The Sun.
London, England, 1852-12-06 00:00:00

AN EVENING AT ASTLEY'S AMPHITHEATRE.

Having heard of an establishment in Lincoln's Inn-fields,
where matrimonial alliances are done up, and being pos-
sessed with rather a keen sense of the ludicrous, a fellow-

clerk and myself resolved the other night, after the toils of
the day, to pay the said establishment a visit, with the
view of getting, if not a wife, at least some rich amuse-
ment. Accordingly, after four o'clock P.M., we wended
our way through the crowded thoroughfares of Fenchurch
and Lombard-streets, on to the Mansion-house, where to
economise time on such an important matter, as an errand
on matrimony, we took the inside of a Chelsea Omnibus
as far as Chancery-lane, where we alighted, and pursued
our way up this dark dingy neighbourhood, where every-
thing betokens suits in Chancery, and writs of error ; the
shops being almost all law stationers, whose windows and
doorways are groaning under huge piles of "Coke's or Black-
stone's Commentaries," down to law forms, red tape, and
sealing wax. But we enter Lincoln's Inn-fields by a gothic
archway, and not being sure of the address of Mr. Beres-
ford, the matchmaker (not lucifers we hope), we spied a
postman resting on one of the stone benches, from whom
we elicited with a leerish smile, the whereabout of this
very interesting institution. Walking rapidly across the
Fields to the direction pointed out by the man of letters,
we soon reached the chambers of the hymeneal secretary,
but lo and behold he was out of town, no doubt at some of
the provincial offices of the association (of which, bye the
bye, there are some five or six), assisting by his kind in-
terference in uniting in the bonds of wedlock, some amor-
ous swains. He returns in a day or two, and before the
printer's ink touches this communication, we will have
surveyed the portraits of the fair damsels, whose hands, if
not their hearts, Mr. H. Beresford has the disposal of.
Being bent on spending the evening agreeably, we de-
termined to visit Astley's, the most renowned equestrian
establishment, except Franconi's in the world. Accord-
ingly we push along through the streets, which just now
are brilliantly illuminated with thousands of flaming jets
of gas-light—we cross old father. Thames by Waterloo-
bridge, the finest structure of the kind in Europe, and
proceed by the New-cut, Lambeth, now the most crowded
thoroughfare in London. We enter the amphitheatre a
little before seven o'clock, the hour of commencing the
performance, and secure a seat. What a magnificent
house this is, and capable of accommodating several thou-
sand spectators. Every decoration which the art of the
painter can furnish is freely lavished, and the rich tracery
and elaborate gilding in scroll work, which adorn the pan-
nels of the boxes, combined with the blaze of light emitted
from a hundred gasaliers, render the scene at once gorgeous
and captivating, and helps us to appreciate in some degree
the taste of the worthy old Baronet in "Boswell's Life of
Johnson," who possessed one of the most beautiful seats in
England, surrounded with a park, whose lawns lined with
noble oaks and venerable elms, excited the admiration of
every one but himself, yet declared that at the close of the
London seasons, he always felt miserable, and longed again
for the footlights, the scenery of the drop curtain, and
parapharnalia of the stage, with its painted heroes, in com-
parison with which he considered Nature with all its at-

tractions, dull and insipid.
The orchestra now filled with the finest performers.m
England, who, after a good deal of scraping and tuning

their different instruments, at length pour forth a volume
of music, whose voluptuous swell, thrills through the ner-
vous system like a stream of electric fluid. But the bell
rings, and immediately two beautiful palfreys are led into
the arena, accompanied by their youthful riders, Miss
Emily Cooke, and Eugene Godolphin, who perform a truly
laughable Petite Ballet, entitled Jeanette and Jeannot, or
the enlistment for the great wars of France ; this is suc-
ceeded by Mr. Hemming the most daring horseman of the
day, who throws summersaults from feet to feet, during
the rapid evolutions of the steed, with all the grace and
ease imaginable. Miss Frost next appears on a swift
courser, in a pleasing act as the Fishwife of Newhaven,
and is followed by Mr. Powell, the popular British horse-
man, who appears on two horses, in his leaping act, as the
bounding springer of the Alps. But all this is eclipsed by
the extraordinary performances of two Frenchmen, who
are brothers, named Siegrist, whose bodies are evidently
made of India rubber, as they bend and stretch where
there are no joints at all, and for strength they might
wrestle with Achilles, or any fabled hero of Grecian Mytho-
logy. Amongst their various feats, one of them poises a
pole on his breast 25 feet long, up which the other climbs
with the agility of a monkey, and perches himself on
its narrow point. Both brothers have implicit confi-
dence in each others skill. The one who supports the
pole stands erect without moving a muscle, cracking
jokes with him on its summit, who is comporting himself
like a squirrel on the bough of a tree. Great strength in
such feats must be conjoined with an intimate knowledge
of mechanical laws, as the least deviation from a correct
balance would give such a momentum to the leverage as no
strength, however herculean, could resist, and end in the
precipitate destruction of one or other of the unfortunate
gladiators. We are next introduced to an equestrian pas
de trois by those accomplished artistes, Miss Rebecca,
Madlle Louise Massotta, and Miss Frost, who appear as the
Three Graces; and by way of varying the species both of
man and beast, the ring is next occupied by elephants, ac-
companied by their Oriental trainers, who go through a
variety of feats of agility on their bare backs. We have
next Mr. Bridges, who appears as the Juggler of Japan,
and who, on horseback, manages balls, plates, and cutlery,
going through paper hoops at the same time, with as much
nonchalence as if sitting in an easy chair by the parlour fire.
The scenes of the arena are again varied by the wonder-
ful exercises of the Nicole family, the father of which
tosses his two infant sons about as if flesh and blood
formed no part of their composition, all, however, are mas-
ters of gymnastic science, and have studied the most cor-
rect portions of Greek statuary, as their graceful attitudes
at once denote. The first part terminates with a piece exe-
cuted by eight of the principal artistes of the establish-
ment, with twelve horses, entitled Le Grand Ballet Eques-
Ira, arranged by Signor &dal ini, the celebrated ring-mas-
ter, and professor of the Haute , Ecole, from the Imperial
Circus of St. Petersburgh ; and after a lapse of ten minutes,
the second part commences with the tight-rope perform-
ances of Manes. Ellslor, who, on the elastic cord, are con-
sidered unequalled. After 'which, Mr. Alfred Cooke, the
premier horseman, introduces an entirely new equestrian
ollapadrida, sustaining the characters of Mahomet, Maahm,
the Algerian Pirate, the Bloomer of 1851, Doctor O'Toole,
concluding with the flight of Orion, the mighty hunter.
Mr. A. Cooke is unquestionably the first horseman of the
day, and fully justifies our anticipation of him, formed
many years ago. Madlle. Marlette, from the Imperial
Circus of St. Petersburgh, now introduces a trained pony,
whose intelligence shows the capabilities of the horse, and
also the subduing powers of man, as it will do anything,
from the picking up of a glove, to the performance of a
pas de soul. The brothers Siegrist again appear in a comic
act, called Dead or Alive, and are succeeded by Mr. Syl-
vester, who astonishes by his extraordinary ascension of
the globe. Standing upon a large ball, he cleverly rolls it
with his toes along a board having an altitude of fully 20
feet, and, at the summit, turns round and rolls it down
again, in spite of its increasing momentum, with as much
grace as if it was on a level plane. Miss Woolford now
appears in an elegant act, as the Flower Girl, but as she
presented me with a crimson dahlia out of her basket, any
praise coming from me would be likely to be suspected on
the ground of partiality. The brothers Siegrist again
astonish by their performances on the double trapez ; whose
unequaled feats surpass the previous performers in the
gymnastic art. The evening's amusements terminate with
a comic scene, introducing Messrs. Bridges, Powell, and.
Craddock, entitled .Mons. and Madame Deni, whose lu-
dicrous antics elicit from the audience roars of laughter.
Altogether, this amphitheatre of Astley's is well worthy
a visit from any class of society, as there is nothing seen
or heard calculated to wound the feelings of the most sen-
sitive moralist, and the lovers of science may receive les-
sons of the utmost utility, regarding the physical laws
which govern the well-being of society. Sitting spectators
of the science of equitation so beautifully demonstrated in
this great temple of art, we were fully impressed with the
truths enunciated by the late Lord Dalmeny in his pamph-
let, some years ago, on gymnastics, in which he urges that
this science should be taught in our public schools for the
proper development of bone and muscle, and even advises
all classes, merchants, shopkeepers, and others, particularly
those who have but little exercise in their respective call-
ings, to learn the use of the foil, and other manly accom-
plishments, as being essentially necessary to the preserva-
tion of health. He states that he has penetrated the re-
cesses of the forest of Ben Dhui in quest of the antlered
monarch of the wood, and hunted chamois on the black
precipices of Mont Blanc, but the excitement of the chase
and invigorating stimulus of the mountain air, were not to
be compared to a night at Angeles, practising the foil with
a skilful opponent. The jests of the clowns appear to be
indispensable to the ring, and, as in everything else at
Astley's, we have the genius here of the highest celebrity,
either as jeste-2s or posture-makers. Jesters in England are
of great antiquity, as they were wont to form part of the
royal establishment at court. We remember of reading
with infinite zest, the cute answer of Henry the Eighth's
jester, who, when that bloated monster asked him what he
thought of the title 9f Defender of Faith, the Pope had
just conferred on him—" Ha ! Master Harry," the jester
replied, " there is no fear of the faith, let you and I take
care of our own heads, and leave the faith to its own de-
fence."
Equestrian performances are of very great antiquity, as
Homer, in the "Iliad," gives a clear and correct description
of an amusement of this kind, which modern times have
seen revived as something entirely new. So long ago, it
appears, as the sixth or seventh century before Christ, the
feats of Cooke and Franconi were popular in Greece. The
education of horses for this singular purpose has been
brought to the highest perfection, both in Paris and in
London. The stables of Franconi and Astley's are for
quadrupeds what the Royal Academy of France and the
Royal Society of England are for learned men. They are
the hotbeds of equine genius—the conservatories of the
classic step, of the antique trot—the sanctuaries of the
brilliant gallop. Quoting from a writer to whom we are
indebted for a portion of this article, we will conclude with
a brief notice of a horse belonging to the Cirque Olympic
of Paris, as he attained a kind of political celebrity. It
is well known that the steeds of Astley's Amphitheatre
are lent out to the citizens of London on Lord Mayor's
day, for the • use of men in armour who figure in
the procession, so the French Circus is charged with
the supply of animals to Princes and Sovereigns, during
any great official solemnity; and these horses like certain
couriers, have always been at the service of every dynasty
or shade of political opinion. Thus, in 1814, the tem-
porary restoration of the Bourbons, a dapple grey, called
'La Noble,' bore the future Charles X. (the Count D'Ar-
tois) on his entry into Paris, and afterwards the Dukes of
Berri and Angouleme. When Napoleon escaped from
Elba the same charger carried him on the 20th of the fol-
lowing March, at the time of his triumphal return to the
city by torch-light. After the well-known ' hundred days,'
this identical horse conveyed into Paris, the Princes of the
Bourbon family, deporting itself with the same pride and
enthusiasm as on former occasions.'
Equestrian performers of the present day feel the effects
of the march of intellect, quite as much as others. Feats
of horsemanship which anciently excited the greatest ad-
miration, now appear vulgar and commonplace, and it has
become as difficult to acquire distinction in equestrianism
as in literature. Formerly, a simple change of feet during
full gallop, or an epigram, were sufficient to earn a high
reputation for a horse or a poet, but now celebrity is only
to be obtained by the aid of difficult dances on three legs,
or by means of several thick volumes of prose and verse.
To those of your readers who have never seen anything
of this art, beyond the air vaultings of such itinerants as
Ord and his rag tag artistes, by the side of Lochleven,
where everything was dependant on the versatile genius of
Ord himself, any description of the wonders of the Circus
as seen at Astley's, will fail to convey a correct impression
of the art and science there demonstrated, and if ever they
chance to visit London, we would advise them to spend at
least, one night at this establishment, the performances at
which, both equestrian and gymnastic, rival the most
celebrated of either ancient or modern times. R. D.
London, October, 1852.
—lend= cOrrcePOC4l4 of Me Advertior.