lion to sit down, and while in that position opened the animal's ponderous jaws with his hands, and thrust his face down into the lion's throat, wherein he shouted, and there held his head nearly a minute. After this he held up a common hoop for the tigress to leap through, and she did it frequently. The lion seemed more difficult to move to this sport. He did not appear to be excited by command or en treaty; at last, however, he went through the hoop, and having been once roused, repeated the action several times; the hoop was scarcely two feet in diameter. The exhibition of these two animals con cluded by the lion lying down on his side, when the keeper stretched himself to his whole length upon him, and then calling to the tigress she jumped upon the man, extended herself with her paws upon his shoulders, placed her face side. ways upon his, and the whole three lay quiescent till the keeper suddenly slipped himself off the lion's side, with the tigress on him, and the trio gambolled and rolled about on the floor of the den,, like playful children on the floor of a nursery.

Of the beasts there is not room to say more, than that their number was sur prising, considering that they formed a better selected collection, and showed in higher condition from cleanliness and good feeding, than any assemblage I ever saw. Their variety and beauty, with the usual accessory of monkeys, made a splendid picture. The birds were equally admirable, especially the pelicans, and the emew. This sixpenny "show" would have furnished a dozen sixpenny" shows," at least, to a "Bartlemy Fair" twenty years ago.

SHOW V.

This was a mare with seven feet, in a small temporary stable in the passage-way from the road to the foot-pavement, op posite the George Inn, and adjoining to the next show: the admission to this "sight" was threepence. The following is a copy of the printed bill :

"To Sportsmen and Naturalists. Now exhibiting, one of the greatest living natural curiosities in the world; namely, a thorough-bred chesnut MARE, with seven legs! four years of age, perfectly sound, free from blemish, and shod on six of her feet. She is very fleet in her paces, being descended from that famous horse Julius Cæsar, out of a thorough-bred race mare descended from Eclipse, and is re

markably docile and temperate. She is the property of Mr. T. Checketts, of Belgrave-hall, Leicestershire; and will be exhibited for a few days as above."

This mare was well worth seeing. Each of her hind legs, besides its natural and well-formed foot, had another growing out from the fetlock joint: one of these additions was nearly the size of the natural foot; the third and least grew from the same joint of the fore-leg. Mr. Andrews, the proprietor, said, that they grew slowly, and that the new hoofs were, at first, very soft, and exuded during the process of growth. This individual, besides his notoriety from the possession of this extraordinary mare, attained further distinction by having prosecuted to conviction, at the Warwick assizes, in August, 1825, a person named Andrews, for swindling, He complained bitterly of the serious expense he had incurred in bringing the depredator to justice; his own costs, he said, amounted to the sum of one hun dred and seventy pounds.

SHOW VI.

Richardson's Theatre.

The outside of this show was in height upwards of thirty feet, and occupied one hundred feet in width. The platform on the outside was very elevated; the back of it was lined with green baize, and festooned with deeply-fringed crimson curtains, except at two places where the money-takers sat, which were wide and roomy projections, fitted up like gothic shrine-work, with columns and pinnacles. There were fifteen hundred variegated illumination-lamps disposed over various parts of this platform, some of them depending from the top in the shape of chandeliers and lustres, and others in wreaths and festoons. A band of ten performers in scarlet dresses, similar to those worn by beef-eaters, continually played on clarionets, yiolins, trombones, and the long drum; while the performers paraded in their gayest" properties" before the gazing multitude. Audiences rapidly ascended on each performance being over, and paying their money to the receivers in their gothic seats, had tickets in return; which, being taken at the doors, admitted them to descend into the "theatre." The following "bill of the play" was obtained at the doors upon being requested :

Change of Performance each Day.

RICHARDSON'S

THEATRE.

"Ginger beer, apples, nuts, and a bill of the play,"were cried; the charge for a bill to a person not provided with one was "a penny." The seats were rows of planks, rising gradually from the ground at the end, and facing the stage, without any dis

Melo-Drama, called the

WANDERING

DEVIL WILL HAVE HIS OWN.

Luciferno, Mr. THOMAS, Dæmon Amozor, afterwards Pantaloon,

Mr. WILKINSON.-Dæmon Ziokos, afterwards Clown, Mr. HAYWARD.-Violencello Player, Mr. HARTEM.-Baker, Mr. THOMPSON.-Landlord, Mr. WILKINS.-Fisherman, Mr. RAE.-Doctor Faustus, afterwards Harlequin, Mr. SALTER.

Adelada, afterwards Columbine,
Miss WILMOT.

Attendant Dæmons, Sprites, Fairies, Ballad Singers, Flower Girls, &c. &c.

The Pantomime will finish with A SPLENDID PANORAMA, Painted by the First Artists.

BOXES, 28. PIT, 1s. GALLERY, 6d.

The theatre was about one hundred feet long, and thirty feet wide, hung all round with green baize, and crimson festoons.

stage was elevated, and there was a painted proscenium like that in a regular theatre, with a green curtain, and the king's arms above, and an orchestra lined with crimson cloth, and five violinplayers in military dresses. Between the orchestra and the bottom row of seats, was a large space, which, after the seats were filled, and greatly to the discomfiture of the lower seat-holders, was nearly occupied by spectators. There were at least a thousand persons present.

«Wandering Outlaw," with a forest scene The curtain drew up and presented the

and a cottage; the next scene was a castle; the third was another scene in the forest. The second act commenced with a scene of an old church and a marketplace. The second scene was a prison, and a ghost appeared to the tune of the "evening hymn." The third scene was the castle that formed the second scene in the first act, and the performance was here enlivened by a murder. The fourth scene was rocks, with a cascade, and there was a procession to an unexecuted execution; for a ghost appeared, and saved the "Wandering Outlaw" from a fierce-looking headsman, and the piece ended. Then a plump little woman sung, “He drew up to "Harlequin Faustus," whereloves and he rides away," and the curtain

in, after columbine and a clown, the most red face and hands, in a red Spanish flaming character was the devil, with a mantle and vest, red "continuations," stockings and shoes ditto to follow, a red Spanish hat and plume above, and a red "brass bugle born." As soon as the fate of "Faustus" was concluded, the sound of a these performances were, in a quarter of gong announced the happy event, and an hour, repeated to another equally intelligent and brilliant audience.

SHOW VII.

ONLY A PENNY.

There never was such times, indeed!

NERO

The largest Lion in the Fair for a Hundred Guineas!

These inscriptions, with figured showcloths, were in front of a really good ex

"SAMWELL'S COMPANY." Another penny show: "The Wonderful Children on the Tight Rope, and Dancing Horse, Only a Penny !" I paid my penny to the money-taker, a slender, "fine lady," with three feathers in a "jewelled turban," and a dress of blue and white muslin and silver; and withinside I saw the "fat, contented, easy" proprietor, who was arrayed in corresponding magnificence. If he loved leanness, it was in his "better half," for himself had none of it. Obesity had disqualified him for activity, and therefore in his immensely tight and large satin jacket, he was, as much as possible, the active commander of his active performers. He superintended the dancing of a young female on the tight rope. Then he announced, "A little boy will dance a hornpipe on the rope," and he ordered his "band" inside to play; this was obeyed without difficulty, for it merely consisted of one man, who blew a horn pipe tune on a Pan's-pipe; while it went on, the "little boy"danced on the tight rope; so far it was a hornpipe dance and no farther. "The little boy will stand on his head on the rope," said the manager, and the little boy stood on his head accordingly. Then another female danced on the slack-wire; and after her came a horse, not a dancing horse," but a "learned" horse, quite as learned as the horse at Ball's theatre, in Show III. There was enough for "a penny."

SHOW IX.

"CLARKE FROM ASTLEY'S." This was a large show, with the back against the side of" Samwell's Company," and its front in a line with Hosier-lane, and therefore looking towards Smithfieldbars. Large placards were pasted at the side, with these words, " CLARKE'S FROM ASTIEY'S, Lighted with Real Gas, In and Outside." The admission to this show was sixpence. The platform outside was at least ten feet high, and spacious above, and here there was plenty of light. The interior was very large, and lighted by only a single hoop, about two feet six inches in diameter, with little jets of gas about an inch and a half apart. A large

circle or ride was formed on the ground. The entertainment commenced by a man dancing on the tight-rope. The rope was removed, and a light bay horse was mounted by a female in trowsers, with a pink gown fully frilled, flounced, and ribboned, with the shoulders in large puffs. While the horse circled the ring at full speed, she danced upon him, and skipped with a hoop like a skipping-rope; she performed other dexterous feats, and concluded by dancing on the saddle with a flag in each hand, while the horse flew round the ring with great velocity. These and the subsequent performances were enlivened by tunes from a clarionet and horn, and jokes from a clown, who, when she had concluded, said to an attendant, "Now, John, take the horse off, and whatever you do, rub him well down with a cabbage.' Then a man rode and danced on another horse, a very fine animal, and leaped from him three times over garters, placed at a considerable height and width apart, alighting on the horse's back while he was going round. This rider was remarkably dexterous. In conclusion, the clown got up and rode with many antic tricks, till, on the sudden, an apparently drunken fellow rushed from the audience into the ring, and began to pull the clown from the horse. The manager interfered, and the people cried-"Turn him out ;" but the man persisted, and the clown getting off, offered to help him up, and threw him over the horse's back to the ground. At length the intruder was seated, with his face to the tail, though he gradually assumed a proper position; and riding as a man thoroughly intoxicated would ride, fell off; he then threw off his hat and great coat, and threw off his waistcoat, and then an under-waistcoat, and a third, and a fourth, and more than a dozen waistcoats. Upon taking off the last, his trowsers fell down and he appeared in his shirt; whereupon he crouched, and drawing his shirt off in a twinkling, appeared in a handsome fancy dress, leaped into the saddle of the horse, rode standing with great grace, received great applause, made his bow, and so the performance concluded.

This show was the last in the line on the west side of Smithfield.

SHOW X.

The line of shows on the east of Smithfield, commencing at Long-lane,began with "The Indian Woman—Chinese Lady und

Dwarf," &c. A clown outside cried, "Be assured they 're alive-only one penny each." The crowd was great, and the shows to be seen were many, I therefore did not go in.

SHOW XI.

On the outside was inscribed, "To be seen alive! The Prodigies of Nature! The Wild Indian Woman and Child, with her Nurse from her own country. The Silver-haired Lady and Dwarf. Only a Penny."-The showmaster made a speech: "Ladies and gentlemen, before I show you the wonderful prodigies of nature, let me introduce you to the wonderful works of art;" and then he drew a curtain, where some wax-work figures stood. "This," said he, "ladies and gentlemen, is the famous old Mother Shipton; and here is the unfortunate Jane Shore, the beautiful mistress of king Edward the Second; next to her is his majesty king George the Fourth of most glorious memory; and this is queen Elizabeth in all her glory; then here you have the princess Amelia, the daughter of his late majesty, who is dead; this is Mary, queen of Scots, who had her head cut off; and this is O'Bryen, the famous Irish giant; this man, here, is Thornton, who was tried for the murder of Mary Ashford; and this is the exact resemblance of Othello, the moor of Venice, who was a jealous husband, and depend upon it every man who is jealous of his wife, will be as black as that negro. Now, ladies and gentlemen, the two next are a wonderful couple, John and Margaret Scott, natives of Dunkeld, in Scotland; they lived about ninety years ago; John Scott was a hundred and five years old when he died, and Margaret lived to be a hundred and twelve; and what is more remarkable, there is not a soul living can say he ever heard them quarrel." Here he closed the curtain, and while undrawing another, continued thus: "Having shown you the dead, I have now to exhibit to you two of the most extraordinary wonders of the living; this," said he, "is the widow of a New Zealand Chief, and this is the little old woman of Bagdad; she is thirty inches high, twentytwo years of age, and a native of Boston, in Lincolnshire." Each of these living subjects was quite as wonderful as the waxen ones: the exhibition, which lasted about five minutes, was ended by court. eous thanks for the "approbation of the

ladies and gentlemen present," and an evident desire to hurry them off, lest they might be more curious than his own curiosities.

SHOW XII.

"Only a penny" was the price of admission to "The Black Wild Indian Woman.-The White Indian Youth-and the Welsh Dwarf-All Alive!" There was this further announcement on the outside, "The Young American will Perform after the Manner of the French Jugglers at Vauxhall Gardens, with Balls, Rings, When the "Welsh Daggers," &c.

man'

dwarf" came on he was represented to be Mr. William Phillips, of Denbigh, fifteen years of age. The "white Indian youth" was an Esquimaux, and the exhibitor assured the visitors upon his veracity, that "the black wild Indian wowas "a court lady of the island of Madagascar." The exhibitor himself was "the young American," an intelligent and clever youth in a loose striped jacket or frock tied round the middle. He commenced his performances by throwing up three balls, which he kept constantly in the air, as he afterwards did four, and then five, with great dexterity, using his hands, shoulders, and elbows, apparently with equal ease. He afterwards threw up three rings, each about four inches in diameter, and then four, which he kept in motion with similar success. To end his performance he produced three knives, which, by throwing up and down, he contrived to preserve in the air altogether. These feats forcibly reminded me of the Anglo-Saxon Glee-man, who "threw three balls and three knives alternately in the air, and caught them, one by one, as they fell; returning them again in regular rotation." The young American's dress and knives were very similar to the Gleeman's, as Strutt has figured them from a MS. in the Cotton collection. This youth's was one of the best exhibitions in the Fair, perhaps the very best. The admission it will be remembered was "only a penny."

SHOW XIII.

outside of this show were, "The White The inscriptions and paintings on the

* Struct.