actors, who have now taken up their cue and commenced their
performance. Napoleon, Tippoo Saib, and Queen Victoria, dance a
three-handed reel, to the admiration of Prince Albert and a group of
lords and ladies in waiting, who nod their heads approvingly--when
br'r'r! crack! bang! at a tremendous crash of gongs and grumbling of
bass-notes, the fiend in the corner rushes forth from his lair with a
portentous howl. Away, neck or nothing, flies Napoleon, and Tippoo
scampers after him, followed by the terrified attendants; but lo! at
the precise nick of time, Queen Victoria draws a long sword from
beneath her stays, while up jumps the devouring beast from the den of
the prophet, and like a true British lion--as he doubtless was all the
while--flies at the throat of the fiend, straight as an arrow to its
mark. Then follows a roar of applause from the discriminating
spectators, amidst which the curtain falls, and, with an extra
flourish of music, the collection of copper coin commences. This is
always a favourite spectacle with the multitude, who never bother
themselves about such trifles as anachronisms and unities; and the
only difficulty the managers have to overcome in order to insure a
remunerative exhibition, is that of finding a quiet locality, which
shall yet be sufficiently frequented to insure them an audience. There
are equipages of this description of very various pretensions and
perfection, but they all combine the allurements of music and the
drama in a greater or less degree.

5. The horse-and-cart-organists are a race of enterprising
speculators, who, relying upon the popular penchant for music, have
undertaken to supply the demand by wholesale. It is impossible by mere
description to impart an adequate idea of the truly appalling and
tremendous character of their performances. Their machines are some of
them vast structures, which, mounted upon stout wheels, and drawn by a