Ablegandae Tiberim ultra.--Horace.

Unlike Covent Garden, the , and other

West-end

Transpontine

sensational

Look at our theatres; look at the houses all around them. Have they not given a taint to the very districts they belong to? The Coburg Theatre, now called the Victoria, and the Surrey, what are they? At Christmas time, at each of these minor theatres, may be seen such an appalling amount of loathsome vice and depravity as goes beyond Eugene Sue, and justifies the most astounding revelations of Smollett.

Rejected Addresses,

Base Bonaparte, fill'd with deadly ire,

Sets one by one our play-houses on fire.

Some years ago he pounced with deadly glee on

The Opera House, then burnt down the Pantheon;

Nay, still unsated, in a coat of flames

Next at Millbank he crossed the River Thames,

Thy Hatch,See ante, p. 392. O Half-penny! pass'd in a trice,

Boil'd some black pitch, and burnt down Astley's twice;

Then buzzing on through ether, with a vile hum

Turn'd to the left hand fronting the Asylum,

And burnt the Royal Circus in a hurry-

'Twas called the Circus then, but now the Surry.

Of the

Surrey

Victoria

Astley's.

The building of , which was commenced in , and was completed years afterwards, led to the erection of this theatre, which was originally called the

Coburg

,

The

Coburg

trial by wager of battle

to have all the avenues (roads) to the theatre well lighted, while the appointed additional patrols on the bridge road --and keeping them in their own pay--will afford ample security to the patrons of the theatre.

lamentable circumstance

Hibernian Roscius.

Victoria,

act drop,

Vic

When this theatre opened its doors, upwards of half a century ago, it was in the presence of a

large and fashionable audience,

with new and extensive machinery, mechanical changes, tricks, and metamorphoses :

extra patroles are engaged for the bridge and roads leading to the theatre, and particular attention will be paid to the lighting of the same.

fashionable

extra patroles

particular attention

Vic

The lower orders rush there in mobs, and in shirt-sleeves applaud frantically, drink gingerbeer, munch apples, crack nuts, call the actors by their Christian names, and throw them orangepeel and apples by way of bouquets.

It could be seen at a glance,

that the evening was

one

to be held in special fashion by the humble dwellers in the New Cut. A cherished institution, dear to them and their children, was doomed, and they had come to take a last fond look, and earn the right of narrating by the winter fire how they had seen the

Vic

proud in its glory and triumphant in its expiring moments. The increase of prices to the extent of threepence in every part of the house had no effect upon the gallery or the pit, so that the precautions taken by the management to open the doors at half-past

five

were quite necessary . . . A very laudable desire was felt to do all that could be done that the Victoria Theatre might end its days in peace, and pass to its rest with no fresh disaster on its conscience. The audience, overawed maybe by the thoughts which seized them, assisted to secure this result. There, ascending from gallery front into the dim roof, were the lusty roughs, short-sleeved, slop-clothed, and cropped as of yore; but no missiles came from their hands; no internecine warfare was carried on, to the mingled delight and terror of the beholders; no oaths resounded from side to side; no Bedlam was

let loose, as in the olden times when respectable West-enders would not have dared to enter the house without an unquestioned life assurance. The audience at the

Vic

has been made to answer the purpose of

awful warning

for many a long year, and we will do that of the closing night the justice to say that, composed undoubtedly as it was of persons living in the

Lambeth

highways and bye-ways, it was, on the whole, as decorous as that of any other house in the metropolis. The few cat-calls that some hardy and unfeeling youths at an early hour indulged in found no response; whistling even was at a discount; and the very children in arms stared wondrously at the dropscene, and rubbed their sticky little knuckles into their sleepy little eyes.

a Romantic Drama, entitled the

Trial by Battle

,

Rob Roy

,

though not of the bloody and ghostly type of play of which the

Vic

was the natural exponent, is so bold in its situations, so full of

Auld-Lang- Syne

sentiments, and so well seasoned with fighting material, that it could not fail to touch the heart of any genuine frequenter of the

Vic.

It is just a little naughty, too: at least, to the extent of a considerable amount of dram-drinking, a fair allowance of cursing and swearing, and a sly approval of lawlessness and contempt for the powers that be.

Rob Roy,

Rashleigh

Vic's

a painstaking artist, with fine rolling eye, trembling hand oft raised aloft, strongly heaving bosom, and r's well rolled out from the inner depths

This evening the curtain will drop for ever upon the Victoria Theatre.

Vic

for magnitude and grandeur

hear, hear!

Ah! the poor old Wic! Pass the arf-an'--arf, 'Arry.

The following description of the closing scenes of the

poor old Wic,

The audience required but little explanation beforehand as to the last dish of the farewell feast. The bridge over the rocks, the greasy moon overhead, and the smugglers in the foreground, told the entire story the moment the curtain was fairly up. In the

first

few sentences our dear old friend

Ongree

was introduced, closely followed by the equally familiar swarthy ruffian in sea-boots, with enough pistols about him to furnish a troop. Enter, also, a tall baron; next a tottering old man--the feeble father, upon whose only child the bold wicked noble has the worst of designs. In these smuggler bands there is always

one

buccaneer who plays the part of the repentant sinner, through whose honest treachery by-and-by vice--which is, of course, clothed in velvet and gold --is punished, and virtue-which, equally of course, goes in hunger and rags--is rewarded. The actor who undertook this character, an old stager in these parts, probably, was mildly requested to open his mouth by

one

section, and consoled by cries of

Brayvo Bradshaw-er!

by another. He was a weak brother from the smuggler's point of view, and soon got himself into trouble by such heresies as,

Never will I give my consent to bring a virtuous girl to infamy!

--a bit of oratory that drew

loud expressions of approval from the only drunken man to be seen among the

1,500

persons crammed into the upper regions. The

Vic

by this time was itself again. Shouts were answered by shrill whistlings, and the voices that

one

moment yelled

Go it, my pippin!

were the readiest, the next, to howl,

Turn him out!

Sentiment was thrown to the winds. The repentant smuggler's glib boast,

Though I am a poor smuggler, I am yet a man!

was decidedly gibed at, all approval being reserved for the unscrupulous villain--the tool of the baron --who, without any hesitation, swore he cared for nothing in the world so long as he got

the rhino.

The plotting of the village girl's abduction by the smugglers was a sore test of patience. The pit and other parts of the house admonished the occupants of the gallery to be quiet, but to no purpose. There was an under-tone of discontent which would not be allayed. The troubled waters were calmed by the sudden change of the music from the dirgeful to the thunder-and-lightning order of melody, such as precedes the opening of the trapdoor on Boxing-night, and the advent of a herd of demons. The expected tragedy not happening on the instant, the discontent waxed louder, yet not

The Old Coburg Theatre In 1820.

boisterous by any means. Mr. Cave seemed to think differently, for he shot like an arrow from the right wing, and rebuked the noisy portion of his patrons, hinting to them that the melo-drama had not been produced for larksome purposes, but to give them a taste of the ancient quality. A decentlooking man in the pit here made a remark, showing that he resented the extra prices which had been imposed; and Mr. Cave quietly reminded the grievance-monger that if he had been there when the play was

first

produced, he would have had to pay

three shillings

for his seat.

Vic.

The old theatre, a few days later, was again opened; but the principal actor on this occasion was the auctioneer, whose rostrum was erected on the stage, amidst heaps of

properties

Royal Victoria Palace Theatre,

The approaches to the theatre are

six

in number, and afford ample and safe means by stone staircases for the rapid entrance and exit of crowded audiences, while the water supply is from

five

hydrants, attached to the high pressure main service, and

three

large cisterns. The interior arrangements are complete, and include the noble, lofty, and well-ventilated auditorium, of unique design, rising to a height of

50

feet, decorated in the Italian style, the walls being effectively lined with brilliant silvered plate-glass, and consisting of

twelve

large private boxes,

117

stalls,

119

balcony seats, with promenade to hold

250

more,

560

in pit, with promenade affording space for

400

more, and accommodation for

800

to

850

in gallery, thus affording, at present, accommodation for

2,300

persons, but with a judicious outlay it is calculated that additional sitting room may be obtained for

500

more visitors, thus giving a total audience of

2,800

persons. There are lofty, spacious, and appropriately-decorated refreshment-rooms adjoining the stalls, balcony, pit, and gallery, the whole being lighted by

500

jet burners, fixed to the roof, in a ring

96

feet in circumference. The proscenium is an elliptic arch, of handsome character,

38

feet

6

inches wide and

34

feet high. The stage is of considerable dimensions, giving an area of

3,849

square feet.

The

Vic

If there was

one

place of entertainment-an institution it may be termed--more sacred to Londoners in particular, and provincialists in general,

one

more presumably probable to have withstood the changes of time and fashion, less likely to have succumbed to a novel and not very classical style of dramatic entertainment, that place most certainly was Astley's. For, though the remodelled theatre in

Westminster Bridge Road

is still associated with the name of its founder, yet an Astley's without horses is as yet simply a misnomer, a shadow without a substance.

little theatre in the

Haymarket

;

Originally,

English at Home,

it was only a circus, started by Philip Astley, who had been a light horseman in General Elliott's regiment. . . . Astley's Amphitheatre, as it is called, though it has undergone various transformations since the death of its founder, is still (

1862

) a celebrated place for equestrian performances, exhibitions of trained ponies, elephants, dancing the tight rope, and even wild beasts, more or less tamed. I saw performed there a grand spectacle, in which appeared a lion that had killed a man on the night before. This painful circumstance, as may be believed, added a feeling of sadness and a species of tragic interest to the performance. The principal actor--I mean the lion-expressed no remorse for what he had done on the previous night; his face was calm and even benignant; he performed his part as if nothing had happened, and he followed the lionconqueror (Van Amburgh) through the various situations of the piece.

Mr. Frost, in his , gives the following account of the amphitheatre and its founder:--

Down to the end of the last century there are no records of a circus having appeared at the London fairs. Astley is said to have taken his stud and company to Bartholomew Fair at one time, but I have not succeeded in finding any bill or advertisement of the great equestrian in connection with fairs. The amphitheatre which has always borne his name (except during the lesseeship of Mr. Boucicault, who chose to call it the Westminster Theatre, a title about as appropriate as the Marylebone would be in Shoreditch) was opened in 1780, and he had previously given open-air performances on the same site, only the seats being roofed over. The enterprising character of Astley renders it not improbable that he may have tried his fortune at the fairs when the circus was closed, as it has usually been during the summer; and he may not have commenced his season at the amphitheatre until after Bartholomew Fair, or have given there a performance which he was accustomed to give in the afternoon at a large room in Piccadilly, where the tricks of a performing horse were varied with conjuring and Ombres Chinoises, a kind of shadow-pantomime. But, though Astley's was the first circus erected in England, equestrian performances in the open air had been given before his time by Price and Sampson. The site of Dobney's Place, at the back of Penton Street, Islington, was, in the middle of the last century, a tea-garden and bowling-green, to which Johnstown, who leased the premises in 1767, added the attraction of tumbling and ropedancing performances, which had become so popular at Sadler's Wells. Price commenced his equestrian performances at this place in 1770, and soon had a rival in Sampson, who performed singular feats in a field behind the Old Hats public-house. It was not until later, according to the historians of Lambeth, that Philip Astley exhibited his feats of horsemanship in a field near the Halfpenny Hatch, forming his first ring with a rope and stakes, after the manner of the mountebanks of a later day, and going round with his hat after each performance to collect the largesses of the spectators: a part of the business which, in the slang of strolling acrobats and other entertainers of the public in bye-streets and market-places and on village greens, is called doing a mob.

This remarkable man was born in 1742, at Newcastle-under-Lyme, where his father carried on the business of a cabinet-maker. He received little or no education--no uncommon thing at that time --and, having worked a few years with his father, enlisted in a cavalry regiment. His imposing appearance, being over six feet in height, with the proportions of a Hercules and the voice of a Stentor, attracted attention to him; his capture of a standard at the battle of Ensdorff made him one of the celebrities of his regiment. While serving in the army, he learnt many feats of horsemanship from an itinerant equestrian named Johnson, and often exhibited them for the amusement of his comrades. On his discharge from the army, being presented by General Eliott with a horse, he bought another in Smithfield, and with these two animals gave the open-air performances in Lambeth which have been mentioned.

Next to Lord Granby and the Duke of Wellington, the most popular hero, if we may judge from his occurrence on sign-boards, was General Eliott, Lord Heathfield. Larwood ascribes this popularity in London to a curious cause--the gift of his white charger

Gibraltar

puff

Philip Astley received his discharge from the army in , and exhibited in the country for about years, till he considered himself capable of appearing before a London assemblage of spectators. He then set up what he termed a Riding School-merely a piece of ground enclosed by a slight paling-near a pathway that led through the fields from Blackfriars to . The terminus of the South-Western Railway now nearly, if not exactly, covers the spot. The bill of performance that he issued here is as follows:--

ACTIVITY on horseback of Mr. Astley, Serjeant- Major in His Majesty's Royal Regiment of Light Dragoons. Nearly

twenty

different attitudes will be performed on

one

,

two

, and

three

horses, every evening during the summer, at his riding school. Doors to be open at

four

, and he will mount at

five

. Seats,

one shilling

; standing places, sixpence.

Early every evening Mr. Astley, dressed in full military uniform, and mounted on his white charger, took up a position at the south end of , to distribute bills and point out with his sword the pathway through the fields that led to his riding school. That it was a

school

The True and Perfect Seat on Horseback

.-There is no creature yields so much profit as the horse; and if he is made obedient to the hand and spur, it is the chief thing that is aimed at. Mr. Astley undertakes to break in the most vicious horse in the kingdom, for the road or field, to stand fire, drums, &c.; and those intended for ladies to canter easy. His method, between the jockey and the

menage

, is peculiar to himself; no gentleman need despair of being a complete horseman that follows his directions, having

eight

years' experience in General Eliott's regiment. For half-a-guinea he makes known his method of learning (teaching) any horse to lay

(sic)

down at the word of command, and defies any

one

to equal it for safety and ease.

An information was soon lodged against Mr. Astley for receiving money from persons witnessing his feats of horsemanship, when, fortunately for him, George III. was riding over on a spirited horse, which proved restive and unmanageable even by the king, who was an excellent horseman. Astley happening to see him, came up, and soon convinced his Majesty of his skill in the managing of horses: the result was that he got rid of the information, and in a few days obtained a licence.

From the Astley saw that his performances were deficient in variety; so by energetic teaching

My horse lies dead apparent in your sight,

But I'm the man can set the thing to right;

Speak when you please, I'm ready to obey-

My faithful horse knows what I want to say;

But first just give me leave to move his foot,

That he is dead is quite beyond dispute.

Moving the horse's feet.

This shows how brutes by Heaven were designed

To be in full subjection to mankind.

Arise, young Bill, and be a little handy,

Addressing the horse.

To serve that warlike hero, Marquis Granby. The Marquis of Granby, the popular military hero of the day.

Horse rises.

When you have seen all my bill exprest,

My wife, to conclude, performs the rest.

The riding school being uncovered, there were but few spectators on wet evenings; but, as a partial remedy for this drawback, Mr. Astley ran up a shed, for admission to which he charged . He was soon enabled to invest , as mortgage, on a piece of ground near . Good fortune followed. The mortgagor went abroad, leaving a quantity of timber on the ground, and, so far as is known, was never heard of afterwards. About the same time, too, Astley found on a diamond ring, worth guineas, that was never claimed by the loser. With this assistance he erected a new riding school on the piece of mortgaged ground ever since associated with his name. This place was open at the top; but next the road there was a wooden edifice, the lower part of which formed stables, the upper, termed

the long room,

every evening, wet or dry.

Historical and Literary Curiosities.

Mr. Astley exhibits, at full speed, the different cuts and guards made use of by Eliott's, the Prussian, and the Hessian Hussars. Also the manner of Eliott's charging the French troops in Germany, in the year

1761

, when it was said the regiment were all tailors.

About the same time, increasing his company, he was enabled to give more diversity to his entertainment; and of the most successful sketches which he introduced was that timehonoured delight of rustics and children, . Master Astley, then but years old, made his appearance, riding on horses. At this period Mr. Astley used to parade the West-end streets on the days of performance. He led the procession, in military uniform, on his white charger, followed by trumpeters; to these succeeded riders in full costume, the rear being brought up by a coach, in which the clown and a

learned pony

and never more intends that abominable practice.

Whitefield never drew as much attention as a mountebank does,

Life of Johnson;

he did not draw attention by doing better than others, but by doing what was strange. Were Astley to preach a sermon, standing upon his head on a horse's back, he would collect a multitude to hear him; but no wise man would say he had made a better sermon for that.

London, at this time of year (September), is as nauseous a drug as any in an apothecary's shop. I could find nothing at all to do, and so went to Astley's, which, indeed, was much beyond my expectation. I did not wonder any longer that Darius was chosen king by the instructions he gave to his horse, nor that Caligula made his horse consul. Astley can make his dance minuets and hornpipes. But I shall not have even Astley now; Her Majesty the Queen of France, who has as much taste as Caligula, has sent for the whole of the

dramatis personae

to Paris.

When the London season was over, Astley removed his to Paris, a practice which he continued regularly for many years with great success. He next brought out a new entertainment, styled in the bills

Egyptian Pyramids; or, La Force d'Hercule.

Hercules

The centre of the riding school being still uncovered caused many inconveniences; and Astley, as early as the year , with a keen eye to the future, purchased, at a cheap rate, a quantity of timber that had been used as scaffolding at the funeral of Augusta, Princess Dowager of Wales. Later on, in , a further supply of timber was cheaply obtained by a clever on the part of Mr. Astley. It had long been the custom at the close of elections for the mob to destroy and make bonfires of the hustings; but Astley, mingling in the crowd, represented that as he would give beer for the timber, if it were carried to his establishment, it would be a more eligible way of disposing of it than by burning. The hint was taken, and with the timber thus obtained Astley covered in and completely remodelled the riding school, adding a stage, tiers of boxes, a pit, and a gallery. But as this was the attempt to exhibit horsemanship in a covered building, and the bare idea of doing so was at the time considered preposterously absurd, as a sort of compromise with public opinion, he caused the dome-shaped roof to be painted with representations of branches and leaves of trees, and gave the new edifice the airy appellation of

The Royal Grove.

Mr. Astley was now enabled to give his entertainments by candle-light; and of the pieces that he produced, however successful it may have been to the treasury, had a curious-sounding title, from an equestrian point of view; it figured in the bills as . The sensation caused by the discoveries and death of Captain Cook was then fresh in the minds of the people; and Astley, seizing upon the principal events connected with that tragic affair, placed them on the stage in such a manner that the piece was most successful, and formed a very important step in the ladder by which the quondam sergeantmajor was enabled to rise to fame and fortune.

It would appear, however, that Astley soon had a rival in the field; for Pennant writes in :--

In this neighbourhood are

two

theatres of innocent recreation, . . . of a nature unknown to every other part of Europe--the British hippodromes belonging to Messrs. Astley and Hugheswhere the wonderful sagacity of that most useful animal, the horse, is fully evinced. While we admire its admirable docility and apprehension, we cannot less admire the powers of the riders, and the graceful attitudes which the human frame is capable of receiving.

art of tumbling

showing us how fearfully and wonderfully we are made ;

preservations from worse employs, and as relaxations from the cares of life.

Up to this time Astley had performed annually in Paris during the winter months; and it was partly with the view of giving up these visits to the French capital that he constructed the

Royal Grove;

In the following year, war having broken out with France, the Duke of York was sent on the Continent in command of the British army; and Astley, who had made himself very useful in superintending the embarkation of the cavalry and artillery horses, went with his royal highness. His old regiment, the Fifteenth, was in the same army; and Astley, knowing by experience the wants of actual service, presented the men with a large supply of needles, thread, buttons, bristles, twine, leather-everything, in short, requisite in mending clothes and shoes. He also purchased a large quantity of flannel, and setting all the females employed at the

Royal Grove

a friend in need:

Royal Grove,

In Astley was suddenly recalled from the Continent by the total destruction of the

Royal Grove

Amphitheatre of Arts.

Royal Amphitheatre.

This amphitheatre is described by Sir Richard Phillips at some length, in his

Modern London,

Being rebuilt after being lately burnt down,

it stands on the very ground on which Mr. Astley, senior, formerly exhibited feats of horsemanship and other amusements in the open air, the success and profits of which enabled him afterwards to extend his plan and to erect a building which, from the rural cast of the internal decorations, he called the

Royal Grove.

In this theatric structure stage exhibitions were given, while in a circular area, similar to that in the late theatre, horsemanship and other feats of strength and agility were continued.

Astley, when he started his riding school, had no other music than a common drum, which was beaten by his wife. To this he subsequently added a fife, the players standing on a kind of small platform, placed in the centre of the ring; and it was not till he opened the Royal Grove that he employed a regular orchestra. Although an excellent rider, and a great favourite of George III., old Astley was an excessively ignorant man. day, during a rehearsal a performer suddenly ceased playing.

Hallo!

what's the matter now?

There's a rest,

A rest!

I don't pay you to rest, but to play!

Why don't you treat them as I do

mine

?

I never give them anything to eat till after their performance is done.

Astley always kept a sharp eye on his

This is a

pizzicato

passage, sir,

A pizzy-what?

A

pizzicato

, sir.

Well, I can't afford to let them be idle; so let the trumpets

pizzicato

too!

Any fool,

can handle a fiddle, but it takes a man to manage a horse; and yet I have to pay a fellow that plays upon

one

fiddle as much salary as a man that rides upon

three

horses.

On occasion, on the night of a new piece, as the curtain rose to slow and solemn music, Astley, who was in the front observing the effect, overheard a carpenter sawing a board behind the scenes.

Go,

go and tell that stupid fellow not to saw so infernally loud.

Mr. Astley has desired me to tell you not to saw so infernally loud.

Saw!

go back and tell him this is the very last night I shall saw in his infernal stables!

At another time, Astley requested his leader to arrange a few bars of music for a broad-sword combat-

a rang, tang, bang;

one

,

two

,

three

; and a cut sort of thing, you know!

Stop I stop I This will never do. It's not half noisy enough; we must get shields!

not half noisy enough,

Get Shields, then, as soon as you please, for I am heartily sick and tired of you!

Although uneducated, old Philip Astley was an enterprising man, with a strong mind and acute understanding; he was remarkable for his eccentric habits and sundry peculiarities of manner; and he is said to have built, at different periods of his life, at his own cost and for his own purpose, no less than theatres. He was the founder of, or, at all events, of the earliest performers at the Olympic; and there is extant a print of Astley's trained horses, &c., performing there. He was particularly skilful in the training of horses. His method was to give each horse his preparatory lesson alone, and when there was no noise or anything to distract his attention from his instructor. If the horse was interrupted during the lesson, or his attention withdrawn, he was dismissed for that day, and the lesson was repeated on the next. When he was perfect in certain lessons by himself, he was associated with other horses whose education was further advanced; and it was the practice of that great

tamer of horses

Like Tom Dogget before him, the gallant old sergeant-major seems to have taken an interest in aquatic matters; at all events, we read in Strutt's

Sports and Pastimes,

Of late years the proprietor of

Vauxhall Gardens

and Astley, the rider, give each of them in the course of the summer a new wherry, to be rowed for by a certain number of watermen,

two

in each boat.

Astley lived to see another peace with France and to recover his property in Paris; for he died on the , in the year of his age, at his own residence in the Faubourg du Temple, and was buried in the well-known cemetery of Pere la Chaise. His son, who was always termed

Young Astley,

After the decease of young Astley the theatre was carried on by Mr. W. Davis, and appears to have been called for a time

Davis's Amphitheatre

Astley's.

Astley is a veteran in scenic feats at his amphitheatre and pavilion,

Anecdotes of London,

Flemish Hercules,

On the secession of Mr. Davis, the theatre was taken jointly by Messrs. Ducrow and West, under whose it became principally celebrated for its equestrian and gymnastic performances, pantomimes, and grand military spectacles, such as the , the , &c. In was exhibited here a sensational piece, entitled, , on which the observes:--

Here we have a scene from the circle of Astley's, so long the home of equestrian glory, the pride of the horsemanship of Ducrow. Ere-while burnt gloomily to the ground, the phoenix has now risen from its ashes, and the ancient palace of quadrupedal melo-drama again astounds its admiring inmates with examples of the wonderful instincts of horses, and the not less marvellous prowess of those biped actors who have trained them into obedience to the rein. Here is the true Surrey stud.

Sell it!

once asked the alarmed Ducrow;

Never!

Abandon it!

ejaculates Batty;

Never!

is his reply,

until children become mathematicians, and find me the square of my own circle while the horses are going round it!

Forsake it!

shrieks the dear delighted public,

Nay, never.

Nay! shout the people with indignant voices, And the stud echoes with a thousand nays (neighs)!

Ducrow had been of Astley's most famous riders. Mr. Disraeli, in a speech delivered at High Wycombe in , compared the then Reform Ministry of Lord Melbourne to this great horseman. He said, addressing his audience,

I dare say, now, some of you have heard of M. Ducrow, that celebrated gentleman who rides on

six

horses. What a prodigious achievement! It seems impossible; but you have confidence in Ducrow. You fly to witness it; unfortunately,

one

of the horses is ill, and a donkey is substituted in its place. But Ducrow is still admirable: there he is bounding along in spangled jacket and cork slippers I The whole town is mad to see Ducrow riding at the same time on

six

horses; but now

two

more of the steeds are seized with the staggers, and lo!

three

jackasses in their stead! Still Ducrow persists, and still announces to the public that he will ride round his circus every night on his

six

steeds. At last, all the horses are knocked up, and now there are half-a-dozen donkeys. What a change! Behold the hero in the amphitheatre, the spangled jacket thrown on

one

side, the cork slippers on the other. Puffing, panting, and perspiring, he pokes

one

sullen brute, thwacks another, cuffs a

third

, and curses a

fourth

, while

one

brays to the audience, and another rolls in the sawdust. Behold the late Prime Minister and the Reform Ministry! The spirited and snow-white steeds have gradually changed into an equal number of sullen and obstinate donkeys; while Mr. Merryman, who, like the Lord Chancellor, was once the very life of the ring, now lies his despairing length in the middle of the stage, with his jokes exhausted, and his bottle empty.

Grimaldi, whose father lived close by Astley's, in Stangate, was often engaged here as a clown. On occasion, Ducrow, while teaching a boy to go through a difficult act of horsemanship, applied the whip to him, and observed to Grimaldi, who was standing by, that it was necessary to make an impression on the boy.

Yes,

but you need not make the whacks (wax) so hard.

The amphitheatre, as it stood in Ducrow's time, is thus described in Allen's

History of Surrey,

The front of the theatre, which is plain and of brick, stuccoed, stands laterally with the houses in

Bridge Road

, the access to the back part of the premises being in

Stangate Street

. There is a plain wooden portico, the depth of which corresponds with the width of the pavement. In front of this portico is the royal arms. Within the pediment in front of the building is

Astley's

in raised letters, and in the front of the portico, in a similar style,

Royal Amphitheatre.

Beneath this portico are the entrances to the boxes and pit; the gallery entrance is lower down the road, and separated from the front of the theatre by several houses. The boxes are approached by a plain staircase, at the head of which is a handsome lobby. The form of the auditory is elliptical, and is lighted by a very large cut-glass lustre and chandeliers with bell-lamps; gas is the medium of

illumination used all over the premises. There is

one

continued row or tier of boxes round the auditory, above the central part of which is the gallery; and there is a half tier of upper boxes on each side, with slips over them. The floor of the ride within the auditory is earth and sawdust, where a ring or circle,

forty-four

feet in diameter, is bounded by a boarded enclosure about

four

feet in height, the curve of which next the stage forms the outline of the orchestra, and the remainder that of the pit, behind which is an extensive lobby and a box for refreshments. The proscenium is large and movable--for the convenience of widening and heightening the stage, which is, perhaps, the largest and most convenient in London-and is terminated by immense platforms, or floors, rising above each other, and extending the whole width of the stage. These are exceedingly massive and strong. The horsemen gallop and skirmish over them, and they will admit a carriage, equal in size and weight to a mail coach, to be driven across them. They are, notwithstanding, so constructed as to be placed and removed in a short space of time by manual labour and mechanism.

Our readers will not forget that

Astley's,

Sketches by Boz,

It was not a

Royal Amphitheatre

in those days,

nor had Ducrow arisen to shed the light of classic taste and portable gas over the sawdust of the circus; but the whole character of the place was the same: the pieces were the same, the clown's jokes were the same, the riding-masters were equally grand, the comic performers equally witty, the tragedians equally hoarse, and the

high-trained chargers

equally spirited. Astley's has altered for the better-we have changed for the worse.

the children,

pa

ma

Miss Woolford

Thackeray, too, mentions this place in

The Newcomes.

Who was it,

that took the children to Astley's but Uncle Newcome? I saw him there in the midst of a cluster of these little people, all children together. He laughed, delighted at Mr. Merriman's jokes in the ring. He beheld the

Battle of Waterloo

with breathless interest, and was amazed-yes, amazed, by Jove, sir!-at the prodigious likeness of the principal actor to the Emperor Napoleon. . . . The little girls, Sir Brian's daughters, holding each by a finger of his hands, and younger Masters Alfred and Edward clapping and hurraing by his side; while Mr. Clive and Miss Ethel sat in the back of the box enjoying the scene. . . . It did

one

good to hear the colonel's honest laugh at the clown's jokes, and to see the tenderness and simplicity with which he watched over this happy brood of young ones.

The theatre on this spot was burnt down in , when under the management of Ducrow, who died insane shortly after the fire, on account of the losses he sustained. He was buried, as we have already seen, at Kensal Green Cemetery, where a handsome monument is erected to his memory.

In October of the same year, the vacant site was taken on a long lease by Mr. William Batty, who, in the following year, erected at his own expense the present amphitheatre, which is much larger and more substantially built than any of its predecessors.

Very naturally, as we have observed at the commencement of this chapter, the transpontine theatres have always been the chief homes of the sensational drama and of eccentric exhibitions: and this is as true of Astley's as of the rest. Here, for instance, in , were exhibited Mynheer Wybrand Lolkes, the dwarf watchmaker of Holland, and his wife, who was just times his height; but as time has worn on

sensationalism

Astley's

Sanger's Grand National Amphitheatre.

M. Esquiros observes pertinently, with reference to Astley's:

If asked what relation such a theatre

can have to the poetic drama, I reply, that it is the peculiar privilege of the great works of the human mind that they adapt themselves to circumstances. Mr. Cooke,

one

of the latest managers of Astley's Amphitheatre, had the idea of applying the resources and pomps peculiar to this theatre to Shakespeare's historical plays. He accordingly brought out here

Richard III

., and, for the

first

time, the hump-backed Richard was seen on the stage, surrounded by his staff on horseback, and himself mounted on that famous steed,

White Surrey,

whose name Shakespeare has immortalised. The noble animal marched bravely through the battle, and died with an air of truth that quite affected the spectators. Encouraged by this success, Astley's company next appeared in

Henry IV

. and

Macbeth

. I will not assert that Shakespeare's plays thus converted into equestrian pieces satisfled all artistic conditions; but when I look at the moral effect, I cannot but applaud the experiment. Astley's is the theatre of the people; here the East-end

workmen, costermongers, and orange-women, come to seek a few hours of recreation after the fatigues and struggles of a rough day's toil. Shakespeare's plays-decorated rather than well performed, and hidden by processions and cavalcades, which, perhaps, denaturalised their character, but which, after all, were adapted to the instincts of a class of the population which lives specially on what strikes its eyes-at any rate allowed some portion of the poetical horizon to be brought within their view. In any case, and to say the least, they happily occupied the place of those dangerous performances which arouse in man nothing beyond the feeling of savage strength.

[] See ante, p. 368.

[] This foreigner had constructed the stage of Drury Lane Theatre, and had also invented a peculiar kind of roof for large buildings, which was called by his name.

[] See Vol. III., p. 286.

[extra_illustrations.6.394.1] Play Bill of Royal Victoria Theatre, July 1833

[] See ante, p. 368.

[extra_illustrations.6.402.1] new house

[] See Vol. IV., p. 531.

[] See Vol. V., p. 220.