DOI issue:
December 11, 1858
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.16622#0242
December 11, 1868..__PUNCH, OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.
235
Giants refreshed after these delicacies, (the baked potatoes at
BrVTNs's always being superb), we mix our steaming grogs, and turn
our attention to the company present. We don't care about the people
in the body of the hall, which is vast, palatial, resplendent, &c. We know
them. The farmer come up to townabout that lot of southdowns,(pardon,
Shorthorns, no personality is intended), who thinks Bivins's is the
glass of fashion, the mould of form in fact, and dissipates here majes-
tically, especially in the Cattle Show week, when he is amazing. Here
is the boy of seventeen, who looks seven-and-twenty, and is in the ways
or the world seven hundred, smokiDg that enormous cigar, which he
don't like, though he thinks he does, and wondering what "the go-
vernor " will say to his being out so late. No, no. These, and the
omnipresent gent are not for us. We will remain in the " cafe part
of the rooms," and are sure to see plenty of noteworthy individuals.
See, there, at that table near the clock, four authors, two actors, and a
barrister. All celebrated men, all names that are household words to
most of us. That further table is occupied by critics, and this behind
us by two of the most resplendent Swells in London. They come from
their Club, and have been dining with other Swells, but now are to be
seen taking to their beer with great apparent relish. Bivins's society
is full of such contrasts, he levels all distinctions, and fraternity is the
order of the day.
But who is this who comes, snuff-box in hand, jolly, grey, rosy, and
comfortable to see ? Watch hirn nodding to this one, shaking hands with
that. " Chop good ? " he says," dear, good, excellent friend P all well ?
How is our kind excellent parent ? " (He never saw him in his life
perhaps, but. still takes as affectionate an interest in him, as if he had
known him from boyhood.) Observe him well. He is the great in-
stitution of Bivins's. He is Me. Brown, in point of fact, Bivins.
The beau ideal of a host. May he long give us that pinch of snuff,
which makes us sneeze for a quarter of an hour after we have been
rash enough to take it, and may Mr. John, who pervades the room
now like his shadow, follow worthily in his footsteps. Did we say
the Institution, though ? We were wrong. For lo ! a figure bearing a
glass of cigars. "Cigars, gentlemen?" he says. His accent is foreign,
his coat loose, his mouth slightly puckered. No wonder. This is the
famous whistler, wno still delights us with the same imitations,,
and whistlings, and jbdels whicl delighted our forefathers. " He will
always be retained on the establishment."
I have not told you about the size or shape of this Hall of Dazzling
Light, dear Mr.Punch, its history, or its resources. Else, could I have
told you rare anecdotes of the old market, and the old theatres,
strange stories of t he Beef Steak Club, and marvellous tales of the
consumption of kidneys and chops.
Why should we? Cui bono? Is it not written im the book of the
words of the songs ? and if you want further information you had
better go to Bivins's and get it for yourself.
ORTHODOXY WITH ELEGANCE.
perhaps there is a mystical meaning in the subjoined notification to
those to whom it may concern :—
WM. CLARK'S CLERICAL SUITS at 84s. Made from the perma-
nent finished cloth, that will neither spot nor shrink. Clerical Gowns and
Surplices equally mooerate iu cost.
The unshrinking and spotless cloth must be a superior article in the
clerical line. It is warranted, perhaps, to stand both prosperity and
persecution. The figure is low, and in connection with that fact, we
note that the material is not teimed "Super-Saxony," as it might be
by an establishment that pretended to cut out Luther and Co. We
apprehend it may be an Oxford mixture of the sort that may be termed
Broad-cloth; at the same time, we are quite aware that we may pos-
sibly have dreamt of finding a mare's nest ; that Mr. Clark is an
actual tailor, and that in business as such alone has Clark any relation
to Parsons.
WISDOM FOR EVERY WEEK OF THE YEAR.
The Building News informs us, that Prince Napoleon has in his
library " Fifty-two wigs that belonged to Voltaire." It is a wig for
every week throughout the year. If there really was " wisdom in a
wig," what a clever head the Prince would have upon his shoulders,
when he was coifl'ed a la Voltaire ! He must be over head and ears
in love with his subject to carry his admiration to the extent of Fifty-
two wigs. It is lucky that the great philosopher is not alive, or else
the chances are, that the Prince would get an ear-wigging of a very
different kind.
We have often heard of the donkey in the lion's skin. But Prince
Napoleon in one of Voltaire's wigs is, we think, a much more
amusing reading of the same fable !
Tee Last Absurdity of Fashion.—We saw at the Soho Bazaar,
a Doll decked out with all the grotesque honours of C'lr.oHne !
SHAKSPEARIAN SOMERSAULTS.
We have always known that it was hard work to act Shak>peare
and very hard work to see him acted, except in certain special cases'.
But ot the intense exertion necessary to the due rendering of this
dramatist we had formed a a inadequate idea. This fact has been
forced upon us by a paragraph, forwarded to our worthy contemporary
the Era, touching a recent performance in a Dublin theatre. It states
that a Mr. Cooke, "the SHAKSPEARIAN Clo wn and Acrobat,
threw a treble somersault in the air without once touching the ground."
^ewaLag\ae(i that we were loleraoly well acquainted with the works
of W. S., but we cannot call to mind by what process of association
this terrifically athletic feat was introduced in illustration of any
passage in his works. Even at the Princess's Theatre, where the
principle of showing what Shakspeare might, could, would, should,
or ought to have meant, is supposed to have reached its climax, we
doubt whether a treble somersault could be vindicated as a homage to
the great bard. Ariel, sent off in that fashion for Its journey round
the world, would have the effect rather of a Catherine wheel than a
creature of the element, and we can hardly realise the gentle Desdemona
availing herself of this discovery to do as Othello suggests, namely,
"turn, and turn, and still go on." In a long course of theatrical
experience we have seen some assaults upon Shakspeare, but we never
saw any so uncalled for as somersaults, and we do not know where the
system is to stop. We shall next have Ariel above mentioned singing,
" On an Acrobat's back do i fly."
We are the rather disposed to protest against this new notion of
Shakspearianity, because we regret to read in the same journal that
another clown, emulous of the skill of his Shakspearian rival, attempted
the same feat, but with a result too painful to permit of a smile, and i
also that other mannerists of the same school are challenging one
another to yet more difficult mountebanking, also, we suppose, in
honour of the Swan—who, not being the Swan with Two Necks, does
not demand in his votaries the extra supply of neck which their
" various readings " require. We recommend these tumblers to let
alone both Shakspeare and somersaults.
" LE RENARD DANS LES FILETS."
(Not after La Fontaine.)
M. Barthelemy de St. Hilaire, the illustrious Hippophagist—
who never found anything too tough for him till he tried the secre-
taryship of M. de Lesseps's Sutz Canal Scheme—is outdone at last.
Treading in the Tartar steppes, he has eaten horse, and founded a
society of horse-eaters. But let him hide his diminished casserole,
before that sporting society in the Departement of the Coneze, at one
of whose dinners, we are informed, filets of fox were served and
declared excellent eating ! From filets we shall come to hind-quarters,
and so on, gradually, till the whole of the body being disposed of, fox-
tail replaces ox-tail in French provincial tureens.
Our sportsmen have long known that Frenchmen shoot foxes.
Facilis descensus. From shooting foxes to eating then* is but a stepj
but can anything more clearly prove that France is going to the dogs
235
Giants refreshed after these delicacies, (the baked potatoes at
BrVTNs's always being superb), we mix our steaming grogs, and turn
our attention to the company present. We don't care about the people
in the body of the hall, which is vast, palatial, resplendent, &c. We know
them. The farmer come up to townabout that lot of southdowns,(pardon,
Shorthorns, no personality is intended), who thinks Bivins's is the
glass of fashion, the mould of form in fact, and dissipates here majes-
tically, especially in the Cattle Show week, when he is amazing. Here
is the boy of seventeen, who looks seven-and-twenty, and is in the ways
or the world seven hundred, smokiDg that enormous cigar, which he
don't like, though he thinks he does, and wondering what "the go-
vernor " will say to his being out so late. No, no. These, and the
omnipresent gent are not for us. We will remain in the " cafe part
of the rooms," and are sure to see plenty of noteworthy individuals.
See, there, at that table near the clock, four authors, two actors, and a
barrister. All celebrated men, all names that are household words to
most of us. That further table is occupied by critics, and this behind
us by two of the most resplendent Swells in London. They come from
their Club, and have been dining with other Swells, but now are to be
seen taking to their beer with great apparent relish. Bivins's society
is full of such contrasts, he levels all distinctions, and fraternity is the
order of the day.
But who is this who comes, snuff-box in hand, jolly, grey, rosy, and
comfortable to see ? Watch hirn nodding to this one, shaking hands with
that. " Chop good ? " he says," dear, good, excellent friend P all well ?
How is our kind excellent parent ? " (He never saw him in his life
perhaps, but. still takes as affectionate an interest in him, as if he had
known him from boyhood.) Observe him well. He is the great in-
stitution of Bivins's. He is Me. Brown, in point of fact, Bivins.
The beau ideal of a host. May he long give us that pinch of snuff,
which makes us sneeze for a quarter of an hour after we have been
rash enough to take it, and may Mr. John, who pervades the room
now like his shadow, follow worthily in his footsteps. Did we say
the Institution, though ? We were wrong. For lo ! a figure bearing a
glass of cigars. "Cigars, gentlemen?" he says. His accent is foreign,
his coat loose, his mouth slightly puckered. No wonder. This is the
famous whistler, wno still delights us with the same imitations,,
and whistlings, and jbdels whicl delighted our forefathers. " He will
always be retained on the establishment."
I have not told you about the size or shape of this Hall of Dazzling
Light, dear Mr.Punch, its history, or its resources. Else, could I have
told you rare anecdotes of the old market, and the old theatres,
strange stories of t he Beef Steak Club, and marvellous tales of the
consumption of kidneys and chops.
Why should we? Cui bono? Is it not written im the book of the
words of the songs ? and if you want further information you had
better go to Bivins's and get it for yourself.
ORTHODOXY WITH ELEGANCE.
perhaps there is a mystical meaning in the subjoined notification to
those to whom it may concern :—
WM. CLARK'S CLERICAL SUITS at 84s. Made from the perma-
nent finished cloth, that will neither spot nor shrink. Clerical Gowns and
Surplices equally mooerate iu cost.
The unshrinking and spotless cloth must be a superior article in the
clerical line. It is warranted, perhaps, to stand both prosperity and
persecution. The figure is low, and in connection with that fact, we
note that the material is not teimed "Super-Saxony," as it might be
by an establishment that pretended to cut out Luther and Co. We
apprehend it may be an Oxford mixture of the sort that may be termed
Broad-cloth; at the same time, we are quite aware that we may pos-
sibly have dreamt of finding a mare's nest ; that Mr. Clark is an
actual tailor, and that in business as such alone has Clark any relation
to Parsons.
WISDOM FOR EVERY WEEK OF THE YEAR.
The Building News informs us, that Prince Napoleon has in his
library " Fifty-two wigs that belonged to Voltaire." It is a wig for
every week throughout the year. If there really was " wisdom in a
wig," what a clever head the Prince would have upon his shoulders,
when he was coifl'ed a la Voltaire ! He must be over head and ears
in love with his subject to carry his admiration to the extent of Fifty-
two wigs. It is lucky that the great philosopher is not alive, or else
the chances are, that the Prince would get an ear-wigging of a very
different kind.
We have often heard of the donkey in the lion's skin. But Prince
Napoleon in one of Voltaire's wigs is, we think, a much more
amusing reading of the same fable !
Tee Last Absurdity of Fashion.—We saw at the Soho Bazaar,
a Doll decked out with all the grotesque honours of C'lr.oHne !
SHAKSPEARIAN SOMERSAULTS.
We have always known that it was hard work to act Shak>peare
and very hard work to see him acted, except in certain special cases'.
But ot the intense exertion necessary to the due rendering of this
dramatist we had formed a a inadequate idea. This fact has been
forced upon us by a paragraph, forwarded to our worthy contemporary
the Era, touching a recent performance in a Dublin theatre. It states
that a Mr. Cooke, "the SHAKSPEARIAN Clo wn and Acrobat,
threw a treble somersault in the air without once touching the ground."
^ewaLag\ae(i that we were loleraoly well acquainted with the works
of W. S., but we cannot call to mind by what process of association
this terrifically athletic feat was introduced in illustration of any
passage in his works. Even at the Princess's Theatre, where the
principle of showing what Shakspeare might, could, would, should,
or ought to have meant, is supposed to have reached its climax, we
doubt whether a treble somersault could be vindicated as a homage to
the great bard. Ariel, sent off in that fashion for Its journey round
the world, would have the effect rather of a Catherine wheel than a
creature of the element, and we can hardly realise the gentle Desdemona
availing herself of this discovery to do as Othello suggests, namely,
"turn, and turn, and still go on." In a long course of theatrical
experience we have seen some assaults upon Shakspeare, but we never
saw any so uncalled for as somersaults, and we do not know where the
system is to stop. We shall next have Ariel above mentioned singing,
" On an Acrobat's back do i fly."
We are the rather disposed to protest against this new notion of
Shakspearianity, because we regret to read in the same journal that
another clown, emulous of the skill of his Shakspearian rival, attempted
the same feat, but with a result too painful to permit of a smile, and i
also that other mannerists of the same school are challenging one
another to yet more difficult mountebanking, also, we suppose, in
honour of the Swan—who, not being the Swan with Two Necks, does
not demand in his votaries the extra supply of neck which their
" various readings " require. We recommend these tumblers to let
alone both Shakspeare and somersaults.
" LE RENARD DANS LES FILETS."
(Not after La Fontaine.)
M. Barthelemy de St. Hilaire, the illustrious Hippophagist—
who never found anything too tough for him till he tried the secre-
taryship of M. de Lesseps's Sutz Canal Scheme—is outdone at last.
Treading in the Tartar steppes, he has eaten horse, and founded a
society of horse-eaters. But let him hide his diminished casserole,
before that sporting society in the Departement of the Coneze, at one
of whose dinners, we are informed, filets of fox were served and
declared excellent eating ! From filets we shall come to hind-quarters,
and so on, gradually, till the whole of the body being disposed of, fox-
tail replaces ox-tail in French provincial tureens.
Our sportsmen have long known that Frenchmen shoot foxes.
Facilis descensus. From shooting foxes to eating then* is but a stepj
but can anything more clearly prove that France is going to the dogs