The Sun.
London, England, 1827-01-25 00:00:00

A skETCH FROM THE SERPENTnE.

London has nothing better to show than the Serpentine
on a fine frosty day, when the sky is blue and cloudless,
the air brisk and active, the Park crowded with carriages,
the banks of the river with pedestrians, and the ice itself
with grouper of skaiters—all more or less animated, and
bent on the momentous business of showing off, either in
quadrilles, rolling on the outside edge, or figuring in spread
eagles. The il..3e.rpentine, yesterday morning, presented
what we feel inclined to call the rehearsal for a future
fashionable performance. The upper end was, somehow or
other, clearof skaiters; but the extremity, where the appa-
rition or anatomy of a bridge, gleams shadorily across the
water, presented a lively, though small, assortment of figu-
rantes. A space had been swept close beside where the
Humane Society hang out their announcement of " Take
warning, the ice here is dangerous ;" and one or two.
booths were erected for the accommodation of those who
felt inclined to use them. About a hundred and fifty
skaiters might, perhaps, have assembled by two o'clock, at
which time also a few carriages made their appearance ;
from one of which a young lady and gentleman (the latter
profusely bevvhiskered) alighted. In a few minutes the
lady, who appeared a foreigner, persuaded her companion
no sooner
Nontnuerrepo!snethed
his
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cornpanied, in a Stitt of s,ympthetic summerset,by, the lady,
who, as nearly as we co-eld calCdate, must, have reached
the surface of the ice within met seeeend of the gentleman.
It shocks us to relate that the latter exerZ4cdingly discom-
posed his gentility; for, being doubled up in she course of
his descent, a pair of brass spurs contrived to attach them-
selves to his rear, which so galled him, that be sprang
f‘rso,
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lals that
first-rateb yt-heg ooindj
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was
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juimit his head,
make amends, there was a slide (about as long asrntalilleCtnea'rimaticl
bridge tailor's bill), close under the bridge, on which the
snobs adventured their skill with amusing rapidity. At the
end of this slide a piece of ice had been taken out (we be-
lieve for the Royal Family's use), so that a space was left
fitted to accommodate about a dozen individuals, should
any of them be unlucky enough to plump into it. As this
space was close at the extremity of the slide, it is not to
be supposed that many could avoid it ; and accordingly the
first man, who looked like a butcher, bad no sooner com-
menced his run, than he almost as instantly concluded it
in the water, which impartiallybemoistened him as far as
that particular part of the human body where the coat and
waistcoat, (an attached couple), effect a junction with the
inexpressibles. The second man, who was " redolent"
of a cheesemonger, and peradventure had a sample in his
pocket, beheld the first one's mishap, and it was truly
laughable to see how his countenance changed from the
jolly breadth of a Dutch cheese to the almost invisible te-
nuity of a thread-paper, as lie foresaw the fate attending
him. The third, who had set off on his experiment with
a face of the most bewitching complacency, was bap-
tised with equal effect, as indeed were all the others who
had ventured on the slide, For ourselves, we joined
a few practitioners in a circle, 18'13ich had been previously
swept for our accommodation, when, just as we were
turning a spread-eagle, a hulking coal-heaver came blus-
tering by like an embodied North-wind, tripped us up,
and then rushed on, no doubt, to demolish a dozen others.
Such a wretch ought to be hanged ! About three o'clock
the number of skaiters had considerably increased; among,
others, a Mr. Atkinson was pointed out, and certainly his
movements were all fashioned in the truest spirit of ele-
gance, and deserved what they instantly obtained, uni-
versal attention. The ladies on the bank-side, who were
parading up and down, dressed out in their gayest winter
costume, added greatly to the spirit of the scene. With
respect, however, to the picturesque, a regard for truth
compels us to observe, that many of their noses were frost-
bitten, and had imbibed that pale bluish tint, which, while
it lasts, is destructive to all sentiment. We, at least,
never could find it in our hearts to make love to a lady
with a blue nose ; we prefer waiting till it is thawed. At
the time we left the ice (a little after three o'clock) a few
sweepers were clearing away the snow, which covered the
greatest part of the Serpentine, with their brooms ; so
that, if the frost last but another day, a very numerous
and fashionable assemblage of spectators and operatives
may be anticipated. The following. Stanzas, as they are
tolerably correct in description, may perhaps amuse en
idle hour :

Run, neighbours, run, all town is in the Park to-day ;
Carriage, cart, and donkey-chaise—a raree show—
Childhood and old age look laughing OR, and hark away
Shouts from half a hundred sprawlers : down they go.
There's Mrs. Higgs, from Wapping-stairs; Miss Gibbs, from
Norton Falgate ;
Sir Peter Paunch, old Mr. Hobbs, and Master Hobbs, from Ald-
gate ;
With Thomas Stubbs, the oilman, smelling vastly strong of tur-
pentine ;
All standing fast, like pillars (or like posts), beside the Serpentine.
Run, neighbours, run, &c.
See, amid yon crowds, where hundreds are quadrilling it,
How Miss, slyly slipping from Mama, upon the land,
. .

With her Romeo, on the ice, is cooing it and billing it,
Fire in her virgin heart, and chilblains on her hand;
Vainly from the shore Mama cries out, with forehead bold,
And frowning eye, " My dear, as sure as death, you'll catek a
horrid cold,"
Naught care our cooing ones, 'till, spite of wind and weather, Sir,
Ice cracks, and in they go to cool their loves, together, Sir.
Run, neighbours, run,
Hark ! how Hyde-park, with the hum of human jollity,
Rings like Guildhall, upon my Lord Mayor's Day ;
Mirth is abroad (I vouch not for the quality) ;
Phrenologists show off in their wittiest array_.
Sims, for instance, cracks a joke on Tims who cracks a maims ;
It gets a bump at every fall, like buds on a geranium ;
Which proves, by Phrenologic laws, that Titus (but sure you
know it, Sir,)
Tho' he tumbles down a proser, may jump up again a poet, Sir.
Run, neighbours, run, &c.
Run, neighbours, run, sure such a sight was never seen ;
Dandies from Bond-street, and Statesmen from Whitehall;

He, she, and epicene, your ever• green, and never-green,
Exhibit in succession their " Decline and Fall''."

Thus it is with life—we glide along our summer-tinae,
On Youth's slippery surface, regardless of a rummer time,
'Till, spite of scientific skill, and every bold endeavour, Sir,
Death yawns, and down we go beneath the sod for ever, Sir.
Run, neighbours, run, &c.
Not, perhaps, so majestic as " Gibbon's Decline and Fall," but
equally forcible.