The Sun.
London, England, 1857-09-22 00:00:00

CRE .1101111 TB GA RDENS.

The termination of the Cremorne season with the

present week may be regarded as a sort of official
declaration on the part of the more lively portion
of the London public that summer is fairly over.
People pass down to Cremorne by multitudes as
long as the state of the weather renders the migra-
tion possible ; the heat that makes theatres insutfor-
able invites to the out-door enjoyments of Elie gar-
dens, and from Whitsuntide to the end of Septem-
ber there is no place of amusement more popular.
Circumstances have given the proprietor all the
advantages of a monopoly. Vauxhall, after seyeril
spasmodic flickerings, has entirely faded oul-, nor
even if it were reopened by an enterprising specu-
lator would it prove a competitor equal to Cremorne.
The older gardens, planted with dark avenues, that
shut out the light of day, are arranged for night
amusements only, and derive their sole brightness
from artificial means of illumination ; whereas

Cremorne, with its broad lawns, its picturesque
points of view, its fountains and its statues, affords
most agreeable lounge in the afternoon, without
sacrificing any of its qualifications for becoming a
land of lamp 3 after nightfall. The Surrey Gardens,
notwithstanding the excellence of the new Music-
hall, and the advantages of a lake that afforded an
opportunity for the display of a peculiar descrip-
tion of fireworks not to be found elsewhere,
have _ not met patronage enough to become
a perina,;ent establishment ; possibly because a
situation " over the water" couterbalances all the
good that can be effected by any amount of taste
and enterprise. Moreover, the Surrey Gardens
from the first beginning, when they made their
appearance as a zoological institution, were
addressed to a graver class than Crernorno, and
even if th. yhad flourished they could scarcely have
rivalled-it.iu the estimation of the most numerous
patrons of out-door amusements. There are, in-
deed, various public gardens in the different out-
skirts of the metropolis, and, if report miy ba
trusted, many of them are ably and respectably
conducted ; but these enjoy a.iocal rather than a
general celebrity, and do not even attempt a com-
pettion with the large gardens of Chelsea. Cre-
morne is the only place of out-door gaiety that is
recognised all over London, and frequented alike
by high and humble. Gardens known to all Paris
are numerous—there is but one Cremorne.

Far from making an undue use of the monopoly
that circumstances have thrust upon him., Mr. .
Simpson has managed his property with as'much
zeal fur the amusement of the public as if a whole
legion of competitors were arrayed against him.
Every season the garden is embellished with some
new ornament, and enlivened with some new de-
scription of entertainment. There is an equestrian
circus ; there ie a theatre for the performance of
ballets ; there is a marionette theatre ; there is a
cosinorama ; there are opportunities for the
practice of marksmanship in all its forms from
rifle-,hooting and American bowls down to
Fringing toe bull" and the slaughter of
tin stags with a pop-gun • and finally there
are refreshment rooms, Which, notwithstand-

ing the natural tendency of man to be sensiCve as
to all that regards his palate, have never, we
believe, awakened a grumble. In short, it is hard
to say what Cremorne does not present in the
shape of open-air recreation.
The amusement-seekers of London will, under
these c reumstauces, regret to learn that a cloud is
at presAet hanging over the fortunes of Cremorne.
To many of our more joyous readers the Chelsea
Elysium will appear such a veritable seat of delight
that they will be totally unable to understand that
a different view is taken of the matter by the
Chelsea vestry. Puzzling indeed to the multitude
that go tattling down to Cre,-norne in brougham,
cab, and carriage will be the explanation that ren• s
are lowered by immediate vicinity to the gardens.
" Who would not pay double rent to live next
door to Cremorne, and compensate for the outlay
by the saving of coach hire ?"—so will argue many
a wearer of a downy moustache ; but his argu-
ment will not convince the small portion of the
Chelsea vestrymen. who are now invading the
privileges of Cremorne. At present the assault
merely takes the form of an " early closing
movement," and the licensing magistrates are to be
requested to shut up Mr. Simpson by half-past 11
o'clock. "Early to bel and early to rise" is, no
doubt, a wholesome motto for those who can adopt
it ; but its cogency is slight in the eyes of police-
men, opera-dancers, West-end oyster-shop pro-
prietors, manufacturers of fireworks, and many
other per3ons of virtuous professions, to whom we
may add in a body the amateurs, reputable and dis-
reputable, who cultivate the worship of Terpsichore.
We are not aware that there is any Greek myta
setting forth some mystic arrangement between
Krouos and the most popular of muses in order to
account for the connection between dancing and
late hours, but certain it is that from the days when
Horace could say—
" Jam Cytherea chores ducit Venus, imminent° Luna,"
down to tie present sober time danc3rs of every
class, whether they frequent the lax casino or ex-
hibit their predilections at thequiet little family lte 1
of a, puritanical suburb, seem all to make their con-
duct a practical expression of that individual liberty
which is so often shouted forth in the chorus, "We
won't go home till morning." In all prohability
the cloud will pass over ; but if it should break over
Cremorne, and the monster platform and the sup-
per-room become solemn deserts at half-pest eleven,
then will the now joyous multitude that flows
through the avenues of Chelsea wend sorrowfully
home at early ;midnight, asking why the mirth of
the nieropJlie is thus brought toan early close. In
what, form did the angry gods manifest themselves
who deshed away the lamps from the Temple of the
Muses and the Graces 1 And Clio, the muse of
history, reply,—ln the form of 18 vestrymen.
Times.

MILITARY INTELLIGENCE.