The Week.

The report stated that tbe amount of premiums received and due for the half-year ending 31 st December last was—for railway accident assurance , £ 2693 1-1 .. Wd , ; and for general accident , £ 16 , 214 10 s . Sd . —together amounting to £ 18 , 908 5 * . Gd . ; against £ 15 , 587 Vis . Id . in the corresponding period of 1859 . The total income for the year I 860 was £ 3 S , 70 S 10 ^ . Id . against £ 30 , 765 lis- , during tbe year 1 S 59 ; showing an increase at the rate of 25 per

cent . The cash received was £ 17 , 281 1 * . lie ? ., which , added to the balance from last half-year and the interest on investments , forms the sum of £ 27 , 037 ' is . Id . to the credit of revenue account . The commission and Government duty amounted to £ 2713 9 , ? . Id ., and the working expenses to £ 4170 11 , ? . Sd . ; the amount paid for compensation being £ 9971 2 s . After payment of interest to proprietors , and the usual charge for liquidating the personal expenses , a balance invested and in hand

was shown of £ 9329 Is . Id ,, to which must be added £ 1624 3 s . Id ., the difference between the cash received and the actual income , making the total available balance £ 10 , 953 10 s . Sd . From this sum interest for tho half-year ending December 31 last would be paid to the proprietors on the paid-up capital , at the rate of four per cent ., and the remainder would be held as a fund to meet the risks upon the policies in force . Thc report further stated that the compensation paid in I 860 amounted to £ 21 , 055 lis ., or 54 per

cent , on the premiums received ; and in conclusion says : — "The number of casualties during the recent severe frost was quite unprecedented in the company ' s experience . The company suffered more or less in most of the numerous railway accidents that -occurred during this period , and no fewer than six claims for serious injuries arose from the accident at AAlmbledon , in which the late lamented Dr . Baly lost his life . In a previous accident on the London and North AVestern Railway , a gentleman

named Kelly was so fearfully crushed that deatii must have been instantaneous . He was , however , insured in this office , and by prudent forethought thus secured for his bereaved wife and large family the sum of £ 1000 , which they will have the consolation of soon receiving , and for which only 6 ( Z . had been paid . Facts like these must impress on all who hear them the importance of making n similar provision , either by insuring against railway accidents alone , or upon the more extended system of insurance against all accidents , which appears to be generally preferred . " The report was adopted , and tbe dividend declared . Bro . Kelly was a P . M . of the St . James ' s Union Lodge , No . 211 .

Public Amusements.

PUBLIC AMUSEMENTS .

HER MAJESTY'S THEATRE . THE AMBER AYITCH . — " The Amber AVitch , " a new opera , the joint production of Mr . Chorley and Mr . AA . Vincent AA allace , was performed for the first time on Thursday , Feb . 28 th , with the greatest possible success . Of the music we can speak in the highest terms , and this is certainly one of Bro . Wallace ' s best operas . ' That Madame Lemmer . s-Sberrington is a very skilful and delightful singer is perfectly well known to the London publicand her ripening

, powers as a lyric actress are likewise recognised , and have received their due share of encouraging praise . Nobody , then , could be astonished at the fact of Mr . Chorley and Mr . Wallace entrusting to her unquestionable abilities a most arduous part , one of fur greater importance and responsibility than any she had previously attempted . Both author and composer felt confidence in the fair vocalistand their favourable anticipations must have been full

, y realized by the result ; for never , certainly , has Madame Sherrington appeared to such advantage on the stage as she does in " The Amber AVitch . " Mr . Sims Reeves had a part which is on the whole unworthy of his transcendant powers . Mr . Sanfcley's fine voice and energetic style are worthily displayed in the part of the Commandant ; Miss Fanny Huddart as Elsie gives evidence of an amount of histrionic talent rarely found in singers ; the other parts are well filled

. The " Amber AVitch , " in short , is a genuine success , and will , wc sincerely hope , prove highly attractive for some time to come . DRURY LANE . Mr . and Mrs . Kean concluded their engagement on the 2 Sth ult ., when " Richard III . " was played . At the conclusion of the play , they were called before the curtain , and experienced an enthusiastic lause

reception . The app continuing without intermission , even after they had retired , Mr . Kean again came forward , and spoke as follows : —¦ " Ladies and Gentlemen , —I am almost too much exhausted to address you as I wish . But you have called me to your presence , and I take the opportunity , in Mrs . Kean's name and my own—( hear , hear)—of expressing our warmest gratitude for theenthusiastic reception and the brilliant success that have attended our return to tliis theatre , the cradle of my professional life . ( Immense applause . ) The years that have passed appear like a dream since in my boy- I

Public Amusements.

hood , with a trembling heart , I sought your suffrages on this stage , where my father ' s—( interruptive applause ) — where my father ' s genius had previously shot like a meteor through the theatrical horizon , ' before the "upturned wondering eyes of mortals . ' I feel like the wanderer who has returned to his long absent home , aiid once more breathes his native air . ( Applause . ) Circumstances , have compelled me to defer my intended farewell visit to America ( hear , hear)—and consequently I have accepted Mr . Smith ' s

proposal to perform here next winter — ( applause)—for a limited number of nights . Until that period , ladies and gentlemen , in the name of my wife and myself , I beg leave respectfully and gratefully to bid you farewell . " ( Thunders of applause . ) This address was received with much favour , and Mr . Kean withdrew amid renewed applause . After fulfilling an engagement at the East-end , Mr . and Mrs . Charles Mathews have returned to this houseand appeared in

, the comedy of " The Game of Speculation "—a play almost as attractive as the pursuit which its title indicates . Madlle . Albina di Rhona , the Servian danseu . se , who made a successful debut at St . James's Theatre some weeks ago , is also engaged at Drury-lane , and in the ballets of "Smack for Smack , " and "Le Roi des Pierrots , " danced with her usual grace and expressiveness . The latter piece is a humorous and amusing little affair , and , owing

tothe excellent dancing of Madlle . di Rhona and an unusually numerous and efficient corps de ballet , it passed off with great spirit . A dance of Pierrots , some of whom are dressed in red and others in white , was especially amusing .

Notes On Music And The Drama.

NOTES ON MUSIC AND THE DRAMA .

We hear that M . Sehira ivill conduct the Italian operas during the coming season at Her Majesty ' s Theatre . Howard Glover ' s new Opera of "Ruy Bias" is postponed until the next season of the Royal English Opera , Covent Garden . Mr . H . Leslie's " Holyrood " succeeded at the Crystal Palace sowell , that the Cantata will probably be repeated there shortly . Mr . Benedict ' s " Undine / ' is in preparation at Liverpool . AA ' e hear of a youngnewand good tenor voice which has

, , arrived here in Mr . Rigby , a gentleman from the midland counties , whose training has been in the cathedral . This must imply some power of reading music , in which too many of our neophytes , oiving to want of early education , is apt to be deficient . Mr . H . Lincoln , whose musical lectures were some years ago , received in London and the provinces with favour , is , we perceive , resuming them , after a pause , in the North , with success .

It is said that the skilful and jovial part-singers of Cologne are intending to pay us another visit at no distant period . M . Felicien David has completed a two-act opera , which is to be produced at tbe Opera Comique . There , too , "Le Jardinier Galant , " by MM . Leuven and Poise , is forthcoming almost immediately . Portions of Cherubini ' s " Requiem " were executed on the occasion of M . Scribe ' s funeral in the Church of St . Boch .

A Sonata di Bravura , by M . Henri Herz , his 200 dth work , ha * just been published . The best music of this ingenious and brilliant writer has been too soon forgotten . _ M . Gounod ' s "Faust" has just been performed at Darmstadt with entire success , the German journals assure us . His new opera , accepted at the Grand Opera of Paris , bears the title of "La Reine de Saba . " Spontini ' s " Nourmabal" is talked of as about to be revived

fertile Berlin Opera , during the spring . Velluti—whose singing here in Meyerbeer's " Croeiato " is not yet forgotten by our elder woi-ld of opera-goers , died recently at Padua , aged 80 . The " Teatro Nuovo , " at Naples , has just been destroyed by fire . Mr . Benjamin AVebster is playing a starring engagement at the Standard , where " Tiie Dead Heart " has been introduced to that stage for the first time .

To Correspondents.

TO CORRESPONDENTS .

JUDILANTE . —You will find the anthems you require at the end of Preston ' s Illustrations . J . R- —The Masonic Institution for Educating the Sons of Indigent and Deceased Freemasons was established in 1798 . The school was not opened until 1857 . PRUSSIA . —The Grand Lodge of Berlin was sanctioned by the Kin " in 1774 , S . S . —Knights Templar . R . R . —The subject shall have due consideration , D . AV . —AVe do not know the brother you allude t > . X . Y . Z . —In the year 1854 ,