The Sun.
London, England, 1860-10-03 00:00:00

TIIEATR rcAL AGEE !UV:AIX-

LEOTARD'S CA AS'E.

The affair of Leotard, the celebrated gymnastic
performer, and M. Dejean, Direct:Jr of the Cirque,
of which some account has already been given, has
just come on before the Tribunal of Commerce, and

excited considerable interest. M. Dejeau brought
an action against the performer, to obtain damages
for having violated his agreement, and to compel
him to execute it in future. M. Dejean, by his ad-
vocate, stated that in July last he contracted with
Leotard's father (Leotard himself being then under
age) for three months' representations of the young
man at the Cirque at 5,200 fr. a month, subject
to the condition that he should conform to the
rules of the establishment, and wear the

same uniform as other performers. Young
Leotard appeared in November and obtained ex-
traordinary success. in consequence, on tho
22d of that month, M. Dejean signed with him

and his father a new engagement to perform at the

- -
cirque for a year, beginning on the Ist February,
at 3,000 francs a month. The agreement, among
other things, contained these stipulations .
"Art. 3. MM. Leotard, father and son, under-
take to assist in the details of the service, and,
as is usual in equestrian companies, to aid in
preparing the ring, to put on the uniform which
shall be given to them, and to attend any repre-
sentation useful to the service of the Circus. Art.
6. They cannot, under any pretext, not even in
paying the price of places, enter, in the course of
the performances, in any other part of the theatre
than that designated by the director, under pain
of the fine of a quarter of the month's salary for
each offence. Art. 7. In case of malady, the per-
former is bound to remain constantly at home."
But, notwithstanding these conditions, young Leo-
tard had refused to put on the uniform, because he
said it was a sort of livery, and a performer of his
merit ought not to be expected to wear one. The
costume in question, however, consisted of a blue
coat, with blue trousers in summer and white in
winter, and was quite distinct from the dress of
the grooms, which was a livery. The most emi-
nent performers of the Cirque had all worn the
costume without hesitation. Franconi himself
had done so, and so did Leotard's father. Why,
then, should he refuse P There could be no other
reason than that he was puffed up with his success,
and considered himself altogether *wrier to
others. He also desired to be seen only in the
tight-fitting web-dress, which showed his figure
perfectly. That such was the case was proved by
the fact that in his " Memoirs," which he had
published, he said, among other things, "All
writers on Greece maintain that the men there
were more handsome than the women, and they
were so because they showed. a great part of the
human figure as nature had made it." In addition
to the refusal to wear the costume, Leotard had,
in the evening of the 11th September seated him-
self among the spectators in the first places, and
when summoned by a commissary of police to
withdraw, had declared that he would not perform
that night or the next one. He had, however,
exhibited that evening, but the next day he sent
to say that he was ill and would not appear at night.
The physician of the Cirque was sent to examine
I him, but he was not at home, and his mother said
that he had gone out for a walk. When after a while
ho returned, the physician found that he was not
incapable of performing. He had thus undoubtedly
violated his engagement. And yet, in addition to
the large salary paid him, M. Dejean had treated
him with marked kindness ; he, had, for example,
given him what are called "gratifications" amount-
ing to 7,250 f., though by his agreement he might,
on certain conditions, send him to perform abroad,
he had only made him go to Berlin, and not to Lon-
don, notwithstanding there was such great curiosity
to see him there that, as Leotard himself said, an
offer of 160,000 f. had been made for six- months'
performances ; finally, although the agreement for-
bade him performing anywhere without M. Dejean's
consent, he had without consulting that gentleman
given a representation for the deaf and dumb, and
on the Emperor's fete had proposed to the Prefect of
the Seine to fly across the river from trapeze to tra-
peze. The advocate concluded by insisting that what
Dejean prayed for must be granted.—The advocate
of M. Leotard, in reply, began by complaining that
M. Dejean had done a very unworthy act by endea-
vouring to cast ridicule on the young man, and
so injuring him in public estimation. If Leotard
had been somewhat dazzled by his success, M.
Dejean himself was to blame, for he had done all
he could to make the journals praise him, and to
fix on him the attention of the public. The learned
gentleman then weat on to allege that the action
was a piece of ven&ance on the part of M. Dejean,
because Leotard had refused to renew his engage-
ment with him from February, 1861. In spite of
that refusal, M. Dejeau had spread the report
that the engagement had been prolonged, and as
that was calculated to injure Leotard, by pre-
venting him from obtaining 'appointments else-
where, he had contradicted the assertion in the
theatrical journals of the 11th September. That
had irritated M. Dejean, and was the real cause of
the action. The reasons assigned in support of the
suit were mere pretexts. What could it matter
whether Leotard did or did not wear the same
uniform as the other performers ? The whole
affair was a perfect piece of puerility, and should
never have been made the subject of an action.
Yet Leotard had good reason for refusing to put
on the uniform. His performances were dangerous,
and required great calm and presence of mind ; and
could he be fit to go through such rough work if he
were made to hold a hoop for a female performer
to jump through, or to be kicked by a Blown, or to
arrange the sawdust in the circus ? That the eques-
trian performers were required to do such things was
well and good ; but Leotard was not a circus rider,
he was the son of a man who possessed considerable
property, as well as an immense gymnastic estab-
lishment at Toulouse, admitted to be one of the
most complete in the whole world. Leotard knew
nothing of performances in public when M. De-
, jean, having heard of his extraordinary powers,
had gone to Toulouse and tempted him to appear
in public. As to M. Dejean's showing kindness in
keeping Leotard in Paris, that was one of the
points of which this latter complained most par-
ticularly. In the engagement entered into be-
tween the parties, it was stipulated that, if Leo-
tard were sent to any foreign country, he should
have one-half of the sum paid for him over and
above the 3,000 f. a month. For the time he per-
formed at Berlin he had that advantage, and con-
sequently gained considerably more money, but
since then M. Dejean, seeing that he drew such
immense houses in Paris, had refused to allow him
to go anywhere else, and, of course, the additional
income which Leotard expected was not
forthcoming. Moreover, with respect to the uni-
form, the court had twice laid down that
an actor engaged to perform leading parts could
not, even if so stipulated in a printed agree-
ment, be made to figure as a mere super-
numerary ; and the - counsel contended that
those judgments were applicable to Leotard's
case. As to his having seated himself among
the spectators, he was no doubt wrong, seeing
that he had accepted the engagement not to do so
—but would it not have been right to have re-
quested him politely to come away, instead of, as
had been done, sending a commissary of police, who
removed him by force ? With regard to his ill-
ness, was it surprising that he required repose
after performing for ten months ? And during
these ten months he had brought to M, Dejean
the large sum of 400,000 francs, and yet Dejean re-
fused him a few days' rest ! The advocate con-
cluded by declaring that the action was so puerile
that it was not worthy to occupy the attention of
justice, and ought to be dismissed. The tribunal
held that Leotard had violated his agreement, and
it therefore condemned him to pay I,ooofr. da-
mages for having refused to put on the uniform,
and 750 fr. for having seated himself among the
public; also to resume his services at the Cirque
and wear the uniform, under pain of paying
300 fr. for each night's refusal for two months,
after which the tribunal will decide what was
further to be done ; likewise, not to sit_ again
among the public under the penalty of 7oof. for
each offence; and, lastly, to pay all the costs.

new
wesrni!eTwl SL A
hundredND .
yardsTh
to
e ri
outer harbour at
NEW HARBOBtraltr
ntAisTlandl3 tj(a
t of the railway company's pier), commf ago at an
yearsenced by the ma-
gistrates of that little borough a couple o
estimated cost of about £lO,OOO, now approaches comple-
tion,d towards the close of the
present
and will ,be opened
yidneotacorc.wulhpti
which
s immediately
itoeopens,
a 1 towit
with
the
whichsouth t
willo f tfho
forme I harbour,
ad
sheltered
wards of 20 acres in extent. The outer harbour is
enclosed on the east side by a massive stone pier or quay,
running out in a south-westerly direction : and on the west
byanew breakwater, extending about 600 feet south-east
from the further end of the island, and by the island itself,
which, in its turn, is connected with the shore, as our
readers may be aware, by a rough dyke, said to have been
constructed by Oliver Croxiwell, and in latter days partly
boarded over by a wooden gangway. The new harbour thus
forms a sort of a triangle, of which the old pier is tho base.
Ihe depth of w;_ter will be about 20 feet in spring and 14
feat in neap tides, so that it will accommodate vessels of
very considerable size, and must prove not only useful but
absolutely necessary for the rapidly inc-easing foreign trade
of the port. Buratislaud, as the terminus in Fife of the
Edinburgh, Perth, and Dundee Railway, which passeS
through the extensive coal and iron districts of that county,
is, apart from its growing attractiveness as a place of sum-
mer resort, steadily acquiring importance by the facilities
which it possesses for the sale of those products. On Satur-
day, while the pier, island, and breakwater were covered
with spectators wat thing the boat-races, some 15 or 16
foreign vessels, chiefly Danish and German, were being
loaded with coal and iron in the inner harbour, which, we
understand, frequently contains a still larger number. The
new harbour works are being executed by Mr, Chalmers,
contractor, Dunfermline. —,S'evtsinan.