St. Osyth's Priory Lodge, No. 2063.

appointment of officers for the ensuin ? weok followed . The Secretary having announced thafc fche ceremony of installation will bo rehearsed on Monday , fche 28 fch instant , to be followed by a supper , Lodgo was closed in form , amidst the hearfcy giod wishes of the brethren to tbe W . M ., who was congratulated upon his excellent ; working , under the

guidance of the worthy Preceptor , Bro . Bel'is . Afc the close of tho meetintr , the fchirfcy-tirsb ballot of fche Charitable Association attached to this Lodge of Instrnction fell to Bro . Wimble , who has elected to take a life vote in the Roval Masonio Benevolent

Institntion . Ifc is anticipated that the meeting on Monday evening next , at tho East Dulwich Hotel , will be largely attended by brethren resident in fcho southern suburbs of the metropolis , and a treat may be expected from Bro . Bellis , who is woll known as an ardent Mason and an able exponent of the ritual of the Craffc .

Chiswick Lodge of Instruction , No . 2012 . — Afc the meeting held afc fche Hampshire Hog , Kincr-sfcroet , Hammersmith , on Saturdav , the 19 fch instant . Bros . Williams W . M ., W . W . Williams J . W ., W . Johnson P . M . Secretary , Harry Price P . M . S . D ., F . G . Craggs J . D ., H . Purdue P . M . I . G ., T . E . Weeks Tyler , Ayling Preceptor ; Bros . Wing , Kench , Meyer , Smithers . Visitors—Bros .

Price and Robinson . Lodae was opened in fche three desrrees , and tho third ceremony was rehearsed , Bro . Price candidate . Bro . Harry Price , with the assistance of fche brethren , worked the firsfc section of the third lecture . Lodcre closed in the three degrees , in perfect harmony . The ceremony of installation will be rehearsed this ( Saturday ) evening . Visitors are cordially invited , to attend .

The Theatres.

THE THEATRES .

The Standard . —Melodrama , that of old used to put its Court cards into tall boots and plumed hats , and loved to trump th « sweet Queen of Hearts with some diabolic Knave , all over pistols and poignards , has now quite changed the pattern of its pack . Villainy no longer scowls and strides as a wicked Baron , whilst the tender

Angelina shrieks and faints whenever Edwin happens to be at hand . Angelina has grown up now , and has usually married her Edwin ; whilst the Baron , suffering from the levelling influences of fche age , has shrunk into a mere burglar or amateur forger . Edwin himself , instead of heroic deeds of " derring do , " which he always achieved in

becoming costume , now too often painfully poses himself as qualifying for a Scotland Yard detective . We are much obliged fco Mr . Willing that , in his new play , " Judgment , " produced at the Standard on Saturday night , we have once more an Edwin—young , handsome , and chivalrously trustful—like the Edwin « of our youth . An

Angelina full of womanly tenderness and a " fine spirit ; . " A chief villain , rising through such a crescendo of evil doings thafc tho " judg . ment " awaiting him in Act VI . ( unacted ) is in every way satisfactory . The play opens with a prologue . Here we encounter Richard Gurnon , a runaway convict . He has sought refuge in the house of

old Captain Seymour , who in trying to secure him gets accidentally killed by his own pistol . The cottage is entered by Webber , an illconditioned warder ; Gnrnon meantime has changed clothes with tho dead man , and he and Webber agree he shall personate the victim , and that they share his fortune between them . When the curtain

next rises , afc the commencement of the play proper , we find Gurnon has returned from a long residence abroad , where he has graduated in fche requisite double-dyed villany . It follows as a natural sequence—as the late captain ' s lawyer might provo an inconvenient personage to deal with—thafc his house and his documents have been

quietly burnt . Here the ex-warder , Walter Webber , turns up a flamboyant masher . The confederates recognise each other , and after some lively skirmishing , in which the cool Self-possession of Webber corners the convict , they come to terms . Webber is to marry Gurnon's pretended daughter , Milly Seymour , and then the two may

secure the fortune between them . Milly has been brought up by her trustee , whose nephew , Edward , she loves . The scene of the playand it is one ofthe mosfc impressive that melodrama has given us for a long time—is when Milly , flying from her pretended father and the husband he would force upon her , seeks concealment wifch a poor

needlewoman , actually Lexon s wife . Milly communicates with her lover , but is tracked to her hiding-place by Webber and his confe . derate . Now they qnarrel over the future division of her fortune ; a . struggle ensues , Lexon , when half-strangled , affects to consent to his confederate's demands , but eventually stabs him . Here the

murderer's sudden horror was given with great intensity and force by Mr . Melford;—horror nofc of the crime , but of its possible consequences . The house was thilled by fche terrible tension of the scene ; then a door opens , and a white-robed figure with the fixed eyes and pale-drawn countenance of a sleepwalker enters . It is Milly . Lexon

shrinks in affright ; then , inspired by a sudden idea , he approaches the gliding form , withdraws the light sho carries , puts the bloodstained knife in its place , loads her to the murdered man , and gently forces her on to hor knees . Then , half mad with the excitement of the horrible plot , shouts for help , aud denounces fche sleep .

walker as a murderess . Miss Amy Steinberg throughout this trying scene actod with an intensity and pathos wo have rarely seen equalled . If there were nothing good in the play bufc this scene it Would well repay an audience . Miss Steinberg holds the house with an almost painful power , while Mr . Melford rises to tho requirements

pf the crisis without a weak moment . Indeed , his acting throughout is excellent ; here , however , ifc is supremely good . The great ; scenic feature is the Courfc of Justice , where Milly is tried for murder . It

is a triumph of realism , and elicited a storm of applanse . "he speech of the counsel for tho defence , a part doubled by Mr . Shepherd , has a fine touch of forensic eloquence , and was admirably given by that talented actor . Few who had nofc seen his uame iu the

The Theatres.

bills could have recognised fche volatile , flippant ex-warder in th dignified Q 0 . Of course , Milly is declared not guilty , but wn tru s the management has greatly toned down tho humours of tho jury . Tho joko of throwing "heads or tails" to determine a verdict surely outside the bounds of comedy . The card-playing , dram

drinking fools would disgrace tho probabilities of a burlesque . Indeed , with so much deserving of praise in Mr . Willing ' s work , we must protest against tho whole scheme of comic relief . Mr . Burney , au excellent low comedian , can make nothing of the business imposed on him . Miss Stella Leigh plays wifch feeling and sincerity as Sexon ' a

wife . Mr . Percy Lyndal , as the lover , is thoroughly manly and earnest , and escapes the self-consciousness which so often oppresses tho jeune premiere . Mr . Shepherd plays throughout with admirable restraint . His jaunty air of superiority , never exaggerated ; indeed his entire portrait of Webber is a grand creation , and belongs to high

comedy . The scenery is strikingly good , especially tbe lovely Scotch landscape in Teviotdale . The artist , Mr . R . Douglass , was twice called to receive the acknowledgments of fche house . Wheu tho curtain

finally fell , Miss Steinberg , Mr . Melford , Mr . Shepherd , and other leading members of tho cast had to acknowledge the cheers of the audience . Thero were loud cries for the author , but Mr . Willing had been content with assured success , and was no longer in the hoase .

The Avenue . —To judge from the crowded condition of his auditorium Mr . Henderson may congratulate himself on the revival of " Falka , " on Saturday last . The scenery is pr tfcv and bright , tbe cast no less excellent than the original one ; while the dresses or undresses are as brilliant or as sparse as the soul of the master

could desire . The songs and choruses are nightly encored ; as ? o the quality of the music " let ifc nofc too much concern you ; " rather take ifc as a medium for stocking studio * . All fche house beams wifch smiles of exquisite delight when pretty Violet Cameron sings and capers , and all the house is convulsed with delicious enjoyment when

Mr . Sam Wilkinson , as lay brother Pelican , with spongeous nose and pimply cheeks , leers like a Pall Mall minotaur , or chuckles and rolls and tumbles about in drunken imbecility . This gentleman makes his study of the monk , evidently from the pages of Rabelais , as loathsome as in a Calvinistfc nightmare . The picture is essentially

clever , but there are certain studies an artist should prefer to keep within a closed portfolio . Mr . Hayden Coffin sings splendidly , arid looks a splendid Don Ccosar vagabond in the first Act . In the second and last , bis costumes are fatally ill-designed , and ugly in kaleidoscopic treatment . The favourite , "lam the Captain Boleslas , " was

given with irresistible dash and dramatic go . There will be a treat for lovers of music when Mr . Hayden Coffin secures a pa ' t worthy of his powers . Mr . Dallas has some excellent business , and Mr . Lonnen is reallv diverting as the timid , shrinking , susceptible Tancred . Miss Wadman , the original Edwige , has all the fire and

spine proper to the sister of Boleslas ; she , with Mr . Hayden Coffin , make these personages citizens of some other country than Cockaigne , and are fairly successful , despite the librettist . To Mr . Lyfcton Grey great praise shonld be . accorded for the admirable discretion with which he acts in p tticoats when masquerading as

"Falka . ' He resists any temptation to secure cheap laughter , and never lets his method s ' nk into buffoonery . We had hoped to see Miss Eva Sothern in a part nearer the traditions of her name , but sho sustains with much refinement , and grace the small role of

Alexina , though we fancy she scarcely feels at home in this to her new form of art . Tha comfortable little theatre in Northumberland Avenue has had its seating accommodation much improved by the present lessee , who boldly inaugurates fche latest ready money system—by a discount of 10 per cent , for booked seats .

The Surrey . —Whoso cherishes fond memories of dear old Robson ' s great creations , regretfully believing he has hfc no heir to his mystic power and poignint gift of passion , let him forthwith secure a stall at the Surrey , and see George Conquest ' s exquisite portraiture in the new play , by himself and Miss Tinslev , with the

striking title of "Tho Devil's Luck . " His fair collaboratenr . to whom the general construction is due , is a young lady not oat of her teens , and we must heartily congratulate her on hor excellent work , with its ingenious and novel construction and rapid movement . The

overflowing houses , crammed fco the dim perspective of fche gallery , are the best acknowledgment of its success . Pressure on our space prevents our doing more than briefly chronicling the production of the piece . We hope , however , to give a detailed report next week .

Bro . John Constable P . M . 18-5 , who is now in this conntry for a few weeks , desires us to make known his regret thafc he finds ifc impossible , in view of Ins many engagements , in England and elsewhere , fco pay all his

friends here a visit before his return to South Africa . He leaves on tbe 8 th October , before which time he hopes to have the p leasure of meeting some few , afc least , of those wifch whom he was associated in this country till within

fche last few years . Bro . Constable intends fco be present afc tho Committee meeting of the Boys' School on Saturday next , and as many brethren know him in connection with

that Institution in particular . - : will afford a trood opportunity for renewing old fric- Iships . We wish him a pleasant voyage onfc , and a safe return to his native land when he may desire it .

"FUWERALS .-Bros . W . K . L . & G . A . I-IUTTOJ ^ , Coffin Makers and Undertakers . 17 "Newcastle Street , Strand , "W . C ., and 7 Heme Villas , "Forest Hill , Koacl Peclcharn Ilye , S . E .