The Old Showmen and the Old London Fairs Part 14

Holden's gla.s.s-working and blowing was the last show on the east side of Smithfield, and was limited to a single caravan. The first on the south side, with its side towards Cloth Fair, and the back towards the corner of Duke Street, presented pictures of a giant, a giantess, and an Indian chief, with the inscription, "_They're all alive! Be a.s.sured they're all alive! The Yorks.h.i.+re Giantess--Waterloo Giant--Indian Chief. Only a penny!_" An overgrown girl was the Yorks.h.i.+re giantess. A tall man with his hair frizzed and powdered, aided by a military coat and a plaid roquelaire, made the Waterloo giant.

Next to this stood another show of the same kind and quality, the attractions of which were a giantess and two dwarfs. The giantess was a Somerset girl, who arose from the chair whereon she was seated to the height of six feet nine inches and three-quarters, with "Ladies and gentlemen, your most obedient." She was good-looking and affable, and obliged the company by taking off her tight-fitting slipper, and handing it round for their examination. It was of such dimensions that the largest man present could have put his booted foot into it. She said that her name was Elizabeth Stock, and that she was only sixteen years of age. This completed the number of shows pitched in Smithfield in 1825.

There was a visible falling off in the following year, when the number of shows diminished to eight. The west side of Giltspur Street, along its whole length, was occupied by book-stalls; and grave-looking men in black suits, with white cravats, looking like waiters out of employment, walked solemnly through the fair, giving to all who would take them tracts headed with the startling question--"_Are you prepared to die?_" Richardson's theatre was there, and Clarke's circus; but Samwell, and Ball, and Chappell and Pike did not attend, and Wombwell's was the only menagerie.

"Brown's grand company, from Paris," presented a juggling and tight-rope performance, with the learned horse, and a clown who extracted musical sounds from a salt-box, with the aid of a rolling-pin; Holden, the gla.s.s-blower, in a gla.s.s wig, made tea-cups for threepence each, and tobacco-pipes for a penny; the learned pig displayed his acquirements in orthography and arithmetic; there was a twopenny exhibition of rattlesnakes and young crocodiles, hatched by steam from imported eggs; and a show in which a dwarf and a "silver-haired lady" were exhibited for a penny.

Among the unique of the living curiosities exhibited by the showmen of this period was the famous spotted boy, described in the bills issued by his original exhibitor as "one of those wonderful productions of Nature, which excite the curiosity, and gratify the beholder with the surprising works of the Creator; he is the progeny of Negroes, being beautifully covered over by a diversity of spots of transparent brown and white; his hair is interwoven, black and white alternately, in a most astonis.h.i.+ng manner; his countenance is interesting, with limbs finely proportioned; his ideas are quick and penetrating, yet his infantine simplicity is truly captivating. He must be seen to convince; it is not in the power of language to convey an adequate idea of this Fanciful Child of Nature, formed in her most playful mood, and allowed by every lady and gentleman that has seen it, the greatest curiosity ever beheld. May be seen from Ten in the Morning till Ten in the Evening. Admittance for Ladies and Gentlemen 1_s._ Servants and Children half price. Ladies and Gentlemen wis.h.i.+ng to see this Wonderful Child at their own houses, may be accommodated by giving a few hours' notice. Copper plate Likenesses of the Boy may be had at the Place of Exhibition."

Richardson introduced this boy several seasons, between the drama and the pantomime; and became so much attached to him that he directed, by his will, that he should be buried in the grave in which, a few years before, he had deposited the remains of the lively, docile, and affectionate African lad, in the church-yard of Great Marlow.

I have found no account of the number of shows which attended Bartholomew Fair in 1827, but in the following year they must have been nearly as numerous as in 1825, an enumeration of the princ.i.p.al ones reaching to sixteen. All the menageries attended, and, besides Richardson's and Ball's theatres, Keyes and Laine's, Frazer's, Pike's, and a couple of clever Chinese jugglers. The receipts of these and the other princ.i.p.al shows were returned, in round numbers, as follows:--Wombwell's menagerie, 1,700; Richardson's theatre, 1,200; Atkins's menagerie, 1,000; Morgan's menagerie, 150; exhibition of "the pig-faced lady," 150; ditto, fat boy and girl, 140; ditto, head of William Corder, who was hanged at Chelmsford for the murder of Maria Martin, a crime which had created a great sensation, owing to its discovery through a dream of the victim's mother, 100; Ballard's menagerie, 90; Ball's theatre, 80; diorama of the battle of Navarino, 60; the Chinese jugglers, 50; Pike's theatre, 40; a fire-eater, 30; Frazer's theatre, 26; Keyes and Laine's theatre, 20; exhibition of a Scotch giant, 20. Some curious lights are thrown by these figures on the comparative attractiveness of different entertainments and exhibitions.

Considerable excitement was created among the visitors to the fair in the following year by the announcement that Wombwell had on exhibition "that most wonderful animal, the bona.s.sus, being the first of the kind which had ever been brought to Europe." As no one had ever seen or heard of the animal before, or had the faintest conception of what it was, the curious flocked in crowds to see the beast, which proved to be a very fine bull bison, or American buffalo. Under the name given to it by Wombwell, it was introduced into the epilogue of the Westminster play as one of the wonders of the year. It was afterwards sold by Wombwell to the Zoological Society, and placed in their collection in the Regent's Park; but it had been enfeebled by confinement and disease, and it died soon afterwards.

The Hudson's Bay Company subsequently supplied its place by presenting the Society with a young cow.

Atkins offered the counter attractions of an elephant ten feet high, and another litter of lion-tigers, the latter addition to his collection being announced as follows:--

"Wonderful Phenomenon in Nature--The singular and hitherto deemed impossible occurrence of a Lion and Tigress cohabiting and producing young has again taken place in the Menagerie, on the 28th of October, 1828, at Windsor, when the Royal Tigress brought forth three fine cubs!!! And they are now to be seen in the same den with their sire and dam. The first litter of these extraordinary animals were presented to Our Most Gracious Sovereign, when he was pleased to express considerable gratification, and to denominate them Lion-Tigers, than which a more appropriate name could not have been given. The great interest the Lion and Tigress have excited is unprecedented; they are a source of irresistible attraction, especially as it is the only instance of the kind ever known of animals so directly opposite in their dispositions forming an attachment of such a singular nature; their beautiful and interesting progeny are most admirable productions of Nature. The Group is truly pleasing and astonis.h.i.+ng, and must be witnessed to form an adequate idea of them. The remarkable instance of subdued temper and a.s.sociation of animals to permit the Keeper to enter their Den, and to introduce their performance to the Spectators, is the greatest Phenomenon in Natural History."

Most of the shows enumerated in the list of 1828 attended Bartholomew Fair in 1830, and there were a few additional ones, making the total number about the same. They comprised the menageries of Wombwell, Atkins, and Ballard, the first containing "the great Siam elephant, and the two smallest elephants ever seen in Europe," and the last offering an unique attraction in a seal, floundering in a large tub of water; Richardson's theatre, Ball's tumbling and rope-dancing, Keyes and Laine's conjuring, Frazer's conjuring, a learned pony, the pig-faced lady, a shaved bear (to expose the imposture preceding), the "living skeleton," the fire-eater, the Scotch giant, the diorama of Navarino, the fat boy and girl, and a couple of peep-shows, one exhibiting, as its chief attraction, the lying in state of George IV., the other the murder of Maria Martin.

One of the novel characters whom Richardson picked up in his wanderings was the once famous Gouffe, "the man-monkey," as he was called. His real name was Vale, and when the old showman became acquainted with him he was following the humble occupation of a pot-boy in a low public-house.

Richardson, happening to enter the tap-room in which Master Vale waited, found the young gentleman amusing the guests by walking about on pewter pint measures, with his hobnailed boots turned towards the smoke-begrimed ceiling. The performance was a novel one, and Richardson, calling the lad aside on its conclusion, made him an offer too gratifying to be refused.

After travelling with Richardson for some time, Vale appeared at several of the minor theatres of the metropolis, always in the part of an ape, and under the a.s.sumed name of Gouffe. His pantomimic powers were considerable, and his agility was scarcely inferior to that of the four-handed brutes whom he represented.

The receipts of the shows were not always so large as in 1828. In 1831, which seems to have been a bad year for them, Richardson lost fifty pounds by Bartholomew Fair, though he had half the receipts of Ewing's wax-work exhibition in addition to those of the theatre, under an agreement with the proprietor, by which he paid for the ground and the erection of the show. Wombwell only cleared his expenses, though he had at that time acquired Morgan's menagerie, which stood at the corner of the Greyhound Yard, and by that means secured the pennies as well as the sixpences.

In 1832, the charge for admission to Clarke's circus was reduced from sixpence to threepence. There was a novelty in Bartholomew Fair that year in the show of an Italian conjuror, named Capelli, namely, a company of cats, that beat a drum, turned a spit, ground knives, played the organ, hammered upon an anvil, ground coffee, and rang a bell. One of them understood French as well as Italian, obeying orders in both languages.

Capelli's bills announce also a wonderful dog, to "play any gentleman at dominoes that will play with him."

In 1833, the number of shows at this fair rose to thirty-two, Richardson's theatre, Clarke's circus, five for tumbling, rope-dancing, etc., three menageries, four wax-work exhibitions, three phantasmagorias, Holden's gla.s.s-blowing, two learned pigs, six exhibitions of giants, dwarfs, etc., and six peep-shows, in which the coronation of William IV., the battle of Navarino, the murder of Maria Martin, and other events of contemporary interest were shown. Only two shows charged so much as sixpence for admission, namely, Richardson's and Wombwell's. The threepenny shows were Ewing's and Clarke's, the latter giving "an excellent display for the money," according to a contemporary account, which continues as follows:--

"The performance began by tight-rope dancing by Miss Clarke, with and without the balance pole, through hoops, with 'flip-flaps,' standing on chairs, &c. Slack-rope vaulting by a little boy named Benjamin Saffery, eight years of age; he exhibited several curious feats. There was also some very extraordinary posturing by two young men, one dressed as a Chinese, the other in the old costume of Pierrot; among many other exploits, they walked round the ring with each a leg put up to their neck, and another on each other's shoulders. They also performed an extraordinary feat of lying on their backs, and throwing their legs up under their arms, and going round the ring by springing forward upon the ground, without the aid of their hands; one of them, while on the ground, supported two men on his thighs. A black man also exhibited some feats of strength; among others, he threw himself backward and, resting on his hands, formed an arch, and then bore two heavy men on his stomach with ease. The horsemans.h.i.+p commenced with the old performance of the rider going round the ring tied up in a sack. During the going round a transformation took place, and he who went into the sack a man came out to all appearance a woman on throwing the sack off. The whole concluded with a countryman who, suddenly starting from the ring, desires to be permitted to ride, which is at first refused, but at length allowed; he mounts, and after a short time, beginning to grow warm, pulls off his coat, then his waistcoat, then another and another to the number of thirteen, at last with much apparent modesty and reluctance his s.h.i.+rt; having done this, he appears a splendid rider, and after a few evolutions, terminates the performance. This rider's name was Price. The show was well attended."

The other shows of this cla.s.s were Ball's, which, besides tumbling and rope-dancing, gave a pantomime, but without scenery; Keyes and Laine's, which now presented posturing, balancing, and rope-dancing; Samwell's, in which, besides tumbling and dancing, a real Indian executed the war-dance of his tribe; the Chinese jugglers; and a posturing and tumbling show, the proprietor of which was too modest to announce his name. The Chinese jugglers had performed during the summer at Saville House, the building on the north side of Leicester Square, which, after being the locality of several exhibitions, was converted into a music-hall, called the Imperial, and afterwards Eldorado. One of these pig-tailed entertainers pretended to swallow fifty needles, which were afterwards produced from his mouth, each with a thread in its eye. Another balanced a bowl on a stick nine feet long; while a third played the Chinese violin with a single string.

Wombwell's menagerie extended from the hospital gate nearly to Duke Street, and was the largest show in the fair. Drury and Drake's was a small but interesting collection, consisting of a very tame leopard, a couple of hyenas, a good show of monkeys, and several very fine boa constrictors. The third menagerie was Wombwell's smaller concern, formerly Morgan's.

The best of the wax-work exhibitions was Ewing's, which was well arranged in ten caravans. The others were Ferguson's, with the additional attraction of "the beautiful albiness," a really beautiful woman, named Shaw, who was then in her twenty-second year; Hoyo's; and a small and poor collection at a house in Giltspur Street, where the wax figures were supplemented by the exhibition of twin infants united at the breast, "extremely well preserved."

Phantasmagorial exhibitions were at this time a novelty to the ma.s.ses. The best of those shown this year in Smithfield was the _Optikali Illusio_ of a Frenchman, named De Berar, who startled the spectators with the appearance of a human skeleton, the vision of Death on a pale horse, etc.

There was another in Long Lane; and a third at a house in Giltspur Street, where the public were invited to witness "the raising of the devil!" A fire-eater named Haines stood at the door of the last show, emitting a shower of sparks from a lump of burning tow in his mouth. Sir David Brewster, who witnessed a phantasmagorial exhibition at Edinburgh, describes it as follows:--

"The small theatre of exhibition was lighted only by one hanging lamp, the flame of which was drawn up into an opaque chimney or shade when the performance began. In this 'darkness visible' the curtain rose, and displayed a cave, with skeletons and other terrific figures in relief upon its walls. The flickering light was then drawn up beneath its shroud, and the spectators, in total darkness, found themselves in the midst of thunder and lightning. A thin transparent screen had, unknown to the spectators, been let down after the disappearance of the light, and upon it the flashes of lightning, and all the subsequent appearances, were represented. This screen, being halfway between the spectators and the cave which was first shown, and being itself invisible, prevented the observers from having any idea of the real distance of the figures, and gave them the entire character of aerial pictures.

"The thunder and lightning were followed by the figures of ghosts, skeletons, and known individuals, whose eyes and mouths were made to move by the action of combined sliders. After the first figure had been exhibited for a short time, it began to grow less and less, as if removed to a great distance, and at last vanished in a small cloud of light. Out of this same cloud the germ of another figure began to appear, and gradually grew larger and larger, and approached the spectators, till it attained its perfect development. In this manner the head of Dr. Franklin was transformed into a skull; figures which retired with the freshness of life came back in the form of skeletons, and the retiring skeletons returned in the drapery of flesh and blood. The exhibition of these trans.m.u.tations was followed by spectres, skeletons, and terrific figures, which, instead of receding and vanis.h.i.+ng as before, suddenly advanced upon the spectators, becoming larger as they approached them, and finally vanished by appearing to sink into the ground. The effect of this part of the exhibition was naturally the most impressive. The spectators were not only surprised, but agitated, and many of them were of opinion that they could have touched the figures."

Dupain's French theatre combined the exhibition of a dwarf, Jonathan Dawson, three feet high, and fifty years of age, with posturing by a performer named Finch, and two mechanical views, one representing Algiers, with the sea in motion, and vessels entering and leaving the harbour; the other a storm at sea, with a vessel in distress, burning blue lights, firing guns, and finally becoming a wreck.

Broomsgrove's show, which made its first appearance, contained three human curiosities, namely, Clancy, an Irishman, whose height was seven feet two inches; Farnham, who was only three feet two inches in height, but so strong that he carried two big men on his shoulders with ease; and Thomas Pierce, "the gigantic Shrops.h.i.+re youth," aged seventeen years, five feet ten inches in height, and thirty-five stones in weight.

Simmett's show contained four "living wonders" of this kind, namely, Priscilla and Amelia Weston, twin Canadian giantesses, twenty years of age; Lydia Walpole, the dwarf exhibited in Maughan's show in 1825; and an albino woman, aged nineteen. Harris added to a peep-show a twelve years old dwarf, named Eliza Webber; a sheep with singularly formed hind hoofs; and a very fine boa constrictor. Another show combined the performances of a monkey, which, in the garb of an old woman, smoked a pipe, wheeled a barrow, etc., with the exhibition of several mechanical figures, representing artisans working at their various trades, and a juvenile albino, named Mary Anne Chapman. Another exhibited, as an "extraordinary hermit," a man named Daniel Mackenzie, whose only distinction rested upon his statement that he had voluntarily secluded himself from the world for five years, which he had pa.s.sed in a coal-mine near Dalkeith.

Toby, the learned pig, if he was the original porcine wonder of that name, must have been, at least, seventeen years of age, but showed no symptoms of declining vigour or diminished intelligence. He was now exhibited by James Burchall, in conjunction with the proprietor's monstrously fat child, and was announced as,--

"The Unrivalled Chinese Swinish Philosopher, Toby the Real Learned Pig. He will spell, read, and cast accounts, tell the points of the sun's rising and setting, discover the four grand divisions of the Earth, kneel at command, perform blindfold with 20 handkerchiefs over his eyes, tell the hour to a minute by the watch, tell a card, and the age of any party. He is in colour the most beautiful of his race, in symmetry the most perfect, in temper the most docile. And when asked a question, he will give an Immediate Answer."

Toby had a rival this year in the "amazing pig of knowledge," exhibited by James Fawkes, at the George Inn. This pig could tell the number of pence in a s.h.i.+lling, and of s.h.i.+llings in a pound, count the spectators, tell their thoughts (so at least it was pretended), distinguish colours, and do many other wonderful things. The following doggrel verses, extracted from Fawkes's bill, are offered as a curiosity; they seem _apropos_ of nothing, and show that the exhibitor was ignorant or oblivious of the fact that George IV. had been dead three years:--

"A learned Pig in George's reign To aesop's Brutes an equal Boast; Then let Mankind again combine To render Friends.h.i.+p still a Toast.

"Let Albion's Fair superior soar, To Gallic Fraud, or Gallic Art; Britons will e'er bow down before The Virtues seated in the Heart."

In 1836, a new show appeared in the field, namely, Brown's Theatre of Arts, in which were shown mechanical representations of the battle of Trafalgar, the pa.s.sage of the Alps by the French army, and the Marble Palace at St. Petersburg, the s.h.i.+ps in the first and the figures in the others being in actual motion.

Scowton, who had been absent from Bartholomew Fair for several years, made a final appearance there in 1837, when his bills contained the following announcement:--

"Mr. SCOWTON, deeply impressed with heartfelt grat.i.tude for the liberal Patronage and Support which he has for a series of Years experienced from his Friends and a Generous Public, and which will enable him to spend his future Days in comfortable Retirement: begs leave to announce that the whole of his Extensive Concern, is to be disposed of by Private Contract; and, therefore, at the same time, as he takes leave, requests them to believe that the Memory of their favours and indulgence will never be eradicated from his Memory."

Richardson's theatre stood beside Scowton's, and it is remarked by a newspaper of the time that "the former displayed the trappings of modern grandeur, and the latter evinced his taste for the ancient by exposing to view a couple of centaurs and a sphynx." Scowton presented a "new grand dramatic romance," called _The Treacherous Friend_, in which he played the character of Alphonsus himself.

This was the last appearance of both these veteran showmen. Scowton retired, and Richardson died shortly afterwards at his cottage in Horsemonger Lane, and was buried, as his will directed, at Great Marlow, in the same grave with the spotted boy. He bequeathed the greater part of his property to Charles Reed, who had travelled with him for many years; his old friend, Johnson, afterwards co-lessee with Nelson Lee of the City of London Theatre, received a legacy of five hundred pounds, and Davy, who had superintended the building and removal of the theatre from the beginning of its existence, two hundred pounds.

Looking backward forty years, I can recall the quaint figure of the old showman as he stood on the steps of his portable theatre, clad in a loose drab coat and a long scarlet vest, which looked as if it had been made in the reign of George II. As I think of Croydon Fair as it used to be in Richardson's days, with the show standing between Clarke's circus and Wombwell's menagerie, I can almost fancy that I hear the booming of the old man's gong. Many a time afterwards have I seen Nelson Lee beating that memorable instrument of discord, and heard him shouting, "Walk up! walk up! Just going to begin!" But _he_ wore a suit of black, and did not impress me half so much as his predecessor. The change seemed, indeed, a symptom of the declining glory of the fair, which has, within the last few years, become a thing of the past.

CHAPTER XI.

Successors of Scowton and Richardson--Nelson Lee--Crowther, the Actor--Paul Herring--Newman and Allen's Theatre--Fair in Hyde Park--Hilton's Menagerie--Bartholomew Fair again threatened--Wombwell's Menagerie--Charles Freer--Fox Cooper and the Bosjesmans--Destruction of Johnson and Lee's Theatre--Reed's Theatre--Hales, the Norfolk Giant--Affray at Greenwich--Death of Wombwell--Lion Queens--Catastrophe in a Menagerie--World's Fair at Bayswater--Abbott's Theatre--Charlie Keith, the Clown--Robson, the Comedian--Manders's Menagerie--Macomo, the Lion-Tamer--Macarthy and the Lions--Fairgrieve's Menagerie--Lorenzo and the Tigress--Sale of a Menagerie--Extinction of the London Fairs--Decline of Fairs near the Metropolis--Conclusion.

The change in the proprietors.h.i.+p of the travelling theatres conducted during so many years by Scowton and Richardson may be regarded as a stage in the history of the people's amus.e.m.e.nts. The decline which showmen had noted during the preceding years had not been perceptible to the public, who had crowded the London fairs more densely than ever, and found as many showmen catering for their entertainment as in earlier years. But while the crowds that gazed at Wombwell's show-cloths, and the parades of Richardson's theatre and Clarke's circus, became more dense every year, the showmen found their receipts diminish and their expenses increase. The people had more wants than formerly, and their means of supplying them had not, at the time of the decadence of the London fairs, experienced a corresponding increase. The vast and ever-growing population of the metropolis furnished larger crowds, but the middle-cla.s.s element had diminished, and continued to diminish; and the showmen found reduced charges to be a necessity, without resulting in the augmented gains which follow a reduction of prices in trade.

Scowton's theatre was sold by private contract to Julius Haydon, who, after expending a considerable sum upon it, making it rival Richardson's in size, found the results so little to his advantage that he disposed of the whole concern a year afterwards to the successors of Richardson.

These were the showman's old friends, John Johnson, to whom he left a legacy of five hundred pounds, and Nelson Lee, who, after the unfortunate speculation with his brother in the Old Kent Road, had travelled for a time with Holloway's show, then gone to Scotland with Grey's _fantoccini_, and, after a turn at Edinburgh with Dodsworth and Stevens's automatons, had returned to London, and was at the time of Richardson's death managing Sadler's Wells theatre for Osbaldiston. When he saw Richardson's property advertised for sale, he conferred with Johnson on the subject of its purchase by them, which they effected by private contract, Lee resigning his post at Sadler's Wells to undertake the management.

The new proprietors furnished the theatre with a new front, and provided new dresses for the ballet in _Esmeralda_, which was then attracting large audiences to the Adelphi. They did not propose to open with this drama, but they thought the ballet would be a success on the parade outside, which managers of travelling theatres find it necessary to make as attractive as possible, the public forming their antic.i.p.ations of the entertainment to be witnessed inside by what they see outside, as they do of tenting circus performances by the extent and splendour of the parade round the town and neighbourhood which precedes them. I once saw a very pretty harvest-dance of reapers and gleaners on the parade of Richardson's theatre, and on another occasion a fantastic dance of Indians, who held cocoa-nuts in their hands, and struck them together, a.s.suming every variety of att.i.tude, each dancer sometimes striking his own nuts together, and sometimes his own against those of his _vis-a-vis_.

They were in time for the Whitsuntide Fair at Greenwich, where the theatre stood at the extreme end of the fair, near the bridge at Deptford Creek.

The Esmeralda dance was a great success, and Oscar Byrne, who had arranged the ballet for the Adelphi, visited the theatre, and complimented Lee on the manner in which it was produced. The drama was _The Tyrant Doge_, and the pantomime, arranged by Lee for the occasion, had local colour given to it, and the local t.i.tle of _One Tree Hill_. The season opened very favourably, though both the management and the public experienced considerable annoyance from a party of dissolute young men, of whom the Marquis of Waterford was one, and who threw nuts at the actors, and talked and laughed loudly throughout the performance.

Delamore had succeeded Lewis as stage-manager, scene-s.h.i.+fter, and wardrobe-keeper, a few years before Richardson's death, and he was retained in that position by the new proprietors. John Dougla.s.s and Paul Herring were in the company at this time; also Crowther, who was subsequently engaged at Astley's, and married Miss Vincent, who was for so many years a popular favourite at the Victoria as the heroine of a series of successful domestic dramas.

Among the minor shows attending the fairs of the southern counties at this period was the portable theatre of Newman and Allen, which, towards the end of the summer, was pitched upon a piece of waste ground at Norwood, and remained there two or three weeks. The fortunes of the company seemed at low ebb, and the small "houses" which they had nightly, with a charge for admission of twopence to front seats, and a penny to the back, did not place the treasury in a very flouris.h.i.+ng condition. Small as the company was, they aimed at a higher performance than was usually given in a portable theatre, for on the two occasions that I patronised the canvas temple of Thespis the plays were _Virginius_ and _John Bull_, considerably cut down, as was to have been expected, the smallness of the company rendering it necessary to excise some of the characters.

Only one performance was given each night, and a farce preceded the play, the interval between the pieces being filled up with a comic song, sung by the low comedy man, and an acrobatic performance by a young lady whose name I learned was Sarah Saunders. Whether she was related to old Abraham Saunders, I do not know; but the tendency of show-folks to make their vocations hereditary renders it very probable. She was the first female acrobat I ever saw, and an actress besides; and the peculiarity of her acrobatic performance was, that she did not don trunks and tights for it, like Madame Stertzenbach and others of her s.e.x at the present day, but did her "flips," etc., in her ordinary attire, like the little drabs from the back slums of Westminster who may sometimes be seen turning heels over head in St. James's Park.