Priory Lodge Of Acton, No. 1996.

Bro . W . Jarvis , whose efforts to amuse elicited the warmest approval We heartily congratulate the Priory Lodge of Acton on its pros pects .

Confidence Lodge of Instruction , No . 193 . —The usual

meeting was held at Bro . Lashbrooke s , Hercules Tavern , Leadenhall . street , on Wednesday . The Lodge was opened at 7 o'clock , when there were present Bros . Saint W . M ., Biddle S . W ., Cubitt J . W ., Gildersleve D ., Egan I . G . P . M . Webb Preceptor , Pitt Secretary , Lashbrooke , Fernley , Simmonds , & c . After preliminaries , the

ceremony of passing waa rehearsed , Bro . Fernley candidate . Lodge was then opened in the third degree , and the ceremony of raising rehearsed , Bro . Simmonds candidate . Bro . Cubitt informed the Lodge thafc he had an invitation to attend Lodge Friendship , No . 100 . at

Great Yarmouth , nnder the presidency of Lord Suffield , K . C . B ., R . W . P . G . M . Suffolk , for the 7 th inst ., when Prince Albert Victor , of Royal Alpha Lodge , No . 16 , would be passed to the degree of Fellow Craffc . Bro . Simmonds was elected a member , and Bro . Biddle was elected W . M . for ensuing week .

Royal Alfred Lodge of Instruction , No . 780 . —On

Friday , 1 st instant , at the Star and Garter , Kew Bridge , Bros Arthur Turner W . M ., Sperring S . W ., Thomas J . W ., Strong S . D ., Cammell J . D ., Norton I . G . ; Visitor , Bro . Furze I . G . 2012 ; also Bros . C . E . Botley , Gillett , Monson , Bailey , F . Bofcley , Wing , Gardner , Maton , & o . The ceremonial work comprised the rehearsal of the ceremony

of initiation , Bro . Bailey candidate . Bro . Monson answered the questions leading to the second degree and was entrusted . Lodge opened in the second degree , the ceremony was rehearsed , Bro . Furze answered the questions leading to the third degree and was

entrusted . Bro . C . E . Botley gave the Lecture on the second Tracing Board . Bro . Furze I . G . Chiswick Lodge , No . 2012 , was elected a member . Bro . Sperring was elected W . M . for next meeting . Lodge was closed aud adjourned till Friday , 8 th May , afc 8 p . m .

The Theatres.

THE THEATRES .

Lyceum . —Among the theatrical fasti of the year , Saturday the 2 nd May will assuredly hold a place . It was when London welcomed back its well-loved favourite , Henry Irving , from the artistic " Tom Tiddler's ground " across the Atlantic . A good many simple-minded persons were found awaiting the opening of the boxoffice , and it was amusing to see the smile of pitying courtesy with

which Mr . Hurst assured them every seat had been booked weeks ago . Many visitors went early to see how Mr . Irving ' s plan of booked pit and gallery seats would work , remembering the wild confusion of the first night of booked places in the Gaiety amphitheatre for tho Comedie Francaise . However , perfect order and good temper prevailed ,

and alike in pifc and gallery there was no less sweet reasonablene-s than we may expect ; in the nirvana of fche stalls . Mr . Irving ' s appearance was greeted with cheers unheard in the Lyceum since he bade farewell to his friends , and these so prolonged that ifc was minutes before the play could proceed . During the first act a most

marked improvement in clearness of pronnnciation and avoidance of that peculiar slurring method of running up to a point had evidently been gained by our actor , whose mannerisms have been a grief to his friends and much occasion for scorn to his detractors , but as the play proceeded , perhaps from the nervous excitement of the occasion , or

tho exhaustion of fatigue , those strange , almost Japanese , tricks of bearing grew painfully frequent . The gallant young prince , the " soldier-courtier , the glass of fashion , and the mould of form , " had surely no representative in this strange creation , which , picturesque and refined as ifc is , so wants force and variety . Some

happily . imagined business has been introduced , especially effective , in the grave-yard scene , where Hamlet falls on his mother's neck , exclaiming , " I loved Ophelia ! " We cannot think ifc true or in good taste that , in the play scene Hamlet should lean against Ophelia ' s knees and rest his head upon her lap , nor thafc he should crawl across

the stage whilst the King trembles and starts up in guilty terror . Mr . Irving was , perhaps , at his best in his interview with the ghost ; awe and love , horror and tenderness , were expressed as no other actor probably could express them . Miss Ellen Terry played Ophelia with her own unapproachable charm ; the mad scone with

greater power than of old , but never passing thafc delicate line which should divide fie idealism of art from tho realism of imitation . Of Mr . Wenman a « the King ifc is best to say nothing . He has been doomed for a curtain term to walk the night in a sort of King of Clubs' costume , and he struggles with indigestible blank vor ? e . To us

it seems he has ^ nore murders on his conscience than of the two Hamlets . Mr . Tyer . i makes a robust vyking of Horatio—enforcing the uiaxitn that " silence is golden . " Mrs . Panncefovt had a moment of inspiration in fct-e closet scene , when she falls with agonized sobs mto Hamlet ' s arms . Tho gravediggers , Mr . Johnstone and Mr .

Gurne 7 , are dull and ineffective , the grim cynicism " which shonld mark the first ; , and which makes so weird an echo to the tragedy of the dominant motive , trickles away into the feeblo meanderings of an old dotard . Of the second gravedigger our memory declines to furnish auy report . Mr . Alexander showed considerable improvement of

method as Laertes . Of fche rest it is needless to speak . They constituted the dim gray background to which w « have been accustomed in Mr . Irving's portraitures . Surely the gifted manager , who has done so much for art , and in days , too , when its friends did nofc sit in

high places , will ere long awake to the fact that he is entrusting important parts without reference to the capacity of their exponents , lu Mr . Mead he has a supremely good Ghost , dignified , pathetic , thoroughl y grasping the demands of a difficult part ; and in Mr . Howe the certainty of a thoroughly genial artist , always sincere , and

The Theatres.

merging himself in the personage he embodies . His clear elocution is a delight to the ear , as ifc is to the judgment . We , however , look forward to a second visit , and though the Court ob Elsinore be as depressing as ifc may , we trust to find our Hamlet playing with hia oarlier force and fervour . We shall then willingly forget fche misdeeds of Claudius and his companions .

Drury Lane . —The cause of the higher music drama , like that of its illegitimate sister of fche Qnntier Breda Opera Bonffe , haa of late seemed almost desperate . Au opera season has usually been synonymous with insolvency for the unhappy impresario . Wa rejoice to find all this is changed under the spirited management

of Messrs . Augustus Harris and Carl Rosa at Drury Lane . Last week we had to record the triumphant success of Goring Thomas ' s picturesque work "Nadeshda , " which came to the musical world aa a revelation amid the trivialities and pedantries of modern produotions . The management last ; Saturday gave Mr . Thomas ' s admirera

an opportunity of applauding his delightful work " Esmeralda , which , if wanting in the force and the sustained power of the Russian music drama , possesses the charm of exquisite vocal numbers , and an orchestration that proves its composer not only possesses true imagination , but is a master of mnsical science . The enthusiasm

which greeted the work will doubtless induce the management to let the public hear it again this season . It has tho advantage of a dramatic story , well interpreted by artists who for the most part assume not only the voice , bnt the actual personages assigned them , as though Richard Wagner had stage-managed the rehearsals . Miss Burns

made a charming and spirited Esmeralda , Mr . MacGuckin a chivalrous Phcebus . He was in splendid voice and thoroughly entered into the realism of his work . Mr . Crotty was heard to the best advantage aa the weird monster Quasimodo ; his " What shall I do for my Queen ?" had an agony of pathos in ifc , and ifc was with difficulty he withstood

fche demand for an encore . Herr Ludwig gained much applause as Frollo ; this gentleman haa rarely appeared to better advantage , while the music fits his voice and method . The chorus has been admirably drilled , and not only sang but acted with intelligence . The

raise en scene was picturesque , and the costumes good j if nofc wholly correct , they had the greater merit artistically of picturesque harmony . All lovers of English music owe a debt of gratitude for the treat so liberally provided afc our " national theatre . "

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