Elegant Zinnia. _Zinnia elegans._
Dedicated to St. _Eusebius._
[Illustration: ~Fantoccini.~]
“He gives me the motions.”
_Shakspeare._
Mr. George Cruikshank’s pencil has been put in requisition for a
fantoccini, and his drawing, engraved by Mr. Henry White, appears
above.
This exhibition took place in a street at Pentonville, during the
present month, 1825. Its coming was announced by a man playing the
Pan-pipes, or “mouth-organ,” which he accompanied by beating the long
drum; after him followed the theatre, consisting of a square frame-work
about ten feet high, boarded in front, and painted as represented in the
print, carried by a man within the frame; the theatrical properties were
in a box strapped on the inside towards the bottom. The musician was
preceded by a foreign-looking personage--the manager. As soon as he had
fixed on a station he deemed eligible, the trio stopped, the theatre was
on its legs in a minute, and some green baize furled towards the top of
each side, and at the back, was let down by the manager himself, who got
within the frame and thus concealed himself. The band of two instruments
was set in motion by its performer, who took his station on one side,
and the carrier of the theatre assuming the important office of money
collector. “Come ladies and gentlemen,” he said, “we can’t begin without
you encourage us--some money if you please--please to remember what you
are going to see!” Boys came running in from the fields, women with
children got “good places,” windows were thrown up and well filled, the
drummer beat and blew away lustily, the audience increased every minute,
a collection was made, and the green curtain at length drew up, and
discovered a stage also lined with green cloth at the top, bottom, and
sides. In about a minute the tune altered, and the show began.
_Scene 1._ A jolly-looking puppet performed the tricks of a tumbler and
posture master with a hoop.
_Scene 2._ The money taker called out, “This is the representation of a
skeleton.” The music played solemnly, and the puppet skeleton came
slowly through a trap door in the floor of the stage; its under jaw
chattered against the upper, it threw its arms up mournfully, till it
was fairly above ground, and then commenced a “grave” dance. On a sudden
its head dropped off, the limbs separated from the trunk in a moment,
and the head moved about the floor, chattering, till it resumed its
place together with the limbs, and in an instant danced as before; its
efforts appeared gradually to decline, and at last it sank into a
sitting posture, and remained still. Then it held down its skull,
elevated its arms, let them fall on the ground several times dolorously;
fell to pieces again; again the head moved about the stage and
chattered; again it resumed its place, the limbs reunited, and the
figure danced till the head fell off with a gasp; the limbs flew still
further apart; all was quiet; the head made one move only towards the
body, fell sideways, and the whole re-descended to a dirge-like tune.
Thus ended the second scene.
_Scene 3._ This scene was delayed for the collector again to come round
with his hat:--“You can’t expect us to show you all for what you’ve
given. Money if you please; money; we want your money!” As soon as he
had extracted the last extractable halfpenny, the curtain drew up,
and--enter a clown without a head, who danced till his head came from
between his shoulders to the wonder of the children, and, almost to
their alarm, was elevated on a neck the full length of his body, which
it thrust out ever and anon; after presenting greater contortions than
the human figure could possibly represent, the curtain fell the third
time.
_Scene 4._ Another delay of the curtain for another collection, “We have
four and twenty scenes,” said the collector, “and if you are not liberal
we can’t show ’em all--we must go.” This extorted something more, and
one person at a window, who had sent three-pence from a house where
other money had been given, now sent out a shilling, with a request that
“all” might be exhibited. The showman promised, the curtain drew up, and
another puppet-tumbler appeared with a pole which, being placed
laterally on the back of two baby-house chairs, he balanced himself on
it, stood heels upwards upon it, took the chairs up by it, balanced them
on each end of it, and down fell the curtain.
_Scene 5._ A puppet sailor danced a hornpipe.
_Scene 6._ A puppet Indian juggler threw balls.
_Scene 7._ Before the curtain drew up the collector said, “This is the
representation of Billy Waters, Esq.” and a puppet, Billy Waters,
appeared with a wooden leg, and danced to the sound of his fiddle for a
minute or two when the curtain dropped, and the manager and performers
went off with their theatre, leaving the remaining seventeen scenes, if
they had them, unrepresented. On the show was painted, “Candler’s
Fantoccini, patronised by the Royal Family.” Our old acquaintance,
“Punch,” will survive all this.
[257] Aikin’s Nat. Hist. of the Year.
~August 15.~
_The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary._ _St. Alipius_, Bp. A. D.
429. _St. Arnoul_, or _Arnulphus_, Bp. A. D. 1087. _St. Mac-Cartin_,
or _Aid_, or _Aed_, Bp. of Clogher, A. D. 506.
_Assumption, B. V. M._
So stands this high festival of the Romish church in the church of
England calendar. No reason can be imagined for its remaining there; for
the assumption of the virgin is the pretended miraculous ascent of her
body into heaven. Butler calls it “the greatest of all the festivals the
Romish church celebrates in her honour.” In his account of this day, he
especially enjoins her to be invoked as a mediator. The breviaries and
offices of her worship embrace it as an opportunity for edifying the
devotees with stories to her honour; one of these may suffice.
There was a monk very jolly and light of life, who on a night went forth
to do his accustomed folly; but when he passed before the altar of our
lady, he saluted the virgin, and then went out of the church; and as he
was about to pass a river he fell in the water, and the devils took his
soul. Then angels came to rescue it, but the devils maintained that it
was their proper prey. And anon came the blessed virgin, and rebuked the
devils, and said the soul belonged to her; and they answered, that they
had found the monk finishing his life in evil ways; and she replied,
that which ye say is false, for I know well, that when he went into any
place, he saluted me first, and that when he came out again he did the
same, and if ye say that I do you wrong, let us have the judgment of the
sovereign king thereon. Then they contended before our Lord on this
matter; and it pleased him that the soul should return again to the
body, and that the monk should repent him of his sins. In the while, the
monks had missed their brother, for he came not to matins, and they
sought the sexton and went to the river, and found him there drowned;
and when they had drawn the body out of the water, they knew not what to
think, and marvelled what he had done. Then suddenly he came to life,
and told them what had happened to him, and finished his life in good
works.[258]
Durandus, the great Romish ritualist, anxious for devotion to be
maintained to the virgin, observes, that though her office is not to be
read on the Sundays between Easter and Whitsuntide, as on every other
Sunday, yet there is not any _danger_ to be apprehended for introducing
it on the Sundays _not_ appointed. A priest _once_ did actually intrude
the virgin’s office on one of these non-appointed Sundays, for which the
bishop suspended him; “but he was soon forced to take off the
suspension, in consequence of the virgin appearing to him, and _scolding
him_ for his unjust severity.”
It is stated by Mr. Brady, that the festival of the assumption of the
Virgin Mary was first regularly instituted in 813; and, that the
assumption commemorated actually took place, is what none within the
power of the late Inquisition would dare to disbelieve; and, that since
its first introduction, further, there has been a zeal displayed on this
holiday, which must be considered truly commendable, in all those who
believe in the fact, and are amiably desirous of convincing others. The
pageantry used in celebrating this festival has often been the subject
of remark by travellers, but that at Messina seems for its grandeur and
ingenuity to claim the preference: Mr. Howel, in his descriptive travels
through Sicily, gives a very particular account of the magnificent
manner in which this festival is kept by the Sicilians under the title
of Bara; which, although expressive of the machine he describes, is
also, it appears, generally applied as a name of the feast itself. An
immense machine of about fifty feet high is constructed, designing to
represent heaven; and in the midst is placed a young female personating
the virgin, with an image of Jesus on her right hand; round the virgin
twelve little children turn vertically, representing so many seraphim,
and below them twelve more children turn horizontally, as cherubim;
lower down in the machine a sun turns vertically, with a child at the
extremity of each of the four principal radii of his circle, who ascend
and descend with his rotation, yet always in an erect posture; and still
lower, reaching within about seven feet of the ground, are placed twelve
boys, who turn horizontally without intermission around the principal
figure, designing thereby to exhibit the twelve apostles, who were
collected from all corners of the earth, to be present at the decease
of the virgin, and witness her miraculous assumption. This huge machine
is drawn about the principal streets by sturdy monks, and it is regarded
as a particular favour to any family to admit their children in this
divine exhibition, although the poor infants themselves do not seem long
to enjoy the honours they receive as seraphim, cherubim, and apostles;
the constant twirling they receive in the air making some of them fall
asleep, many of them sick, and others more grievously ill.[259]
* * * * *
It is stated of a poor Frenchwoman a century ago, when invention was not
so quick as it is in the present generation, that finding herself really
incapable, from extreme poverty, of nourishing her infant, she proceeded
with it near the church of Notre-Dame at Paris, during the procession in
honour of the virgin, on the 15th of August; and holding up her meagre
infant, whilst the priest was giving his solemn benediction to the
populace, besought him so earnestly to “_bless the child_,” that the
crowd instinctively made a passage for her approach. The good priest
took the infant in his arms, and, whilst all eyes were fixed on his
motions, in the act of complying with the parent’s request, she escaped
back through the crowd, and was nowhere to be found; so that the infant
became appendixed to its rich mother--the church.
* * * * *
In a very rare print of the Death of the Virgin, by Wenceslaus of
Olmutz, she is drawn surrounded by her family and others; St. John
places a holy candle in her right hand, St. Peter with a brush sprinkles
holy water upon her before the Romish church existed, and therefore
before that devise was contrived; and another apostle with an ink-horn
hanging from his side, looks through a pair of spectacles, to assist his
sight, before spectacles were invented, in reading a book which another
person holds. This subject has also been represented by Martin Schoen,
Israel van Mechelen, and other artists.
* * * * *