The Express.
London, England, 1861-06-03 00:00:00

BLONDIN AT THE CRYSTAL PALACE.

That illustrious potentate, " the Emperor of all
Ifsoills," held his first English levee at the Crystal Palace
an Saturday last, and seldom has • sovereign received •
more brilliant court, or been greeted by • more universe' or
hearty homage. The British public had bee• well papered .
is see something extraordinary in M. Biondi°. The
American chroniclers had done full justice to his exploits,
end the latter had—which was of much more imped-
ance to • British public—received the imprirnakr
of the "Young Hope of England." M. Biondi&
had crossed the terrific falls of Niagara oa a hemp's& ,
thread, in the presence of the prince of Wales,
and his royal highness had in gracious terms expressed
his approbation of the fearlessness, finish, and originality of
the performance. Had M. Blondin performed before Philip
of Macedon, that moat sarcastic of potentates would have
rut him • rope ; but Albert of England, more kind arid ap-
precistive, so distinguished the great acrobat by his appro.
!ration as to induce the latter to make his strikingly original
cider of biking "Casar and hie torten.'" across the ter-
rible chasm on his frail, fibrous bridge. M. Blondin bad,
therefore, in the noblest theatre in the world, already per-
formed the most wondrous feat of courage and dexterity
ever witoessed. The very conception of such • perform-
ance was alone enough to 'immortalise the man ; ad
be had done it in the presence and with the approbation of one
whom Englishmen deem the most illustrious prince in Europe.
It was not, therefore, to be wondered at that Saturday
last should have found the Crystal Palace filled with
one of its most brilliant and distiagnished Saturday
audiences. Wo do not allude merely to the numbers.
although they were very great, but to the class of per-
sons who were present, including the ,`file of the nubility,
and the best dressed and meet fashionable of our whole
upper ten thousand. In Spain the gentlest senoras crowd to
the bull fight, and—" oue touch of nature makes the
whole world kin "—in Eegland the fairest maids coil mat
comely matrons hurry to the Crystal Palace to see the brave
little Frenchman performing • feat to which the "dreadful
trade" of the seraphim gatherer was but children's
play, crossing the vast concur, of the crystal transept on
what looked to be a mere thread, at a height of two hundred
feet from the ground, and that too with an ease, a certainty,
and • gram, which, after the first convulsive pep of terror
was over, enabled the vast audience to look at the mdse.
mutat and still inure extraordinary feats with unruffled
composure and admiration.

The company commenced pouring down train after train
in quick succession from twelve o'clock, and at four, the
time fixed for the commencement of the performance, the
transept and ita immediate neighbourhood, except that por-
tion which had been railed off, with • rather ominous previ-
sion, immediately under the aerial bridge, presented • crowded
and brilliant appearance. Far up in the concave roof • rope—
it appeared in the distance a mere line—was stretched as
tight as windlasses and pullies could draw it, along the whole
length of the transept from the back of the Handel
oreisselas W the eremite gallery. A small platform at
either end, decorated with one or two dap, were the only
additional preparations, and the audience, having very pool
completed their examination of these, awaited in palpitating
expectation the peat performance of the day. Being
placed in a very high gallery, almost immediately under the
rope, and also under M. Blondin's starting point, we had
the advantage of • very close inspection of the performer
and his work. Blondin is • man of small
stature, but • model of muscular compactuess and
symmetry. If his whole motive power had been a system
of flexible steel machinery moved by clock-work, there could
not he greater precision and certainty iu his movements. It
could be seen in • moment that he was • perfect muter of
his work, and that the nerves had been brought into such
complete subjugation to the will, that any fear on his pert
was completely oat of the question. In this fact lies the
whale mystery and success of his performance, and it is re-
markable that this perfect control of the nervous system is
attained more frequently by the French than by any other
European people. The French have always supplied us with
the bad rope damns, equestrians, and equestrienne•, no
Englishwoman having ever approached the French ladies of
the Acids [rote in deed. of daring, except, perhaps,
the celebrated " Belle Reei4e," Miss Voolford, still
living, we believe, as Madame Ducrow. The splendid
nerves of the French, combined with their stnall, light
heads—we mean physically light--enable them to preserve
their composure in positions so giddy that the heavier,
fuller•bloudd Englishman would infallibly tumble over.
Wherever an Englishman has anything to hold by, wherever
his iron muscles can be brought into play, be can fairly
rival his more mercurial neighbour in deeds of daring—as,
fee instance, in the rigging of a ship, or with a musket and
bayonet in his grasp ; but when the work to he done is to
trip lightly over • rope at two hundred feet from the ground,
or perhaps to apply with cool nonchalance the fuse to • mine,
the physical peculiarities of the French organization give the
Frenchman peculiar advantages. If the rope at the Crystal
Palace on Saturday had been stretched at • distance of two
feet from the ground any little boy amongst the spectators
could have tripped across it; it wee its position that consti-
tuted the wonder of the performance, and that position bad
evidently not the slightest tenon for the intrepid M.
Moodie.

Shortly after four o'clock the band struck op • martial
stress, and all eyes and gluons were turned to the tiny plat-
form far away in the transparent roof, upon which the
performer was standing previous to his perilous journey. A
tightfitting garment of woven silk exhibited his muscular
symmetry in full perfection. He wore a head-dress of
ostrich feathers, and across his buds jie balanced an enor-
mous pole sixty pounds weight, and looking like the stud-
ding sail boom of a large ship. The facility with which he
managed this, playing with it as if it were • feather, was not
by any means the least wonderful past of his performance,
and showed how enormous must be his strength when com-
pered with his light weight and small stature. There were
• few of the preparatory test steps usual with rope dancers,
and then off h.- started with a gradually accelerated pace
as be approached the "dip" of the rope, and as
gradually reduced as he ascended on the other
side. People held their breath, strong men flushed and
became pale, and many actually turned away, unable to
look at what seemed to give the performer himself not
the slightest trouble. The British public had now got a
" sensation "performance with a veugeaoce, and they en-
joyed it, sensation fashion. During the journey their hearts
heat quick—their colour changed—they turned their heads
away in tenor, and then turned them back again, under the
spell of a resistless fascination. When Blondin arrived in
safety at the far end, a simultaneous sigh of
relief rose from the audience, and then a loud,
warm, wondering cheer broke over the whole
interior, establishing unmistakeably and at once the
performance as • grand " sensation" success. But this was
only the beginning. U. Bloodin walked backwards with
the same facility as he had walked forward, to the great
enjoyment of the audience, who now felt that they were
quite sure of their man, and could enjoy his extraordinary
feats without any alloy of apprehension. This would have
been almost enough for one day, but the most wonderful
part was yet to come. Covering hie head with a sack, he
started forth blindfold, and, amid the actual shudders
of the vast company, proceeded on • new and more
perilous voyage. There was • man actually
proceeding along a rope stretched at • distance of
two hundred feet from the ground, and with his eyes blind-
fold, and the upper past of his body enveloped in a sack!