kingdom about forty years ago. Among other wonderful feats, I saw him do the following:—He ate the burning coals from the fire; he put a large bunch of matches lighted into his mouth, and blew the smoke of the sulphur through his nostrils; he carried a red-hot heater round the room in his teeth; and broiled a piece of beef-steak upon his tongue. To perform this, he lighted a piece of charcoal, which he put into his mouth beneath his tongue, the beef was laid upon 'the top; and one of the spectators blew upon the charcoal, to prevent the heat decreasing, till the meat was sufficiently broiled. By way of conclusion, he made a composition of pitch, brimstone, and other combustibles, to which he added several pieces of lead; the whole was melted in an iron ladle, and then set on fire; this he called his soup ; and, taking it out of the ladle with a spoon of the same metal, he ate it in its state of liquefaction, and blazing furiously, without appearing to sustain the least injury. And here we may add the whimsical trickery of a contemporary artist, equal to the above in celebrity, who amused the public, and filled his pockets, by eating stones, which, it is, said he absolutely cracked between his teeth, and afterwards swallowed.

CHAPTER VI.

I. Animals, how tutored by the Jugglers.—Tricks performed by Beare.—II. Tricks performed by Apeg and Monkeys.—III. By Horses among the Sybarites.—IV. In the thirteenth Century.—V. In Queen Anne's Reign.—VI. Origin of the Exhibitions at Astley's, the Circus, &c.—VII. Dancing Dogs.—VIII. The Hare

beating a Tabor, and learned Pig.—IX. A Dancing Cock.—The Deserter Bird.

X. Imitations of Animals.—XI. Mummings an i Masquerades.—XII. Mumming to Royal Personages.—XIII. Partial Imitations of Animals.—XIV. The Horse in the Morris-dance.—XV. Counterfeit Voices of Animals.—XVI. Animals trained for Baiting.—XVII Paris Garden.—XVIII. Bull and Bear Baiting

patronised by Royalty.—XIX. How performed.—XX. Bears and Bear-wards.

XXI. Baiting in Queen Anne's time.—XXII. Sword Play, &c.—XXIII. Public Sword Play.—XXIV. Quarter Staff.—XXV. Wrestling, &c. in Bear GardeKV— XXVI. Extraordinary Trial of Strength.

I. ANIMALS HOW TUTORED BY JUGGLER

One great part of the joculator's profession was the teaching of bears, apes, horses, dogs, and other animals, to imitate the actions of men, to tumble, to dance, and to perform a variety of tricks, contrary to their nature; and sometimes he learned himself to counterfeit the gestures and articulations of the brutes. The engravings which accompany this chapter relate to both these modes of diverting the public, and prove the invention of them to be more ancient than is generally supposed. The tutored bear lying down at the command of his master, represented by the engraving No. 51,1 is taken from a manuscript of the tenth century; and the bear in No. 592 is from another of the four, teenth. I have already had occasion to mention these two delineations; and the two following, from a manuscript in the Bodleian Library,3 require no explanation.

This and the following are from a book of prayers in the harfeian Collection,1 written towards the close of the thirteenth centurv.

I shall only observe, that there is but one among these six drawings in which the animal is depicted with a muzzle to prevent him from biting. The dancing bears have retained their place to the present time, and they frequently perform in the public streets for the amusement of the multitude; but the miserable appearance of their masters plainly indicates the scantiness of the contributions they receive on these occasions.

II.—TRICKS PERFORMED BY APES AND MONKEYS.

Thomas Cartwright, in his Admonition to Parliament against ;he Use of the Common Prayer, published in 1572, says, " If there be a bear or a bull to be baited in the afternoon, or a jackanapes to ride on horseback, the minister hurries the service over in a shameful manner, in order to be present at the show." We are not, however, hereby to conceive, that these amusements were more sought after or encouraged in England than they were abroad. "Our kings," says St. Foix, in his History of Paris, "at their coronations, their marriages, and at the baptism of their children, or at the creation of noblemen and knights, kept open court; and the palace was crowded on such occasions with cheats, buffoons, rope-dancers, tale-tellers, jugglers, and pantomimical performers. They call those," says he, "jugglers, who play upon the vielle, and teach apes, bears," and perhaps we may add, dogs, "to dance."1

Apes and monkeys seem always to have been favourite actors in the joculator's troop of animals. A specimen of the performance of a monkey, as far back as the fourteenth century, is represented by the last engraving; and the following is from another of the same date, already referred 'o, in the Bodleian Library.2

blew a reed-pipe, and the third played on a tambourine; the latter imitated the timbesters above mentioned, and frequently during the performance of a tune cast up the instrument into the air three or four feet higher than his head, and caught it, as it returned, upon a single finger; he then whirled it round with an air of triumph, and proceeded in the accompaniment without losing time, or occasioning the least interruption.

XXVI.—REMARKABLE FEATS OF BALANCING.

Subjoined are a few specimens of the ancient balance-master's art.

65. Balancing.—XIV. Century.

This engraving, from a MS. in the Bodleian Library,1 represents a girl, as the length of the hair seems to indicate, habited like a boy, and kneeling on a large broad board, supported horizontally by two men; before her are three swords, the points inclined to each other, and placed in a triangular form; she is pointing to them with her right hand, and holds in her left a small instrument somewhat resembling a trowel, but I neither know its name nor its use.

The man in this engraving, from a drawing in a MS. book of prayers possessed by Francis Douce, esq., is performing a very