‘A company of vaulters next performed some daring leaps and threw somersaults ad infinitum, backwards or forwards, in rapid succession. After this Miss O’Donnell performed some pretty evolutions on horseback. Wonderful feats of “ponderosity” were next displayed by M. Lavater Lee, who balanced a feather and a plank forty feet long with equal dexterity, and by various jugglings frequently placed his physiognomy in jeopardy. These performances being over there came, “for the first time, a novel introduction, replete with new and splendid dresses, properties, and state carriage drawn by four diminutive steeds,” in which the whole juvenile company appeared, entitled The Little Glass Slipper. The foundation of this pantomime is old; but it was produced with new faces last night, and elicited loud and universal approbation. Some of the performers were scarcely able to toddle, but the acting of the whole was unique, and deserving of all the praise it received. The dresses and arrangements were superlative in their style and effect. A series of gymnastics and equestrian exhibitions, with a new piece, called The Wanderers of Hohonor and the Sifans, wound up the entertainments of the evening, which were interspersed with the witticisms and waggeries of two very clever clowns, one of whom is a good punster, and the other a supple posture-master and a capital performer on—the penny trumpet.‘
Early in 1842, the programme was varied by a romantic spectacle called The Council of Clermont, devised for the introduction of a group of trained lions, tigers, and leopards, brought from Batty’s menagerie, accompanied by their performer, Garlick. The spectacle comprised a triumphal cavalcade of Frankish warriors, mediæval sports in rejoicing for victory, the tricks of a Greek captive’s horse, and the adventures of the Greek among the wild beasts to whom he is thrown to be devoured. It had a very brief run, however, and was succeeded by the elephant, and subsequently by a tournament, to which was given the anachronical title of The Eglinton Tournament, or The Lists of Ashby! Shakspeare, it may be said, has given, as the locality of the scene of an incident in one of his plays, ‘a sea-port in Bohemia;’ but the making the Eglinton tournament take place at Ashby-de-la-Zouch is an anachronism as glaring as the incongruity of elephants and zebras in a Cossack camp.
The Olympic Arena, as Batty’s new circus was called, was the scene of some feats too remarkable to be omitted from this record. Walker, on one occasion, sustained the weight of six men, and held six cart-wheels suspended, while hanging by the feet from slings; but it must be remarked that he held only two of the wheels with his hands, the others being attached in pairs to his feet, which were secured in the slings, so that the weight fell chiefly upon the rope to which the slings were attached. More remarkable feats were performed by Lavater Lee on his benefit night, when he vaulted over fourteen horses, threw a dozen half-hundred weights over his head, bent backward over a chair, and in that position lifted a bar of iron weighing a hundred pounds, threw a back somersault on a horse going at full speed, and turned twenty-one forward somersaults, without the aid of a spring-board.
Dewhurst, the clown, must be allowed to speak for himself in the bill which he issued for his benefit, and which, as regards his own performances, was as follows:—
‘This is the night to see Dewhurst’s long and Lofty Jumps, without the assistance of a spring-board:—1. Over a garter 14 feet high. 2. Over a man standing on a horse lengthways. 3. Through a hoop of fire two feet in diameter. 4. Through a circle of pointed daggers. 5. Over 10 horses. 6. Through six balloons. 7. Over three horses, one standing on the backs of the other two. And finally, to crown his extraordinary efforts, he will leap through a Military Drum, and over a Real Post-chaise and Pair of Horses.
‘During the evening will be introduced several New Acts of Horsemanship, during the intervals of which Mr Dewhurst will perform many surprising Feats; amongst the number, he will tie his body in a complete knot. After which he will walk on his hands, and carry in his mouth two fifty-six pound weights; in finis, it will be a Grand banquet night!! More entertainments than all the Aldermen in London can swallow. Dishes to please Old and Young, Father and Son—Daughter and Mother, Sister and Brother—Fat and Lean, Dirty and Clean—Short and Small, Big and Tall—Wise and Witty, Ugly and Pretty—Good and Bad, Simple or Sad—All may enjoy, and plenty to pick and choose among—Curious Speeches, Mild Observations, Strange Questions, and Ugly Answers—Shakspeare reversed, and Milton with a glass eye—Conundrums, Riddles, Charades, Enigmas, and Problems—With a variety of real Nonsensical Nonsense, too innumerable to mention—hem!
‘Mr Dewhurst will on this night dance an Original Mock Cachouca, in a style nothing like Madame Taglioni. Mr D. will likewise dance the Cracovienne, as originally danced by Mademoiselle Fanny Elsler, at her Majesty’s Theatre, Italian Opera House. He will also burlesque a favourite dance of Madame Celeste; and conclude with a New Comic Lancashire Hornpipe in Clogs.’
Batty removed his company and stud at Whitsuntide to the Surrey, for a short season, Dewhurst taking another benefit, on which occasion he issued the following characteristic appeal:—
‘On this particular occasion Mr Dewhurst’s tongue will be placed on a swivel in the centre, and black-leaded at both ends, to bring laughing into fashion.
‘I wonder how the people can