The Theatres, &C.

« Heme the Hunted , or Windsor Castle re-versed . ' Of this we can BRy bnt little in its favour . Windsor Castle is not a new subject for burlesque writers , and , perhaps , this may bo the reason why the anthers have not strictly followed the well-known novel bv Ainsworth . Heme the Hunter takes the p < ut of Sir Thomas Wyatt

awainst King Henry the Eighth ; Heme is hunted by the latter , and iu the end is captured . On this framework the authors have invented a number of puns , songs , dances , and effective choruses , by cooks , courtiers , beefeaters , and huntsmen , but we hardly think the maWials thst have been provided will supply enjoyment for p laygoers during

the hot weather . Mr . Arthur Williams made Herns the Hunter a very eccentric personage . Most of the fun that was trot out of tho burlesque was when Mr . Wi liams he ! 1 the stage . His appearance in one scene as a thought reader , and in the song , " Just in the old sweet way , " enlivened th * burlesque considerably , bnt when he was

off the stage the fun ceased , and we had again to turn our attention to the we irisome songs and dances , all in the music hull style . Of the other artistes , we may mention Miss Harriet Vernon as Sir Thomas Wratt , Miss Emily Spiller as Mab » l Lvndwood , Miss Edith Linfield

as Lady Fitzrerald , and the Sist rs Belle and Flo Bilt mas the Duke of Richmond and the Earl of Surrey respect 1 vely . Mr Frink Wood had poor work for Will Sommers , while Mr . E . J . Allnntt will get on better when he knows his pait . The scenery is excellent , while the dresses are both pretty and graceful .

Gaiety . —Now , as everything is running smoothly , "Adonis " continues to a'ttact good houses . Since the first , night several parts have been revised and rewrittRii by Mr . Cunningham Bridgman . Mr . Dixey's popular song , " It ' s English , you know , " is nightly encored , it being given in capital style by that , gentleman . In the second act

Mr . Dixey ' s impersonation of Mr . Henry Irving is perfect ; in fact yon might well be led to think that it was that gentleman himself . Mr . Dixey has a good company to back him . and we advise those of our readers who are fond of a good laugh to pay a visit to " Adonis . "

The Liberal Committee for the Maintenance of the Legis lative Union between Great Britain and Ireland have made arrangements with Messrs . Cassell and Company t > be the publishers of the leaflets on the Irish question which they are now issuing . Thirty-two leaflets and ten pamphlets have already been published . —Academy .

The First Summer Festival in connection with tlie Covent Garden Lodge of Instruction will take place on Wednesday , the 11 th August next . Saloon Carriages will be attached to the 10-50 train from Waterloo for Windsor ,

and thence by Steam Launches for a trip up the River Thames , returning in time for dinner , at the Star and Garter , Windsor , at five o ' clock . Luncheon , & c , will he

provided on hoard the Lin itches . Full particulars as to Tickets , & c , for Ladies and Brethren to be had of the Secretary , Bro . G . Reynolds , St . James ' s Square , Pall Mall , S . W ., not later than the 4 th August .

A Brother Vouched For.

A BROTHER VOUCHED FOR .

AMONG the thousands of Masters of Lodges on this continent it is a reasonable supposition that there are many now invested with power to preside for the first time , and it cannot be amiss to call their attention to the words forming our caption , which in the course of the

year now passing they will frequently hear and be expected to act upon . Among all the duties of the Master none can rightly be considered as of hi gher importance than the admission of strange Brethren , and none

should be more scrupulously guarded from careless execution than this . Every presiding officer should understand the authority with which he is clothed , and the obligation

he is under with regard to visiting Brethren , and while he receives the trul y worthy with proper courtesy , let him refuse all who may be open to suspicion with unbending firmness , lie has agreed in the most solemn manner that

no visitor shall be received into his Lodge without due examination , and producing proper vouchers of their having been initiated into a regular Lodge , aud he will P''ove fai . hle .-s to his vow if he allow the somewhat loose

system of modern avouchment to prevail nnder his administration . The simplest announcement of Bro . A . vouched for is a very frail warrant for the admission of a person we have

never seen or heard of before to a participation in onr Mysteries . We shonld know who is his sponsor and on * ' v'liafc ground he assumes that responsibility . It is the

unyi'tibted right or every Brother ui good standing to vouch ' ° i" another , but it is equally tlie duty of the Master to he Wlti . fiud that this important privilege has not been lightly exorcised before accenting it .

I lie Brother who vouches should know for a certainty , ! 'n . t the one for whom he vouches is reallv what he claims ' ¦<) bo . H-e should kn _ -, v this , not from a casual conversation ,

A Brother Vouched For.

nor a loose and careless inquiry , hut from strict trial , due examination or lawful information , these being the three requisites which the landmarks have laid down as being essentially necessary to authorize the act of vouching .

The Constitution of 1738 provides that you are "cautiously to examine him ( a foreign Brother or stranger ) as prudence shall direct , that you may not be imposed upon by a pretender , whom you are to reject with decision ,

and beware of giving him any hints , but if you discover him to be true and faithful you are to respect him as a Brother . " By strict trial is meant that no question or answer that may be required to convince you that the

person examined is what he claims to be should be omitted . Yon can carefull y take nothing for granted , nor allow shortness of memory to fill up an inconvenient blank . If the would-be visitor has paid so little heed to his first in . strnefcions , or so little attention to the claims of the

Fraternity as to become rusty , he mu ^ t , go where he is known for the information he requires , and be disappointed if he expects to p ck it up from an examining Brother or

committee . In this we would be understood as referring to those important matters that , are indispensable , and not to some of the minor details that onlv a bris-ht Mason could

be expected to hfive at his finger ends . The particulars of an examination cannot of course be detailed here , but we may say , in general terms , that the errors or inadvertencies of the visitor should not be

corrected , for that , would be giving him the hint we are warned against . With an aged Brother , or one who has long been debarred the privileges of the Craft by journey or sickness , patience is to be commended . If he has ever

received true light , the spark though dimmed will eventually brighten up by his own unaided endeavours , and one such trial will always serve to remind him of the necessity of keeping his treasures where ho can find them when wanted .

But it is not so much from any carelessness in regard to examinations that we have to apprehend clanger , as from the uncertain application of the third point in the landmark referred to—that is , lawful information . Tho

lyler ' s voucher is very often an uncertain guide , for ho may be deceived by great similarity of personal appearance , or from a certain conviction of having seen the person appl ying somewhere , and hence jumping to the conclusion

that it was in a Lodge , or tho Tvler may have known th it a person was a member of a lawful Lodge , but not fiat he had since been put under discipline ; other instances could he cited , were it not that they will readily suggest themselves to the Brethren .

It will be a step forward when Masters cease to admit Brethren on the T yler ' s endorsement . The examination of an inexperienced or unskilled Brother can afford nojust

grounds for avouchment , because he cannot be supposed to have the ability of detecting error , or the judgment necessary to avoid conveying information which should be withheld .

If a Brother vouch for another on the ground of having sat with him in a Lodge , he should also be able to state positivel y that it was a Master ' s Lodge , duly and legally constituted , and not a Lodge of Entered Apprentices or

Fellow-Crafts . Written vouchers , though indited by your nearest , friend , are of no positive value . They cannot lawfully contain any of those things which it is indispensable the visitor should know ; can afford him no assistance when put to the ordeal of strict examination .

Personal avouchment from one Brother to another may bo accepted , but , no further , and then only when the Brother vouched for is in the presence of the one givinrr the information , and the one receiving it , and then it must

be given with the intent of being used Masonically , and be full , explicit , positive and based on actunl knowledge of a lawful Masonic character . But when Brother White tells

Brother Brown that Brother Black assured him that Brother Green was a Mason , the information becomes too loose to have a lawful value and must be discarded .

We trust enough has been said to put our Worshi pful Brethren on their guard , and that they will assist in bringing about more ri gid requirements in the matter of responding for the Masonic standing of unknown Brethren .

No good Brother will object to it , and the opinions of the other class are of no importance . All will , we think , agree that it is better to refuse ten Brethren who h : td a

tight to admission than to admit one who , from the w . u . fc > f proper qualifications may bring disgrace on the L < h--o :. nd its Master . San Francisco Masonic Becord .