose wives ever appeared in the ring, -or ever had done so. - -The picture of the domestic life of the men and women performing in -Sleary’s circus differs as much from reality as their versatile talents -and accomplishments differ from the powers exhibited by the riders, -clowns, and tumblers of real life. The company seems to be a rather -strong one, and most of the men have wives and children; yet the whole -of them, including the proprietor, are represented as lodging in one -house, an obscure inn in an obscure part of the outskirts of the town. -Such deviations from probability do not lessen the interest of the -story, which I have read again and again with pleasure; but they render -it of little or no value as a picture of circus life and character. -Circus men, if married, and accompanied by their wives, will generally -be found occupying private apartments. Riders and others who are -unmarried sometimes prefer to lodge in public-houses, and often have no -choice in the matter, owing to the early hours at which the inhabitants -of provincial towns retire to rest, and the unwillingness of many -persons to receive ‘professionals’ as lodgers, which applies equally to -actors and vocalists. But the Pegasus’s Arms must have had an unusual -number of apartments for a house of its class to have accommodated all -Sleary’s people, with their families; and the company must have been -gregarious in a very remarkable degree. - -The dress, the manners, and the talk of circus men are peculiar, but in -none of these particulars are they at all ‘horsey,’ as all Sleary’s -company are described, unless they are equestrians, and even these are -less so than grooms and jockeys. They may be recognized by their dress -alone as readily as foreigners who have just arrived in England, and who -do not belong to those social classes that affect the latest Parisian -fashions, and in which national distinctions have disappeared. Watch the -men who enter a circus by the side-doors about eleven o’clock in the -forenoon, or walk on two or three successive mornings, between ten and -twelve, from Westminster Bridge to Waterloo Road, and you may recognize -the acrobats and rope-dancers of the circuses and music-halls by their -dress; you may meet one wearing a sealskin coat, unbuttoned, and -displaying beneath a crimson velvet vest, crossed by a heavy gold chain. -He is a ‘tip-topper,’ of course; one of those who used to get their -fifty or sixty pounds a week at the Alhambra, or who has had nuggets -thrown to him at San Francisco and Melbourne. Perhaps the next you will -meet will be a man of lower grade, wearing a brown coat, with velvet -collar, over a sealskin vest, with a brassy-looking chain festooned -across it. Another wears a drab over-coat, with broad collar and cuffs -of Astrakhan lamb-skin; an Alpine hat, with a tail-feather of a peacock -stuck in the band, is worn jauntily on his head; a pin, headed with a -gilt horse-shoe or horse’s head or hoof, adorns his fancy neck-tie; and -an Alaska diamond glistens on the fourth finger of an ungloved hand. -Further on you meet a man whose form is enveloped in a capacious blue -cloak, and whose head is surmounted by the tallest felt hat, with the -broadest brim, you have ever seen. But you are not done with these -strange people yet. You have nearly reached the end of York Road when -there issues from the office of Roberts or Maynard, the equestrian and -musical agents, a man wearing a low-crowned hat and a grey coat, braided -with black; or, it may be, a black velvet coat, buttoned across his -chest, whatever the weather may be, and ornamented with a gold chain -festooned from the breast-pocket to one of the button-holes. - -This is the professional quarter of the metropolis. At least -three-fourths of what I have termed the amusing classes, -whether connected with circuses, theatres, public gardens, or -music-halls,—actors, singers, dancers, equestrians, clowns, gymnasts, -acrobats, jugglers, posturers,—may be found, in the day-time at least, -within the area bounded by a line drawn from Waterloo Bridge to the -Victoria Theatre, and thence along Gibson Street and Oakley Street, down -Kennington Road as far as the Cross, and thence to Vauxhall Bridge. -Towards the edges of this area they are more sparsely scattered than -nearer the bridges. They are well sprinkled along York Road, and in some -of the streets between the Albert Embankment and Kennington Lane they -constitute a considerable proportion of the population. You may enter -Barnard’s tavern, opposite Astley’s, or the Pheasant, in the rear of the -theatre, and find circus and music-hall _artistes_ making two to one of -the men before the bar. - -They are, as a class, a light-hearted set, not remarkable for -providence, but bearing the vicissitudes of fortune to which they are so -liable with tolerable equanimity, showing a laudable desire to alleviate -each other’s ills to the utmost extent of their power, and regarding -leniently each other’s failings, without exhibiting a greater tendency -to vice than any other class. There is not much education among them, as -I have before indicated, and they are not much addicted to literature of -any kind. This seems to arise, not from any deficiency of natural -aptitude for learning, but from their wandering lives and the early age -at which they begin to practise the feats by which they are to be -enabled to live. The training of a circus rider, a gymnast, or an -acrobat begins as soon as he or she can walk. From that time they -practise every day, and they are often introduced in the ring, or on the -platform of a music-hall, at an age at which other children have not -left the nursery. They wander over the United Kingdom—Europe—the world. -The lads whom you see tumbling in one of the quiet streets between the -Strand and the Victoria Embankment one day, may be seen doing the same -performance a week or two afterwards on the sands at Ramsgate, the downs -at Epsom, or the heath at Newmarket. The equestrian or the gymnast who -amazes you at the Amphitheatre may be seen the following season at the -Hippodrome or the Circo Price. They may be met passing from one -continent to another, from one hemisphere to another, sometimes -gorgeously attired, sometimes out at elbows, but always light-hearted -and gay, excepting perhaps the clowns, who always seem, out of the ring, -the gravest and most taciturn of the race. I do not know how a moral -phenomenon of such strangeness is to be accounted for; perhaps all their -hilarity evaporates in the saw-dust, or on the boards; but I am afraid -that their humour is very often forced, their jests borrowed from the -latest collection of _facetiæ_, their merry interludes with the -ring-master rehearsed before-hand. - -They are, as a rule, long-lived, and seem never to become superannuated. -Stickney died at forty, I believe; but Astley was seventy-two when he -departed this life, Pablo Fanque seventy-five, Madame Saqui eighty, and -Saunders ninety-two. Constant practice enables even gymnasts and -acrobats to continue their performances when they are far down the -decline of life; and I have seen middle-aged, and even grey-headed men, -who had been ‘pitching’ or ‘tenting’ all their lives, and could still -throw a forward somersault, or form the base of an acrobatic pyramid. -Both men and women generally marry young, but the latter go on riding or -rope-dancing until they are superseded by younger ones; and their -husbands ride, vault, tumble, or juggle, until their— - - ———‘little life - Is rounded with a sleep.’ - -The human mind craves amusement in every phase of society, and in none -more than in that which is exemplified in the large towns of Europe and -the United States, where, and especially among the commercial and -industrial classes, the brain is in activity, the nerves in a state of -tension, from morn till eve. Released from business or labour for the -day, the nervous system requires relaxation; and if its demands are not -attended to, the strain of the day cannot long be sustained. The -entertaining classes are, therefore, a necessary element of present -society; and, in now taking leave of them, I cannot too strongly urge -upon all who may read these pages the appeal which the inimitable -Dickens has put into the mouth of Sleary: ‘People mutht be amuthed. They -can’t be alwayth a-learning, nor they can’t be alwayth a-working; they -an’t made for it. You _mutht_ have uth. Do the withe thing and the kind -thing too, and make the betht of uth; not the wutht.’ Let us indeed make -the best of our entertainers; for we owe them much. - - THE END. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - INDEX. - - ------- - - - PAGE - - Abbott, the clown 247 - - Adams, the equestrian 62, 86 - - ” ” clown 263 - - Adrian, Miss, the equestrian 203 - - Agouste, the juggler 110 - - Airec, the gymnast 162 - - Alexander, Brothers, the acrobats 192 - - Amburgh, Van, the lion-tamer 89, 97, 117 - - ” ” ” circus proprietor 238 - - American circuses 223 - - Ames, the circus proprietor 252 - - Anderson’s circus 247 - - Angela, the female Samson 231 - - Arab vaulters, first in England 85 - - Arthur and Bertrand, the clowns 167 - - Astley, Philip, the equestrian 17, 28, 46, 48, 51, 53 - - ” Mrs, the equestrian 19 - - ” John, the equestrian 29, 33, 46, 53, 56 - - Atalie, the man with the iron jaw 231 - - Athos, Brothers, the gymnasts 280 - - Atkins’s lion and tigress at Astley’s 79 - - Avolo, the gymnast 193 - - Azella, the female gymnast 179 - - Bailey’s circus and menagerie 245 - - Balize, the lion-performer 246 - - Banks, the horse-charmer 4 - - Bannister, Miss, the equestrian 56 - - ” the circus proprietor 66 - - Baptiste, the rope-dancer 27 - - Barnum, the great showman 221, 225, 226 - - Barr, the falconer 143 - - Barry, the clown 96, 109, 118, 142 - - Barry, the lyrical jester 212 - - Barrymore, the manager 55 - - Batty, William, the circus proprietor, 97, 100, 138 - - Bell, the acrobat 34 - - ” the equestrian 211 - - ” and Myers’ circus 92 - - Bellinck, the rope-dancer 57 - - Berrington. _See_ Parelli. - - Bibb, the clown 192, 203, 210 - - Blight, Helen, the lion-queen 132 - - Bliss, the equestrian 241 - - Blondin’s circus 55 - - Blondin, the rope-walker 157 - - Boleno, the clown 61 - - Bologna Family, posturers and rope-dancers 39, 44 - - Bond, the equilibrist 165 - - Bonnaire, the gymnast 153 - - Bradbury the elder, the equestrian 55 - - ” Alfred, the equestrian 174 - - Bridges, the rope-dancer 61 - - ” Amelia, the equestrian 142 - - ” Anthony, the equestrian 142, 203 - - ” John, the equestrian 111, 125, 140, 203 - - Broadfoot, the equestrian manager 119 - - Brown. _See_ Tournaire. - - Bull-fights in circuses 79, 107 - - Bunn, the manager 58 - - Burgess, the vaulter and globe-performer 181, 254, 262, 275 - - Burnell, the circus proprietor 245 - - Burt, the clown 22 - - Campbell’s circus and menagerie 246 - - Carl, the wire-walker 166 - - Caroline, Madame, the equestrian 158 - - Carr, the globe-performer 45 - - Carré, the circus proprietor 181 - - Carter, the lion-performer 90, 110 - - Castelli, the gymnast 162 - - Catawba Indians, feats of the 45 - - Chapman, Miss, the lion-queen 132 - - Chiarini, Beatrice, the equestrian 175 - - Christoff, the rope-dancer 258 - - Clark, the posturer 10 - - Clarke, the circus proprietor 55, 69, 139 - - ” Miss, the rope-dancer 56, 97 - - Clementina. _See_ Sobieska. - - Cline, the rope-dancer and ascensionist 59, 83 - - Coleman, the equestrian 262, 275 - - Collet, the acrobat 34 - - Columbia, the circus proprietor 111 - - Conquest, the manager 187 - - Conrad, Brothers, the gymnasts 245, 252 - - Constantine, the acrobat and posturer 65 - - Cooke, Alfred, the equestrian 111 - - ” Emily, ” ” 143 - - ” George, the rope-dancer 59 - - ” Henry Welby, the equestrian 143 - - ” Hubert, ” ” 192 - - ” James, the circus proprietor 135 - - ” ” ” equestrian 139 - - ” John Henry, the equestrian 143, 192, 212 - - ” Thomas, the circus proprietor 96, 98, 111, 139 - - ” William ” ” ” 139, 143, 161, 215 - - Cook, Wooda, the equestrian 212 - - Copeland, the circus proprietor 96, 98, 139 - - Corelli, the child gymnast 186 - - Costello, the gymnast 166 - - Costmethopila, the equestrian 19 - - Cottrell, Miss, the equestrian 192 - - Coup, the circus manager 226 - - Crockett, the lion-performer 128 - - Cross’s menagerie 60, 73 - - Crossman, the acrobat 31, 34, 40, 43 - - Croueste, the clown 145 - - Crowther, the actor 120, 122 - - Dale, the equestrian 119, 139 - - Darby. _See_ Fanque. - - Davis, the equestrian manager 46, 53, 56, 58, 61 - - Dawson, the acrobat 22 - - Dean, the equestrian 246 - - Debach, the globe-performer 140 - - Delavanti family, the acrobats 160 - - ” George, the equestrian 175 - - Delpini, the manager and singer 27 - - Derious, the gymnast 245 - - Dewhurst, the clown 97, 100, 104 - - Dubois, the clown 46 - - Ducrow, father of the equestrian 43 - - ” Andrew, the equestrian 53, 58, 61, 79, 83, 95 - - ” ” (the younger) equestrian 193 - - ” Charles, the equestrian 193, 263 - - ” John, the clown 86 - - ” William, the equestrian 241 - - Dugée, the rope-dancer 15 - - Eaton and Stone’s circus 126 - - Ella, the equestrian 126 - - Elliot, Brothers, the acrobats 143, 188 - - Ellis, Brothers, the gymnasts 162 - - Elliston, the manager 48, 58, 80 - - Ellistria. _See_ Ellis. - - Elsler, Mdlle, the ascensionist 143, 240 - - Espagnole, La Belle, the rope-dancer 36, 44, 46 - - Fanque, Pablo, the circus proprietor 97, 99, 117, 135, 160, 192 - - Farci. _See_ Ferzi. - - Farini, the gymnast 186 - - Fawkes, the posturer and juggler 12 - - Ferzi, the rope-dancer 16 - - Fish, the equestrian 210 - - Fitzball, the hippo-dramatist 51, 140 - - Forcer, the manager 8 - - Forepaugh’s circus and menagerie 241 - - Fossett’s circus 161 - - Francisco, Brothers, the gymnasts 144, 162 - - Franconi, the circus proprietor 111, 117, 121 - - Franconi’s circus 46, 55, 136, 142, 190 - - Franks, the clown 188, 197, 263, 275 - - Fredericks, the equestrian 193 - - French’s circus 245 - - Frowde, the clown 197, 203 - - Gallot, the equestrian 52 - - Gardner and Forepaugh’s circus and 241 - menagerie - - Garlick, the lion-performer 103 - - Garmon, the acrobat 21, 27 - - Geraldine, Mdlle, the gymnast 240 - - Germani, the equestrian juggler 110 - - Ginnett’s circus 146, 150 - - Glee-men, Anglo-Saxon 2 - - Grady’s circus 248 - - Graham, the conjurer 147 - - Grainger, the acrobat 27 - - Griffin, the equestrian acrobat 20, 22 - - Griffiths and wife, equestrians 19 - - Grimaldi, the manager 26 - - ” ” clown 36 - - Guillaume, the circus proprietor 182 - - ” Maddalena, the equestrian 183 - - Hall, the rope-dancer 8 - - Handy, partner of Philip Astley 45 - - Hanlon, Brothers, the gymnasts 175, 186 - - Harwood, the equestrian actor 120 - - Hassan, the vaulter 146 - - Haven’s, De, circus 247 - - Haynes. _See_ Senyah. - - Hemming, the equestrian 139 - - Hemmings, Cooper, and Whitby’s circus 248 - - Heng, the acrobat 65 - - Hengler, the rope-dancer 48, 110, 125, 195 - - ” Charles, the circus proprietor 198 - - ” Edward Henry, the rope-dancer 198 - - ” John Milton, the rope-dancer 188, 195 - - ” Miss, the equestrian 187, 192, 207, 210 - - Hengler’s circus 123, 160, 187, 192, 201 - - Henry, the circus manager 266, 276 - - Hernandez, the equestrian 121, 125 - - Hilton, the circus proprietor 131 - - ” Miss, the lion-queen 131 - - Hinné, the circus proprietor 111 - - ” Pauline, the equestrian 111 - - Hogini family, clowns and acrobats 192, 203, 263 - - Holloway’s circus 64 - - Hough, the acrobat 15 - - Howes and Cushing’s circus 128, 130, 191, 204 - - Hughes, the equestrian 23, 35 - - ” ” circus proprietor 97, 216 - - Huntley, the acrobat 21, 27 - - ” Miss, the equestrian 25 - - Ingham, the acrobat 40 - - Italian Brothers, gymnasts 142, 144 - - Jalma, Sadi, the contortionist 270 - - Janno, the acrobat 15 - - Jenkins, the acrobat 31, 34 - - Jenkinson, the acrobat 34 - - Johnson, the equestrian 17 - - Johnson’s circus 246 - - Jones, the equestrian 22 - - Josephine, Mdlle, the equestrian 246 - - Julien, the gymnast 153, 162 - - Keith, the clown 145, 181, 190 - - Kelly, the vaulter 225, 242 - - Kemp, the pole performer 109 - - Keys, Miss, the equestrian 264, 275 - - King, the bottle equilibrist 165 - - Lake’s circus 247 - - Lawrence, the vaulter 38 - - Lee, James, the showman 131 - - ” Lavater, the vaulter 98, 102, 104 - - ” Thomas, the equestrian 101, 120 - - Lefort, the pole-sprite 117 - - Lent, the equestrian manager 252 - - Leonard, the equestrian 101 - - Leotard, the gymnast 153, 156, 162 - - Lloyd, the equestrian 188, 211 - - Longuemare, the ascensionist 57 - - Lonsdale, the acrobat 34 - - Lorenzo, the lion-performer 291 - - Ludovic, the equestrian 101 - - Lulu, the female gymnast 153, 175, 185 - - Macarte, Mme, the equestrian 228 - - Macarthy, the lion-performer 293 - - Macomo, the lion-performer 129, 132 - - Magilton, the gymnast 161 - - Majilton, the hat-spinner 167, 229 - - Manchester Jack, the lion-performer 89 - - Manders, the menagerist 132 - - Mariana, Signora, the rope-dancer 27 - - Markutchy, the equestrian 18 - - Masotta, the equestrian 109 - - ” Mdlle, the equestrian 142 - - Maynard, the equestrian agent 257 - - Mears, the gymnast 193, 269 - - Menken, Miss, the equestrian actress 175 - - Miller, the equestrian 22 - - Milton, the circus proprietor 62 - - Monfroid, Mdlles, the equestrians 90 - - Montague, the equestrian manager 146, 191 - - Morris, the acrobat 65 - - Mulligan, the vaulter 97 - - Nathans, the circus proprietor 245 - - Nemo, Brothers, the jugglers 170 - - Nevit, the acrobat 22 - - Newsome, the circus proprietor 98, 107, 109, 126, 138, 159, - 270, 275 - - ” ” lion-performer 132 - - ” Miss Adele, the equestrian 187, 190, 263, 275 - - ” ” Emma, ” ” 264 - - ” ” Marie, ” ” 264, 275 - - Niblo, the gymnast 153 - - Nomora’s feats of activity 16 - - North, the vaulter 94 - - ” the showman 246 - - Noyes’s circus 248 - - O’Donnel, the antipodean equilibrist 61 - - O’Donnell, Miss, the equestrian 102 - - Older’s circus and menagerie 247 - - Olmar, the gymnast 186 - - Oscar, the equestrian 192 - - Parelli, the gymnast 166 - - Pastor, the equestrian 245 - - Pauliere, Mdlle, the equestrian 231 - - Payne family, the pantomimists 275 - - Pentland, the clown 252 - - Pereira, Mdlle, the female gymnast 180 - - Phillipi, the conjurer. _See_ Graham. - - Phillips, the acrobat 20 - - Plege, the rope-dancer 98, 109, 117 - - Polaski, the equestrian 97 - - Porter, the acrobat 24, 40 - - Powell, John, the equestrian 97, 117, 125 - - ” William, ” 192, 195 - - Price, the equestrian 16 - - ” ” vaulter 86, 94 - - ” Brothers, the gymnasts 163, 255 - - Price’s circus 184 - - Price and Powell’s circus 195 - - Rayner, the acrobat 15, 21, 27, 35 - - ” the Misses, the tight-rope dancers 15 - - Redmond, the rope-performer 169, 171 - - Richer, the acrobat and rope-dancer 21, 27, 44, 46 - - Ridgway, Brothers, the gymnasts 154 - - Ridley, Brothers, the acrobats 162, 263, 272 - - Rivolti, the ring-master 211 - - Rizareli, Brothers, the gymnasts 175, 187, 246 - - Roberts, the artist and scene-painter 66 - - ” the equestrian agent 256 - - Robinson, the equestrian 174 - - ” ” ” manager 239 - - Robinson’s, John, circus and menagerie 248 - - ” Alexander, circus 247 - - Romaine, Madame, the rope-dancer 35 - - Rossi’s, Signora, feats of activity 16 - - Ryan, the circus proprietor 96, 118 - - Sadi Jalma, the contortionist 270 - - Sadler, founder of the Wells 8 - - Samee, Ramo, the juggler 57, 170 - - Sampson, the equestrian 16 - - Samwell’s circus 64, 96 - - Sandy, Little, the clown 192, 210, 213 - - Sanger’s circus 123, 128, 179, 188, 191, - 193, 218 - - Sanger, John and George, the circus 214 - proprietors - - ” Miss, the equestrian 189 - - Saqui, Madame, the rope-dancer 53, 56 - - Sault, the gymnast 271 - - Saunders, the circus proprietor 49 - - Saxoni, the rope-dancer 43 - - Senyah and wife, the gymnasts 180, 240 - - Sextillian, the acrobat and equilibrist 168 - - Simpson, the equestrian vaulter 12 - - Smith, the equestrian 40 - - Sobieska, the equestrian 24 - - Soullier, the circus proprietor 140 - - ” Mdlle, the equestrian 142 - - Stanfield, the artist and scene-painter 85 - - Stickney, the equestrian 61, 63, 94, 107, 247 - - ” Robert, the equestrian 252 - - ” Samuel, the circus director 246 - - Stokes, the vaulter 11 - - ” equestrian manager 160 - - Stone and Murray’s circus 240 - - Stowe’s circus 248 - - Strand, the lion-performer 132 - - Talliott’s circus 161 - - Taylor, the equestrian 18, 30 - - Thayer’s circus 247 - - Thompson, the equestrian manager 118 - - Tournaire, the circus proprietor 111 - - ” Marie, the equestrian 246 - - Townsend, the equestrian M. P. 151 - - Tully, the acrobat 27 - - Twigg, the equestrian manager 218 - - Tyers, proprietor of Vauxhall Gardens 13 - - Vangable, Miss, the equestrian 18, 31 - - Vernon, the ring-master 262, 274 - - Verrecke, the gymnast 153 - - Vilderini, the posturer 136 - - Vincent, Miss, the actress 122 - - Vintners, the ascensionists 85 - - Violante, the rope-walker 13 - - Virginie, Mdlle, the equestrian 241 - - Vivian, the ring-master 274 - - Vokes family, the pantomimists 260 - - Walker, the vaulter and rope-dancer 101, 104 - - Wallett, the clown and posturer 64, 96, 98, 118, 135, 145, - 158 - - Ward’s circus 247 - - Warner, the circus proprietor 242 - - ” Annie, the equestrian 246 - - Watson, Lucille, the equestrian 231, 253 - - Watson’s circus 247 - - Wells and Miller’s circus 96 - - Welsh. _See_ Price, Brothers. - - West, the equestrian manager 61 - - Wheal, the clown 142 - - Wheeler and Cushing’s circus 246 - - White, the lion-performer 110 - - Whittayne, the clown 182 - - Whitton, the acrobat 65 - - Widdicomb, the ring-master 87 - - Williams, the acrobat 15 - - ” ” jester 210 - - ” ” vaulter 63 - - Willio, the contortionist 154 - - Wilson’s circus 246 - - Wombwell, the menagerist 74 - - Wooler’s letter to Elliston 81 - - Woolford, Miss, the rope-dancer 59, 87 - - Young, Miss, the rope-walker 157 - - Zamezou, the acrobat 257, 263 - - Zebras at Astley’s 79 - - - - - ------------------ - - JOHN CHILDS AND SON, PRINTERS. - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - Transcriber’s Note - -On p. 40, the transcription of an advertisement refers to ‘fricapee’ -dancing, which is likely a misprint for ‘fricassee’, which appears later -in the same advertisement and is, it seems, an old French folk dance. -The apparent error has been allowed to stand. - -Errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected, and -are noted here. The references are to the page and line in the original. -The following issues should be noted, along with the resolutions. - - 71.20 shall the fool reply, “Then I do,[’/”] Replaced. - 307.28 The sum collected is the ‘nob.[’] Added. - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Circus Life and Circus Celebrities, by Thomas Frost - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CIRCUS LIFE AND CIRCUS CELEBRITIES *** - -***** This file should be named 54775-0.txt or 54775-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/4/7/7/54775/ - -Produced by KD Weeks, deaurider and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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