Social England under the Regency, Vol. 1 (of 2)Ashton, John
History
Social England under the Regency, Vol. 1 (of 2)
Ashton, John
England -- Social life and customs -- 19th century; Regency -- England
[Footnote 8: The third stump was added by the Hambledon
Club, 1775.]
But, if we can believe the same artist, Baldwin and his congeners
were outdone this year by a woman descending from a balloon in a
parachute. It is taken from an etching by Rowlandson, dated the 25th
of October, 1811, and entitled "Balloon Hunting." It represents the
mishaps of a party of ladies who went balloon hunting across country,
in a one-horse vehicle, the shafts of which are smashed, and the
horse is being reduced to docility by the driver. I know of no woman
who descended by means of a parachute, in this year.
They were not novelties, for André Jacques Garnerin, the Aëronaut,
came down in one in 1802, and, according to Larousse, Elisa, daughter
of Jean Baptiste Olivier Garnerin, brother of the above, was the
first woman who tried a "drop from the clouds." She made her first
descent in 1815, and in 1820 had made over twenty.
[Illustration: Rural Sports; Balloon Hunting.
(_By Rowlandson, published October 25, 1811, by Thomas Tegg._)]
Taken as a whole, the French Prisoners of War, whose numbers were
ever increasing, were not a bad lot of fellows. There were many
breaches of parole, and large numbers of the rank and file, and
seamen got away; for, in a Trial in the Court of King's Bench,
November 14, 1811, the Attorney-General asserted that, of the
French Officers, prisoners of war, on their parole, in this country,
one-fourth had effected their escape: and that one condition on which
smugglers from this country were permitted to land their goods in
France, was the bringing over with them, a French prisoner.
Those interned at Cupar fitted up a neat little Theatre, which was
opened on the 3rd of September. A prologue composed by one of the
Officers, complimentary to the inhabitants for their hospitality to
the Captives, was spoken and acted. This was followed by a Comedy
in verse, by Regnard, called "Les Folies Amoureuses," and an after
piece "Le Quaterne." The Scene painting, interior decorations of the
theatre, Stage Apparatus, and Costumes, were all their own work: nor
did they stop there, for they had an excellent band of their own.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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